The super hero book you need to read right now!“An enjoyable, exciting, and action-packed read… at its core, just fun.” –Associated PressAn extraordinary and emotional adventure about unlikely friends and the power of choosing who you want to be.Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a … his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books.
Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it.
When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship. With countless people at risk, Zoe and Jamie will have to recognize that sometimes being a hero starts with trusting someone else—and yourself.
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I loved Here and Now and Then (my first Mike Chen). It was one of my favorite books of that year, and Mike Chen was brilliant with it. It was a marvelous blend of character-driven and plot-driven storytelling, wholly original, and it grabbed my attention from the beginning and never let go. Since then I feel like I have been chasing his books trying to recapture that connection and magic and yet time and again I just can’t get there…
I started A Beginning at the End (his previous title) captivated by the premise and sure I was going to find that same connection. No dice. I tried this one, again convinced I was going to find it – and again, not so much.
I felt like I had read or seen this story before. The disaffected regular guy turned superhero who discovers that super powers aren’t all they’re cracked up to be feels like it’s become a trope or genre of its own. I’ve seen a couple of other reviews that mention that this would make for a good movie or TV show – I can agree there, because the visuals could help balance out what I felt was a lack of drama and an over-reliance on our societal relationship with the concept of angst. As a book, it just never grabbed me…
I never felt any connection to the characters – although to be fair disaffected 20-somethings and I, a very affected 40-something, don’t tend to have a lot in common. I don’t know what it is but the magic resonance and lyricism I felt in the writing in Here and Now and Then just never seems to be present in any of other subsequent books – they feel like they were written by someone else altogether… ait’s disappointing to say the least. I can’t say that there are specific things wrong with this one, but it just never worked for me. I never felt connected to the characters or the plot line and ultimately gave up.
I’ll keep chasing rainbows with Mike Chen, but with each disappointment I find myself feeling less optimistic that I will find the pot of gold at the end… One area in which I am never disappointed though is his covers – they’re always gorgeous and really help draw readers in, as you can see!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
One of my many weaknesses related to books is that I cannot help but to choose books based on their covers. Ultimately, that is the reason I picked up We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen. While the synopsis also sounds great, the book was extremely disappointing.
There were 45 chapters in this book, and of those I would say I thoroughly enjoyed maybe 5, at the most. I felt like the characters were contradictive and highly unlikeable. Not to mention that there were a ton of editing errors. While this aspect was not a huge deal, it is annoying as a reader when you literally lose count of the editing mistakes in the book.
Most of the time while reading this book I had to force myself to concentrate and often found myself bored. I’ve mentioned in other reviews that if a main character might die, I should feel something as a reader because, by the end of the book, I should feel some emotional connection to the characters if the book was written well. However, I did not feel anything when the characters were in mortal danger and may or may not have died (I don’t want to spoil it in case you choose to read it).
Overall, I love a good science fiction novel, but sadly this book does not fall into that category in my opinion.
3.5 stars. It took me two tries to get into this book, but in the end it was a fun campy quirky superhero story about finding oneself and platonic friendship. There’s a lot of action and humor,however ultimately the villain falls a little flat, and the ending could have used a couple more chapters of explaining. I enjoyed the characters but didn’t really emotionally connect with them until the last chapter or two when Jaime meets Zoe’s family. LGBTQ+ rep.
As a superhero aficionado, I jumped on this book as soon as possible. I was a huge fan of Mike Chen’s Here and Now and Then, which provided me with an emotional time travel novel that brought something fantastical and new to the genre. We Could Be Heroes is a new entry into the superhero novel genre, a type of book that’s been growing in popularity, and I was looking forward to seeing what Chen would do to launch this genre to even greater heights. Yet, I found that We Could Be Heroes didn’t feel very different or fun at all, caught between a story that wasn’t exciting enough to be adventure, not funny enough to be humor, and not emotional enough to get me invested, leaving us with a novel that felt just okay. There’s nothing wrong with it, and at its short length I do consider it a quick and easy read for those who are unfamiliar with the genre and want to dip their toes in, but with so many superhero stories as of late that are filled with depth, gorgeous prose, and inventive plots, We Could Be Heroes fell a little short.
Both Jamie and Zoe woke up two years ago in their apartments with no idea who they were and how they got there. Their apartments are paid for, their clues are minimal, and they both have mysterious abilities that set them apart from the rest of humanity. While Jamie can both read and erase memories, using his abilities to rob banks, Zoe has more traditional hero moves, using her super-speed, super-strength, and hovering abilities to both fight crime and deliver food. They make their reputations as the Mind Robber and the Throwing Star, respectively, but meet each other out of their super-identities at memory loss support group, recognizing the other almost immediately. Their rivalry, however, peters out quickly when they both discover the similarities of their memory loss situations and begin to try and piece each other’s minds back together. Their sleuthing leads them not only to perhaps the source of their true identities, but to a much bigger plot that holds the fate of the city and all the extraordinaries out there in its hands.
