JUST LIKE AN EPISODE OF SUPERGIRL... and I really, really like Supergirl. The first thing that struck me when reading this book was how casual living with superheroes was. Unlike other novels or movies where the "talented" ones form a secret society, superheroes and humans (whether that be baselines, or in language that everyone understands, "muggles," or metahumans) exist together. I loved the concept that just because Danny - our wonderful protagonist - had superpowers, passed on to her by the most famous of superheroes, she had friends pulling her in all sorts of directions. Always such an emphasis on how young she is (which is refreshing, rather than a 17 year old being trusted to save the world, when I can't even budget my Christmas money... I have 44p and it is FEBRUARY), Danny assumes she should be a superhero just as her predecessor was, but she has the vigilante, Latina, friend Calamity who shows her the instant impact and lack of politics - almost reminds me of Pretty Woman; "we say who, we say when, we say how much." And then there is Doc Impossible (A GIRL SCIENTIST HELL YES) who, although part of the Superhero Legion herself, tries to dissuade Danny from becoming a "Cape," offering many different alternatives & practical uses for her superpowers... which really sets the precedent for this book, it's always so refreshingly REAL, like how Calamity and Danny have to put off "saving the world" because they are "swamped" with homework, and how in a world of "hypertech," wizardry and magic don't escape this - like in Charmed, when they dangle a charmed pendant over a map to locate something, but what 15 year old really carries a map around them? So instead, Calamity pulls out her tablet and gets up google maps or something and I'm like YES that is totally what I would do!! Also, during a massive superhero fight, the "news choppers" show up which of course, would not be contained in the real world.

I just want to talk about my girl Calamity some more, because I really really love her. The perfect companion for Danny who needs to adjust to who she is very rapidly, Calamity is steadfast, the literal definition of a "Rock." She robs drug dealers for money - a win win - and their friendship is so pure & innocent... there is no gap in gender, or the perceived gender, there are bigger things than that, like there are bigger things than what coloured cape they wear.

How do I put this eloquently... Dreadnought just deals with MEN so well. I don't think many women could put into words how it is that men expect something, in return for nothing...BUT HERE WE GO, perfect example: "I’ve been your friend for, like, ever. You know I’m a nice guy, but I never get a fair chance." THIS IS SO DISRESPECTFUL TO ALL WOMEN... and then we have THIS bombshell "you look good enough that I don’t even really care that you’re kind of a dude inside.” The first thing that crossed my mind when reading this was "God, I really hope the author/ any other Trans woman/man has never been spoken to like this," but I know that that isn't the truth. More than illustrating the "everyday sexism" and objectification of women, Danny shuts him down so well - “I am not, and I never have been, a ‘dude inside.’" (SO IMPORTANT) and even though everybody is trying to drag her down, she knows who she is and what she stands for: "If I did like boys, I wouldn’t like boys who talk to me like you just did.” After this, Danny completely shuts offensive boy out of her life and we never hear about him again... GOOD RIDDANCE.

Similarly, the poisoned and unfortunately widespread perception of Feminism and day-to-day transphobia is portrayed through Graywytch, who instantly rejects Danny as a fellow woman. I'm sorta hoping that she learns the error of her ways and in the sequel partners up with Danny and accepts that she is a real woman, which I think would help Danny too, but in the meantime I'll leave you with this "You reify the holocaust of gender, you invade my sex, and you poison my sisters by your simple presence." This is very cis-only feminism because although Graywytch thinks she is standing up and standing with her "sisters," she's pushing down the one right next to her!

Despite the sexism and Nazi Feminism and of course the blundering, passive-aggressive or just plain violent Transphobia throughout, Danny finds a way to flourish. Here may be a good point to add: As I am not Trans, I can't say whether or not this book will be harmful to you, if you are Trans or sensitive to Transphobia. What I can say is Danny's parents are both in denial about her gender, Danny's Dad to the point that he is abusive trying to make her "more manly," as well as the rejection from some members of the superhero Legion - mainly Graywytch - and of course David, Danny's ex-best friend, who asked her to go out with him because he deserves it. This is the only transphobia I can recall... correct me if I missed anything out. We meet Danny in the beginning of the novel anxiously buying a bottle of nail varnish and hiding behind a pillar in the Mall to paint her toenails, just to feel normal. Physically turned into a woman in a flash, she has never told her parents who she is on the inside, and now has to face their wrath and endless efforts to "fix" her. Danny finds it very hard to tell them that this is who she wants to be. At the same time as being outed to the whole world, she has to deal with the fact that she now has these great superpowers and even greater decisions to make... Danny accepting her colours of her cape and referring to herself as Dreadnought solidified the character development in terms of becoming a superhero, but even more than that is how she comes to accept herself in front of the whole world... I'll let you read to find that out ;-)

*Thank you so much to NetGalley & the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Diversion Books, for the free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was so excited to read this book! A transgender superhero? Yes please!!

The story started really fast. Within the first few pages Danny’s transition happens. But then it really slowed after that. I can kind of understand – going from a boy to a girl with super powers is not something that happens everyday. And I mean physically going from a boy to a girl since she has always been a girl. But the action didn’t really pick back up until about the halfway mark. There were plenty of times at the beginning of this book where I considered marking it as DNF, but so many people on Goodreads loved it so I decided to keep going.

