Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillians) by Laurie Boyle Crompton
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Netgalley
ISBN: 9781402273438
Release Date: February 1, 2013
Pages: 309
Blaze is tired of spending her life on the sidelines.
All she wants is for Mark the Soccer Stud to notice her. Not as Josh's weird sister who drives a turd-brown minivan. And not as that nerdy girl who draws comics.
What she gets is her very own arch-nemesis.
Name: Mark Deninger, aka Mark the Shark
Occupation: Soccer star and all-around lady killer
Relationship Status: Serial dater
Group Affiliation: No loyalty
Known Superpowers: Anti-girlfriend force field, breaking hearts
Mark may have humiliated Blaze supervillian-style, but what he doesn't know is how geek girls always get revenge.
#GeekGrlzRevenge
This was a great debut novel. The main character, Blaze, named after Ghost Rider's Johnny Blaze, is very likeable. She makes the mistake of falling for Mr. Popular, aka Mark the Shark. Only to have him betray her after losing her virginity to him, and then he posts a sext she accidentally sent him on the Internet.
I think a lot of young girls will relate to the main character even if they aren't die hard comic book fans. As she is your average teenage girl with regular problems (douchy absent father, a crush who has no idea she is alive, annoying sibling, etc).
At times it was a bit predictable, but it was the predictability that resonated with me. While her crush on Mr. Popular, aka Mark, was obvious, I feel it was more the second male love interest, Mr. Comic Book Guy, that was the most predictable. The fallout of her sext becoming public showed who her friends were. The meek boy who was crushing on her even becomes one of the bullies insulting her in public.
I really enjoyed the banter between Blaze and her younger brother's soccer team, the Cretins. Even as much as they annoy her throughout the novel they came through for her in the end.
The ending wrapped everything up nicely, but not too perfect.
