Review: X-Men plus Harry Potter; a good premise well executed
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 4, 2014
As usual I received this book for free in exchange for a review.  This time it was from a LibraryThing giveaway.  Despite that kindness I give my candid thoughts below.Firstly, I'm going to choose to assume this is aimed at a young-adult audience.  The situations are simple enough and kid-focused enough that I think this is probably a good assumption.  Because of that target audience, I assess the book rather differently.As a parent of daughters the age to read this I first want to know if there's anything in it that I wouldn't want them to read.  I'm definitively against sex and drugs in YA novels and this novel does great in that regard.  There's some very vague hint of kissing but no drugs or alcohol.  There is some pretty graphic violence near the end but what teenager hasn't had plenty of that by the time they're 14.  The description indicates some adult language and it's in there but nothing to be concerned about.  Again, kids have probably heard it and it's not really all that much compared with the average movie.The second thing I look at is whether there's something in the book that I would definitely want my kids to read, some redeeming message or life lesson to be learned.  To that I say, not really.  This is really reading candy as we watch some teenagers explore the world around them and learn about their bizarre powers.  Nothing earth-shaking in that but it's entertaining enough.Lastly, I look at whether the kids would want to read it at all.  This is purely a judgement of entertainment value and on that score this does pretty well.  The first 20% of the book is solid as we figure out what's actually going on and the last 10% one hates to even blink for fear of missing something.  It does get somewhat slow in the middle but it's reasonable setup to the bigger picture.  One concern I would put forth is just how much interest teenagers of today will have in the world of the 80s from which their parents came.  Depending on the level of disdain that your own kids have for your childhood you might think carefully before putting this one down in front of little Billy or Suzie.So in summary, as a YA novel it's a pretty good pick.  As the description says it's X-Men plus Harry Potter or something of that ilk and reasonably entertaining.  It won't pluck out your eyeballs and throw them about the room but it's a good premise well executed.