Villainous (graphic novel) - Paul's REVIEW

*I received this book as an eARC from Mad Cave Studios via Edelweiss. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

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Title: Villainous
Author: Stonie Williams
Artist: Jef Sadzinski
Upcoming Release Date: May 4, 2021


Synopsis: Tilly, one of the newest super-powered people to join the Coalition of Heroes, is doing her best to navigate the dizzying world of superheroes. Working with her idols should be a dream come true, but when she learns the truth, Tilly's dream quickly becomes a nightmare. Now, Tilly has to make a choice - Get in line and stand with her heroes, or take a stand and risk becoming something more... Villainous

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Review: This book takes place in a world where superheroes and villains exist. Tilly is excited to be essentially an intern for the super hero team. She quickly discovers good and bad isn't so black and white. BUT, in this book it kind of is. For a story that has such a focus on the good guys actually being the bad guys, there's very little time spent on gray morality. And the super hero good guy team just comes across as ridiculously over-the-top villains.

These characters did not sit well with me. I wanted them to be more rounded. They didn't seem to have much depth. There's also a villain known as Two-Spirit, but it isn't referring to the character's identity. It seemed like an instance of a writer using a cool name without knowing what the term even means to many people in the Indigenous Native American community. 

I was hoping for a lot more moral questions in this book instead of just a swapping of the good and bad guys. I give this book a 2/5.


--PAUL