One thing I really did not like about Danny was that she kept doubting herself. She called herself “stupid” and “an idiot” way too many times to count. I kind of lost sympathy for her because her pity parties were way too frequent for my liking. And I guess that some people feel that way, but I’ve never felt that way and I’m not transgender, so I had some difficulty relating to Danny’s feelings.

I also was not a fan of the writing style. Sometimes when the world was being explained, it was almost like there was an omniscient storyteller, rather then Danny explaining things herself. There were a lot of times when I wondered, how would she know that? Not as in “I don’t think she’s that smart” but as in “if that’s a government secret, how would a 15 year old girl know that?”

All in all, it was a fun read. If you’re interested in reading this book I would definitely say give it a shot, but if you’re not interested then maybe you should pass on this one.

As soon as I heard about Dreadnought, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. I mean, superheroes AND a trans girl as the lead? Sign me the heck up for that. And I'm so incredibly glad I got the chance to read it.

In the world of Dreadnought, superpowers are just a regular fact of life. It's not uncommon to see couriers flying through the air on delivery missions, or a crazy super villain crash through a building. Danny has known about these things her whole life, but it's one thing to read stories about superpowers. Having them yourself is quite another matter. When Danny accidentally witnesses the death of the world-famous superhero, Dreadnought, she suddenly finds herself with powers she never dreamed possible.

One of my favorite parts of this book is that despite the big battles and crazy superpowers, the main focus is on the characters themselves. They truly drive this story. Especially Danny, who I love so much and just want the absolute best for. But really, there were so many wonderful characters in this book.

Dreadnought manages a good balance between being a quirky superhero story, while at the same time tackling some pretty heavy and upsetting topics. Danny faces a whole host of discrimination and abuse for being trans. But at the same time, I loved seeing the amount of support Danny found as well with characters who were willing to accept her exactly as she was.

My biggest complaint was the plot itself. I feel like the world building needed a lot of work and I'd like to know more about how exactly this world became how it is. Plus, I found myself getting kind of confused about what exactly was happening in the story sometimes. I also feel like the first half of the book moved really slow. But things definitely picked up during the second half.

Despite my occasional confusion, I still really enjoyed Dreadnought. If you enjoy superhero stories like the Avengers and Ms. Marvel, then you should definitely check this out. I can't wait to read the next book

I've been looking to read more books with transgender protagonists since the last one I read was one I really didn't like. I'm not entirely sure if this story is own voices, but I still enjoyed this book for the most part. It definitely has the potential to be a great book series.

The world in this book was very reminiscent of Junior Hero Blues By J.K. Pendragon, where superheroes do exist and are normalized. The world building was pretty lackluster and the author could have expanded a little more on it. In addition, when the superhero organization, Legion was explained it really did feel a lot like info dumping. Which led to the pacing to be really strange. Some parts were agonizingly slow while others were fast paced. It felt inconsistent and choppy and it took me a while to get through the book, despite its short length.

Despite my issues with the pacing, I really liked the transgender representation.
Remember, I AM cisgender and someone who is transgender may find this book bad representation, but as far as I can tell, I think it was good representation for the most part.
Danny starts off as very insecure and isn't able to stand up for herself. As the story progresses, she begins to grow into herself and be confident in the fact that she is a transgender girl and isn't afraid to say it. However, I did have a little bit of an issue with the amount of transphobic comments her former family and friends made. Katherine from Fabled Haven also discussed this in her review. I think there should have been more positivity from at least one family member (especially an adult), someone who accepted for her who she is. It really doesn't send a positive message to transgender teens who maybe haven't come out to their friends and family yet. Highlight for spoiler: Also, I really wanted Danny to get justice for how emotionally abusive her father was to her. I'm hoping this is explored in the next book.

Danny does end up befriending Sarah, who is Latina. Danny's also lesbian and there are hints of more to Sarah and Danny's relationship. But in this installment, I really enjoyed their friendship and how genuinely supportive she was. I was really glad to see someone actually accept Danny for who she is.

Overall, I think this book has the potential to be a great, inclusive series. There were many high points to the story and I'm hoping some of the issues I had with the book will be resolved in the next book.

Rating: 3.25/5

Danny is a girl in a boy’s body, until she ends up at the scene of a vicious superhero fight and, as a result, inherits the power of Dreadnought. Danny’s body changes as well, and finally she is the girl she always knew she was. This, of course, comes with its own set of challenges – an unsupportive mother and downright abusive father, her best friend thinks he should automatically have first dibs on dating her, and she has no real choice but to be out.

On top of that, she has to figure out how to use her powers, the politics of the superhero realm to ponder, a new bunch of people to judge her and a homocidal maniac trying to take over the world.

I am not a superhero fan by any stretch of the imagination, but if more superhero stories were like Dreadnought, I would be. Danny’s voice is both unique and authentic, and her struggles are both recognisable and understandable.

One of Danny’s toughest lessons is to be her own advocate and to learn not to rely on her family for reassurance or support. While most YA contains an element of this (the teen goes off on their own just to discover their moral compass is just where their family put it and they return to the fold wiser and more experienced) Danny, at the tender age of fifteen, has to find within herself the strength and courage to value her identity, her body and her very existence after her family has refused at the most fundamental level to accept her for who she is. This is an important difference. In life and literature, most teens head out into the world to make their own mistakes mostly knowing they will have their parents love and support when they return. Danny, and teens like her, do not. Danny knows her parents’ moral code is flawed, and she isn’t entirely convinced by the superheroes either. Unlike most teens, Danny actually does have to figure things out on her own.

