Review of Hero by Perry Moore

Review of Perry Moore's Hero

Release Date: May 5th, 2009

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

The last thing in the world Thom Creed wants is to add to his father's pain, so he keeps secrets. Like that he has special powers. And that he's been asked to join the League - the very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. But the most painful secret of all is one Thom can barely face himself: he's gay.

But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide; but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League.

To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagined. To find happiness, he'll have to come to terms with his father's past and discover the kind of hero he really wants to be.

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I was really excited when I picked up Hero, because there is a quote from Stan Lee on the cover which says "An unforgettable experience - not to be missed!" and the book is written for Young Adults with a strong gay male character. You don't find many YA books like this one... that's for sure. Maybe it was the quote from Stan Lee or the fact that I wanted for it to be so much more, but even though I enjoyed the plot, I found it a bit lacking in some areas.

Thom is afraid to tell his Dad that he's gay. His Dad was Major Might, a superhero without powers who was forcibly retired when a choice that he made ended up costing the lives of thousands of innocent people. Everyone in the world knows his story and everyone knows his face. Thom's Mom has long since been gone, having left them when he was only a child, she packed up and disappeared one night. Living in seclusion in a regular town, they work to be happy. Hal, Thom's father, works in a factory, unable to do much more than heavy lifting since one of his hands is nothing more than a melted mess leftover from the catastrophe that cost him his costume. Thom gets through everyday. He has school, the basketball team, and a few part time jobs. Even though he has not had a cold or been sick since he was a child, he does get debilitating seizures every once in a while.

Very early on in the book, while at a basketball game, a kid from the opposing team calls Thom "That Gay Kid" in front of his father, his couch, and his entire team. This line ends up being foreshadowing for the whole book. While his father tries hard to act like Thom will find a wife and settle down some day, Thom is trying as hard as he can to find a way to tell his Dad the truth. Not only is he fighting those emotions, but now he is starting grow into powers he didn't know he had until during that same basketball game, when a player is severely hurt, his hands start to burn and he heals the boys wounds.

There is a lot of teenage angst , a lot of unrequited love, a lot of uncomfortable situations... which are all part of a closeted teenage boys life. I enjoyed reading those parts. There were times when I was reading when I felt like I was missing something. There were a lot of characters at certain times, so sometimes I got a little confused. I also didn't like that almost all of the A-list heroes (as they are called in the book) were based on characters from both Marvel & DC. Justice, the alien who crash landed on a farm when he was a baby, is most definitely based on Superman; Warrior Woman, who uses a lasso and comes from an island of Amazons, is Wonder Woman; and American Agent, who got his powers from a super strength serum, is Captain America... just to name a few. That to me is either very smart or very unimaginative.

I could go on for a while on my likes and dislikes of this book... maybe that is a good thing, because it means it got me thinking a lot, but I just usually like it when I am left with an over all joy after finishing a book. Oh well! Better luck next time, right?