I think the first book was the weakest of the trilogy so I’m kind of sad you aren’t continuing on. The relationship between David and Megan gets less cringey (though maybe not entirely comfortable), the world building in book 2 was so much fun, and if I remember correctly the weaknesses and powers actually do have a system to them.

His weakness? Rust.

Personally I just walk around saying Mussolini when I'm upset.

I can totally see where you're coming, especially when you know Sanderson's works so well. When I went into reading this book I was hoping it would be like Skyward (because at that point that was the only Sanderson book I read). But I was disappointed I didn't like it as much as Skyward, but I still overall enjoyed it. I did like the second and third book a lot better than the first. In fact, the ending the third book blew my mind. It was really good! But I've now read more of Sanderson's books and I can see that the Reckoners Trilogy weren't his best books. I still enjoyed them though😊

"Oh, Hitler" made me lol.😆

He made up new curse words because he's Mormon. It's the only logical reason I can see

SPOILER A little more about Steelheart's weakness. David didn't just figure it out. At some point in the story, they have already realized that an Epic's weakness is related to their insecurity. That was their whole struggle in act 3 because Steelheart purged virtually everything about him before he got his powers. It's exactly the reason why he killed everyone in that bank and turned everyone there, save for David, and whole Chicago into steel. It's also why he decided to take over Chicago. Because he was afraid that people will figure out his weakness. Then in the climax, David figured out that the only person who can kill Steelheart is someone who isn't afraid of him by remembering who Steelheart used to be (a jock, basically) and knowing his father and what set his father apart from the other guy who shot Steelheart unsuccessfully.

So... the setup is similar with "The boys".

I decided to do a read a long with you for this one and started Steelheart about the same time you did. I really liked it even though it's very different from Sandersons other works. I must say that despite that I liked the way you gave your critism and can understand what you're coming from. Hope your next read will be more enjoyable for you, I'm continuing with the Reakoners. :)

The world-building is expanded a lot in the sequels. I do think these books are for me similar to transformers movies or marvel movies, you have to not think about it too much and just try to enjoy it for what it is. I found the whole David and Megan thing super cringey too but her character again gets better later (Not to the point of "Oh my god amazing"). Although the formula of taking down a super villain seems very familiar by the end of the third book unfortunately. Regarding all of the rest of your points I completely agree. I had to quit the Dresden Files books after 7 books of pushing through it for very similar reasons.

I've read the first Mistborn trilogy, Skyward, and Steelheart/Firefight (I'm actually in the middle of Firefight right now). I had ALL the same problems with this book as you did. The Megan/David stuff was just a gaping black hole at the center of the book where actual character development should be. I'm so glad that you didn't like this either, because it reassures me that I'll enjoy the rest of Sanderson's stuff as much as I liked Mistborn and Skyward. Good to know this book is the outlier, and not the ones I loved!

Aww I get it, I get it. I felt the same about Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians. I feel like it really matters how much we’ve read sometimes because some books become less um...appetizing (?) and more cringe-y when we’ve unknowingly set some high expectations. I read this around five years ago when I was really into superheroes, so maybe that’s why I loved it. I finished the entire series in a week.

I happen to love this series! i am just finishing up the third book. I couldn't put them down. So far Firefight is my favorite. The world building is amazing! Mind you these are my first Brandon Sanderson Books. You do have a good point with the language. When they said sparks, it took me a few times to realize why they said it. I felt like that didn't fit this world either.

Speaking of Evil Superman...I really enjoyed the Injustice: Gods Among Us comics

Listening to the premise really does sound like a tame version of The Boys

That’s interesting. I don’t like any other Sanderson book but loved this series. His writing is very different from the other books I didn’t like. I’m thinking those who are not a fan of his other books would love this series. I love getting other people’s opinions about books that I like because preferences fascinates me. I appreciated your review.

You are very good doing reviews. Most reviews I see are people just describing the the story. But with your reviews I understand more about the substance of the book

Hello, I just wanted to say that I’ve been following your channel for awhile now and I’ve grown to completely trust your opinion. I’ve always wanted to build up a beautiful book collection like yours, and I finally have the money to do so. I’ve boughten almost every book you’ve recommended lately and I love them all! Sanderson is quickly becoming my favorite author because of you :)

You cracked me up with the image of people walking around saying "Ahh Hitler!" instead of swearing.

