Black and White (The Icarus Project, #1) (original) (raw)
5,783 reviews217 followers
Many years ago, Callie Bradford aka Idridium and Joannie Greene aka Jet were best friends. They were room mates during their academy days. That all changed.
Jet is now a super hero helping the city of New Chicago take down the bad guys. Jet battles the bad guys using her abilities to manipulate shadows. Idridium went in the complete opposite direction and became a villain. She has these deadly globes that when they burst cause some serious damage.
Jet is used to working alone but this time she has a partner. His name is Bruce Hunter. He isn’t a super hero but he does make Jet long to kiss him
Iridium mission is to take down the academy and every one with it, including Jet. She has some help in the form of a vigilante named Taser. Can Jet stop Iridium before it is too late?
If you are a fan of comic books then you will really by flying high for Black and White. This book has the best of both worlds with fantastic super heroes and cool villains. Authors, Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge do a great job co-writing this book. I couldn’t tell who was writing which parts. I am a fan of Mrs. Kittredge but haven’t had the honor of reading Mrs. Kessler’s work before now. After reading this book, you bet I will be checking out more of Mrs. Kessler’s stuff.
Instantly, I was transported to Jet and Iridium’s world. I would hate to become an enemy of either Jet or Iridium’s. These women can kick some serious butt. The layout of this book was smooth and easy flowing. The chapters would alternate between Jet and Iridium. Also the story would flash back to the academy days. You had better pick up a copy of this book today before they soar off the shelves!
2,875 reviews209 followers
"We have lots of metaphors related to white and black, good and evil. The line between good and evil is supposedly black and white. Good guys wear white hats and bad guys wear black hats. Good is light, bad is darkness. Black and White plays with those crisp delineations, showing us that things are never that clear, even when superheroes (or ""extrahumans"" as they're called in 2112) are involved.[return][return]Black and White is told alternately from the perspective of two extrahumans, Jet and Iridium. The narrative weaves back and forth between the story's present and five to ten years in the past, when Jet and Iridium were roommates at the Academy. Jet's a Shadow power, yet completely focused on following the rules and being a model hero. Iridium, a Light power, is much more independent and much less interested in rules. Both had fathers who were considered insane or ""rabid"", leading many to expect similar behavior from Jet and Iridium.[return][return]What starts out as a seemingly simple comic bookesque tale of good versus evil slowly develops into an involving tale about shades of grey, friendship, and betrayal. (In fact, in some respects, it reminded me of Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman, which I also thoroughly enjoyed.)"
232 reviews15 followers
What's a Superhero without her Supervillian?,
To be honest, I dragged my feet when it came to reading this book. I didn't think I'd enjoyed the story, being that I'm not really into superheros. This book done proved me wrong because I absolutely I loved it! Jackie Kessler writes Joannie Greene (code-name Jet) (shadow), the superhero who is the darling Lady Shadow of New Chicago; Caitlin Kittredge writes Callie Bradford (code-name-Iridium) (light) runs the city's underworld.
This story tells the tale of two friends who depended on one another to survive growing up and started out on the same course in life, but eventually both took very different paths. They say opposites attract and that saying holds true for Jet and Iridium.
Jet's goal in life was always to use the power of her shadows to save people. Jet is a cookie cutter representative for "the man", Corp-co. Corp-co is responsible for keeping the "extrahumans" in line and training them to serve the people. Iridium is a futuristic robin-hood, who's a thick thorn in Corp-Co's side and also her so called friend, Jet. Unconcerned with photo-ops and fan worship, Iridium thinks, speaks and acts for the unfortunates Corp-Co plows over everyday.
This story was well written, the world building fantastic and the repeated pendulum swing between the past and the present flawless. There was plenty of action, twists and turns, displays of heroism and very little sex scenes. I highly recommend this book to dark urban fantasy readers and also look forward to the next book in the series Shades of Gray due out 6/22/2010.
I also recommend:
The Scent of Shadows (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 1)
Awaken Me Darkly (Alien Huntress, Book 1)
Servant: The Awakening
Dark Time: Mortal Path Book 1
Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows, Book 1)
2,701 reviews6,443 followers
Want to read
How cool. Found this at borders today. A superheroine and a supervillainess joining forces to save the world.
1,745 reviews557 followers
4.5 Stars
Set in a future rife with superheroes under the thumb of a huge corporation Black and White is a book about good and evil and fighting crime. But who are the bad guys? Who is really the villain? Jet and Iridium were at the Academy, where they train, or brainwash depending on your opinion, and they become unlikely friends. But a disaster occurs in the last year and Iridium becomes a rabid and Jet a model hero. But 5 years later they have to team together to stop a maniac intent on taking down the world.
This was a great book, I loved the world that Kessler and Kittredge set up. I liked the way the heroes were portrayed and the slightly twisted version of a "Hero Academy" with heroes that were products more then actual people, as it said in the books, there were no secret identities, the only identity they had were their superhero alias'. Another point I liked about this book was the way it was set up alternating chapters between Jet and Iridium, giving you two different perspectives and two vastly different world views, making you sympathetic to both.