This is such a wonderful debut. The writing is punchy, the action sequences are great, and I think this book would translate wonderfully to the screen.

Thank you April Daniels for this wonderful book! I can’t wait till the next instalment!

Dreadnought stars Danny, a transgender teenage girl, who happens to live in an alternative version of our world that is populated by people with super powers. Danny finds herself in the middle of a superhero fight and, when the superhero (the eponymous Dreadnought) dies in said fight, he passes his powers on to Danny. These powers come with a perk for the host – a transformation of the host’s body into the host’s idealized physical appearance. For Danny, this means a physical transition without expensive surgeries. While absolutely thrilled to be in possession of a body that matches what she has always longed for, Danny now has to deal with the consequences – both of no longer being able to hide her gender identity (and the fact that she is gay) and of her newfound super powers. The road that lies before her is fraught with both moments of hope and of hopelessness.

If you’ve ever wanted to have your discussions of hard-hitting social and moral issues wrapped up in a superhero story, you have come to the right place. Reading Dreadnought feels like watching a fun-filled, action-packed superhero movie, while being asked to think critically about issues that are anything but fun-filled. From explorations of the many dimensions of transphobia to depictions of abusive home environments and family relationships to the unspoken undercurrent of sexism that pervades society even in a version of the world where women are some of the strongest superheros, Daniels pulls no punches in this novel.

Danny’s story drives home the realization that physical transition does not allow transgender individuals to escape transphobia. Having your outsides suddenly match your insides doesn’t translate into automatic acceptance. As an aside, the amount on transphobia and homophobia on blunt display in this novel can be a quite a shock to the system if you aren’t prepared. Consider this your warning.

On a much different note, it is nice to see the pages of this novel filled with an ethnically diverse set of characters with a strong emphasis on portraying strong women who are anything but one-dimensional, submissive, mothering machines. These women are individuals with their own pasts, motivations, and opinions. Daniels does not, however, let her readers get lulled into the false sense that sharing a gender means sharing solidarity. Fear and hate know no gender.

Despite my sincere appreciation of the ambition of the content in Dreadnought, I unfortunately had some problems with the writing in this book. Much of my criticism on this front has to do with pacing. The book is very slow to start even given Danny’s transformation taking place within the first ten pages. The pace does pick up after about a third of the way into the book; however, it is spotty after that. The thing that stuck out the most for me when considering why the pacing seems off was the juxtaposition of long stretches of easy-to-read and easy-to-follow prose with long paragraphs filled with convoluted, often confusing sentence structures. Unfortunately, the complicated sentence structures popped up during action scenes and not in the internal monologues, further throwing off the pacing.

My reservations about the quality of the writing, however, do not make Dreadnought any less supremely relevant. As a YA Own Voices novel that capably deals not only with the many issues faced by transgender individuals but also with problems of identity and the impact of abusive home environments, this book should be on every high school summer reading list and on every library shelf. Regardless of how fantastical the premise may be, I think that Dreadnought would serve as an excellent source of solace and solidarity for transgender teens and as a learning tool for the rest of humanity. Read it.

Trigger warning: This book contains depictions of and discussions about verbally abusive home environments as well as liberal literary use of transphobic and homophobic slurs.

I really enjoyed this coming of age story of accepting one's place in the world--with superheroes and supervillains thrown in. Danny Tozer is a heroine I'm excited to have in the world and I look forward to her next adventure as Dreadnought.

I'm writing this while riding the wave of just finishing Dreadnought - IT WAS SO SO SO GOOD.

I can't fault this book, it made me so incredibly happy. Firstly, it was just so darn cool, well thought out and executed. Secondly, I felt for the characters. I loved them so much, especially Danny and Calamity - what's not to love!? Their friendship and camaraderie was wonderful and special, and I was utterly addicted.

Besides being so gut-hurtingly funny, it was also gut-wrenching. I felt all the anger and sadness and self loathing Danny felt, all the isolation and misunderstandings, the ups and the downs. She was such an incredible and real character, and I'd be more than happy to read another thousand books following her.

Can't wait for the next book!

I was incredibly excited about this book when I spotted it on Netgalley. A trans #OwnVoices book + superheroes? Yes, please! Sadly, my enthusiasm quickly went downhill went I started reading this book. But let's start this review with the things that I did like about it.

First of all, I really liked Danny as a main character. She is incredibly strong and smart, and goes through a lot of character development throughout the book, which was great to read about.

I also really liked the world building. Usually when an author tries to add fantasy elements to a real world setting it feels very confusing, but April Daniels definitely made it feel natural. It was easy to get sucked into this world.

Sadly, the story was way too slow for me. It did pick up a bit at the end, but Danielle and Calamity spend most of the novel investigating Utopia, and it felt like nothing was happening. I was so incredibly bored, and it was a real struggle to pick the book up.
This book also made me incredibly angry. There is so much transphobia, sexism and abusive language in this book. Danny is emotionally abused by her parents, and when her best friend finds out about her being transgender he turns into a bit of eh, how do I say this, a dick.
There is also a person called Graywytch in the book who is the literal worst. She constantly misgenders Danny and uses her deadname. She also says that Danny isn't a real girl because she doesn't know how to use a tampon, and says horrible and awful things that I don't want to quote here because it makes me want to cry. So yeah, this book needs a massive trigger warning for transphobia.