I would really recommend reading the other books in the series, as it does improve alot, including the world building. Babylon Restored in firefight is a good example I think. And the system of the powers and weaknesses is more explored also, although I may be a little bias as Steelheart was my first Sanderson book quickly followed by Firefight, Mistborn, Stormlight, ect. The Reckoners trilogy is still my favourite non cosmere series by Brandon, and always my 1st recommendation along with Mistborn.

OMG! You read Vagabond! Good choice! That manga is AMAZING and so is the artwork!

Completely agree with your review.

I agree that the powers are overpowered and random and doesn't feel like Sanderson but the weaknesses makes sense in the following books. Also the Megan and David rellationship is not very good in this book but in the following book I really really love It. I think this is one of the weakess books of Brandon Sanderson but I really enjoy It beacause is quick and seems like a readed movie. I would love a film adaptation of this!!!

Elle, I didn't notice all the negative things about this book LOL. I'm sorry you didn't like it, I guess I focused on the fun parts of the book and plot xD. This review was hilarious, sorry for my bad recommendation. (I suggested Steelheart multiple times)

I am so glad you picked up the cringy parts like it did! So many people love it so much and I was so disappointed.

A lot of people reckon this will be a good trilogy

(this is all my speculation from what I've read) I think some of the problems are because of Sanderson writing it with a YA target audience in mind specifically and this being among the first if not the first he wrote as such (Rithmatist came around same time, don't know which he wrote first), there's Alcatraz but it's for much younger audience. People like to call Mistborn YA but to me it seems clear that it was written with adult audience in mind. If you read Starsight, another Sanderson YA novel, you can see the improvements, he is more comfortable in writing YA now without it seeming like he is trying to pander to a specific audience. I think swear words is part of this, as in latest Mistborn novels there's some hard swearing with f words so it's not because he doesn't want to use those or maybe that's a recent thing. Finally I would add that I find Steelheart pretty great personally, or at least I did when it came out because I rated a 5 and found it very satisfying at that time, haven't reread it since.

It will be a while before I get around to reading Steelheart, but after being introduced to Brandon Sanderson through Skyward, I genuinely can't wait to read more by him!

i really like this review! steelheart pulled me in because of the back-to-back action scenes in the beginning but when things were calmer i realized the main problem with this: characters. every. character seems so two-dimensional ESPECIALLY david which sucks because he’s the main character.

I think this is good for what it is. Not for you, but for many teenage boys. I lent this to a student of mine who would not touch any books and he fell in love with it. He even wanted to read the other volumes and now he has realized that he may want more.

Li recentemente a trilogia e achei maravilhosa. Achei muito boa a sua resenha!

That was a truly epic Steelheart roast. Very entertaining.

I just finished this series with my wife (for the 2nd time). We love them!!

Oooh yay heheh i love this book sooo much and im glad you finally read it hehe

Ever since you mentioned that Way of Kings is slightly taller that Words of Radiance and Oathbringer, I can’t unsee it 😫😂

You read some more about his life before in later books. Megan was also fleshed out in the future. I also kind of agree with you about the curses. I absolutely love this book trilogy and can't wait to see more about these from you in the future.