The emotional hook to this novel is the friendship of Jamie and Zoe, who are brought together under unlikely circumstances and yet manage to put aside their differences for the greater good. The two do have a great dynamic and the best parts of this book are the moments where they can be alone and banter with one another; Jamie’s an overthinker who loves to have a twelve-step plan to his every action, while Zoe’s super abilities allow her to punch first and ask questions later. When these two were discussing their abilities, holed up in their apartments doing research, or arguing about cat allergies, they were at their best. I really did feel like the two of them were developing a friendship that could last the rest of their lives. At least for the first half of the book. I don’t do spoilers, but I’ll say that circumstances arise that would severely endanger any budding friendship (or any type of relationship), and yet the two snap back together in a way I found dubious. It really felt like Chen was going for the angle that their friendship was so strong that it could overcome anything, but this fell flat for me. The two of them do have a complicated past and trust issues, so regardless of how well their personalities clicked when they began to hang out with one another, I was surprised when they pushed all their previous issues and trauma aside so quickly. The whole thing just felt too easy, especially for an adult novel, where I expect more complexity and involvement with interpersonal relationships.
There is quite a lot of plot jam-packed into this slim novel, with a pacing that alternated between exhilarating and a bit too much. From a superhero novel, I do expect some bombastic action, cool fight sequences, and Chen absolutely delivered. There were moments here that felt so cinematic that I immediately wanted to see them on a screen, sequences with meticulously plotted action, and fights that had me so immersed it felt like I was there fighting alongside them. I think cinematic is absolutely how I would describe this book. It really felt like it was primed for a comedic Netflix adaptation. I often get lost in action sequences where it feels impossible to keep track of how many bad guys there are, whose kicks are landing where, and how exactly our protagonist is injured, but Chen did a really great job of keeping everything clear and in line. I will say the last half of the book is almost nothing but action, and while that may work for some folks, I did want our new superbuddies to stop and take a breather for a moment.
We Could Be Heroes has a bit of an odd tone, one that I don’t think was pulled off as well as it could’ve been. It felt like a traditional superhero squad was forming, with some humor, conflicting personalities, and a vast array of abilities, but overall it felt like it was trying to be too much of everything. Chen’s previous works are known for their emotional depth and the inventive ways he weaves the importance of relationships into the sci-fi landscapes he creates, yet this novel was so much more shallow. The insertion of so much action and this slightly confusing plot took away from the relationships that developed, and even though I did love the banter between Jamie and Zoe, it did feel like their relationship was mostly based in humor and quips. Part adventure, part found family, part humor, part traditional superhero story, the narrative had a lot of things, but a strong, cohesive tone wasn’t one of them.
We Could Be Heroes wasn’t a bad book by any means, but it felt both too underdeveloped and like it had too much involved. I wish I could judge it by itself, but as a big fan of Chen’s previous works, I admit that I was expecting more from him this time around, especially in a genre that I love so dearly. We Could Be Heroes is a quick read for an easy day, fun and fluffy, but lacking the cohesion and complexity I was hoping for.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy.
review blog
The Plot: An Unlikely Friendship
Two years ago, Jamie woke up with no memory of who he was, but a note told him he could read memories. Uninterested in who he had been and figuring out why he had no prior memories, he decided to get enough money to afford a comfortable life on a tropical island – by robbing banks as the overly dramatic Mind Robber.
Hot on his heels, though, is the Throwing Star. In another part of town, Zoe Wong woke up two years ago with no memory of who she was or what had happened. She just had a note telling her to push herself. And she discovered she had a ton of superhero abilities, which she decided to use to beat up criminals as the Throwing Star.
Unexpectedly thrown together after rescuing their memory loss and dementia support group from a fire, they decide to team up to find out who Zoe is and to get Jamie to his island oasis. Their scant clues lead them to a rehabilitation center, but all is not as it seems, and they find they are the only thing standing in the way of catastrophe to San Delgado.
Part fiction, part fantasy, part superhero origin story, I couldn’t put down We Could Be Heroes. Even though I was a little worried about where the story was going about halfway through, I loved this book from start to finish. Superhero fiction isn’t normally my cup of tea, but I was intrigued by the villain with a conscious and the superhero with alcohol and anger issues. I mean, what could go wrong?
Turns out Jamie and Zoe were brilliant together. I adored the story of their friendship. I loved that there were zero romantic undertones to this story and that it just focused on two unlikely people becoming good friends. The care they showed each other, the trust they developed, was gorgeous. When so many books are more focused on romantic relationships, We Could Be Heroes is like a breath of fresh air.
The story tugged at my heart, made me feel for all of the characters, got my heart pounding with all the breathless action and danger, and made me smile. Honestly, this is one of those books I’ll be talking about for a long, long time even though superhero fiction is absolutely not my thing. It’s really Jamie and Zoe that did it for me. Theirs is the kind of friendship that comes once in a lifetime, and I’ll be stuck on it for quite some time.
But, yes, there’s a ton of action, tons of exploring super powers, lots of secrets being peeled open like an onion. There’s always something at every turn, something that either slots a piece of the puzzle into place or changes my perspective of what’s going on. I don’t think I found a single dull moment.