The thing that bugged me was Jet, she really got on my nerves sometimes, but that was only minor. In general I liked her and all the characters, especially Iridium, they were both sympathetic and well written and I liked watching their relationship change.
I really enjoyed this book and I am definately going to be getting the next in the series "Shades of Grey" as I look forward to reading about the consequences of the two heroes actions from this book.
action-adventure author-caitlin-kittredge genre-urban-fantasy
574 reviews140 followers
I'm a sucker for superheroes. Always have been and probably always will be. I'm obsessed with the whole good versus evil philosophy.
A fertility clinic figures out a way to help woman become pregnant. Soon after the children are born, the clinic realizes that the children are not your average humans. They have special powers. Jet is a shadow power who's father killed her mother when he went insane. She is told that all shadow powers loose their mind eventually. Then an adult shadow power named Night takes Jet under his wing. He becomes a friend, a mentor. Iridium is a light power. Her father became a "rabid" because he defied Corp and all it stands for. He was sentenced to prison for being a traitor.
Both Jet and Iridium have suffered from tragedy. They are partners and roommates at school and become friends. But just as quickly they become enemies. Both are fighting for the good humanity, they just happen to disagree about who's is right and who's is wrong.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes superhero or the good versus evil stories. When I got close to finishing the book I felt sad. I do this when I read something that I really like because I never want the story to end. Luckily when I got to the back of the book I saw that there will be a sequel "Shades of Gray" in July of 2010. I will definitely put this on my "to be bought" list.
If you haven't read this, I suggest you purchase a copy.
13.5k reviews514 followers
I was really skeptical about this book when I first got it. But decided to give it a try. It really sucked me in fast. I liked Iri and Jet, and as the backstory unfolded felt sorry for them. I liked how the book was set up with learning about the problem faced in the present, then going back to the past and seeing what made these girls in to the people that they were. I would say that with the ending they both had to face up to things that they really didn't want to, and had their worlds altered. Can't wait for the next book to see what happends next.
41 reviews
Re-read this one, still love it.
It's YA, so I feel a little old for some parts of it (woe is me), but I love the heroes and villains, and the tension some of them have with Corp and the Academy as well.
Would recommend this, and the sequel too!
4,832 reviews722 followers
First in the Icarus Project fantasy superhero comic in text form.
My Take
Yawn. I kept pushing my way through, hoping it would get better. Oh, well. I wish Kessler-Kittredge (KK) had merged a bit of Meg Cabot's Princess Mia into this story to remind me that Jet was really still an innocent "teen". Her character was so lame that I wanted to boot her!
KK kept switching perspectives as well as flashbacks on a regular basis although they did provide plenty of clues as long as you read the chapter starts. They were a bit clumsy in their switching your sympathies, but the empathy does finally happen, and Black and White's ending was a shocker, although it explained so much.
What these girls needed was communication and an open mind. At least on Jet's part. I suspect that part of my dislike for this story was Jet and her stupidity and constant fear. It's a lousy combination for anyone, and all I wanted to do was smack her silly. A little bit of thought and introspection on her part would have helped her quite a bit. She has this shadow power and constantly flinches from it. She should be exploring it. Learning the boundaries. Figuring out how to deal with the voices.
The Corps-Co must know how useless Jet is, and they still send her on these PR jaunts? What's with the instructors at the school? The bullying by teachers, staff, and other kids?
No, I didn't like this. Snotty kids, snotty adults. KK present them as kids, but they don't back it up.
Iridium is a know-it-all at 12 and just gets worse. If her dad is supposed to be coaching her, he's doing a really lousy job.
Okay, I'm confused. At one point, Lester Bradford says "this city is ripe for anarchy, girl. It won't be that easy." Isn't this a contradiction?
None of 'em really have a clue about fighting. It's like setting kindergartners loose on a battlefield.
Read it at the risk of the waste of your own time.
The Story
We learn of Jet and Iridium's backstory even as we go forward in current time. Their years together as roommates, their individual family stories---two young girls battling the stigma of parents gone bad.
But it's their final battles in the now that really concern us. One planning a coup while the other blindly follows her mission statement.
It's that test exercise that sets the final battle line.
The Characters
Iridium, a.k.a., Calista Bradford, wields Light as her power. I did like her: quick to anger and quick to protect herself from the nastiness of her schoolmates. Such a Robin Hood, and I'm surprised none of the "good guys" ever figured this out. She quickly takes up as Jet's champion and claims a chunk of lawless Chicago for her own, running it to keep the innocents safe. She's considered a rabid because she doesn't toe the party line. Lester Bradford is Iridium's dad; he was Arclight, before Corps-Co shut him up by imprisoning him.