I enjoyed your take on the book, although I think you almost have to read the rest of the series before passing judgement on some of his choices, which is usually not the case with his books. First, about the cursing, Sanderson has said many times on his podcast "Writing Excuses" that one of his favorite world building devices is through the use of curse words. Creating curse words that directly reflect the reality and beliefs of the characters instantly cues the reader into the fact that something important is going on in the world. Also 10 years may have been stretching it slightly for the drastic change in language, but if you look at our own culture over the last 10 years, because of social media there is an entire language that has evolved, not only through emojis but also through slang which has completely changed how people talk to each other, especially online. Though the dominance in social media has completely changed our culture, what has happened to the characters of the "Reckoners" is much greater. If a group of super beings created Armageddon, killing everyone I ever knew and throwing my life and the world into chaos, cursing based on body functions and sex would be the farthest from my mind, and wouldn't even remotely do it justice. Second, the character of Megan is an odd one for Sanderson. He usually fleshes his characters out much faster in his books even if he doesn't give their story arc away. The reason behind this becomes a little more apparent in the later books when her character development goes into overdrive, and she becomes possibly the most important person in the series. I do agree that he gambled when writing her character this way in the first book. Sanderson talks a lot about taking tropes and turning them on their head, and I think that's what he was doing here. He created a female character who is the strong, almost traditionally masculine in her Rambo type persona, with no discernible weaknesses, including her beauty, knowledge, and ability to kill baddies. This has become a very common female trope in modern media, creating a slew of female characters who are uninteresting because they are perfect, and have no room to grow. He took this trope and did a 180 with it showing that everything we perceived to be this woman's strength was actually her weakness, and only by giving everything up would she be able to truly be not only herself, but also an asset to the Reckoners and their struggle for freedom. Third, the character of David is a bit of an odd one as well for Sanderson, but there are a couple things I'd like to bring up. Sanderson wrote David as not only the nerdy, awkward, loner boy who fantasizes about being a hero, but he offset his genius level intellect by giving him a silly quirk, the ability to make nothing but the worst metaphors. Sanderson talks about this a lot, and it was a conscious decision on his part to create David with this weakness. Here we have a genius young person who is incredibly driven and perceptive, but when it comes to metaphors his brain goes a little crazy coming up with the worst ones possible. Sanderson enjoyed writing a character like this, coming up with the worst possible metaphors he could think of, and of course many of them were cringe, because they were meant to be. They were certainly over the top at times, but they also humanized David a bit more, because in many ways David had the same problem as Megan, both being extremely competent, almost to a fault (he discusses character competence a lot in his writing discussions). He handled offsetting David's competence by making him awkward. This also explains David's awkward objectification of Megan. He might have taken this a bit far, but every teenage boy has said dumb things to girls they wish they never said. As worldly and knowledgeable as David is, at heart he is still a teenager, and when he came face to face with one of his idols, and it happened to be a beautiful woman on top of it, he went a bit nuts like many boys do. It certainly humanized him, even if it was a bit cringe. Lastly, the similarities between this book and "Mistborn" are certainly there as mentioned. Sanderson has said that the entire plot of the "Mistborn" trilogy came primarily from one idea. What if the evil, all powerful Sauron type character actually took on the mantle of malevolent dictator in order to save the world for the greater good. This idea has been stewing in the back of his mind for decades now, and not only was it unique when it comes to Fantasy, but also something I believe he wasn't done exploring with "Mistborn." He talks a lot about tropes in his writing discussions, and one thing he says is if you want to write a trope, writing it for young adults or younger is much more forgiving than when writing it with adults, since younger people haven't read as large a selection of books as adults, so you can get away with more. Considering he was using a trope he created and wasn't finished with exploring, I think it's appropriate for him to use the medium of young adult to do this. With this said, he still had a unique take on it, and didn't just copy it as many authors do when exploring tropes. I did love your video, and the thoughts it provoked in me and look forward to more about The Reckoners!

Loved hearing your thoughts on Steelheart! I remember enjoying the book when I read it years ago and I’m curious if my opinion would be the same now that I’ve read more Sanderson and adult books in general! My husband was mad that when they first described Megan she was in disguise so he had assumed she was wearing a wig and then in Firefight they reference her hair color and he was just like nooooo I did not picture her that way for all of book one 😂

I like these videos before they even start.

Considering I've read most of Sanderson's previous work I have to agree. Though it's still a good story, when compared to his future classics like Mistborn and Stormlight Archives, it falls a little short (though you're free to love it if you do). Not every book he publishes needs to be at that calibre every time, but when you've set the standard for yourself as high as Sanderson consistently has, readers who are well read in your work will notice.

That thumbnail was like... "I'm sorry... but" ... Priceless XD

I loved your review, I really hope you give the trilogy another chance, every flaw and cringy thing you mention gets adressed in a fairly and sometimes Epic way, the stakes get progressively higher and Sanderson's character developement shines. I never get tired of saying that these books are highly cinematic experiencies.