So overall, the concept of the story is great, but the execution sadly isn't. I wish this book had a bit more action, and a few more fun and supporting characters, because about 8/10 characters in this book were awful people. I really wish I liked this book...

I feel so lucky to have had two 5-star reads in a row courtesy of Netgalley ARCs! I knew this was going to be good from the start - you know how some authors are just so wonderfully competent that their characters jump off the page from the first chapter fully-formed like old friends that you're catching up with and the writing has such a great ease and flow to it that you can plunge through several chapters and not even realize that you're half-way through? That was my experience with this book.

I haven't read a book with transgender characters before, let alone with a trans protagonist, and I'm thrilled that my first encounter was so positive. That isn't to say that Danny's physical transition to appearing as a female is without hardship - one of the most difficult aspects of this story is the considerable heaping of transphobia that Danny is subjected to from loved ones and peers. What I mean is that the author put so much care and respect into crafting this character - there are a lot of stereotypes that would've been so easy to rely on and pitfalls to avoid, but (in my opinion as a cisgender woman) April Daniels pulled it off so well and I'm excited that we have such excellent trans representation in the sci-fi/fantasy genre!

However, to follow on from my earlier comment - it's sometimes excruciating to read the verbal abuse that Danny suffers. If you're sensitive to transphobic and homophobic language, I'd have to recommend against reading this or at least being very careful if you proceed because my god, does Danny get put through the wringer. From the synopsis, I knew to expect her father and best friend to be sources of prejudice, but I thought her superhero escapades would provide from relief from the 'civilian' issues. What I didn't realize was that the superhero team, the Legion, is not as accepting as one might have hoped and causes her no end of angst and suffering as well. It did carry on a bit too far in Graywytch's case, to the point of caricature, and I felt that one of the few weaknesses of this book was her OTT reaction to Danny and how far her persecution went.

From another angle, while it wasn't pleasant reading, the family dynamics were very well-written and unfortunately realistic. There were so many times I wanted to scream at Danny to just ditch her parents and forget about them, but I know it isn't that easy when you're in that situation, it's hard to overcome years of history and psychological conditioning and the natural vulnerability we have to our parents and their opinions of us. If Danny had assumed the mantle of Dreadnought and immediately gained self-confidence, stood up for herself and kicked all naysayers to the curb, well, that would've been a really fun wish-fulfillment fantasy, but it wouldn't have been true to the character. She had a much more difficult path to walk, but it was so rewarding to watch her gradually overcome her self-doubt and start to believe in herself and blossom into who she was always meant to be.

Assisting in her journey were two fantastic female characters, Sarah (aka Calamity) and Doc Impossible. I love female friendships, so it made me wriggle with glee that Danny had two important relationships with other women! Sarah is the kind of friend we all want, supportive of Danny but also challenging her worldview when necessary. The two girls teaming up to track down the supervillain Utopia was a blast, I loved them bonding while 'caping' (ie. donning superhero costumes and running around doing good deeds) and conducting a smart age-appropriate investigation. I was relieved that they didn't pull some ridiculously convoluted CSI routine to pursue Utopia, their tactics and strategies made sense for teenagers. And with all the problems Danny had to deal with, it was lovely to see her get to have fun with another girl her age, going shopping, trying on make-up, going out to dinner and other cute interactions. <3

Doc Impossible, on the other hand, plays more of a mentor role. I enjoyed her character and how she developed throughout the story. What I really appreciated was that the author showed how even those who try to support and befriend trans people can make mistakes - it's not just openly vindictive bigots who can be the source of pain, even well-meaning folks can cause harm through innocent mistakes that nonetheless have huge repercussions. For instance, Doc Impossible thinks nothing of disclosing Danny's trans status to the rest of the Legion instead of honoring her right to privacy and keeping her medical records confidential - this leads to a great deal of tension and hostility that could've been avoided and Danny rightly calls her on outing her without permission.

The rest of the supporting characters weren't fleshed out to a significant degree - I do feel a chance was missed with the Legion, it would've been great to actually get to know more about these superheroes instead of the tidbits and info-dumps we get on them before the author summarily dispenses with them in order to focus on Danny. I know it's her story, but for a book set in a world populated by superheroes, we didn't get too much time with the main team!

However, my affection for Danny more than makes up for any minor flaws in this book. She is such an endearing and relatable character, I really felt her emotions and her struggles, and it was so uplifting reading about her successes. I am so happy to find that there's a sequel planned for Danny and I can't wait to read more!

What I liked most about this book is that, while it is an important diverse read, it isn't the diversity that makes it great. It is just a great book while also being an important book to extend the boundaries of inclusivity in the superhero universe. Danny is immediately likable, and the initial opening is so accessible... that is, it isn't too heavy in her mind that it feels like a contemp fiction novel.

