HOW TO DATE A SUPERHERO (AND NOT DIE TRYING), by Cristina Fernandez, Katherine Tegen Books, Aug. 2, 2022, Hardcover, $18.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up/ new adult)
A college student’s life gets turned upside down when she learns her boyfriend has super powers in How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying), by Cristina Fernandez.
Falling for a superhero is dangerous. You have to trust that they’ll catch you.
Astrid isn’t a superhero, not like the ones she sees on the news, but she has something she thinks of as a small superpower: She has a perfect sense of time. And she’s not going to waste a single second.
Her plan for college is clear — friends, classes, and extra-curriculars all carefully selected to get her into medical school.
Until Max Martin, a nerdy boy from high school, crashes back into her life. Things with Max were never simple, and he doesn’t keep to her schedule. He disappears in the middle of dates and cancels last-minute with stupid excuses.
When a supervillain breaks into her bedroom one night, Astrid has to face the facts: Her boyfriend, Max Martin, is a superhero. Double-majoring as a pre-med was hard, but now Astrid will have to balance a double-life. This wasn’t part of her plan. —Synopsis provided by Katherine Tegen Books
It took me a minute to get into How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying). The book is written in third person present tense, which initially threw me off. I’ve come to believe, however, that it’s the perfect style for Cristina Fernandez’s novel. Fernandez’s prose creates a sense of urgency and suits her main character, Astrid.
Astrid is the student who is always trying to be the best, earn the most points, get the most out of everything. Her life is planned out down to the minute, and when you live like that, any deviation is likely to wreak havoc. Fernandez does get a little lost in the minutia, but even that rings true to Astrid. Because of her strict schedule, Astrid is most interesting when forced to deviate.
And while Astrid is at the center of the story, it’s the supporting characters that really bring it to life. Without Max, Astrid’s best friend, David, and the other people she’s forced to socialize with because Max is a superhero, this book would not work. They add a desperately needed balance and force Astrid to look beyond her perfectly planned program.
When everything comes together, How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) truly takes flight. The pacing truly reflects the characters and how the characters act within the world Fernandez has created. It’s not a perfect novel, but it’s an enjoyable one that will make you ask, “What if superheroes were real?”
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