The Characters: A Hero and a Villain Without Their Memories
We Could Be Heroes tells the story of Jamie and Zoe, two people who have had their memories taken from them and who also happen to have super powers. They both had such unique personalities that, in some ways, seemed switched with their villain and superhero personas, but were so much fun when put together.
Jamie is the levelheaded, rational, planner. For a villain, he cares an awful lot about others and carries guilt around like a heavy cloak. He’s a villain for purely personal reasons and doesn’t want to actually hurt anyone. He turns out to have a huge heart. The only thing that puzzled me about him was his lack of interest and curiosity in who he really was. But I loved that he was the calm one, the one who wouldn’t do anything without a plan. His theatrics were also a lot of fun with how over the top and rehearsed they were, but, really, that’s Jamie.
Zoe is the rash, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants superhero. She isn’t particularly good at using her abilities all the time, but that might be because of a bit of a drinking problem. At her heart, though, she’s incredibly lost and feeling adrift because she has no history. Without knowing who she is, she’s finding it difficult to find a present and future, and her desperation drives her towards the one person who can help her, even though she’s made it her mission to track him down and bring him to justice. Probably with her fists. Because everything works out when fists are involved.
There are a few other notable characters, each with their own unique stories and personalities, but We Could Be Heroes really is centered around Jamie and Zoe. Everyone else adds a new layer, a new color to the story, enlarging it and making it that much more richer.
The Setting: A Fictional San Francisco
We Could Be Heroes is set in San Delgado, which is really a thinly disguised San Francisco. For me, it was the bridge that gave it away. Otherwise, it’s more of a large collection of buildings divided into different areas one might find in a big city. There’s public transportation and parks and a dock, which Jamie leads Zoe to in the most ingenious way, proving that both of them have quite incredible brains.
There’s also quite a large, wooded, secluded area where a major part of the story and action occurs. It feels industrial and threatening at the same time with secrets buried inside. The part where it’s well-guarded by very well-trained professionals doesn’t help matters, either. The actual machinery in that building was well beyond me, but it all sounded kind of cool.
Honestly, the setting is probably the weakest part of the story. It’s there because the characters need a backdrop, though it is used quite well when necessary. It’s also a familiar city to Chen, making it an easy choice for a light sci-fi/fantasy novel so it feels both familiar and a bit different.
Overall: A Gorgeous Story About Friendship
We Could Be Heroes is one of the stories I can’t get out of my head. Jamie and Zoe really did it for me. They’re brilliant together and the whole story tugged at my heartstrings in just the right way at just the right times. There’s incredible depth to two characters who have almost no history, who are thrown together out of need, and a deal. Overall, it’s a beautiful and incredible story of friendship without even the slightest hint of romance. It’s gorgeously done and resonates long after the last page has been read. There’s a lot to take away from this novel, from who we are as individuals to what we mean to each other.
Thank you to Mara Lawery and Justine Sha at MIRA for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen is a light superhero science fiction novel about two people (Jamie and Zoe) who each wake up in a big city apartment with zero memory of their pasts and just single written clue left behind that indicates they are now the owner of an extraordinary power.
With no idea of who he is or a resume Jamie uses his powers over the mind to rob banks (with the dream of retiring to the Bahamas with his rescue cat, Norman) and Zoe uses her incredible strength and speed to do food deliveries and protect the city against crime. Of course, with these two opposing agendas Zoe and Jamie are heading for a collision.
While I found both Zoe and Jamie engaging with their banter and quirky personalities (he’s a clean freak with a cat and she’s a horror movie aficionado) there wasn’t enough in the plot for me to really dig into. The author originally intended this to be a short story and in some ways it still felt like one. I appreciated the explanation of where they came from, what happened to their memories and how they got their powers but I wasn’t really invested in the battle to stop the organization behind it all.
Superhero and action fans that want a light and less gritty adult super hero story may enjoy We Could He Heroes as an option between heavier reads. I personally prefer something a little edgier with more angst.
My version of They Could Be Heroes was provided as an advanced copy by NetGalley and the publisher for review purposes
Rating: 3.5 stars
My First Foray Into Superhero Books. As much as I’ve read scifi for literally decades, this is actually my first foray into the actual superhero fiction genre. Yes, I’ve read a few comic books in my day and am a big fan of most of the major franchises, but this was my very first superhero fiction novel. And y’all, I found it quite compelling – even as a 38 yo married male reading about two people closer to that Young Adult / New Adult category. While the Arrowverse inspirations for this project were quite clear in so *very* many areas, Chen still managed to create an intriguing and interesting story that could plausibly hold its own against any of those shows – and maybe even be better than some of them. This book definitely feels like a Book 1 for a potential new series, and this reader for one would be down for that. Very much recommended.
An incredibly fun story with delightfully flawed superheroes, exciting action, and satisfying character growth—not to mention the moments that’ll make you laugh out loud. I have all my fingers crossed I’ll get to see this on screen someday!