Book Review: The Ables

Hello Enthusiasts,

Between comics, movies, television, and books, pop culture is full of super-hero stories right now. I'm not complaining, I love super-hero stories, but we do have a saturated market. The potential issue with these various narratives is that a good number of them are pretty similar, especially in origin stories. Person discovers they have a power, they figure out how to use it, they save the day, tease for the next one. Because of this, I welcome anything that can really shake up the formula, which was one of the reasons that I fell in love with Peter Clines' Ex-Heroes series. Today though, I'll be looking at another book that adds some variety to the tried and true formula, a book by author Jeremy Scott, The Ables. Be advised that, as always, there will be some Mild Spoilers Below. 

The book follows a young man named Phillip who is told by his father that their family has powers. They moved to a new town because it's secretly a town for superheroes to live in, and for the powered youth to gain a hold on their new abilities. Phillip learns that he has the same power as his father, telekinesis, but there's a wrinkle. This ability requires the user to have some idea of the size and weight of what they're moving, and Phillip is blind. When he goes to the new hero school, he's thrown into a class for the powered youth with disabilities, and they're not held in high regard by the rest of the students at the school. That would be tough enough for any kid, but the stakes get raised, of course, by a villain who plans to find a hero with all of the powers to help him take over the world.

Essentially, it's a coming-of-age superhero story with the twist of having the main characters work through their disabilities.

The story is great; it's a familiar feeling plot with more than enough original content to keep a reader engaged. The characters and villains all feel well developed, and the rules of the world are consistent and logical. The powers for the main characters are fairly traditional, but are used in new and interesting ways. For example, one of the main characters, Henry, is psychic. Using his abilities, he's able to give Phillip something akin to "sight" by mentally sending him images from Henry's perspective. It's ideas like this that showcase the amount of thought and care that must have gone into the creation of this story. There are also a few very emotional moments in the book that are done very well, though I won't give those away here.

While the story is fun and interesting, there are a few things that hold it back. The book could have done with a stronger editor, as there are a few mistakes in the book (Phillip "looking" back at an audience before Henry helps him with visuals, one of the chapters still including a note to start the new chapter, etc). I don't really blame Scott for this, as every author is going to leave stuff like this in, but it's the job of a good editor to find these mistakes. There is also a noteworthy lack of female characters in the main group. There were a few moments where it looked like one of the female students would be involved with everything that the main group was doing, but they were put aside before too long. On one hand, I get this, as high schools students can sometimes form their groups that are all within one gender without any malice involved. However, on the other hand, there seemed to be a few missed opportunities to include a female character in the group to add a different perspective to what they were doing.

Overall though, I really liked this book. It was fun, compelling, and moved fast enough to keep me engaged. I do have some small issues with it,  but I am also excited to see a potential sequel to this story and know where the characters will go from here. It was honestly one of the best books I've read in several months, and I love being able to say that I've read something as good as this. Jeremy Scott's work here goes a long way to show that he has so much more to offer an audience than just being "The voice of Cinemasins". If you like superhero stories and don't mind them being set in a more young-adult setting, I think this is a solid read.

I give The Ables an 8.5 out of 10.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast

TV Review: Bojack Horseman

Hello Enthusiasts,

Back in 2014, I was scrolling through Netflix and saw this weird looking cartoon where an anthropomorphized horse was the main character. I watched a few episodes and thought it was funny and witty enough, but it seemed like there was another layer underneath the humor. As I watched, I discovered that this show was just as much about a character who has both everything and nothing as much as it was about the jokes. It was a cartoon that had some dark turns, and one that didn't seem to be afraid to tackle...well, everything. On January 31st, 2020, this series had its last episodes uploaded, and I can now say that I have the ability to do a series review of the Netflix cartoon, Bojack Horseman. Please note that there will be Spoilers Below, and you should probably avoid those.

The titular character, Bojack, is an over the hill 90's sitcom actor. He's angry, he abuses any kind of substances that you can think of, and he is terribly depressed. Stay with it though, this is a comedy...I think. Bojack has more money than he can seem to spend due to the royalties from his show, and he ends up spending a fair amount of that money on drugs and alcohol. As the show progresses, Bojack's emotional and psychological issues grow deeper and impact his life in more dramatic ways. Fortunately, the show's tone is kept somewhat lighthearted by its supporting characters, such as Todd, Mr. Peanutbutter, and Princess Carolyn.

I have nothing bad to say about this show. It's funny when it needs to be funny, it's serious when it needs to be serious, and it sticks the landing with every emotional beat that it makes an attempt on. The show is a deep dive into human nature (despite most of the main characters being animals) that doesn't pull any punches as it addresses mental health and the issues that people face. For all of the jokes and wittiness, it shows an incredible reverence to certain topics, like addiction. It's a show that will tell you that redemption is possible, but will also hold characters to their previous actions, which ties into its incredibly accurate continuity. For example, early on in the show, Bojack steals the big "D" from the Hollywood sign, and from that point forward everyone refers to the city as "Hollywoo".

The show's greatest strength though is the character growth that the audience gets to see with all of the characters involved. The characters that we see in the last episode are so radically different than the ones we see at the beginning, and none of that change happens quickly, or painlessly. It's a rough road for everyone involved, and they all feel like real, fleshed-out characters by the end.

I know I'm going on and on about the deeper meanings within this cartoon, but I honestly cannot think of a show that addresses these issues as well as this show did, and this was a cartoon where the main character was a talking horse that also happened to be an actor that's seemingly past his prime.

Also, special shout-out to my favorite side character in the show, Vincent Adultman, who was written out of the show pretty early on. I was desperately hoping for a cameo in the last episode, but no such luck.

Overall, I want to praise about this show all day, but if I tell you too much more about it, I might spoil something too big. Just watch it, I recommend it for everyone. It can be stressful and maybe too pretentious for some viewers, but I personally consider this to be one of my favorite shows of all time.

I give Bojack Horseman a 10 out of 10,  and I thank everyone involved for a truly remarkable show.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast