Wanted to give this series another go because I loved Cerulean Sea, but I think that it just isn't for me. I love the unique storyline and diverse characters, but just am not connecting with the characters themselves.

This was a DNF for me. And that hurts my heart to say. I just could not get into this one! And I loved the first one so much!! Will update feedback if I attempt to read in the future.

Oh to be a teenager again!!!And even more, to be an EXTRAORDINARY teenager (emphasis on the EXTRA, please). Just the tought of sneaking around with your boyfriend (or girlfriend) and having your Dad walk in, exactly at the same time your bedroom echoes the phrase 'BLOW ME' 🤣🤣🤣🤣...

And that my friends is how 'Flash Fire' kicks off and becomes one of my FAVE books read thus far this 2021. To be honest, I dove into this book with the exact mindset you are supposed to being an adult who loves YA: just ENJOY IT.

After hundreds of books and a few dozen YA authors, giving Tj Klune the chance to prove himself as a masterful teen story teller was a no brainer since I've been a hardcore OG fan of his since day and book one, many, many, many, many moons ago. Did he changed his writing style now that he joined the ranks of high profile authors belonging to the NYT Bestsellers? I say it became a sharper style, but he didn't lose his signature humor, sarcasm and wit. If you ask me what I think about this latest book? I'll tell you that he is just plain and simple, a BRILLIANT author. Period. 'Flash Fire' -the sequel to last year's 'The Extraordinaries'- just proved my point.

And for that exact reason, going back to Nova City was the mental equivalent of traveling Disneyland on steroids.

I refuse to spoil this for you guys. This book DESERVES to be enjoyed in any and every format (cause his all time fantastic narrator Michael Lesly takes the cake here again with the audiobook) but what I will twll you is that no matter how 'Extraordinary' any character may or may not be, they are still TEENAGERS, and Lord HAVE MERCY, Tj portrayed these teens as realistic and dramatic and overbearing and HORMONAL as possible. After reading the first three chapters you simply CANNOT deny that everything Nick, Seth, Gibby and Jazz go thru is possibly a reflection of your OWN teenage years. It's an ode to the supreme drama that floats around each teen at that perfect age where your heart melts when you see that boy or girl you like and the butterflies build a colony in your stomach. Yep, it has action, love, sweetness, drama, and though some things MIGHT seem predictable, they really end up NOT like you believe they will. Trust me on this. This book has EVERYTHING.

After the EPIC battle Nick and Pyro Storm fought against Shadow Star, everything SEEMED to be somewhat going back to normal, but not everything CAN go back to what it was, and Nova City is just preparing for another wave of not only new and brilliant Extraordinaries to join Pyro Storm in his mission, but we also see the possibility of not only one more story, but at least two more. I have my hopes high here, but I am a HUGE sucker for teenage drama (even more if this includes queer super heroes).

In short: Fash Fire brings the adventure and humor you would expect in your average YA story, but it also has those deeply rooted family ties Tj has mastered to portray over the years in every one of this books. Tj is an EXPERT storyteller when it comes to family bonds, blood and none blood related, and he manages to make you shed a tear or two with the way each story unfolds and the messages he wants to share. Flash Fire will make you laugh, cry happy tears but mostly, remember why your teenage years (or at least mine) were the BEST. ❤️

This was a solid sequel, if a bit predictable. In Flash Fire, we pick up pretty much where we left off in The Extraordinaries. We are still following Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jaz and how the navigate both high school, new responsibilities and the fall-out from the conclusion of the last book.

This book contains the same humour as the first book. which I loved, plus we some more serious conversations about police brutality and grief than we might have seen in the first book. I loved how Nick really came into his own this book, learning to be a better friend, boyfriend, and care for people outside of himself. I also loved what we got to see of the rest of the crew, but I was left wanting more. I wanted to see some more development from our secondary characters, but we still have the third book for that.

Like I mentioned before, the plot was pretty predictable, especially in the first half. However, I still really enjoyed reading Nick move through the different parts of the plot and I, although not super shocked by the plot twist, am still really excited to see how this all wraps up (?) in the third book in this series.

Overall, this book series is a really fun time with superheros and learning about who you are.

This novel was a life-changing story, and while not the typical genre I read, it was a wonderful opportunity to read.