We learn from Danny that she is transgender, and struggling in both her family life, but also her personal life as she is in a body that does not feel right. It briefly touches on her struggle, it isn't heavy like you would read in some other books. It is coloring for her world, and her shock when she finds herself across the street from a superhero (metahuman) battle. While trying to stay out of the line of fire, she discovers that Dreadnought, a well-known male metahuman, has been struck down. She tries to coax him to get up, to pull him to safety, but he has been fatally wounded. In his final moments, his powers pass to Danny.

Danny finds herself now in the body of a female, something which feels both right and wrong at the same time. It is a shock, and a freeing experience. Danny must now figure out who she can trust, as Dreadnought's nemesis is lurking, a mysterious figure that we are told is named Utopia.

I think this book is so important for anyone who has struggled with gender or sexual identity, but again, equally as important in its exploration of a teen who is learning their identity period, regardless of gender or chromosomes. It also shows that personal struggles do not end simply with a magic change... there is still work to be done to complete and accept yourself.

With the world setting, it felt similar to the Marvel Universe, X-Men Universe (or similar) wherein there are multiple metahumans with varying powers. It fits in so well with the popular themes in the movie and comic book genres, I can see how many teens would enjoy this book. I look forward to the next installment in the series!

Is there a name for the situation where you keep thinking you like a certain genre, but you’re almost unfailingly critical of every book in that genre you read? That’s me and the superhero novel. I want to like superhero novels, desperately. Superheroes fascinate me. But most superhero novels I’ve read don’t quite capture whatever ineffable quality of superheroics that I’m looking for. (To be fair, I also don’t read superhero comics or watch much superhero television/movies, Supergirl aside, so maybe I’m just delusional.) So I end up reading superhero novels and then feeling let down, and it’s not entirely the fault of those books.

Turns out that Dreadnought, by April Daniels, is the superhero novel I’ve been waiting for.

Small disclaimer the first: I applied and was approved for this book through NetGalley, but by the time the approval came through my pre-order copy of the book showed up, so I read the hard copy anyway. If you would like to send me free copies of books I’ve pre-ordered in time for me to read the physical copy anyway, hit me with up with a private message. I swear, one day I’ll figure out how to NetGalley properly.

So Danny Tozer is a transgender girl who is hiding her identity from her family (and everyone else), barely surviving by expressing herself by painting her toenails in secret. Dreadnought, arguably the world’s most powerful superhero—superheroes are just a thing in this universe—dies in front of her, and she inherits his “mantle” of powers. In addition to giving Danny superpowers, the mantle also transforms her body so that it matches her internal gender identity. You can imagine that her family isn’t too thrilled about this, and while Danny is ecstatic by the change, it has numerous consequences she spends the rest of the novel learning to deal with.

I was looking forward to Dreadnought just from the description (which is what motivated me to pre-order the book just after finding out about it). I didn’t expect it to be so funny. It’s Daniels’ humour that first made me suspect I’d be giving this book five stars:

> “What’s this?”
>
> “A suppository.”
>
> “No.”
>
> “Shove that up your butt.”
>
> “No.”
>
> “It’s for science.”
>
> “No.”
>
> “Please?”
>
> “You are going to buy me pizza.”
>
> “Deal.”
>
> “A lot of pizza.”



I don’t visualize things when I read, right? So long, florid descriptions of characters and scenes and battle sequences leave little impression on me. But snappy dialogue between Danny and Doc Impossible? Yes, please! I’ll take me some more of that.

The thing is, this humour is a necessary tonic to what might otherwise be interpreted as an often bleak, very difficult read for someone who has gone through experiences similar to Danny’s. On the one hand, you have Doc Impossible, who is supportive and intersectional as shit:

> “I guess I just thought I was finally a real girl.”
>
> “Hey! None of that!” She takes me by the shoulders. “You think it’s a uterus that makes a woman? Bullshit. You feel like you’re a girl, you live it, it’s part of you? Then you’re a girl. That’s the end of it, no quibbling. You’re as real a girl as anyone. An you really need to learn to express your anger better.”



On the other hand, there are numerous characters who represent that difficulty of existing as an openly trans person, even one who has superpowers. Danny constantly gets misgendered, from her family to her best friend to another superhero, Graywytch, who is a strident TERF from the get-go. Dreadnought comes about as close as I can possibly get to understanding how the constant microagression of misgendering can be wearing and debilitating for someone. And Daniels makes it clear that even though Danny lucked out and side-stepped the whole transition quandary and now also has superpowers, none of this solves the institutional transphobia of our society.

Indeed, Daniels portrays the whole “teenager suddenly finds herself with near-invincible superpowers” extremely … well, realistic is not the correct word—believably, I guess? In the world of Dreadnought, people with powers (metahumans, is the term) are actually fairly common, though only a small proportion of them have the juice and desire to become “capes”. Inheriting the Dreadnought mantle pretty much guarantees Danny a spot at the cape table—when she turns eighteen. Until then, she gets stuck in the kiddie zone—and she does not like that at all. So after being told not to go caping on the side, you better believe that’s exactly what she does. Teenagers, eh?

There are times when I groaned a little at the way Danny and Sarah handled their independent little investigation. Sometimes it seems like they make choices simply because it is better for the plot that way. Still, I very much enjoyed the relationship between Danny and Sarah. I can appreciate how Daniels characterizes Danny not just as trans but a lesbian, and that her feelings for Sarah are a complicated mixture of admiration, awe, and attraction—but I’m also glad that Daniels resists the urge to make this anywhere near a straightforward romance. Danny has enough going as it is to mix love into the equation.

