Book rec: Impulse Control by Susan Bischoff

[elf]

Description from Smashwords: Talents, kids with supernatural powers, are taken from their families and forced into government research facilities called State Schools. At one such school, a group of Talents must work together to stop a dangerous experiment that’s already killed two of their peers and threatens others. If they’re caught they face Detention, and Detention at a State School has a whole different meaning.

Oooh, I liked this. And there's two more novels in this supers-ish world, one for $.99 and one for $2.99. (This one is also tagged romance. Yes, it's got some romance. Sort of. In that pinch-their-cheeks they're-so-cute YA/teen kinda way.) I'm buying the next novel, and will see about the third. And I'm pushing it at my kids; it warns for strong language/parental advisory, which mostly means they swear once or twice. (It deals with some mature themes--government manipulation, threats of torture--but well within the normal YA-dystopia range.)

The author manages to introduce an array of characters with special/super powers and not get them all tangled up. She shows hints of an intriguing world wherein all we really know is "some kids have super powers, and the gov't keeps them under wraps." We don't know if outside is bounding with super-vs-super wars, or if the existence of Talents is like mutations in Marvel universe ... nobody wants to admit they know one, and those who are, hide it as long as possible. This is such a tiny slice of the world, such a limited POV, that I can't tell if it's more like the Wild Card series or a comics universe, and I very much want to find out.

I didn't realize until I'd finished reading that I now had a solid sense of at least four drastically different characters, and a handful of others who weren't as central to the story, *and* they'd had a fine action-adventure story, *and* a budding romance, *and* the story had wrapped up elegantly so it didn't feel unfinished--but I still wanted to read more in this world. That's a lot of storytelling in a small package (~16,000 words); I'm delighted to have discovered this.

Comments

[jumpuphigh]

That sounds like a good read. Thanks!

[elf]

I've decided that, if I'm anywhere near a computer when I finish an ebook, I should post a quick note about it, positive or not.

Since I've acquired a number of freebies in the last couple of months, it may be a scattered pack of reviews, but I'd love to see the group get more active.

(Also. This one was a fun read, and I know the genre is off-putting for a lot of people. YA superhero-ish scifi-ish romance-ish has a lot of directions it can go wrong; this does none of them.)

[jumpuphigh]

I like the idea of making a quick post when I finish an ebook.

[zvi]

What's the gender balance? Is it a generically white future North America, or where's the setting ethnic mix? Is everyone who has a stated sexual orientation straight?

[elf]

Good part first: Gender balance is good. POV character is male, but his female friends are people, full characters, not objects-with-tits that he believes are some kind of alien race. The girls (they're all teenagers) have personalities and agency, and the characters work together as a team, not a showcase for POV character.

Less good: As far as I could tell, everyone who actually did anything was white. (Nobody who didn't do anything was described as other than white, but there's always the option that those characters will show up later with more details.) Hair & sometimes eye color were mentioned; skin wasn't, and absolutely nothing made me think this was anything other than what you said--generically white future North America.

The romance we see is straight, with no hint of anything else. (There's mention that m/f romance is frowned upon, with no mention that other romances are, or aren't, equally forbidden.) The other two books look to be het romances.

I have hopes, but not expectations, of more diversity in the next novel.

[zvi]

Too bad. Let us know if the next books are better, if you pick them up.

[cesy]

Thanks for the rec.