The publisher kindly sent me a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
From Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’, comes the first in a two-book origin story of Faith, a groundbreaking, plus-sized superhero from the Valiant Entertainment comics.
Faith Herbert is a pretty regular teen. When she’s not hanging out with her two best friends, Matt and Ches, she’s volunteering at the local animal shelter or obsessing over the long-running teen drama The Grove.
So far, her senior year has been spent trying to sort out her feelings for her maybe-crush Johnny and making plans to stay close to Grandma Lou after graduation. Of course, there’s also that small matter of recently discovering she can fly …
When the fictional world of The Grove crashes into Faith’s reality as the show relocates to her town, she can’t believe it when TV heroine Dakota Ash takes a romantic interest in her.
But her fandom-fueled daydreams aren’t enough to distract Faith from the fact that first animals, then people, have begun to vanish from the town. Only Faith seems able to connect the dots to a new designer drug infiltrating her high school.
But when her investigation puts the people she loves in danger, she will have to confront her hidden past and use her newfound gifts — risking everything to save her friends and beloved town.
Faith: Taking Flight Review
After hearing about Faith: Taking Flight, I immediately added it to my list of books to read in 2020. The cover, the synopsis, the author and the diversity of the book totally caught my attention.
While I enjoyed the book, I didn’t love it as much as I hoped I would.
Faith: Taking Flight follows Faith, a plus-sized teen who develops superhero powers. After noticing a number of disappearances in her town, Faith starts to investigate!
I really enjoyed Faith. While she’s coming to terms with her new reality, she remains loyal, brave and realistic. I thoroughly enjoyed her friendship with Matt and Ches, mostly because of their fangirl attitudes! The characters in this book really jump through the pages.
I also love the diversity and representation in this book. Faith is a nerdy, plus-sized, bisexual supehero. This representation is incredibly important and I know that Faith will be the role-model that so many readers need to see. Because of Faith, I hope there will be more of this representation in the young adult genre in the future!
Where this book falls flat for me is the overall plot. The story is good but it wasn’t really until the end of the book where things picked up. Since it took a while for the story to pick up, it just wasn’t enough time to make me love the book.
I love Julie Murphy’s writing in general, but it seems a bit choppy this time around. There are times where the story doesn’t flow as well as it should and feels like there are too many additional plots and storylines being included.
Overall, Faith: Taking Flight is an enjoyable read. It’s lighthearted, features incredible representation and diversity and some great characters. Did I love it? No. But, it is enjoyable and I’m curious enough to continue with the next book. And I definitely recommend it to fans of Julie Murphy and superheroes!
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Favourite Quote
The best I can do is handle life one bite-sized piece at a time.
About the Author
Julie Murphy lives in North Texas with her husband who loves her, her dog who adores her, and her cat who tolerates her. When she’s not writing or trying to catch stray cats, she works at an academic library. Side Effects May Vary is Julie’s debut novel.
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