Jet, Lady of Shadows, a.k.a., Joan, was Iridium's roommate at school. Now, she's the city of Chicago's Hero of New Chicago with the city as her sponsor. It's a nightmare being their poster girl---all that stupid PR. She rigidly adheres to the RULES---all bow and kiss the earth---how STUPID can you get! Her mother was Angelica, a Light power.
Samson defends Jet in self-defense when Lancer plays favorites. Joseph Rogers. Bruce Hunter is Jet's very sexy new Runner who slips inside her defenses.
Hornblower is a bully right along with his Uncle Lancer. Dawnlight is another bully. Boxer Hornblower has little to no power and has thrown in with Iridium. Night is also a shadow power and Jet's mentor. Night insinuates what Corp-Co (with an "s" or without??) has done to her while Taser is a vigilante superhero. Chen, a.k.a., Red Lotus, is partnered with Frostbite.
Martin Moore is the on-site tech guru for the EC. His hero brother may have been taken down by friendly fire, but it was all hushed up.
Lynda Kidder is a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter for the New Chicago Tribune. And Icarus Biologica is missing.
Dr. Frank Wurthan leads the Everyman Society, an organization that sees extrahumans as a threat to the world. They're not alone either; the cops hate the extrahumans too.
The Cover
The cover suits the title as it's all black-and-white with a red, raised-block effect title. It's a determined super-heroine in a skinsuit, cape, and high-heeled boots charging off on a mission, braided hair flying behind her and wearing her Opti-something goggles.
The title is Jet and Iridium, one good and the other bad, opposites, the Black and White of the situation. But all is not what it seems.
241 reviews34 followers
I liked this book, but I think that it could have been written so much better. The book was split up between the do good hero, Jet, and the "rabid, evil genius" that is Iridium. Jackie Kessler wrote Jet's part, and Caitlin Kittredge wrote Iridium's. I've never read any of their writings before, but I found that I liked Kittredge's writing exceptionally more than Kessler's. Iridium was funny and someone I could easily relate to, whereas Jet only cared about the corporation she was working for, and about her gorgeous Runner, Bruce. The reader finds out why, of course, but I didn't buy it. The book is so long that this realization about Jet and the Corp that comes at the end feels like it should be given 100 more pages of explanation, instead of 30. I also don't think the book should have been over 400 pages long. There was a lot of things the writers could have cut out.
I also didn't like that fact that there was really no background or information given about the world the "extrahumans" live in, and that bugged me because I didn't know what half the things were, and if there was description, I would have been ok with the book being over 400 pages long. I don't know why extrahumans are even a thing. Is this new? Is this a world where they have existed since the beginning of humanity? What year is this even set in? We get clips of writing that is dated at 2112 AD, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's the year. What's the Icarus Project? What's Everyman? Everyman was a big part of this book, but there's no explanation or background on them, there's no description about gadgets or anything, so the book kind of confused me a little bit. As sort of stated above, too, the book rushes the ending. There's a huge build up to the "final battle" between good and evil (which was obviously from about half way through who the real evil was) but it's over within forty five pages or so.
My favorite parts of the novel were the flashbacks to the training Jet and Iridium received at the Academy. I thought that, for a first book, they could have just written about that, and kept it at around 200 pages, then for the second book, write about the rift between Jet and Iridium, and the battle that happens at the end. Then a third book could be Jet and Iridium dealing with what happens after this battle. That way, each book could have been 200 pages or so. Instead of one book that was close to 500 pages, we could have gotten more description and background, and it would have made more sense.
With all of that being said, the book was still ok, and it was about superheroes, so I enjoyed it. I have to say that I don't think I would have liked this book if it wasn't about superheroes, but I do plan on reading the next book in this series.
fiction superheroes ya-teenager
378 reviews4 followers
Superheroes: check. Supervillains: check. Dystopian future: check. Moral ambiguity: check. Fiendish plot: check. Excellent read: check.
This book is chock full of awesome. Set in a dystopian early 22nd century Chicago (now known as New Chicago), it's the story of two former friends: by-the-books superhero Jet and budding supervillain Iridium. Once the closest of friends, they're now bitter enemies. Jet is the adored superhero, and Iridium, once a superhero in training, is now on the other side of the law. In this world, the so-called extrahumans have had superpowers for a few generations, apparently the result of fertility treatments gone wrong (the how and why are left somewhat unanswered, but I get the feeling it could be important in future books). Superheroes are sent to the Academy as children for intensive training. A mysterious corporation controls the Academy and the superheroes' lives. When the heroes graduate from the Academy, they vie for corporate sponsors. The superheroes are revered by some segments of society and loathed by others, especially the regular human police and the Everyman Society, a group dedicated to ridding the world of extrahumans.
Alternating chapters switch between Jet and Iridium's points of view. The book also switches back and forth between the past and present, so we see how the two protagonists first met and how it all went horribly wrong. Like so many superhero stories, the villain is a touch more interesting than the hero. But although I preferred Iridium, I still found Jet to be a multifaceted character. Her particular power, shadow, is a dangerous one, and she's constantly worried about staying sane.