I will say, book 2 and 3 are much better. I'd say my ranking of this series is Book 2, 3 and then 1 for enjoyment.

I see a lot of people saying that the series gets better and honestly I HAVE to disagree. I liked each successive book less and less. I liked the expansion of the world for the most part, really only the bits about explaining the weaknesses, but it feels like all the characters digress and that the storytelling just goes downhill.

At this point I feel like if a booktuber genuinely liked and adored Steelheart, I'd be more surprised. No one I watch likes this month, which bums me out, because I own the whole trilogy and haven't read it yet. Thanks for staying honest! We appreciate you.

The Epic powers ARE random.

I've recently read all three, and gave them all 3* each but agree with alot of your criticism. The made-up swearwords and the cringe especially was jarring and not up to parr imho. The weakness are explained later and Meghan is an interesting character later, when also the cringe lowers a bit. I still wouldn't recommend them to anyone unless they were wanting to be completelist with sanderson work, if that makes sense.

The preview pic for this is so cute! Also I'm sad to hear you didn't like it cause I was excited to read it, I'll probably read it eventually anyways lol

I may be different but I don’t go into books thinking about the author that wrote it and expecting things from their other books. Sure it makes me excited if I’ve liked others but that’s it, you can’t compare... I really liked this first book and I even highlighted a lot of David’s crazy saying because they were funny. It’s a cool take on superhero’s. I enjoy some books where powers can be super random cause it makes things more unexpected and creative. The Rook is like that and probably an all time favorite.

This is not the place to start with Sanderson but it was just a super quick and easy fun read. I enjoyed the book candy and the teenage boy mind wasn't totally annoying.

I don't know if there's something wrong with me but I just can't get into Sanderson books. I've tried to get into them but I just can't put my finger on why I don't like them. They give me a strange vibe, I think. I don't know. It's weird. I wish I could like them, I feel like I'm missing out on this big party everyone else is invited to.

This thing about the names used as a curse reminded me of a thing that happened where I live, that a politician stole a bunch of money and his name became a slang for thief, being also used as a verb instead of stealing, And the funny thing is that I think his wasnt even the worst case of corruption we had at that time? But somehow it was the only time it happened to a name like that. Nowadays its not used anymore, but I remember it was big when I was a kid, people became really mad if you call them like that.

As I keep watching the video, you keep hitting every nail on the head with all the issues I had with the book and couldn't pinpoint what they were. The limitless possibilities where the author could end up saying anything and get away with it irked me. It left so many loopholes. And the only girl in the book being hot and nothing else was so annoying. I am just so so happy to have found this review because it's giving me hope for other Sanderson books. This was my first book by him and everyone seemed to love it so I thought this is just what he writes and people enjoy it. I have HOPE!!

I understand why The Reckoners series isn't well liked by all and agree with your review. I did like it and would reread it again, now that it has been a couple years. I do really like the super hero post apocalyptic world he created, the pacing was great, super powers are neat. The low point was the Mary-Stu and the awkward love interest.

I don't like Steelheart as much as Reckoners 2: Firefight. I agree with many things you said about book 1. I have not considered the parallels to Mistborn however. I thought your comparisons were excellent and correct. I always appreciate you speaking your heart on your channel. Not any soothsayer glad-handing ego stroking. Thank you Elle. I can't imagine the stress of releasing a new video each and everyday. How do you manage and cope?

It was actually explained in the book that an Epic's weakness is tied to their insecurities. At first, they do think it was random, but ultimately, they were able to connect the dots. That's how they figured out Steelheart's weakness.

The problem I have with this book is that i really wanted to know more about the characters, after I finished the book I don't even remember most of the reckoners looked like, this part is really lacking for me. Also Megan was being so mean to David from the beginning, he was still head over heel about her, it makes no sense

I see the vagabond collection in the background ☺️

I just finished Steelheart. I agree with everything you’ve mentioned. I didn’t like the fake cussing verbiage like “Sparks, oh calamity, etc”. It was super cheesy and I think it could have been left out. This was my first Brandon Sanderson novel. I’ll probably finish the series since I started, but what are your favorite books by him?

