Review: Heroine Worship, Sarah Kuhn

Heroine Worship not only makes Aveda Jupiter the actual star, but actually features some fantastic character development (and a pretty decent plot, too).

It seems oddly appropriate that Sarah Kuhn’s Heroine Worship came out the same week that the second big superhero movie of the summer (it’s Spider-Man: Homecoming) came to theaters. After all, Heroine Worship continues the story of Aveda Jupiter/Annie Chang and Evie Tanaka, two superpowered ladies who happen to protect San Francisco.

But Evie’s getting married, Aveda’s the maid of honor, and there’s a new demonic threat looming over the city. What’s a superheroine to do? Well, solve all the problems, of course!

Heroine Worship is definitely light enough to make a good vacation read, but heavy enough to leave you thinking afterward, which basically makes it a replacement for that work of popular literature you’ve been dreading for your vacation pile. (Look, we’ve all done it. Life’s just too short to read things that you feel you have to read, though.) That’s because it tackles some tough subjects like personal growth.

And yes, Aveda grows. Here and there in the first book, Heroine Complex, we caught flashes of what made her and Evie such good friends in childhood. But Worship makes it far more apparent that Aveda has her own hang-ups. Kuhn ably fleshes her out, making her just as compelling as Evie was for mostly different reasons. (One thing that struck me as I read was that both Aveda/Annie and Evie do some serious repression, but Worship still doesn’t feel like a re-tread.)

That’s to say nothing of the fact that Kuhn still sneaks in a little romance while still not making it feel like it’s the be-all, end-all. Instead, it helps contribute to Aveda’s narrative as a whole. Her new relationship helps her grow, but it doesn’t come to define her in any way.

But even as she gets all of this fabulous character development, it doesn’t just neatly happen. There’s no steady ascent to Being a Better Person here, which helps ground the book considerably in the best way. Aveda doesn’t fall on her face once, learn her lesson, and never do it again. Personal growth usually doesn’t work that way anyway. Reflecting that in the novel is a great choice (and one we expected after Complex).

Speaking of personal growth, even though there’s the aforementioned love connection, a little family drama, and more, the biggest and most important relationship Aveda has is with Evie, her best friend and fellow heroine. In fact, the bulk of the little hero group is made up of women, including Evie’s sister Beatrice as well as Lucy, the resident combat mistress. And these women have their interpersonal problems, sure, but they take care of each other. They have positive relationships. They help each other out, and when they mess up, they try and fix it. I want to read about their further relationships. That is also a good thing.

Worship, like Complex before it, is also unabashedly geeky. Battle Angel Alita gets more than one reference. So does The Heroic Trio. There are even comparisons to Superman! In other words, this book should probably come with a read/watch list of its own.

Next: Review: The Reluctant Queen, Sarah Beth Durst

Just in case yours truly hasn’t made it obvious, this is a pretty great summer read. Action, romance, female friendships, and a demonic plot means there’s something here for a lot of different readers.