The story moves at a quick pace, and I had a hard time putting this book down. Although it's written by two authors, the writing never felt disjointed or awkward. There are two different voices, but the voices belong to two very different characters, so it really works. The plot is intriguing, and it leaves a lot of potential for future books. There are lots of fun nods to the superhero genre. Kittredge and Kessler have built a compelling world.
My only complaint about the writing is a small one: there are a few scenes between Jet and her potential love interest that veer into romance novel clichés (weak knees, fluttering stomachs, etc.). It's only a few paragraphs, but these bits stick out in what is otherwise a gritty, dystopian superhero tale.
Overall, Black and White is an absorbing, entertaining read. I'm definitely looking forward to future volumes in the series.
474 reviews
There are so many injustices in the world. My first gripe is that there is no third part . My second is when I go my favorite book store for the sequel I know they are going to think I'm looking for a completely different book. Shades of Gray
This book kinda feels like an experiment. Most stories written by multiple writers usually have that feel to them. It's like these two comic book geeks found each other at a divorce sale. They each walk away with thousands of classic #1s they got they for a $1. They each take their gains but feel connected because of their ill gotten so as a penance of sorts they decide to create a comic. Problem neither can draw. Freed from actually having to draw the images these two create two of the most dynamic extrahumans never drawn. They put them in a brilliant future where crime still needs it butt kicked hard.
It's a very smart tale about a super hero and super genuis villian. But which is which? you have Jet a blond shadow weaver with trust issues because of her tragic backstory (seriously its is so sad) and Iridium a raven haired light thrower with attitude and an overdeveloped sense of loyalty (really sad too). This story is gets complicated because at these two were bffs. In their superhero private school daze (Harry Potter eat your heart out), they were roomies and fellow outcasts. No one liked either of them so they were all each other had. Then duty, justice, and love got in the way and set them at opposite ends of the same stick.
Black and White is a challenge. There's flashbacks and different perspectives and the line between evil and justice has never been blurred.
I really wish this series was longer and I havent even embarrassed myself at the store yet.
Author 6 books58 followers
Jet and Iridium are mortal enemies now, but they became friends at the Academy when they were 12 and just learning the ways of heroes - people born with genetic differences that give them superpowers. There’s a lot going on in the telling of the story. View points that alternate each chapter, and time frames that very every few chapters. You get the present time, where the story takes place over days. And interspersed with that you get year one, year two, etc., while the women were at the academy, so their backstory unfolds bit by bit, leading the reader to find out how they got where they are today. There’s a mystery surrounding the ‘heroes’ and their connection to the corporation that handles them. There’s a phobic group that hates and attacks the heroes. There are a couple of strong secondary characters who may not be what they seem. And there is one hero - Jet - who is by-the-book, duty-first, save-humanity and interestingly wears black and controls shadows/the dark. And the other former-hero, Iridium, who breaks the rules, goes rogue and lords over the bad part of town, and wears white and controls the light.
I can’t say that I’ve ever read anything like this, even in the urban fantasy field. It was gripping and a fast-moving read. I would have wanted to smack Jet except that Iridium did it for me (several times) so that balanced out quite nicely. I did figure out the bad guys fairly early, but not the reason for their existence. And I do love stories where you get to see the evolution of the characters. All in all a very good read!
12 reviews
I liked this book but the back and forth four-way was a little dizzying. The story flips from the perspective of one character who is 'good', to another who is considered 'bad', but from each character's point of view they are both doing good in the world but it's easy to see why each one considers the others way to be 'wrong'. Add to this flip/flop between characters that the story flips back to the past of each character as the story progresses. It's not terrible but it is a bit much at times. From Person A to Person B present to show you they are enemies, then from Person A to Person B's pasts to show you they were friends, and slowly as the story progresses in the past tellings as well as the present tellings, you grow to understand why they are now enemies. The reason seems a bit weak at first until the book progresses a tad more and you gain more understanding of other things that had been going on behind the scenes with them.
The sequel, "Shades of Gray", picks up right as Black and White leaves off which was a huge plus for me.
I'd give this book 4 and a half stars if it was possible, but it just wasn't a 'five' for me.
OK. The sequel to this book is called "Shades of Gray." I stumbled across that book because I was looking for a different one at the library, and some genius librarian had put "Shades of Gray" on an endcap. "Smooth move," I thought. "I *have* to pick this up now." Upon looking it up on Goodreads, I learned that a) it was a sequel so I should probably start with the first one and.....ONE OF THE AUTHORS GAVE IT A FIVE-STAR REVIEW. How can you not want to pick it up now, OBVIOUSLY this is the greatest book in the world.
