"No one is worthless"

Oooo this was such a good graphic novel, I enjoyed it. John kept getting beat up by everyone with powers just because he didn't have any. But when things start to unravel I understood more and more and wanted to keep reading . The art is nice and the characters look great.

I enjoyed the first volume of UnOrdinary more than I thought I would. Once I got past the art and the full color pages, the story picks up and we find that UnOrdinary is the title of a banned book thought to encourage vigilantism. I very much enjoyed the idea of what it's like to have power vs being power-less.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

unOrdinary (Volume 1) by uru-chan, 336 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL. HarperAlley (HarperCollins), 2023. $18.
Language: R (27 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
In a world where the social hierarchy is enforced by the powerful abilities of those on top, it’s a miracle that John, a zero, survives high school each day. John doesn’t believe the hierarchy is right. But, without fighting back, how can one boy prove the system wrong?
The illustrations are very well done, and uru-chan does a lot to help the flow of reading go smoothly through each panel. Volume 1 lays out several different pieces for readers, and it will be interesting to see how they all come together in future issues. However, there is a difference between a twist in a story and being lied to, and I feel like I, as a reader, was lied to, which does not endear me to the story.
The majority of characters are depicted as White. The language rating is also for several censored expletives, including 7 f-words. The mature content rating is for partial nudity. The violence rating is for assault, blood, fantasy violence, and mentions of murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

This graphic novel was one of the best ones that I have read in a while. John, a zero, attends a school where the status quo puts those with high level abilities in a world of their own above those deemed less than them. It is the accepted way of things, and disruption to the status quo are dealt with in rather extreme ways. John has buddied up and become friends with the most powerful girl, Seraphina, though others see this as bringing her down to his level since she has become the complete opposite of the perfect powerful girl she once was. Well, the "King" decided to get to the bottom of John and who he is, and this, in turn, opens up a whole can of worms, possible disrupting the current order even more.

This graphic novel is very well written and explores different aspects of the status quo. John is obviously fed up with being beaten constantly but decides that he will just play the role of innocent target. Getting the backstory differently between the two friends was interesting and helpful. You see the struggle to be different from their past in different ways, and their individual struggle against their circumstances.

- loved that all the text bubbles are different colors for different characters
- illustrations were vivid and colorful
- the expressiveness of the characters are great
- two of my favorite quotes from John and Seraphina:
John - "In this world, strength defines a person. And those without strength are crushed. Those without strength are nothing."
Seraphina - "For as long as I can remember, I had to be perfect. But when you're consistently perfect, it's no longer an accomplishment. Perfect becomes an expectation."

This was a fun story. It kinda feels like if a manga like Naruto or Assassination Classroom or something had an action-packed baby with a sprinkle of cringe.

It was cute! The characters were fun and the art was good, but too much was happening for my taste. I think teens could really love this, though.

The cursing felt forced. The character dynamics were interesting. I’m feeling very mixed about this story, but I’d recommend it to many!

Plot: High school was never fun, especially for John, a kid born powerless in a world where everyone has special abilities. After being adopted by the powerful “queen” of the school, Seraphina, John starts to gain confidence and fight back to protect his fellow low tier classmates at the expense of his own safety.

Thoughts: Right from the start we are introduced to a ton of characters. Each has their own range of special abilities. The artist plays on a common anime trope where the main character has colorful crazy hair but everyone else looks normal. In this world though, John is the only one with black hair while all his classmates look like a main character stereotype. I wish this book took its time before throwing you straight into the action, but I got used to it after a few chapters. Overall it was an interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I am really loving the webtoon comics that are coming out! I love seeing something that was so popular online becoming a physical book that even more people get to read. I have yet to read a bad webtoon comic book!

3.75, rounded down. I had a hard time getting into it because I didn’t feel like there was enough world building. Characters died without me really knowing their significance. The overall concept is decent and the artwork is beautiful. I was intrigued by the ending, but not enough to keep reading. I’ll buy the series, but it’s not “Battle” worthy.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc copy of this book.

John is an ordinary student in an extraordinary academic world. He has one friend and is bullied daily.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It was full of characters that were arrogant and powerful. Watching John transverse the hallways of the school was a feat. I kept wondering what would happen next. There were a lot of fight scenes and some cursing, but it didn’t detract from the story.

There are a lot of subplots in the story as well. They give flavor to the world outside of the school.

The twist at the end has me wanting the next book.

The art was clean and colorful. The word bubbles easy to follow.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes superhero comics.

Thank you again NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc ebook.

I really love the way that popular Webtoons are getting published into volumes of physical work! If you liked the online comic then you'll like this, and get to have it on your shelves.

UnOrdinary has been sitting in my library on WebToon for a while, and I'm kicking myself for letting it take so long to read vol. 1. It was so fun, so creative. The art style is really good, and the characters are really well developed. I liked the pacing a lot; the slow reveal of certain key points was really well-timed. I'm excited to read more!

To preface this review, I did not dislike the story. I thought it was decent for what it was. However, you do have to keep in mind that this is a soapy teen drama, and that’s exactly what you’ll be getting all the way through.

UnOrdinary is a webcomic that follows a high school student named John. In a world where everyone has powers, he is bullied for not having any, but eventually decides to fight back.

There’s no deeper meaning here. The message it’s trying to send about bullying is as obvious as getting hit over the head with a hammer, and the characters are one-dimensional and bland. They all seemed like caricatures of classic tropes we’ve seen a million times. None of them are relatable, or even very likable, because there’s nothing specific to like.

If you can get past the drama-filled, unrealistic storyline, the art style is really nice. The way the characters are drawn, and all the fight scenes are very well done.

Overall, if you are a fan of soapy teen dramas, you will probably enjoy this one. The story is nothing groundbreaking, but it’s entertaining enough.

This manga was awesome. John is an "ordinary" student in a supreme and elite school of superheroes. Since he has no known or seen powers, he is often picked on and bullied. He's sent to the infirmary daily and the doctor has honed his healing potions by practicing on him. Even the king and queen of the school look down on John... until fate brings John and Sera (the queen) together for a classwork assignment. After passing the assignment, Sera puts John under her protection. But when she's suspended from school for a month for reading a banned book... will John be able to hold his own or will all the bullies finally get their revenge now that his protector is gone?

So I’ve read the WEBTOON series up to date and I’m really excited to see it grow and turn into a book! It’s a different take on teens with superpowers like marvel and the book cuts off on such an amazing cliff hanger, I can’t wait to read more!

I really enjoyed this story. John is just a normal guy surrounded by teenagers with unusual powers. They all have unusual names to go with their unusual powers. John is just John; a guy with no powers. He gets beat up by everyone else on the regular. Except one girl, Sera. She takes a liking to him and stands up for him. As a high-tier (person with strong powers), she should be teaching him to stay in his lane. She's ruining her reputation by hanging out with this zero.

I loved the artwork and the colors in this book. Sometimes art gets messy and I can't tell what's going on. This art is sharp and clear.

The world-building is good. There are things hinted at the will probably become clear later, but it isn't necessary to understand that we are in a world where people with power make the decisions for people without power. But in this world the power is physical and tangible.