Review Detail

While the superhero excitement continues to flourish in pop culture, there are wonderful opportunities to take a hero, a lover, a sidekick, or a villain and turn present them in a new light as Gwenda Bond has fabulously done with LOIS LANE: FALLOUT. Many may recognize Lois’s name as the journalist whom Superman falls for, and this story shows just how magnanimous Lois is on her own. Here is a larger than life character I would want as a best friend, someone I can’t help but be inspired by after finishing this book, and a protagonist whose complexity illustrates a perfect balance of strengths, weaknesses, and a thirst for justice. Readers searching for a character with similar qualities to Veronica Mars should grab this one immediately.

Lois wins my pick of favorite character, but the secondary characters shine beautifully in this story as well. With Lois’s father being in the army, she isn’t used to having or keeping friends, and I love her journey in learning to connect and trust others in Metropolis. Maddy, James, and Devin are all distinctive and intriguing, and I can’t wait to see what other adventures they get into in the next book. “SmallvilleGuy” makes quiet but important appearances, and Lois’s messages with him are brimming with true friendship and the intense potential for more someday, awaiting them in the horizon.

The plot unfolds wonderfully, creating various levels of conflict and antagonists from the crushing location of a principal’s office to top secret, illegal program developers. The Warheads prove to be creepy with more than a touch of sadness, and I found it hard not to shiver every time they finished each other’s’ sentences. The back drop of bustling Metropolis is perfect, allowing ample room for corruption, opportunity, and adventure.

FALLOUT is a story I won’t soon (or potentially ever) forget, holding an array of incredible characters, delicious plotting, and a premise of which I can’t get enough. Gwenda Bond takes an important character and transforms her into someone readers can admire and enjoy in a new perspective. I am left with the crucial question of when the next installment is available for preorder.