{Review/Giveaway} MASKED by J.D. Wright


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O P E N I N G   H O O K:



  WE WERE ALL VILLAINS in the beginning.
     For hundreds of years, prodigies were feared by the rest of the world. We became hunted. Tormented. Feared and oppressed. We were believed to be witches and demons, freaks and abominations. We were stoned and hanged and set afire while crowds gathered to watch with cruel eyes, proud to be ridding the world of one more pariah.
     They were right to be afraid.
     Hundreds of years. Who whould have stood for it?

(Page 1, US hardcover edition)

    "Keeping your super identity a secret from normals was pretty much standard in the world today. It was safer that way. If a villain didn't know who you were in your everyday life, he couldn't use that information against you."

~MASKED



MASKED has an interesting take on the superhero genre: Cyper City is a world where you know you're Super when you're little, and you train and dream about your future superhero name until you turn 18, when you can officially register your name and start taking classes to use your powers for real. You can even snag an agent, which means someone whose powers deal with the tech-side of things can make you cool toys and keep an eye on you in battle so you're not completely alone. 


Vada is really excited to become 18 and register her superhero name, Majestic. She's been training for this moment her entire life, coming from a family of Supers, and she wants to debut with a bang. She starts investigating a case that becomes a string of Super murders and discovers that her best friend Henley might be next. Her best friend who wasn't supposed to be a Super. Her best friend who downed a mystery drug at a party and gained powers and may now be a villain. Yeah, that friend.  She's joined by friends she made at superhero training, including Orion, who she takes an instant disliking to...but readers will be rooting for the two to get together in the next book!

I really liked the interaction between Vada and Nick and the way you see what they're both going through. They're both experiencing very different things as they come into their powers. Vada was born into it and Nick drank a mystery drug that gave him invasive powers he's struggling to control. All of the characters experience personality changes when in their Super identity, which was starting to bug me when there was a reason revealed: If you stay in your alter ego for two long, it starts to fuse to you and become your permanent self. You lose who you have always been and become someone else entirely. So that makes sense, especially for the wild swing in Henley. But it took a while to get used to it!

While MASKED is marketed as Young Adult, and the characters are turning 18 and graduating high school, the rest of the series will take place at college and I would call this a New Adult novel, especially since it contains more mature content that will expand as the series continues.

MASKED is the first book in the Superheroes Undercover series. I really enjoyed watching the characters grow, and there's a big battle toward the end with loose ends, so it's very easy for readers to immediately covet the next book in the series and see where these characters go next. 
 ~*~
C O N T E N T R A T I N G S

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details

Romance: PG15 (.Short, non-explicit sex scene between two secondary characters. )
Language: PG13 (.Cursing, including the f-bomb; sexual innuendo/jokes; talk about losing virginity. )
Violence: PG   (.Typical superhero violence, nothing graphic. Characters investigate Supers being murdered. )
Other:  PG  (.Drinking and drugs at an underage party. A secondary character takes an unknown substance. )
~*~
C O V E R   D E S I G N:

I do like books where you can tell what they're about just from the cover! You KNOW this is a superhero story. The models look the part! I also like the fiery background and the way it's reflected in the title treatment!
~*~
O F F I C I A   I N F O:

Title: MASKED
Author: J.D. Wright
Release Date: Aug. 15, 2017
Publisher: Limitless Publishing
Received: For Review
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35724327-masked


SUMMARY:


Vada’s To-Do List: 

 - Turn 18 (check!)
 - Register super name
 - Order superset
 - Attend superhero indoctrination
 - Graduate high school
 - Start kicking criminal tail 

Vada Lawson can’t wait to be a superhero. Born into a family with special powers, she’s been training to fight criminals and villains her whole life. But her indoctrination into the underground super community is derailed when normals start breaking out in superpowers themselves. 

Not trained to control their new abilities, the normals are frightened and vulnerable. Then their mutilated corpses begin turning up all over town. What the heck? 

Somehow, with the help—and hindrance—of an annoying newly-minted super named Orion, Vada has to stop the chaos before it destroys her and everything she holds dear…and ruins her superhero debut. 

No one ever said that being a superhero was easy…


~*~


GIVEAWAY


During Will You Rise or Will You Fall?,
we're giving away a book of YOUR CHOICE
from the event!

It could be MASKED!


This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL to any country that Book Depository ships to.  You can also claim an e-book as a prize; it doesn't have to be a physical copy!

You must be at least 13 years old to enter or have a parent's permission!



Enter now! 

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