Hey, Pagelings!
I’m so excited to be joining in on the blog tour for the new book by Bryan Davis, Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World!
It’s a super-fun book about two young superheroes, and it probably took me less than seventeen seconds to get hooked and stay hooked — I couldn’t put it down! 🙂
In this post, I’m sharing a review of it — and make sure you scroll all the way down for info about the book, the author, a couple of awesome giveaways, and the other tour stops! 🙂
Title: Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World
Author: Bryan Davis
- Date read: September 12, 2017
- Rating: 5 stars
- Genre: Superhero / Contemporary
- Age: Middle-Grade
- Year pub: 2017
- Pages: 250 (paperback)
- Fave character: I… can’t decide who’s my favorite since I like so many of them; and the one I’m most intrigued about is a spoiler, sooo…
- Source: The author
- Links: Amazon • Signed Copies • Goodreads
- Notes: I received a free copy of this book from the author (many thanks!). These opinions are entirely my own.
WANTED: A SUPERHERO TO SAVE THE WORLD is a gripping and delightful read, which I read in a day and couldn’t seem to put down.
Meet Eddie and Samantha (Sam) Hertz. They’re kids, but also superheroes—kind of—and the fate of their city (and the world) is on their small shoulders. Eddie and Sam make a great superhero team, and they have an adorable brother-sister relationship, which I absolutely loved!
Eddie is the one telling the story, and he’s a fantastic hero. This twelve year old is super smart (no pun intended, though he would have intended it because he’s fun like that), and I love all the gadgets he’s made. So fun! He’s heroic too, and goodhearted, and just… I really liked him. 🙂 Eddie’s the best. Eight year old Sam is… well, she’s adorable and I really liked her as well! I especially loved her “superhero name” and how she had a thing with long names, like with the cat. XD She’s awesome. And they’re especially awesome together. 🙂
I don’t read a lot of Middle-Grade type books, and I’ve only read one superhero novel before this one, so even though both are outside my usual reading zone, I really enjoyed this book and found it to be fresh and unique. Filled with excitement, danger, and edge-of-your-seat suspense and action, it still found time for humor, fun, and kids being kids. I was impressed with how TENSE the story is, keeping me flipping those pages. Super exciting and gripping. I loved watching Eddie and Samantha get out of things with cleverness, gadgets, and occasional superhero strength. 😉
There were so many twists in this story! Some of them I guessed, others were complete surprises. I loved them! It was so fun following the twisting plot and wondering what was going to happen next. Some of the reveals were awesome. I also loved the mystery and suspense, especially how there were a lot of mysterious characters around, and it was hard to know right away if they’re good, or bad, or… what. That was so cool! I always love it when books leave me guessing, and this was excellent in that way. 🙂
It’s really, really well written. I loved how there was SO MUCH attention to detail, without making it feel bogged down at all. I could see, hear, taste, smell, and feel everything in this setting. It was so vivid and felt like a super-cool movie—in book form, of course (which is the perfect mix for this booklover. ;)).
It has heart and humor too, and some touching or sad moments—I nearly cried a couple of times, when it was sad, or at a very touching adorable part near the end. ^_^ (SO, I wasn’t a fan of the sad things. But I got over it because I really enjoyed the book. :))
I just noticed that I must be getting old, since sometimes I worried about them because earthquakes and peril and swamps and they’re only eight and twelve… ahem. But that’s the point, of course, and having been a teenager myself not so long ago, I didn’t used to think of younger characters in terms of “protect the precious young childs!” It just makes me feel old. XD I do like that it’s suitable for all ages—so many books, even for younger children these days, seem to be dark or inappropriate or just… off, somehow. This one seemed just right for that age or anyone else, too. 🙂
I also loved how Sam and Eddie’s mom was a part of the story! You don’t see much of that in young adult or middle-grade fiction, and I loved that. 🙂 The other characters were all interesting as well! They were all so unique and quirky. I liked Barney, and Gilbert was unexpected. There’s a certain other character, who’s slightly spoiler-ish, so I won’t say much, but I’m now VERY curious/want to know more about him… or see more of him in a sequel.