So. It's bad. It's not *so* bad that it's not enjoyable anymore, but nor is it just bad enough to not be enjoyable. The dialogue is terrible, the premise is silly, and the plot is hurtling toward what I really, really hope the authors realize is an inevitable conclusion. PLEASE put in a plot twist. I'm pulling for you, ladies.
Update: HAHAHA nope they went with the really obvious conclusion. Two stars for (unintentionally) making me laugh.
116 reviews3 followers
I was recommended this book nearly ten years ago, but didn’t actually read it until now. I thought my expectations going in might have been a little high since it was recommended to me by more than one person, but after thinking about it, that’s not really the case.
It’s all just too much. Its’s set in a weird, cyberpunk world, there’s a superhero academy that’s sponsored by a corporation (I think?), and every hero’s powers fall into one of several categories and each category has their own “fatal flaw”. Superheroes that graduate from the academy can get sponsors and endorsements from cities and corporations, and if they don’t they can be mercenaries or rogues, or rabids, or whatever else. Or they can just get normal 9-5’s, which the book suggests most of them do.
I didn’t really find any of the characters relatable and they all talk on the same snarky, sarcastic tone that just annoyed me after a while. Even in normal conversations.
The two plot twists that come along in the last hundred pages or so were completely obvious. Then, Bruce/Tazer turning on Night at the end was lame and felt like a cop out. Also, why did Night let Iridium keep talking to Jet at the end? He should have just knocked her out so she couldn’t talk Jet out of shadowing the sun. Plus, there’s the ol’ villain-explaining-their-entire-master-plan cliche. And every Shadow power ends up going crazy? Why don’t they do something about that? It makes no sense. The world building is just bad and incomplete.
Trying not to rant too much here, so I finish up. The flashback scenes are okay and it’s kinda cool seeing some of the other powers in action, but even that is just eh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
235 reviews12 followers
Good and evil, shadow and light. This is a story about dualities and the thin line between. Nothing is as simple as Black and White, the book jacket proclaims; the pages does well to show it. Perspective skews what Iridium and Jet believe to be right, and neither is wrong.
While their complicated friendship proves compelling, the rest of their ties are significantly less developed. Villains are mostly caricatural, while certain heroes vanish when convenient. One that truly irks me was the Asian kungfu character named... Red Lotus. Gah.
The superheroines (or villainesses?) also get bogged down by the weight of hokey romance, which seemed shoehorned at best. Cringe as Jet becomes a mess of hormones around a man so dashing, he literally electrifies. Then again, I don't believe I am its audience at all; this might been a solid read for a teenage audience.
8 reviews
Started off kind of slow, but I gotta say, once it started to hit the "Then" chapters, I think it definitely got better. It also caused the progressively repetitive Jet to have more personality. I shared a love hate relationship with this book but otherwise, it was rather good and I would recommend to anybody who's interested in a world that has superheroes.
Would have been a five star book but the silliness with Bruce just did not ring true and the book would have been better without it. Also the book seemed to lack that excitement factor that keeps a book in your hands. Good enough that I will read #2 and a better read than a lot of the books that I have read recently.
845 reviews46 followers
This is the first book in my 2014 TBR challenge. The TBR challenge is hosted by Roof Beam Reader, and it's to clear books off your to-read list that have been there longer than a year. I add the "difficulty" that it has to have been taking up space on my shelves longer than that, too.
I actually found a signed copy of Black and White at my local Borders, which should tell you how long I've had it. Jackie Kessler is local to the Capital Region, and must've passed through signing their stock.
I did fret I wouldn't like this book, which is probably why I put off reading it for so long. I've met Jackie Kessler, and she's friends with one of my friends. While I don't consider writing ability a reflection on a person's worth, liking a person more than you like what they can do makes for awkward conversations.
Luckily, I needn't have worried, nor do I have to blame the parts I didn't like on Kessler's co-author. I enjoyed Black and White, and found myself unable to put it down around the 300-page mark. It reads quickly, with short chapters and a back story that matters as much as the present day. I really cared about what happened to Jet and Iridium, and I wanted to know what had driven them apart.
Black and White takes place in a near-future setting, where superhumans are well-known but not necessarily well-liked. The police resent them for showing them up at their jobs, the populace mistrusts them, and the corporation that trains and houses them keeps them on a short leash. One single slip-up with one's powers can get a superhero pronounced "rabid," and sentences them to life in Blackbird Prison. Most go full-on supervillain before they're caught, rebelling against the system that keeps a tight rein.
Jet has shadow powers, but is afraid of what they can do, after seeing her similarly-powered father snap and kill her mother with his power. Iridium has light powers, and her father went the supervillain route before winding up in prison. In a reverse of what one might expect, the shadow-powered one winds up the hero, and the light-powered one the villain. Something happens in their fifth year of training to drive a wedge between them, and, five years later, Jet is determined to bring in Iridium, while Iridium wants to show Jet she chose the wrong side, and get her back for betraying her, in the bargain.
