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. … 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 sights on the rest of the world.
ALTER EGO is a twisty superhero saga for fans of Umbrella Academy and Renegades.
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I received a free eBook in exchange for an honest review.
Alter Ego is a Adult Science Fiction/Superhero novel, book 1 in the series.
Book Cover: 4* – This cover is really well done, and although I prefer covers with characters on them, this mask computer gadget symbol vibe still works for what the cover is trying to tell you. I got a superhero espionage vibe from this cover, and this book did deliver on that.
Summary/Tagline: 3* – The summary was good, it just didn’t draw me in as it sounds like something I’ve read/watched before, but what jostled me was that this book doesn’t only follow Mary, but 3 other POVs. It threw me off when I started reading the book. I always prefer when there are summaries made for each POV, especially if they are equal amounts of each. That’s it.
Characters: 4* – Hmmm, this one is a toughy. Like I said previously, we follow 4 POVs, one of which is an antagonist. We follow Mary, a powerless, and I mean that she has no powers not that she’s weak, secret agent/spy character who’s really good at making gadgets as she is being a celebrity, Nathan, a cop that . . . I like him, but there’s something about his chapters that just read as rushed compared to the other characters. There’s also a romance that happens between him and Mary, but even though some time has gone by and interactions are happening off page, it just reads as instant and pretty underdeveloped. Oh, the romance is a subplot and not in your face. So if you’re looking for something heavy on the romance, this book is not it. 2 other characters we follow is Eloise who has inherited her mother’s power to control a intriguing dagger that definitely feels not of this world and who runs the organization LIO(League of Independent Operatives), along with being Mary’s foster sister. Eloise was alright, she read as a stick in the mud so I wasn’t 100% behind her, but I get where her actions and choices are coming from, and a antagonist Mange who is trying to out LIO and reunite with his daughter. Although he had the least amount of chapters compared to the others, his chapters were definitely intriguing. There are other minor characters throughout the story, some I liked, other’s I was meh about, other’s I don’t really have an opinion on as there wasn’t enough of them.
World Building: 4* – You know what, the world was intriguing and it definitely felt lived in. It felt like an amalgamation of MCU(Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the Mission Impossible movies. Super powered beings mixed with espionage and governments inteference and insurrections. It was really exciting to learn about those that have power and those like Mary and Nathan that try to work without them, but there was one thing I was curious about that I don’t think was answered in this book, and that is how some people got powers. I know one got it because of science experimentation, but others were never really explained how they got theirs. I don’t even know how Eloise’s mother got her connection with the dagger, but we know how Eloise inherited it. Hence the mystery on the power is why this section gets 4 stars instead of 5.
Story: 3* – It looks like an old enemy of LIO has returned and Mary is doing what she can to stop them, but a self made action to rescue a super powered woman and bring her to HQ while ignoring regulation and protocol makes Eloise decide to send Mary to a one way trip to suspension from further missions for awhile and keep up her celebrity appearance. In the meantime, Nathan finds a clue on Mary’s hero identity and flies from the other side of the US to find her and beg to work with LIO all while trying to keep his past hidden. However, things begin to unravel and now Mary and Nathan have to decide whether or not to continue working with LIO or jump ship. Now, unfortunately I’ve hit quite the superhero fatigue when I got to this book. Although it was entertaining in some spots, the story was mostly predictable throughout. There’s one section where I was actually taken by surprise, but then it quickly went predictable again. Nothing in the story grabbed me unfortunately and some chapters felt rushed compared to others.
Over All: 4* – Hmmm, based on my scoring so far, I think I’m happy to say 4 stars is good for me. It’s either that or 3.5, but because halfsies are a no no, I might as well say 4. The story was entertaining and engaging sometimes, and I did like the characters, plus Alter Ego totally gave me a MCU meets Mission Impossible vibe. The story was fun, exciting, and thrilling when it came down to it. I say if you like things like the MCU and Mission Impossible movies, I say give this book a try. I’m sure you’ll have fun, especially if you’re in the mood for more superhero stories mixed with some thrilling espionage.
She has an alter ego and a clan which takes action when injustice appears. She risks everything when she saves a girl and takes her back there. She is sent to LA as punishment but she is still going to find what happened to her parents. What will she find out? Will it cause trouble? How willl she cope with the fall out? See what will be found out
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Oh my goodness, this book.
I thought I knew what was going on. Then a little more than halfway through the tables turned. And soon after that the rug was swept out from under my feet and I was questioning everything as I read to the end as quickly as possible.
This is probably one of the best written twists I’ve read in a long time. It makes you want to both read the next book immediately and read this one again to see if you can see hints toward the ending any earlier.
I received a free copy of this novel through Voracious Readers Only and in return this my honest review.
After finishing this book, I am questioning why I have never read a book about superheroes in my adult life. This book was phenomenal and I am craving the second book to see what happens next in the series. The characters are complex, real, and relatable. The plot is fast-paced and makes it feel like I am a fly on the wall watching the drama, the fight scenes and all the awesome gadgets.
There is a bonus epilogue, which I found super intriguing, but also thought it was cool to see the authors character design and playlist for the book.
This so far is one of the best books I have read that was published in 2020. Looking forward to read more books from this author.
Mary hates that she can’t be more proactive in the community that she has been raised in because she doesn’t have what there others have. But this doesn’t stop her while in secret. Her escapades are full of intrigue and danger to her and her family. Good read
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.