Also, Steelheart was a horrible person even before he got his powers.

I personally think it is awesome that he doesn’t use the usual curse words. This is a fantasy novel which could easily take place in a /// universe.

I love Sanderson, but I did not like this series. I actually enjoyed Steelheart the most out of the trilogy. I simply embraced the cringy/cheesy in the first book. It was still only a 3 star read. The second book does a better job with world building, but the plot falls flat. I really disliked the third book. Sanderson is really good at wrapping up loose ends and usually has a really tight, defined magic system. In the third book there were so many plot holes and some of the "magic" just didn't make sense. I think it was supposed to be open ended so more books could be added in this universe/world but it just didn't work for me.

Oops. This was my first attempt at Sanderson and I DNF’d it. For me though, I just don’t enjoy superhero type books. I hadn’t figured that out yet when I tried this series. I just couldn’t get into it. 🤷‍♀️

It's funny that you brought up the curse word thing. That bothered me too. Sanderson is Mormon and does avoid using actual strong language in his books, and it normally works for me really well in his books because like you said, it brings out the culture of the world. I definitely felt like it was a stretch in this one though.

The magic in the reckoners is not a "make sense" magic system - not like cosmere. Seperately, the stormlight magic system also isnt very "limited" persay.

I like Sanderson's Cosmere books but I will give this series a pass because I've long outgrown the YA genre. I like the Dorky t-shirt by the way 🤓

What are the numbered books in the left corner?

First of all, even though I liked this series, I respect your opinion :3 You shouldn't feel the need to defend your opinion so much. (SPOILERS) Second of all, even though I've read all the Mistborn books before this one, I never noticed all the similarities you mentioned at the end of the video. I personally also didn't like some of the ways in which Megan was described, and some of the moments between her and David. But it didn't bother me too much. And I had a moment of "Really, he figured that out as well?" when David figured out Steelheart's weakness at the last moment. But other than that, i didn't have any complaints about this book. The twist about Prof and Megan being epics was awesome. And i really liked the randomness of the powers and weaknesses, even though Sanderson does give more of an explanation of how they work. But even if he didn't, I wouldn't have minded...? I love his magic system in the Mistborn books, and what I truly love about it is the fact that it just makes sense, and is so thoroughly thought out. But here, we're talking about superpowers, which people get at random. And even though I liked his explanation about powers and weaknesses, the idea that the weakness could be totally random is a fascinating one. I really liked this book, and I loved the second one. I liked the third one as well, but it kinda dragged a bit, and i didn't really like the ending. But it was an enjoyable read.

Okay so I already said it on the community post but I'll repeat it here on the main subject. Branderson is hands down my fav writer, and SA my fav serie yet. And, same as you I really disliked the reckoners, and I say it as I read the three while books (I wanted to see if he would improve and he did, a bit) on paper it's regular Sanderson, cool ideas, at start it's à revenge story à la "The boys" tv show, cool magic system etc but where he failed for me was how he handled his chosen YA format and genre... It's like he opened à bad YA book and copied the writing, the characters... David the protag was promising, geeky awkward but turned unsufferable quickly and stayed like that til the end, the way he talked ("yeah yeah mormon no cursing policy, except it's not just cursing, the métaphores are still painful just to be remembered ) here it's bad compared at his other works... the cliché romance forced even on the love interest who seems to accept by giving in it as a sort of fatality and David is straight up creepy with his infatuation at some point (like à bad YA romance damn he even stick his tongue into her ear, it's suppose to be funny that he is so inexperienced...) and so on it's like he copied BAD YA while mocking it and making fun of teens... What's the point ? Hé knows how to write teens, Kids Lift, Vin, kid Kaladin etc and even kid friendly books like the good The Rythmatist, no the reckoners is no good memory for me even if the idea was cool, with some good twist etc I will never re read it.... As for your opinion, don't be scated on time I read Twelve books on a row that I really disliked and almost lost hope forever 😂 it happens, you have the right to have opinions and share them on your channel, like I love Robin Hobb and you didn't feel it it's okay you explained what didn't click etc respectfully, no problem here ! Keep up thé good work ! Also if you want a good sf stories to try taking a breath from Fantasy and come back to it with enthousiasm renewed try something Quick like mangas, Ikigami and Psycho Pass (Net flix) are really great ! Or the promised neverland and attack on titan

I just want to clarify that the Epics haven't just appeared 10 years into the story. It was a bit earlier than that as stated in the Prologue, the government has already categorized them as forces of nature and outside the typical scope of laws.