When Jet fails to bring in Iridium, her PR is in trouble, and she embarks on a clandestine mission to fix it. While she does get back in the public's good graces (and almost dies, while she's at it), what she learns has her questioning the things she's always been told about the corporation she works for.
Iridium, meanwhile, works with a vigilante with electric powers to strike at the heart of CorpCo by shutting off the communications that keep the heroes marching to their beat, which will throw the city into chaos. Her plan takes her into Jet's path, where they both uncover something much bigger than their fundamental disagreement. Jet's sense of betrayal runs deep, while Iridium learns that thinking she understands what's going on is what got her where she is.
While it's difficult to capture the spirit of comics in an exclusively written medium, I think Kessler and Kittredge manage it well. The battles feel cinematic without becoming repetitive, and they paint an excellent view of the city of New Chicago and its filthy underbelly, as well as of Jet and Iridium. I expected to be able to tell which character's perspective was written by which writer, but they manage to blend their styles so well that there's no jarring shift from one section to the next.
I greatly enjoyed this collaborative project, and I wish there were more than two books. I'll be reading the second book as soon as I can get my hands on a copy (yes, despite my intimidating to-read pile). That, to me, speaks of a successful book, when the world and characters are so compelling you finish it wanting more.
2014 2014-tbr-challenge books-i-own
579 reviews8 followers
Again, Jackie Kessler delivers with a unique concept, well-written prose, attention-catching characters, and well-developed social justice ideas.
pretty much everything you could ask for in a sci-fi/fantasy novel.
Apparently, this book is being marketed as Young Adult, and I sort of disagree with this. There are many plot points and references that I think the typical 11-16 market for YA might be too young to grasp, depending on privilege level and exposure. Personally, I feel like I would love to teach this book in a college level class on pop culture and society. Then again, I'm 24, and still into YA fiction. So maybe that's just my grumpy age talking.
The book, centering on superheroes, reads like a dark twisted version of Disney's Sky High, but with far more adult themes. The two main characters, Iridium and Jet, are wonderfully written, although a little ambiguous in parts. This is the type of novel that Tumblr fans crave. It's perfect for fancasting, fanfiction, fanart, everything, because it's so visual. In fact, I felt a little odd, reading it off the page, instead of in graphic novel form.
Think the setting of Sky High (or Harry Potter, really), the society of Watchmen, the interpersonal dynamics of Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series, and the pleasing witticisms of a retro Joss Whedon show (we're talking Buffy, not Dollhouse). Which all makes sense, given Kessler's writing history and influences.
(in fact, I gave a little fangirl squee when I saw that the evil Superintendent (a minor, throwaway background character, but important nonetheless) was named "Neil Moore." As in Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore? The two biggest comic book/urban fantasy writers in the past 20 years? YES!)
Again, my beefs with it, the only thing that kept me from giving it 5 stars completely, were the sort of clunky romance and romancing between Jet and the mysteriously charming Bruce (I won't spoil that twist for you)
So yeah: angry because there should have been more lesbians.
(I wonder if Jackie Kessler will read this review and think: oh my god, there should always be more lesbians. They are like the proverbial cowbell of YA fiction. I live in hope, Jackie Kessler, I live in hope.)
Anyways, it was the type of book where you want to be like "THIS IS SO AWESOME READ IT" to all of your friends.
DO read this book if: you like superheroes, SHEroes, backstory plots twisted with current plots, word play, creepy storylines that make you go "WTF," and scattered references to make you feel cool
DO NOT READ this book if: you want lesbians, you don't like futuristic lingo being interspersed with your witty prose (WTF IS AN "E" OK WHAT TYPE OF MONEY IS THAT PLZ), you hate dystopian stuff, you get annoyed at sci-fi/fantasy novels taking liberties with science (LOL GENETICS RAISES ITS TROPE HEAD, it's gratuitous but well-done but if you can't stand it because you do real science, I understand), or if you just don't want to read about badass women.
books-to-reread-again-and-again super-hero women-who-kick-ass
Author 2 books20 followers
REVIEW SUMMARY: This complex story explores the good and evil in all of us, even superheroes. The characters in Black and White are relatable and flawed despite their extra-human status. I enjoyed this new take on superheroes with the two main characters being female and best friends - and of course later archenemies. Without taking itself too seriously, this Justice League-meets-Harry Potter novel offers some valuable insights into the nature of being human.
MY RATING:
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Experiments in fertility treatments inadvertently led to the creation of "extrahumans" with special powers. Shadow power Joannie "Jet" Green and Light power Callie "Iridium" Bradford were best friends all through their Academy days until their worldviews finally clashed too much. Fighting evil from opposite directions, these two superheroes must meet in the middle to fend off an insidious nemesis.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: I loved that this superhero story had two women at the center of it. With Black and White, Kessler and Kittredge definitely filled a void for me by creating female superheroes who stand on their own and aren't connected to existing male superheroes. I also enjoyed how Jet's and Iri's fatal flaws are what simultaneously pushed them together and drove them apart. Their characterizations were consistent and their differing worldviews makes sense based on their life experiences.