The cat is out of the bag, everyone knows Seth is an extraordinary. Now Seth has a larger community to back him up on every step yet the dangers lurking may tear the group apart. Flash Fire is an amazing sequel to Extraordinaries and continues the story flawlessly. Nick is back in his usual sharp humor and mile a minute thinking. Klune is a master at quick paced plots infused with humor and depth. His characters always have multi-dimension and depth and this is not limited to the protagonists. One of my favorite characters is Nick's dad, who brought the most sass and defused tension with humor. While the group is trying to save the world they are also trying to be teenagers as much as possible. Trying to balance the super hero and teen world is difficult, the pacing and plot fractures a bit when the police sub plot is brought in. I would have liked to see Klune tackle this a little more then the prom to be honest. This book was a fun and easy read but may have been a little over ambitious in what it tried to tackle.

It seems this blog has lately been gravitating towards writing review, but the truth is I was so behind on reviewing and my life has been so unexpectedly hectic that I’m just now getting up-to-date with everything, so just hold on there for a bit, please, while you enjoy these reviews (at least I hope you are).

I gave this book 4.5 stars and I was kindly given an ARC in exchange of an honest review by the publisher -thanks a lot, Tor!!- and NetGalley. Thank you so much, it was totally worth it! And sorry for the delay.

I think we have all at least heard of The House in the Cerulean Sea. If you have not read that, please do so. If you have, what are you waiting for to read more TJ Klune?! This book was a warm hug in a cabin whilst there’s a pretty strong snowstorm outside; pretty much like what Danish people call “hygge”. This is why I did not doubt it for a second when I saw two more of his books on NG and, surprise surprise, I was accepted for both (second one coming very soon)!

However, I realised too late that this book was a sequel to The Extraordinaries, which I had not read at the time, so I chose to read that one first. I mean, who wants to start a duology with the second book?

In this series we follow Nick Bell, his father, friends and biggest crush through a series of adventures. Nick is a teenager whose mother passed away, living in a world of superheroes, but dreaming of becoming what he cannot be; one of them. He suffers from ADHD and struggles to focus and stay calm, which he’s trying to learn how to do. He writes a fanfic about his crush, Shadow Star and has quite a few followers.

As usual, everything was wholesome, cute and incredibly touching. The author’s sense of humour is impeccable and it’s not easy to make me laugh, so believe me when I tell you something’s funny enough to achieve this. It is sarcastic without being aggressive whatsoever, ironic without crossing the fine like between this and not being a joke anymore.

Character-wise I felt that was the drive for this book; or their emotions to be much more precise. I have found this great writer to be a master on human behaviour and emotions. Being a psychologist, I don’t think I have ever read books with such depth on human motivations, reactions and thoughts as his. Actually, the characters’ train of thought is hilarious!

I feel I cannot reveal anything else without spoiling the book, so I’ll leave you to read it, which you should totally do. No matter if you are character or plot driven; most of us are emotion driven.

EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST BOOK!! I honestly LOVE all of these characters. This a fantastic YA fantasy world featuring a fan-fic writing neurodiverse main character whose best friend and new boyfriend is a real superhero, with 'extraordinary' powers. Some of these 'Extraordinaries' fight for good and others struggle with what's right. Very similar vibes to the X-men universe, where the issue of hiding one's identity and being free to embrace your differences comes under scrutiny from those in authority.

There's also an amazing queer love story between the two main characters, Seth and Nick, as well as one of the best father-son relationships I've ever read. Real, relatable, heartwarming and FUNNY!!!

I cannot recommend this series more, especially for fans of Out of character or the Heartbreakers series. I really hope there will be more books in the series soon. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!!

What a ride! Funny and deep and sweet and lovely! I enjoyed this so much! I recommend it almost daily!

A sequel that is just as good as the first? Yes please! I loved every second of the continuation of Nick and Seth's story. There were so many points that I couldn't help but laugh out loud but there is plenty of action and drama as well. Nick has really grown as a character and I cannot wait to see where book 3 will take him. Flash Fire gave me all the feels.

I got an ARC of this book.

I wanted to like this book, but Klune has ruined my view of him which is drastically impacting my ability to like his books. I found out that Klune took the pain of Indigenous people and made a profit. What the actual fuck. seriously?

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2020/03/17/the-big-idea-tj-klune/

This book did address some of the issues with police brutality, but it was still cops generally are good and will help you. Which just sort of slaps the idea that Klune tried to understand race in the face. I just couldn't with this book either. I am going to stop reading Klune.

The Extraordinaries was one of those books I just KNEW I would fall in love with, and it's sequel is no exception. Plenty of twists and surprises, but the heart of the novel is the sweet romance and laugh out loud friendships!

Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

3.5 stars.