Speaking of which… The book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but it does leave the door wide open for possible future books. Now I want more about Eddie and Sam and company, because that would be delightful! 😀
It’s not an absolute favorite, largely due to being outside my usual favorite genres/age-group, but for what it is, it’s absolutely fantastic and so much fun. 🙂
Overall, this was an extremely fun, vivid, suspenseful story, for readers of any age—children, young adults, or adults would all enjoy it, I think. I certainly did! Definitely recommend. 🙂
About the Book
Eddie Hertz is smart, real smart. He has to be. What other twelve-year-old patrols the streets of Nirvana alone, hoping to foil the schemes of the evil Mephisto? Since Eddie is small for his age, he trusts in his Batman-style gadgets belt and acrobatic skills as well as lots of experience, like knowing how to swing across dark alleys without being seen.
Eddie has a dream, to become like Damocles, Nirvana’s great superhero. To make that dream come true, Eddie invented a device that is supposed to give him superpowers, but using it on himself is dangerous, maybe even fatal. He doesn’t have the nerve to try it.
When Mephisto unleashes an earthquake machine on the city, Eddie gets a surprising teammate — his quirky eight-year-old sister, Samantha, who comes up with an unexpected way to help Eddie in the frantic battle to prevent the biggest earthquake of all.
Since Damocles has lost his ability to help in physical form, Eddie and Samantha are the only hope for Nirvana and the world.
Available on Amazon
About the Author
Bryan Davis is the author of several bestselling series, including Dragons in Our Midst and the Reapers Trilogy, speculative fiction for youth and adults. Bryan and his wife, Susie, work together as an author/editor team to create his imaginative tales.
Find Bryan Davis Online
Author Website • Book Purchase Site • Facebook Page • Writing Blog • Twitter: @bryandavisauth • Goodreads • Instagram
Contest Giveaways
There are two giveaways on this blog tour!
The first contest’s giveaway is the winner’s choice of any Bryan Davis book, plus a Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World T-Shirt and bookmark. Enter via the Rafflecopter HERE!
The second contest holds the Grand Prize – the items from the first giveaway PLUS a complete Bryan Davis book series of the winner’s choice or a $50 Amazon gift card. To enter this one, you go through all the tour posts and gather the hidden number in each of them (which should be “hidden” fairly easy to find), including the one in this post; add them up, and you will have the key to the Grand Prize giveaway. You can read all the details in Bryan Davis’ opening post, and you can find the Grand Prize Giveaway HERE. Good luck! 🙂
Tour Schedule
Wednesday, September 20th
Tour Kickoff @ The Author’s Chair
Book Spotlight @ Backing Books
Book review and YOU WRITE: About Bryan Davis @ Zerina Blossom’s Books
Book Spotlight and Review @ The Spooky Bookshelf
Book Spotlight and Author Interview @ Scattered Scribblings
Book Review and Character Interview @ Light and Shadows
Thursday, September 21st
Book Spotlight and YOU WRITE: About Bryan Davis @ Red Lettering
Spotlight and Author Interview @ The Reader Addict
Spotlight and YOU WRITE: About Bryan Davis @ target verified
Book Review and Character Interview @ Hidden Doorways
Book Review @ Ashley Bogner
Book Review @ The Page Dreamer (You are here)
Friday, September 22nd
Book Spotlight and Character Interview @ Story of Fire
Book Review @ Inkwell
Book Spotlight and Character Interview @ Liv K. Fisher
Book Review @ writinganyone
Spotlight and YOU WRITE: About Superheroes @ Dreams and Dragons
Author Interview and YOU WRITE: About Bryan Davis @ March to a Different Drum
Book Spotlight @ Author Jaye L. Knight
Saturday, September 23rd
Author Interview @ Jessi L. Roberts, author
Book Spotlight and Character Interview @ Book Lovers Life
Book Review and Character Interview @ Verbosity Reviews
Book Spotlight, Author Interview and YOU WRITE: Superheroes @ Creature of Graphite
Character Interview @ Wanderer’s Pen
Book Spotlight and Author Interview @ Adventure Awaits
Sunday, September 24th
Tour Wrapup @ The Author’s Chair (Winners will be announced here after the contest giveaway deadline which is September 27.)
