The Nobody People

When I started this book, I initially thought, “Oh, it's X-Men.” And it kind of is. People with powers start popping up, old guy opens up a special school, they go public. What sets it apart and the reason I bumped it to four stars is that being written in 2018, it can do a lot of things X-men never could. X-men was always an allegory for marginalization, but most of the mutants are pretty white and even the gay/bisexual characters tend to get glossed over when adapted to big screen and such.

This book starts out from the point of view of a disabled, Jewish father of one of the children. The professor from the school is on older gay man who has lived through the gay rights movement from the beginning. Other characters include a Muslim lesbian woman, a transgender shapeshifter, and a mixed race teenager. Many of the characters are already one or two strikes as far as functioning in American society goes. This narrative accounts for and honors that without ever feeling pandering. It connects what is happening in the novel all to closely to what is happening in this world right now.

That said, the pacing was a real issue for me, and the ending just ... wasn't an ending. I always have an issue with books that are like “I am the first in a series! Don't you want to know what happens next?” And yeah, but I'd also rather there be a complete narrative in each individual book. This one left so many plot points unresolved that I just ended up feeling like I stopped in the middle. Plus, I got this as an ARC from the Del Rey booth at Denver Pop Culture Con, so it's not technically out yet and the sequel will be much farther out. I'm always sad when I know I'll probably forget most of the important bits by the time the sequel exists.