Superheroes and Twisted Lies: My Alter Ego Review

I'm a proud member of Generation Z, so one of my prime influences growing up was, of course, The Incredibles. When I was younger, I thought it was just kind of a fun superhero movie, but watching it back as a teenager made me realize that it contained a lot more complexity about how superheroes might be handled in a modern world than I first realized.

Alter Ego by Kate Sheeran Swed, a superhero novel aimed at adult and teen readers, seriously reminded me of The Incredibles -- complete with all the complexity that makes me still love that movie to this day.



Book Title: Alter Ego
Author: Kate Sheeran Swed
Publisher/Year: Spells and Spaceships Press, 2020
Genre: Science Fiction
Number of Pages (According to Goodreads): 348
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Book description (from Goodreads):


Hollywood days. Vigilante nights.
To the world, she's a star.
To the league of heroes who raised her? She's a liability.

Mary's got a penchant for gadgets, a resume packed with criminal-busting credentials, and a reckless streak that tends to land her in trouble. So when a potential recruit blazes a trail through a local bar—literally—Mary blows off league protocol and whisks the girl off to HQ. But Mary's heat-of-the-moment rebellion endangers her family when the recruit's father shows up; more blowtorch than human, he's got a vendetta against the league and powerful investors to back him up.

Instead of letting Mary help, the league banishes her to a stint of camera-courting under the guise of her celebrity secret identity. But Mary's got no intention of benching her grapple hooks; she chases her own leads through a web of secrets that threatens to unravel her history with the league.

As conspiracies pick her family apart, Mary must question everything she's been raised to believe—and what it really means to be a hero—before her fiery enemy sets his sites on the rest of the world.

Alter Ego is a twisty superhero saga for fans of Umbrella Academy and Renegades.

Alter Ego is a superhero story that starts off pretty straightforward, but tangles into a glorious morally gray knot as it goes on! The stage set at the start is pretty simple: the main character, Mary, works for a league of vigilante superheroes set on fighting an evil terrorist organization.

However, the status quo gets twisted around and called into question as the heroes uncover secrets about the past and start to question their allegiances. Throw in Mary’s celebrity secret identity and some cool gadgets, and you’ve got a rip-roaring superhero adventure!

I’m a huge sucker for moral grayness and huge twists, and this book totally delivered on both those things. I’m lucky enough to have an ebook copy of the sequel, which I shall be diving into STAT!

Thanks to Kate Sheeran Swed for sending me a copy of this book! Alter Ego is currently available in online stores everywhere, so if this sounds like something you'd like, go ahead and snag your copy now :D

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