Danny and Sarah are great, though. I love the backstory Daniels gives Sarah, and that Sarah (who is Black) calls Danny out on her white privilege even while being supportive of her trans identity. Sarah provides essential emotional support, rooting for Danny to take on the name as well as the mantle of Dreadnought—but she is also hotheaded, impulsive, too quick to action; Danny offers a great, more contemplative counterbalance. This dynamic works really well, and I can’t wait to see what happens with them in the next book.

Really, the relationships between Danny and most of the characters in this book are just so good. Take her parents, for instance. In addition to being transphobic, Danny’s father is just outright abusive. He promotes an unrealistic standard of macho/hyper-masculinity that Danny can’t conform to, even if she were a boy. Transgender issues aside, this is a household that is not a safe or nurturing environment for any kid. And Danny’s mom, while much less overt, is not any more supportive. I hit page 187, and my heart pretty much broke:

> Mom leans back in her chair. "It wasn't so bad, was it? You were growing up so well."
>
> "It was torture! You know what I was doing when Dreadnought--when that supervillain attacked me?" I don't believe it. It's like she's wilfully misunderstanding it. They never take my word for it; why can't they take my word for it? "I was painting my toenails behind the mall because that's the only way I could keep sane. Does that seem normal to you, Mom? Does that seem healthy?"
>
> "I just ... I don't see you as a girl," she says. "Even now, even looking like that. You were going to be such a fine young--"
>
> "I was going to die." The pencil snaps between my fingers, one end cartwheeling off across the table and onto the floor. "And I am a girl. Even if you don't see it."



There is so much to unpack here. The pain, and the anger, and the way once again Danny has to restrain herself from letting it break to the surface now that she has so much strength. This exchange really drives home something we cisgender people often forget about the experience of being transgender, namely, that the constant misgendering, erasure, and transphobia is literally killing transgender people. Moreover, this quote, and similar moments throughout the book, drive home the self-doubt and misplaced guilt that Danny herself feels about her gender identity. She has internalized a lot of her parents’ disappointment in her gender expression, and while she has no intention of reversing what the Dreadnought mantle has wrought, it doesn’t change her lived experience. I know that some people, both trans and cis, have pointed out the handwaving convenience of Danny’s transition into literally a Superhot Superwoman, and they have a point. That being said, Daniels doesn’t miss a chance to remind us that this doesn’t magically take away Danny’s pain.

So far I’ve just been talking about the characters in this book and not so much about the superhero plot. Keep in mind that Dreadnought is less than 300 pages—there is a lot of character development going on here for a slim book!

The superhero story is no less impressive than the characterization. As I alluded to above, Danny strikes out on her own while mulling over how much of a superhero she actually wants to be, and whether she can affiliate herself with the Legion Pacifica when they talk down to her and host a TERF. She and Sarah go after Utopia, murderer of the previous Dreadnought, together. The way Daniels works this plot in parallel to Danny’s adjustment to her changes in her plainclothes life is quite deft. There’s some good investigation here, combined with plenty of action. Daniels is careful not to make Danny too overpowered, and I love the descriptions of how Danny sees/uses Dreadnought’s abilities. The disagreements that Danny and Sarah have regarding the best ways to proceed are nice philosophical diversions, too.

And then we hit the climax, and the rest of this book is just explosive.

Danny takes on some challenging bad guys and engages in her first real, big Dreadnought-level challenge. And then she goes to the Legion Tower, and without spoiling anything, let’s just say that Daniels manages to utterly devastate us. I kind of predicted a few of the twists, thanks I’ll say to foreshadowing much earlier in the book, but some of them were new. And the level of … carnage … is impressive. If you’re thinking about reading this book but are holding off only because you want to know if it contains a nail-biting, race-against-the-clock, down-to-the-wire finale … then yes, yes it does.

So buckle up, because this book starts off strong and just keeps getting better. Seriously, after the intense climax, the last two pages still manage to beat that for pure emotional drama. Let’s just say that Danny pulls a Tony Stark in Iron Man, and it’s more of a Crowning Moment of Awesome than anything else she does in this entire book—and that includes saving an airplane single-handedly or, you know, saving the whole world from a cyborg supervillain with delusions of godhead.

Dreadnought is a debut novel. It’s not perfect. But it’s finally a superhero novel I can not only enjoy but adore. My major criticism is that it is too short, and that having read it so soon after its release I now have to wait far too long to read the sequel. I can’t wait to learn what Daniels has next in store for Danny, Sarah, the Doc, et al, both in terms of the threat of Nemesis and Danny’s newfound fame. Because this is not just a positive portrayal of a transgender lesbian superhero who saves the world, but it’s just the beginning. And I can only hope there are teens out there who read this and see that they, too, can be heroes.

In a world where there are now superheros and super villains, 15 year old Danny is a boy who wants to be a girl. When he is an unwitting witness to the death of a superhero named Dreadnought, she gets her wish, a female body, along with superpowers and the choice of what to do next . Her father is abusive and very much against her being transgender and her mother is unable to stand up to him. There is prejudice against her being transgender even among the superhero community so though she now has the body she has always wanted, some things have not changed. She befriends another girl who calls herself Calamity, who fights against evil whether it is outside of the government or within it, and begins to learn more about the superhero community and the evil villain who killed Dreadnought. I like that Danny has to overcome her own fears and learn to use her powers and chose whether to use them for good or not. This book is a fun read and I think teens will enjoy it.