Have you read any superhero novels? Any to recommend to me? And does this one sound fun? Because it is! What would your superhero power be?
Thanks for reading! 🙂
Dream away in those pages . . .
~ The Page Dreamer / Deborah O’Carroll
The Page Dreamer 
I really, really want to read this!!! I mean, obviously. It’s a Bryan Davis book after all. 😉 And I do enjoy an MG book now and again. I think it’s fun that he decided to dabble into MG! ^_^
THIS JUST SOUNDS SO CUTE. He had posted the first few chapters on his blog back when he was first writing it and I was SUPER (pun toootally intended) invested in it. That’s cool that it has intense moments but also fun and humor. Those are my favorite types of stories! But I’m actually with you on now having a hard time reading these books about characters being so young because…they’re BABIES. They’re too young to be off saving the world. They must be protected! D: LOL. We’re getting ooold. xD
Anyways! I loved your review! I will obviously have to get my hands on this book eventually!
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I mean, obviously! XD Bryan Davis is inextricably linked to you in my mind because you’re where I heard about him! 😀 And yes, MG can be quite fun! ^_^
Yep, it’s the perfect mix of suspense and fun and I love it. 😀 (Awk, we’re so old!! O_O Eheh. XD I didn’t actually mind so much, and they’re fantastic heroes, so it was fine. :D)
Thank you! And yes, I think you’d enjoy it! ^_^
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This sounds like such a good book.
Great review!
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It is! 😀 And thanks very much! 🙂
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Deborah, what a great review! Thank you very much. I’m glad you enjoyed the book.
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Thanks, glad you liked the review! And you’re so welcome! 🙂 Thanks for writing such a fun book! ^_^
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Loved your review, as always! 🙂 Siblings relationships are the BEST. And I keep hearing about a touching ending, so I’m looking forward to it even more!
But hahaha, yes, we’re getting too old… I think the same thing about all the youngsters in YA and MG. Like, hero, you’re a little kid. Go home and eat pizza and do math homework or something. XD But no, honestly, I have to remember to give teens and kids more credit! They’re often pretty awesome underneath the angst. 😉 (And it wasn’t that long ago that we were teens too, so…)
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Thanks so much, Tracey! And yes, they are! ^_^ Much good in endingses, preciousss. 😀
I’m glad I’m not the only one. XD And YES, kids are actually great! And when I was that age I probably thought I was old already sooo… it’s just strange, is time. *nods* (TOO TRUE!)
Thanks for reading! ^_^
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Ok, since I’ve read the book, can you tell me who your spoilery favorite character is? Because I have a guess, but I’m curious, and yeah. If you don’t want to post it in comments, you can email me or message me on Goodreads.
Also, I completely agree about the worrying-for-kids bit. I think the only kids’/MG books I don’t do that with are Diana Wynne Jones’s books, though.
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Will do! 😀
And whew, I’m not the only one. XD Ohhh. I’ve actually never done that with a DWJ book either! I don’t always remember that they’re that young; I guess because they’re so relatable and it’s from their POV and so I’m not looking at them through a grown-up’s eyes? Or something. Anyways, it’s interesting. 😛
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This looks so fun! I’m always looking for superhero stories. 🙂
Hmm…If I were a superhero, I’d probably want telekinesis as a superpower. I think that would be awesome. 😀
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It IS fun! And there don’t seem to be a lot of superhero novels, so I know what you mean. XD
That would definitely be an awesome superpower! 😀
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