(For any non-geeks out there, DC is the company that publishes Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Moore has chosen to set his story in the DC Comics Universe. Even the superhero names are awful: Dark Hero.Golden Boy.Right Wing.Velvet Vixen.Galaxy Guy. (Bitchy characters are fine as long as they are also appealing.) The dialogue is pedestrian.
The characters are bitchy and unappealing. I've read screenplays where the stage directions were written with more flair. It lacks any poetry or spark-there's no life to it. Well, in a pinch I could probably force myself to say, "I read Hero while staying at a Best Western," but even that would be a lie. (" Hero is the best YA novel featuring a gay teen superhero I've read all month!") Unfortunately, I just can't bring myself to use the words " Hero" and "best" in the same sentence. Since Moore's intentions are admirable, it's tempting to gloss over the book's poor execution by praising it using plenty of qualifiers. In Hero, author Perry Moore demonstrates a superpower of his own: he can turn prose into lead. And then there's a complete lack of exploring themes that lend itself to the story - how about some musing on the parallels between an in-the-closet teen and a superhero with a secret identity?Ģ.5 stars is probably a more accurate rating, since I enjoyed it and it was a quick read, but the problems made me wince so many times and I was completely frustrated that a great opportunity had been squandered. There's a minor mystery involving murdered superheroes that never seems to be resolved, and then there's a surprise final villain that suffers from a lack of any foreshadowing that would make it believable. The main character's super power is healing, and yet he doesn't heal people close to him when the plot requires that they have an injury or ailment. There are countless contradictions within the text - I'd started off trying to remember some to mention as examples and quickly gave up. The pacing is inconsistent months will go by without much mention and yet events will be mentioned as if they just happened yesterday.
Everything is just a little too melodramatic, a little too overwritten, and a little too loud. The writing reminded me of problems I've had with some other YA novels. Almost every review I've read for this book applauds the subject matter (a gay teen superhero) but laments the sloppy writing.
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