When she gets a job where one of her tasks is to stand there as a token female behind a villain as he makes demands, it's not difficult for her to go with it, eating is a wonderful hobby.īut the superheroes arrive and she's collateral damage (and the villain lays her off with flowers while in hospital).

Anna (a wonderfully everywoman name to start) is close to the breadline, her temp jobs are very short-term and honestly she's struggling.

Yes you work for villains, but is it any worse than working for a greedy corporation or a bank? Evil is subjective and sometimes very seductive. In a world with supervillains and superheroes there are temp agencies for henchpeople - referred to throughout as Henches and muscle - referred to throughout as Meat which brings the true situation of some of them to stark light. I did really enjoy the ride but afterwards it left me feeling like I did with Dexter when I read it first, I came out of it and then realised that I empathised with the Villain. The only exception to this is our superman analog - but, there's a great explanation for this, and really does make you think about the harm that comes from forcing kids to a certain mold. There is no 'gay' character, there's just a man whose marriage broke when he switched to being a bad guy, or a character that uses the pronoun 'They', but is a cybernetic wiz. Also, social media as a weapon.Īnd last, I really appreciate that the characters here while obviously gay, or trans, or other, they are written fully. Also, throws in a bit of finding yourself. Superheros as metaphor for gender, or Superheros as metaphor big corporations with no accountability. This is a book written for this generation. Its part revenge story, but its also part accountability. And while the cost of a world with stereotypical superheroes includes buildings being damaged, there is a real injury to those on the sideline. Of course, this is a book about with very generic superheroes and villains - think superman rather than batman. What does matter is that Anna know how people work and how to use that information to break people. Or that Anna is has superpowers, but its up to the reader to guess. For example, our leading heroine, Anna Tromedlov and her parents are estranged. Where I think the book shines (and I suspect that others may disagree with me), is the way the author handles backstories - things that don't matter. Smart characters, reasons for why things happen, plus it has the phrase 'The Excel Pervert' to describe a character that is a genius with tables. And this book is near perfect for what it is.

This was a book I didn't even know existed until it was suggested to me LibraryThing.

Hench by natalie zina walschots