The plot of this book is twisty and shocking, and the less you know about it, the better. There were parts, however, where I had to go back a few pages to re-read, because I thought: "did that really happen?" Every time, it did. It made the plot confusing at times, because some of the twists were jarring, but this didn't take away from the quality of the writing. The writing is extremely well done, I just didn't connect with the characters or the plot, taking away much of my connection to the narrative.

Though the plot itself is odd (and at times violently graphic), there's a message underneath the text, showing how terrible people can be to others. In fact, I would argue, the main character has almost no redeeming qualities. As you learn more about Sasha, the more you dislike her. She might be one of the least likable narrators that I have ever read, which most likely contributed to the fact that I feel so mediocre about this book.

Overall, if you're looking for something weird, dark, and shocking, this book would probably be for you. But it wasn't really my cup of tea.

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This is a layered narrative that absolutely deserves all the praise that it gets. The influence of the narrative is absolutely apparent, given that the book itself was written in the 80s. We owe a lot to Watchmen, especially if you're an avid graphic novel reader.

As an exploration of the superhero genre, much of the story is dark and doesn't include much hope. All of the characters are psychologically complex, and none of them can be labeled as completely good. Adding all the elements together, the narrative is complex and it's clear why this graphic novel is studied so much more than all the others.

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I thought the book started out a bit slow, but as Nemesis learns more about society, the plot begins to pick up. A lot of the information about this new world is dumped on the reader at the beginning, and there were elements later in the novel that I didn't feel I had enough information on and this tripped me up a bit. The world building could have been done a bit more cleanly.

There's also a lot of violence in this book that seemed to turn people off, but I thought it fit for the world that Kincaid has created. The opening scene shows Nemesis killing someone in order to show her worth to the family that wants to buy her. She's been engineered to kill in order to protect the person that she's connected to. The violence makes sense, in a world run by a family that literally kills each other to stay in power. Since this was originally intended as a standalone novel, the many deaths in the novel absolutely make sense. I'm curious to see where the story is taken in the second book.

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This book has been on my to-read list for ages, because I've only heard good things about it. And it certainly didn't disappoint. Both of the narrators here were extremely well developed, and each of them had their own unique voices. The inclusion of two narrators also creates the opportunity for more teens to find themselves within the narrative, and see how they can create change (especially important in our current moment in history).

My only wish for this book is that we could have seen some of the effects of the protest at the end of the novel. Was it effective? Including a bit at the end would show readers that they can affect the world around them, just like the characters within the novel.

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Superior Spider-man has definitely one of my favorite Spider-man stories so far. One of the best aspects is the way that it complicates the notion of heroism and villainy. Otto takes a different strategy as Spider-man, as he's more ruthless than Peter ever was. He does things for Peter that Peter never would have done himself, like earning his doctorate and beginning his own company. But Otto also alienates people that Peter deeply cares about, like MJ and Aunt May. While things look up for him for awhile, Otto's ruthless nature as Spider-man paired with his narcissism and loss of Peter's memories causes his empire to start to crumble as Norman Osborn gains control.

Volumes 3 and 4 were probably my least favorite, as they felt like they dragged a bit to me. Our views of Doc Ock are complicated within this run, as he definitely blurs the line between hero and villain, realizing that he might not have what it takes to be the Spider-man that Peter is. Superior Spider-man should be a must-read for anyone who's a Spider-man fan.

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This installment lacks the energy that the first book had, in my opinion. The action was slow moving for the most part, and overall didn't feel like it was moving the plot of the series forward very much. The second half of the book is better than the first, peppered with extreme violence at points. I appreciate the rebellion story line, but do think it could have been better thought out.

To me, Mare becomes increasingly annoying as the series goes on, complaining about having to do everything alone, pushing everyone away and acting wildly, seemingly pushing everyone away. Mare doesn't seem to know what she's doing, causing her characterization to be a bit all over the place. Overall, the cliff hanger at the end of the book does make me want to read the next one, so I'll see if the series gets any better.

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