I thought this book improved on the first one, with Klune's signature humour and further development of the father/son relationship that I adored in the previous book.

My one critique echoes a number of other reviewers who thought this book overcompensated with regards to the commentary around the lead's father being a police officer. At a point it no longer felt organic to the book, but more like a public service announcement. I appreciate the sentiment, but it was clunky. I think this review sums it up best: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3567742115?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I think there is a way to address this with a little more subtlety. Hopefully the third book gets it right- I will still tune in for this otherwise delightful and fun group of characters.

TJ Klune writes amazing character driven stories! IT is so easy to fall for his protagonists, this was a great sequel to a superhero series and I look forward to the last one.

So I had read this late because I got behind reading the first. Needless to say i slacked. And holy shit was I not ready!! NICKY YESSSSS!!!! These books are amazing! This author is incredible. And omg!! I need more!! I have never felt so much as when I read a book by TJ Klune! It has me laughing and crying and all the emotions!! Please please go read this! You will not regret it!!

Flash Fire is a delightful continuation of TJ Klune’s The Extraordinaries series. Both his feelings for Seth and the secret identities of Pyro Storm and Shadow Star revealed, Flash Fire introduces and resolves some other serious questions: Are there any other Extraordinaries? What is the duty of the Extraordinaries to their community? What is Simon Burke up to? How do you make a dental dam? Will Nick ever finish an Extraordinaries fanfic?

This book is both hilarious and heartwarming. I appreciate Klune’s ability to balance humor and serious topics, including grief, neurodiversity, queerness, positive sexuality, and systemic racism.

For a series about superheroes, these books are much more character-driven than plot-driven, although there are many exciting, action-packed plot moments as well. Nick is such an enjoyable character to read about and watch grow as the series continues. The portrayal of Nick’s ADHD is one of my favorite aspects of this series — Klune does not sugarcoat the difficulty neurodiverse individuals experience living in a neurotyical world, but he shows the power of a strong support system in validating one’s experience in the world and recognizing the strengths in having a brain that works differently.

One of the things I was most interested in going into this book was to see how Klune addressed the critiques received about the Extraordinaries for its romanticism of police and downplaying of police violence. I was impressed by the way he handled it, which was to illustrate Nick grappling with the fact he has romanticized the police and has overlooked that one of his best friends, Gibby, who is Black, has had a completely different experience with police than his own. He also comes to terms with how wrong it was for his father to assault a witness, discussed in the first installment of the series. I found Nick’s self-reflection about his biases to be reminiscent of ones I’ve had and seemed appropriate for a teenager.

Lastly I want to commend the sex positive parenting portrayed in the book. We see a (presumably) heterosexual man who has taken the time to learn about queer sex so he can talk to his son about it, who DOES talk to his son about safe sex, who does not reprimand his son for normative sexual desire, and who prioritizes his son’s sexual safety over his feelings about whether his son “should” be having sex.

Overall, Klune does a great job of creating a queer version of the traditional superhero story combined with the coming of age aspects common to YA novels. And based on the ending of this novel, I’m sure readers will be on the edge of the seats waiting for the conclusion to this trilogy.

Not for me! I love TJ Klune’s other books but just can’t get into this series. I think it’s a wonderful YA and LGBTQ+ series that will be THE series a lot of young people need to read, just doesn’t fully grab my attention.

So who do I need to contact to get TJ Klune to write these books forever? I adore Nick and the new discoveries we had in this book. And that sneak peek wrecked me! Can't wait for the next one!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, TJ Klune, and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

I have never read this author, nor had I heard of this book until I blindly requested permission to read it. I had no idea what I was going into when I got accepted. I'm not a big fan of superheroes in general, but I like expanding my reading universe, so I was interested in seeing how this book would contribute to expanding it.

I decided that since this was the second book of The Extraordinaries series, to go ahead and read the first one so that I wouldn't miss anything from the story line that might be important to the second book.

Oh my gosh, I had no idea how much I would fall in love with this series, and I'm crossing my fingers that the author continues this story line. Flash Fire ended on a cliffhanger, and I NEED ANSWERS!

The writing was phenomenal, and the characters were very lovable. I'm recommending this series to everyone I know because it was just that amazing. Both books are a five star read for me!

The Extraordinaries (The Extraordinaries #1) was fabulous. Friendships & romance, superheroes & fanfiction, humor & warmth. ⁣FLASH FIRE was a delightful continuation for Seth and Nick. I appreciated the LGBTQ+ and mental health (ADHD) representation. I'm already looking forward to book 3.