CONS: While I was a little surprised about one of the characters with the reveal at the end, another character's actions seemed specifically manufactured to suit the arc of Jet and Iri. I was able to look past that aspect and enjoy the story, however.
BOTTOM LINE: I would recommend this book to friends, especially those into comic book superheroes. Kessler and Kittredge clearly love the superhero mythos and several elements in the story pay homage to it.
Those homage elements include the "skinsuits" every hero wears and the nicknames every hero is given before graduating from the Academy. The authors had fun playing with the powers and names given to secondary characters like giant Samson and the blue-haired Frostbite. We're also shown the dark side of extrahuman powers and the repercussions -- some are kept from going "rabid" through "Therapy," an experience that seems similar to brainwashing. Jet may be the protector of New Chicago, but she ultimately answers to Corp-Co, the company who purchased the scientific experiments that created the heroes as well as runs the Academy and heroes-only Blackbird prison.
Both protagonists must overcome the reputations of their fathers. Jet's father went too crazy even for Therapy and murdered her mother in a fit of psychosis while Iri's father sits in Blackbird prison for going AWOL from Corp-Co. Jet fights against the dark voices that drove her father crazy and Iri finds herself a queen of sorts of her father's supervillain underworld. Both characters want to do the right thing; they just disagree on the correct way to achieve their ends. I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment in this series, Shades of Gray, to be released in 2010.
Full review: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009...
928 reviews37 followers
Workable concept. Not much else.
This is the kind of book I want to like but probably never will. The hyper-coordinated narrative structure is its most critical flaw. But there are other elements I wasn't particularly keen to. Lack of enduring secondary characters; the tendency to manufacture splinter plots that are actually better than the greater narrative; and seesaw bludgeoning of information, too, sometimes it's (unnecessarily) a glut and sometimes it's simply not enough.
BLACK AND WHITE's alternating chapter style was useless. The narrator could have remained third-person limited and shifted between the two characters without the stunting of reader pacing every ten to twelve pages. To further complication are the flashback chapters, which were also written in alternating "perspectives." It turns out the events of the flashback are more emotionally engaging and more shrewdly written than anything that happens in the story's present day . . . which is a big, big problem. Because if the backstory or the side story is more critical to a character's presence, more pertinent toward shaping the grand narrative, and thus more enlightening to read, than the actual "story," then that's a red flag to me that the author(s) is flat-out telling the wrong story.
Given this, the case of BLACK AND WHITE is that the better story is not Joan learning to break away from her institutional support and is not about Calista learning trust the good in others. The better story is about how these characters emerged as such in the beginning. That's the more interesting story. Why Joan is a head case, how she got to be that way, and why she's content to pacify her encroaching insanity rather than to fight back against it -- that's the story. Why Calista feels betrayed by friends, family, her educators, and the world at large, and why she stubbornly refuses to actively seek out those who would behave otherwise toward her (and nurture those relationships) -- that's the story. Does BLACK AND WHITE address any this? Only in passing. And only as a convenience.
This book has 450+ pages. Cut out the fat and you'll get something half as long and twice as engaging.
I wanted to like this book, but I really felt like the book was slipping away after a while. The quotes that open each chapter can be ignored; the puns are tiresome; the vague writing style means no conflict of consequence appears for quite some time; occasionally, the writing is terribly awkward (though strangely, not in the fight scenes); and to top it all off, re-reading the earlier chapters leaves me wondering how much time has actually passed. Maybe it has to do with the very, very slow burn of the climax. Nothing feels urgent until the last one hundred pages.
362 reviews41 followers
Black and White is a fun read by two powerhouse authors! I love that they turn stereotypes on their head in this one, making the brunette with shadow powers the hero and casting the blond with light powers in the role of the villain!
The book flips back and forth between past and present day, with the two leads taking turns narrating the story. But everything is easy to follow as the timelines and narrators are clearly labeled, avoiding any confusion. I hate it when a story is choppy and you're never sure who the narrator is, so appreciated this little extra.
The authors have created a strange, new world where "extrahumans" have powers and need corporate sponsorships in order to leave the Academy and become superheroes. Those who can't find a sponsor are stuck back at headquarters, pushing paper and being desk jockeys. Very odd, yet fascinating!
While Iridium is cast as the villain, I found her to be more heroic than Jet. Iridium's main crime was refusing to follow rules and wanting justice for all, including the poor and disenfranchised. She didn't live in an elaborate hide-out or have a crew at her disposal, but tried her best to look out for her city.
On the other hand, Jet had plenty of support, lived in a spacious penthouse, and had her own personal assistant, aka a Runner. Every superhero had a Runner, who took care of those pesky little chores like laundry and dinner. Must be nice! Of course, Jet had to deal with constant photo ops, interviews, and meetings with various city officials when she'd much rather be fighting crime. Poor little hero!
