Official Review: Off The Pages by Alejandro Gonzalez

[Jasy95]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Off The Pages" by Alejandro Gonzalez.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Off the Pages by Alejandro Gonzalez is a novel that puts refreshing twists on the superhero genre. The main character, Manny, lives in a rural town where he has a grueling job at a warehouse. He has given up any hope in having ambitions beyond his daily life. However, a mysterious event known as the Lights soon changes that. Lights suddenly illuminate the skies all over the world, resulting in a random selection of people obtaining unique superpowers. Manny is one of those people, gaining the power to turn into his favorite comic book superhero. Simultaneously, a young billionaire named Jericho learns that he has the power to replicate anyone else’s superpowers by simply touching them. While they both work to learn how to navigate in their changed society, a new threat to humanity appears in the form of a powerful being who claims that he is Jesus Christ. As this “Jesus” begins performing massive acts of violence in the name of religion, Manny, Jericho, and the other new superheroes must all quickly decide which side to fight on.

There have been so many comic books, movies, and novels created about superheroes in the past few decades that it can be challenging to find one that feels original. I was happily surprised to see that Off the Pages had a unique plotline, introducing superpowers that I had not heard of before. As a result, I had a lot of fun reading this book. The dialogue was witty, the fight scenes were vivid, and the story was captivating. The characters were relatable, and the situation that unfolded seemed realistic. Jericho’s character development was wonderful to read, and he quickly became my favorite character.

Although the novel kept a light, humorous, and fast-paced tone, there was a significant amount of social commentary strewn throughout the story. I thought that the author did a great job of tying it into the plotline and the character development in a manner that never felt out of place. However, the topic did get repetitive at times, especially as the mentioning of Ayn Rand became commonplace in quite a few chapters. Overall, I was glad to see the author bringing awareness to relevant social issues such as economic disparity, the cycle of poverty prevalent in some areas of the United States, and self-righteous officials who perform horrible acts and are still venerated.

There were a few issues with this novel, but none were significant enough that they detracted from my enjoyment of it. Although the main characters were well-developed, the minor characters had very little background and almost no character development. I would have really liked to see these characters developed further. I also found a few grammatical errors, but these errors were all minor enough that they did not distract me from the compelling writing style. Additionally, there was one chapter in the story where two characters are shopping. This chapter is written from one character’s point of view and then the next section of the chapter has the same event re-written from the other character’s point of view. This was the only time in the novel that there was a repeating of the same event, and I am not sure why both versions of the chapter were included. The shift in point of view did not really add to the story and felt a bit jarring.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The superpowers were unique, the plot was fun and action-packed, and the social commentary was executed well. However, a few minor editing issues prevent me from rating this book as a 4. I would recommend this novel to fans of superhero stories, especially those who are looking for an action-packed novel with relatable characters.

******
Off The Pages
View: on Bookshelves

[The frant1c reader]

This plot is like reliving our childhood fantasies...I would surely like to give it a read.

[Jasy95]

This plot is like reliving our childhood fantasies...I would surely like to give it a read.

I definitely agree!! I hope you read it and enjoy it

[NetMassimo]

This seems like an intriguing interpretation of the superhero theme that also offers some food for thought. Thank you for your great review!