Book Review: Average

Book Review: Average by J.C. Thompson

Quin is just your average boy, not particularly good at anything, getting by okay in school, nursing a huge crush on a girl who doesn’t seem to notice he exists…his father, on the other hand, is Ultrarian, one of the world’s most powerful superheroes.

Ultrarian doesn’t seem to quite grasp that Quin doesn’t have any superpowers, thinking that Quin just needs to expose himself to more danger to activate his latent potential.  It doesn’t seem to work that way, but it turns out that Quin’s father has other secrets, as do other people Quin knows.  And everyone else, good or bad, sees something in Quin–they might not be able to grasp it yet, but they don’t buy that he’s just…average.

This is a comedic young adult book from the folks at Big World Network, which I’ve talked about before.  It’s rated for twelve and up; the violence is relatively mild, as is the romance.  For older readers, the fun will lie in working out the rules under which superbeings work in this particular setting, and just what exactly Quin’s gift might be.  (It’s never directly stated.)

I like that Ultrarian  tries hard to have a good relationship with Quin, even if his personality sometimes makes that difficult for both of them.  He means well, and Quin gets that when he’s not having a teenage snit.  It’s a nice twist that Ultrarian is actually more enthusiastic about his cover job as a plumber than he is about sharing his superhero stories.

Genre-savvy readers will spot certain twists coming well ahead of Quin, who initially doesn’t grasp that he’s having an origin story.  Ultrarian’s arch-enemy is especially well done.

There’s some annoying typos, and the book could have used another editorial pass.

Recommended to young superhero fans, and those who like teenage superhero stories.