Jet and Iridium both stumble upon a nefarious plot that threatens their city, come up with plans to save it, and fail miserably. Loved the identity of the evil mastermind, as what's a good superhero book without an evil mastermind?
This is a really fun read, full of interesting characters, set in a unique world! Sorry that it took me so long to pick this one up, but so happy that I finally did! Hope the sequel is as good!
1,317 reviews51 followers
This is a superhero book. Capes, flying, justice, supervillains - the whole shebang. But if what you're looking for is an action-packed story where heroes shoot lasers out of their eyes and save the city for a grateful populace, I don't think this is the book for you. This particular story is more about the complexities of friendship, and about power and control. The main characters are Jet, a shadow power whose father went insane and who fears the same fate, and Iridium, a light power whose father rebelled and went "rabid," and who has followed in his footsteps. Jet and Iridium were friends and partners in superhero school, but now Jet is the perfect corporate hero while Iridium is an outlaw and enemy to the Squadron of superheroes.
The worldbuilding here is pretty solid. It takes place about a hundred years in the future, and the world has become something of a craphole. There's a ton of crime and poverty, and most superhero activities involve protecting society from the crimes of renegade "extrahumans." They don't do much to stop everyday crime, so the streets are violent and dangerous, and poverty is pretty much everywhere. Heroes have corporate sponsors, and spend a lot of their time doing advertisements and posing for press releases. Regular people range from fanatical devotees of their favorite heroes, to violent members of the Everyman society, which wants to take the whole system down and eliminate everyone with a superpower. And behind everything is a corrupt system that is ripe for collapse.
I don't want to go too much into details about the story, because that's a big part of the journey here. Who can be trusted? Who's evil? Which side is the right one? (You'll think you know, but the last quarter of the book held some surprises. At least for me.) It was a slow starter for me, but I really enjoyed the epic finale. There's a sequel, and I think I need to find out what happened. Good payoff.
81 reviews12 followers
2 Feb. 2015: I just finished the first part (up to page 45) and I have some things to say already.
First off, the writing seems very poor in my opinion. The story is told from alternating perspectives, Jet's view of things and Iridium's. But they aren't in first person, so it's not a matter of the characters' voices, I don't think.
Second, maybe it's just because I haven't gotten far enough in to the story, but nothing really makes sense. Even apart from the fact that the past the two girls had together hasn't been explained yet...there are a lot of terms about their powers and such that just seem random and don't make sense to me.
Jet is supposed to be the "good" character, yet I find her really dumb and annoying. Iridium is the arrogant, mysterious one, yet during their fight, Jet seems to be the one pulling the more stupid moves. She doesn't really seem to care about the people of the city, just her next mission. Even though she doesn't seem very good at doing her job (though apparently she is because she's getting all these random awards).
Jet talks to her new side-kick for about 5 minutes and is majorly sexually attracted to him, unable to focus on anything else. Idk, maybe that's a thing, but it's certainly not professional and I wouldn't want a superhero that easily distracted in charge of saving me and everyone around me.
Sexual content: Jet gets cornered by a gang that apparently wants to try to rape her, and makes some sexual gestures and comments. Jet is extremely sexually attracted to Bruce.
21 Feb. 2015 Well...I gave up. Even the backstories lost my interest, and the characters became even more annoying. Well, Jet became even more annoying with her whole stupid sexual obsession with her new "Runner", Bruce. And I wasn't really even sure WHY anything was happening. There seemed to be SO much potential for the characters and the world building, but it just wasn't there...
books-i-did-not-finish super-heroes
Author 2 books2 followers
Looking at my local brick and mortar, the cover of this book caught my eye. I read the blurbs and impulsively bought it. As a huge fan of comics and super-hero mythology, I figured I'd be entertained.
Well, I was definitely entertained. The authors are strongest on building an environment; they're masters at the throwaway detail that reinforces the future world. I was glad to see strong female protagonists, especially of the "superhero" ilk. It had the burden of being an "origin" story but still kept me flipping the pages. Heck, I liked it enough to want to read Shades of Gray in 2010. I hovered on a four star rating.
But a few things nagged at me to bring down the score. First, the storyline is good, but there are a few plot holes; there's also a few character twists/surprises that were so easy to figure out 200 pages before the reveal, I wondered why it was made so obvious. (It seemed to be played too coy for it to be intentionally obvious, but maybe it just went over my head.) I kept thinking that, in terms of vocabulary or literate style, this could easily be YAL (young adult literature), were it not for the constant profanity and occasional sexual innuendo. Stylistically, the book seems to hover between two worlds. If the authors wanted it to be a more "literary" book (admittedly, a mushy and devisive term, when used as a highbrow indicator), it could have been written less breezily, and really approached some more adult themes that most superhero stories don't touch. And yet . . . with some different word choices, it would have been a home run for YAL.
Still, at the end of the day, I'd recommend it, and I am curious about the next one.