The Extraordinaries

By: TJ Klune

Narrated by: Michael Lesley

Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Michael Lesley's upbeat narration captures all the whimsy, humor, and heart of this YA superhero romp.... This sweet queer coming-of-age story will please listeners looking for something fun, surprising, and affirming." (AudioFile Magazine)

An Indie Next Pick! 

Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra. TJ Klune's YA debut, The Extraordinaries, is a queer coming-of-age story about a fanboy with ADHD and the heroes he loves.

Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fan-fiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right? 

After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick's best friend (and maybe the love of his life). 

Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl meets Marissa Meyer's Renegades in TJ Klune's YA debut.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Teen

©2020 TJ Klune (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Doesn’t Quite Live Up To Its Name

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad listen or novel by any means, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would’ve hoped based on the reviews.

Could be better:
- The plot, though not without its funny and endearing moments, is fairly predictable.
- Nick, the main character, isn’t that likable. He does grow and mature toward the novel’s conclusion, but I never felt like I was rooting for him.
- The novel, while trying to subvert a lot of genre tropes and cliches, ends up playing into many of them, especially in its dialogue.

What I Liked:
- Nick’s fan-fiction chapters are great! Here, the over-the-top and cliched dialogue is much more appropriate and works well.
- The dynamic between many of the characters works well. Klune creates a wonderful cast, each with distinct personalities.
- The audiobook has some great voice effects, from modulation to simultaneous speech. It’s quite fun.

Where I’m Torn:
- Michael Lesley’s narration is both really good and subpar. A lot of his voices sound the same, and it seems that sometimes he doesn’t know who’s speaking. On the other hand, you can tell that he’s having a really good time. He gets into his roles and the fun he’s having is often infectious!

A fantastic narrator!!

I don't think i would have loved this book as much as i do now if i didn't listen to the audiobook bc the narrator was beyond amazing and i was really impressed

Ridiculous and Real all at Once

I actually feared this story would be too silly for me, but it charmed me. The premise of the story, and much of the dialog, are certainly over the top. I found the characters and their challenges, however, very relatable.
Central message of the story: being a young, and/or neuro-divergent, does not make ones feelings and experiences any less real or valid. I can get behind that.

Another great book by TJ “Book Daddy” Klune and Narration by Michael Lesley

This book is one that I wish I would have been able to listen to when I was a teen and just coming out. The way the characters are so supportive of each other and Nick reminds me of how Naive I was when I was that age. Mr Lesley makes all the characters voices stand out and you truly get an in depth feel for them. TJ with his first Delve into YA still has those lines of humor you will appreciate from having listened to previous books and he brings what’s in his imagination right onto paper. If you close your eyes it’s like a movie you don’t need the visuals because of how amazing his writing and Michael’s narration mesh. I highly recommend this book it’s a must listen

An underrated gem in teen romance

I loved this book. I admit at first I thought it was going to be a little too straightforward (pardon the pun) for me. But then the plot kicks in and the feelings I felt were just peak good time vibes. Go into this book expecting a fun, fast paced, getter started teen romance. I laughed I cried, I started over and listened again.

Needs an editor

While the dialog seems natural, there’s too much pointless banter that causes scenes to drag, rather than setting a light tone.

Too many characters are the witty sarcastic one, just like the protagonist.

The best scenes are when the author takes a serious tone, or with action. But the instinct to have every character be jokey, jokey, jokey all the time often spoils the mood, rather than lightening it: The jokes fail to land, and it makes the scene less real. Even if the protagonist has impulse control issues, the other characters don’t have that excuse. And in the real world, a person who’s funny at inappropriate times suffers consequences for it, at least some of the time.

Speaking of impulse control issues, the protagonist’s attempts to get super powers are so stupid as to stretch credulity, and can’t be passed off as adorable quirky ADHD mania.

Trying to microwave a cricket to make it radioactive? Buying “magic” costume jewelry on eBay? He isn’t a 5-year-old, why isn’t he institutionalized? So cringeworthy.

Also, the author has control over this world. The characters know that Spider-Man and Dr Strange are fictional and Extraordinaries are real. Why not have the protagonist’s errant quests revolve around researching the real superhero origins instead of the fictional ones?

Also, what kind of friends would enable such incredibly stupid and fruitless efforts? None of the friends have the ADHD excuse, and are portrayed as smart and grounded. If they’re enabling this stupidity, they really need to be portrayed as psychopaths who aren’t really friends, but just along for the laughs.

It’s the author’s overriding goal of making everything jokey that gets in the way of otherwise talented storytelling. The protagonist’s fan fiction is often better than the rest of the story because the protagonist is writing with sincerity.

Finally, the narrator really is fantastic. The dialog, despite being flabby and overly jokey, is delivered with such perfect pitch. He really carries the novel.

All the stars!

The title says it all. This book is extraordinary! Smart, snappy dialogue. Realistic characters and relationships in an unrealistic world. Humor, drama, teen angst all handled beautifully by the deft hand of TJ Klune. I loved the respect shown to the teen characters. Just the right amount of snarkiness, sass, and self-centeredness while still making them worth rooting for. My favorite thing, though, is probably the relationship between father and son. Both muddling through after a tragedy, their relationship is both supportive and gentle and respectful of both parties—the dad never tries to be the friend and the son never forgets how badly he needs his father. And a group of friends and other supporting characters (Officer Rookie!), we should all be so lucky to have. And, as per usual, the incredible narration by Michael Lesley of a TJ Klune book is super-rific. These two make a great team, once again.

OMG!

TJ Klune does it again. I am a big fan anyway, but this was my favorite so far. And Michael Leslie is so great. I am so excited for the next in the series.

loved loved loved this

Narration is some of the best I've heard! Story is 👍. Excited to see some awesome snarky teens in a superhero kind of world.

amazing amazing amazing!

I have never heard a better narrator, a more perfectly lgbtq+ positive story, or an extraordinary plot that keeps you guessing the entire time! thank you so much to everyone involved in making this story happen. more more!