by Carrie Vaughn, 304 pages
Celia West has struggled her entire life first for approval and later for distance from the superhero family in which she grew up. Blessed with no powers, herself, beyond a penchant for accounting and following money trails, she is tired of her predictably helpless role as kidnappee in the unimaginative criminal world's repeated, ineffective attempts to use her to get to her famous parents. But as suspicious dots start to connect, she finds that her rejected family history, and that of their city's greatest villain, may be unexpectedly relevant to both her future and that of the city, itself.
Happily, an earlier review by Kristi induced me to add this to my holds list. I enjoyed this alternative spin on (super)heroism and self-acceptance / discovery quite a bit. Celia is an interesting character with strengths and weaknesses and secrets that give her personality and substance. She may occasionally come off as more of a teenager than a twenty-something, but that feels like a clear result of her high-pressure relationship with her parents who refuse to see her for who and what she truly is. My only complaint is that the romance element, which was tiptoeing along just fine for most of the book, is resolved rather suddenly and gets a little too perfect and mushy near the end. Overall, though, this is a fast, entertaining read not just for superhero story fans, but for anyone who's ever felt unequal to the weight of parental / societal expectations.
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