This book makes me want to hug it. It's so sweet and beautiful and a perfect example of what happens when you let the queer community tell our own stories - #relatable magic happens. Superhero shenanigans aside, this is a perfect story of queer coming-of-age through adversity. It's crazy how false traditional (read: written by cishet folks) coming out narratives ring when you hold them up against stories like this written by people who have actually come out. The journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance feels so much more personal and familiar when it's coming from someone who knows what they're talking about. Now, of course, I personally am cis and obviously don't have any experience with coming out as trans, but I am gay and I do know a thing or two about coming out and getting to that point and that whole emotional hoopla is so well captured here. And oh my god Danny's struggle through her father's emotional abuse and her internalizaion of it! Amazingly well done and also very familiar - that constant catching yourself in those intrusive thoughts or not catching them and just believing them, like... slow clap it out. Of course, I absolutely love that all of this is happening within the context of superheroes and using the coming-to-terms-with-superhero-identity to parallel coming-to-terms-with-personal-identity. So much fun and so moving and personal and familiar and wonderful. A true benefit to all queer kids, to feel that connection and that feeling of being understood. That's what literature is supposed to do and that is what this book does and I just... ugh. Perfect. I wanted to like literally squeal when I finished this book and that is so not my style, so take it as a ringing endorsement. You need this book.

This was a pretty fast read, and had moments where it faltered while it found it's feet- while the plot was straight forward enough, the flip-flop between the larger plot and the more personal fallout of Danny's transition took a little getting used to and sometimes made things feel a touch abrupt. That said, once I got used to it, it didn't end up detracting hugely from my enjoyment.

It was interesting to see the superhero politics that happened behind the scenes, and seeing how, despite their public image some of them really weren't very kind people. As people, some of them were kind of awful, and it was frustrating to have to watch Danny have to struggle to be accepted by them, as well as by her parents, who should have supported her. It's a terrible thing that too many members of the LGBT+ community have to face and is a tough part of representation to see sometimes (though obviously that aspect of the LGBT+ experience that should be shared).

Danny goes through a lot of character growth as she struggles to decide whether to embrace the mantel of Dreadnought, and especially as she begins working with a vigilante named Calamity and sees the complexity of the underworld for those with superpowers. She also grows in that she's finally able to publicly embrace being a girl, and having to face the backlash and some pretty awful treatment for simply being who she is. She was really brave in the face of all of that, and it was fantastic to see her character grow, and I'm looking forward to seeing that continue!

Overall, I enjoyed this one, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next! There's clearly a bigger story here, and I'm curious which direction it's going to go in. I'm hoping to see the plot grow more complex, as the action-plot of the story in Dreadnought was fairly standard, I'd really like to see some unexpected twists.

It’s no secret that I love superheroes. Very much. I used to appreciate a good one every once in a while, and a bad one a little too often that I would like, but this past year that appreciation blew up. (I blame my friends and the DCEU. Thanks assholes.) I found out about Dreadnought while I was on a animated teenage superheroes high and, well, you can all probably guess what happened.

Dreadnought takes place in a world not unlike ours – it IS ours, just more scientifically advanced and with superheroes. Danny is transgender and her primary worry is how to deal with being a girl when everyone is convinced she’s a boy. It’s definitely not dying-in-her-arms superheroes who aren’t supposed to even be able to die, nor are they fending off supervillains with incredibly powerful weapons that threaten to destroy the world. But as the current Dreadnought dies, he gives Danny his powers and with that comes the best gift she could ever receive – her outside finally reflects her inside. But her family just can’t seem to accept that Danny is a girl. Along with that, she now has to deal with her newfound superpowers, the Legion of superheroes who aren’t all positively inclined towards her, all the while balancing school, prejudice, her vigilante classmate, and her best friend being a douchebag. Oh, and a cyborg supervillain who wants to take over the world.

Listen, if you don’t want to rush off and read this book after reading the synopsis, well, then you’re wrong. (Or just not a fan of superheroes? Which I guess is okay. To each their own.) I definitely did want to do that. Granted, it took me longer than necessary to get to this book, and my expectations where through the roof, and while I can’t say I inhaled it, I can’t say I hated it either.

The writing itself was pretty good. It was engaging and easy enough to follow, except for the actions scenes but I’m not going to blame the book too much for those because I tend to struggle with those on a regular basis. It’s the world-building I had a problem with. I feel like there isn’t enough introduction to the world and how it all works. I get that there are more important issues and the author probably wanted to have more space to explore them. Understandable. But it would’ve been nice to have a little more exposition.

The main characters were a delight. I love Danny, my heart goes out to her. There’s so much rawness to her character, so much pain, but she’s also such a strong force. (And not just physically.) She doesn’t back down. Her strength is something to admire and aspire to. Calamity is also a really strong character and a perfect co-pilot for Danny. The two make an incredible team. I did feel like the rest were a bit too good-guys-bad-guys, I do tend to like my heroes more morally ambiguous and less black/white. Still, Utopia was an interesting villain. I wish we’d gotten to explore her character a little bit more.