Kids getting killed; reminds me of Wonder Woman in Flashpoint. I was gobsmaked!

have you read WORM? also I often find sanderson's magic system very similar to superhero powers. Epic: FOOL.... NO MAN CAN KILL ME Megan: 💃🤜

I would definitely say the next 2 books were better. Some of the problems you addressed will be smoothed out. You shouldn't give up on them, especially since you're such a big Sanderson fan. You can do it! Lol

Can you read malice by John it’s so damn good it has pets family amazing battles shock moments to the core character arcs backstabbing traitor it has it all the magic is very minor but is there and nobody has read it and deserves to be well known

Tried half of the sample, was a very fast read. He really uses very simple sentences, im a little not used to it. I'm currently also reading Graceling.

Have you seen Brightburn? It is the same premise: What if Superman was evil, but as a kid.

I've just come here to comment I support you and leave a like. But I wont watch until I read it myself. I'm usually too persuaded by negative reviews and will see the flaws that I wouldn't initially see had I not watched the review lol But I always respect your unbiased opinion:P

I agree, this is my least favourite Sanderson. Women were reduced to stereotypes, I couldn't get on board with that especially after reading The Way of Kings. What bugged me more were sentences, like: My eyelids dropped like angry drunk men stumbling down a street, looking for an alleyway in which to vomit. Or: I pulled her in, then shut the door, pressing my back to it and exhaling like an epileptic pilot who'd just landed a cargo plane full of dynamite. I read the second book in the series and it seemed like these types of sentences were edited out, but wow there are many in this one.

Ah, Hitler! I misplaced my car keys!

Lots of people suddenly turning evil because of superpowers...oh, I'm in. 100% where's my Amazon cart and wallet?

I think David was my least favourite Sanderson protagonist because he was a cringy, socially awkward nerd who clearly can't deal with women yet. However, I still enjoyed the series despite this, the second book's climax most, and he does mature (a little) throughout. I don't think the depiction is necessarily unrealistic, some teens act in misguided ways, but perhaps the choice to have the protagonist be that way is questionable.

I still want the book 4 I got to know what happens with Obliteration

If you read this not knowing Sanderson wrote it and looking thorough that lens and comparing to his other works, would that change your view? I don’t think they can be compared.

So I also saw that Steelheart and TFE were really similar in structure, but I still thought they felt really different because David and Vin are incredibly different people from each other and their emotions in relation to the plot were COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Also, I think David was supposed to be cringey, and I always felt that the book recognized how cringey he was, and made it a part of his character flaw which is that he’s too eager. And while not all teenage guys are like this, as someone who was a teenage guy until just a couple of weeks ago, I can confirm that *some* really are like this-I can think of several people off the top of my head that are like this.

I was PLEASANTLY surprised I did end up enjoying this lol. I feel like you just had ALOT of issues with things that bothered you that really didnt bother me lol (I feel like Megans reasoning was revealed in part two, the power plant scene. Same with why David liked Megan. I also dont see why the Indian scene was bad. Hes indian, its not a stereotype that he eats curry. AND they were actually eating at a table during that scene so, it was valid he was talking about curry lol.) I REALLY didnt think this book was perfect. But what helped me that I think didnt you, was Sanderson cushioned alot of the bad scenes with back story and logic to why things happened and why people acted the way they did. Ive read too many bad books that are just illogical that its hard to forgive and forget/ move on. Sanderson, however, built a foundation to this book that allowed me to tread it even if there were bumps in it. I found this book far more entertaining than Elantris, it was more gripping where as Elantris took so long. I did also see that Mistborn comparison :P Rag tag group of people taking down the big bad. I just like that in this case its just ONE city (not saving the world), and they didn't original plan to take down Steelheart. I would also point out that David STILL HAD a reason to go out there. They stil hadn't tried his fathers gun, they didnt know what would happen. AND in Steelheart, they didnt wait until the end to think "shoot we are going to make this worst" they knew most of the book it would be worst at first. But they still couldnt live under these tyrannical ruler. Heck, Prof DEFINITELY knew how powers affected people so...I actually applaud Sanderson for setting up a dystopian world and people trying to fight it, but still seemed different to me. This comment is also made after your quarter review, which really made me sad that you put it at the very bottom. You talked alot about how this book got a "pass" bc its Sanderson, but I still didnt see as many bad tropes, nor did I think you pointed them out in this review. I will definitely agree that David thought too much about Megans appearance, and Cody shouldnt have encouraged it. I also thought the swearing was unnecessary. I dont know how to end this unnecessarily long comment, but I still respect you and look forward to a book we can share our sequel love for!