But, in the end, Dreadnought isn’t all about superheroes and supervillains. This book shines a light on some of the ugly sides of society and its extreme narrow-mindedness. But it also radiates empowerment. Danny is a transgirl, living in a society that is still largely prejudiced, despite living among advanced technologies and metahumans. But she still stands strong. She owns her gender, her identity and doesn’t let anyone take it away from her. It’s an important lesson to teach, to learn, to accept.

There are a thousand things more to be said, but it isn’t my place to say them. I can say, however, that this book, despite the small issues I had with it, is a good book. An important book. A quick, enjoyable read that you get so much out of. I really loved going on adventures with Danny and Calamity and I can’t wait to see where the second book will take them.

As someone who is genderqueer, I'm still not sure how I feel about 'transforming bodies.' I came into it with hesitation but excitement at the idea of a trans superhero. I wasn't let down. It balances being a book that addresses trans issues without becoming an issue book. I'm all for books that allow queer adventures!

Before I delve into my thoughts on Dreadnought I want to scream from the rooftops that this book is about a trans superhero. HELLS TO THE YES.

1) Danny is precious.

I wanted to protect Danny throughout this entire book. My mother hen most definitely reared its clucky head because I cannot help but want to protect people who are being treated like shit. Which Danny was for the most part in this book. And that made me want to dive in and be the person that she needed – the one that supported her no matter what, and loved her for everything that she is. Danny does make a friend in Calamity, but I also wanted someone else for her, someone who was soft and loving. I hope that that person comes along at some point in the series.

Danny starts off the book as a normal human, who is then endowed with superpowers from the superhero Dreadnought. And even though she gains superhuman strength and thus becomes incredibly strong physically, I think her standout quality was her emotional strength. She goes through a lot in this book, and even though at times she feels helpless she never gives up. I had such pride and admiration for her because of that. Not everyone would be able to cope with the shit that is piled on Danny in Dreadnought.

2) It is so obviously #ownvoices.

And, of course, I mean this in the best way possible. There are so many traps that cis writers fall into when writing trans characters, and there’s always that feeling that you get when you read them where you’re just like: this is so obviously a cis writer writing about being trans. And it was so completely the opposite in Dreadnought. WE NEED MORE TRANS BOOKS WRITTEN BY TRANS AUTHORS OMG.

The authenticity of Danny’s experience as a transgirl felt so incredibly real, and it really just spoke to the heart. If you’ve ever wanted to pick up a book with a trans MC please make it this one.

3) I didn’t like a lot of the superheroes.

I liked Doc Impossible, although she did mess up quite a bit, and that resulted in pain on Danny’s behalf so I find it hard to forgive her. I did like Valkyrja, because she was sweet and Danny’s crush on her was ADORABLE. But the rest of them were assholes. And that was quite interesting because it’s like … just because you save the world doesn’t mean that you’re a kind person. So many of the Legion Pacifica (this book’s Avengers-like group) were super un-accepting or just silent in the face of the transphobia that Danny was facing, which was not okay.

The superhero that I disliked the most was Graywytch. I absolutely despised her and her transphobia. Also the way she constantly misgendered Danny and called her “young man”. Mother hen = activated. I really hope that she is taken down a notch (or, you know, a thousand) because I don’t want to see that person hurt Danny anymore.

4) So much exploration.

I guess that point doesn’t really make a lot of sense, but I’ll try to explain.

When Danny is given the powers of Dreadnought, her body transforms from male to female (I apologise if this terminology is shit, I don’t know how to explain it any other way). So people immediately assume that she IDs as a girl (which she does, but let us all remember that femininity =/= identifying as a girl), which leads to Danny experiencing sexism in a way that she mightn’t have faced before e.g. people assuming she can’t do certain things because she’s a girl.

One of the superheroes in the group is a cis gay guy, but isn’t supportive of Danny. I felt like this was a great thing to include because the LGBTQIA+ community isn’t perfect, and there are cis people who are queer but not supportive of transgirls (or any people who aren’t cis). It was sad to see Danny get excited about not being the only non-cishet person in the group, but then get let down by the guy.

Danny’s best friend, a cishet guy, suddenly assumed that Danny will date him when she comes out to him as trans after her Dreadnought transformation. He was a total asshole and we will never speak of him again.

There was absolutely zero support from Danny’s parents, even though in the beginning it looked like her mum might be supportive. But neither of them were, and both were very into the “let’s fix you” mindset, which was hard and sad to read about because dammit I just wanted Danny to be accepted and loved by her own parents.

5) It balanced action and development.

Don’t think that Dreadnought is 100% all about being a superhero and fighting the bad guys. There is quite a bit of that stuff, but there’s also a lot of Danny figuring out what life is like now that she’s out as a transgirl, and also trying to figure out if she really wants to be the world’s best superhero. I liked that Danny didn’t just dive into being an amazing superhero out to save the world because people die that way and she’s only fifteen. The balance between the two was pretty well handled.

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Overall, I really enjoyed Dreadnought. There is literally no other book like it out there, and I highly recommend it if you want to read a book with a trans MC, an LGBTQIA+ book that isn’t contemporary, or an awesome #ownvoices book.

© 2017, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.