While I really liked the Reckoner's series, I would be lying if I said they were as good as other Brandon Sanderson works. I liked them, but they are my least favourite. And I haven't recommended them to anyone, where I have recommended every other Brandon Sanderson work multiple times to people. I think I might just not be the target audience of that series? But I had good laughs along the way, and finished the series because I really wanted to know what happens. Brandon Sanderson is still a genius.

So basically story of The Boys

Firefight was the best Reckoners book🚫🧢

The reason why Megan is not fleshed out is because we're supposed to be looking at her through the lens of David's eyes. Think like a more toned-diwn version of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 500 Days of Summer

I felt pretty much the same about the series, fun but awkward and slightly annoying. You might like the anime series Darker Than Black, it has a similar premise with people getting superpowers and losing their morality and ability to feel emotions, but it doesn't have a lot of the flaws. It's a short (24 episodes total) show and it is a thriller/mystery for adults so it's pretty violent in places. There is also pretty much no romance at all (yaaay) It's one of my favorite series, it has a lot of heart even if it seems sort of grimdark at first:D

Just finished steel heart, I agree with most of your points even though I loved it, the cursing is so cringy but I think you being an attractive female might not have the same perspective as young guys and what how easily we find crushes lol I was heavily invested in David and Meghan relationship. Good job though.

This is exactly how I felt about it!!! It was so cringy!😬

Do you think you might have appreciated this book more if you hadn’t gone in with the Sanderson lens? A lot of your dislikes seemed to be that you expected something different from the author specifically. If someone else had written it do you think your opinion would be different?

Was up Awesome book Chick 😉

I probably couldn’t disagree more about this book. I did enjoy your analysis though. Some of the issues you brought up are true enough. There are a few cringy things that I didn’t remember that you brought up which I agree, but some of it can be explained as: teenage boys. They think and do stupid things. I was one, I know. I thought some of it was cringy, but I’ve met some strange dudes so I wouldn’t say it’s unrealistic, except maybe the curry thing. It’s weird. I’m a huge comic book guy and I thought most of your critiques are true, but they are also normal for comic book stories. What they put in movies is very watered down compared to how weird things get in the comics. This trilogy perfectly fit the weirdness of comics and I loved it. I’m sorry you didn’t, but I guess everyone has their own things. I also loved how the trilogy ended, it was very well done. Totally agree about the Mistborn connection. I had the same thought when I read this book, but book 2/3 are much different.

Not my favorites but Reckoners captured my attention well.

And I like Melanie and Brandon👍

(Spoilers)You are super cute Elliot! I am a big fan. I read the novel a year or so ago, and about their weaknesses. Do I remember right, that they had to do with their mental fears and insecurities? I must say that the example about 37 years old man as a weakness would sound outlandish then... I have to say I do not remember that one :D

i like the book but it seems a bit short for a sanderson

He's publicly mentioned before that he took this book as an experiment for himself. He tries new things, and he hadn't really done a YA book before. You can tell through this book how he's actively trying to make David awkward, in order to appeal to an idea of how a YA book should be. While i liked this book, David was my least favorite part of it. I do think the series gets better, as he relies more on his patented world building going through. But if you 'like' Skyward, it's because he gained from his experiences writing this series. He is definitely an evolving author, who isn't' afraid to change how he approaches things when it doesn't' work.