Talented, by SE MacCready: A solid start to a superhero saga
The beauty of literature: you can take any narrative—any genre—and reformulate it into a new story.
In Talented: A Dystopian Superhero Origin Story, SE MacCready lays the foundation for a world filled with superpowered heroes, villains, and everything in between.
It’s fundamentally character-driven, and the devastating moments of heart-wrenching brutality are where MacCready’s writing shines the most. Cameran Monroe, daughter of a brilliant entrepreneur, is thrown into a world she doesn’t fully understand with only part of her memories available to remind her of a lost past.
She thinks she knows what’s happening. But with every page and every shift in her strength and power, a new truth is revealed.
The first-person narrative of the tale is pivotal to the story’s voice and style, keeping us in Cameran’s head for the entire ride. In moments, though, it can be its downfall, especially when Cameran’s psyche and experience cause a scene’s illustration to devolve into confusion. Thankfully, those moments are few and far between.
I listened to the audiobook, and while the narrator is clear and concise, she was a little slow for my tastes, making the book feel a tad longer than I think it actually was. About halfway through, though, I upped the listening speed to 1.25x, and it sounded more crisp.
If you’re looking for a story clearly inspired by the modern era of superhero films, Talented is absolutely for you. It’s definitely a book, too, that both adults and kids would enjoy reading. Get it for yourself—or buy it for your superhero obsessed child!
On to the scores.
Writing: 7/10. SE MacCready’s use of the first-person voice was powerful and brilliant, though the book was a tad long and wordy at times when it felt like the pace should have been accelerated. It’s hard to tell, though, how much of that experience was colored by the slow pace of the narrator.
Characters: 9/10. This book features a massive cast of characters, and it was difficult to keep track of all the heroes, the characters that mattered stand out. Alongside Cameran, Will, Tawny, Chris, and Derek stand out as characters worth remembering.
Plot: 8/10. Though a little overly opaque and drawn out at times, the overarching themes and plot of Talented are compelling, driven primarily by the quick attachment to the characters driving the narrative. The third act, in particular, does a great job of tying together almost all of the book’s loose ends, with a satisfying conclusion for reading the book either as a stand-alone or as a Book 1 of the whole Legacy of Cameran Monroe series.
Setting: 7/10. The story primarily takes place in a giant corporate tower surrounded by a fictional city somewhere in the United States. The corporation owning the tower is explored in full, though the city and company’s place in relation to the outside world was never fully clear to me. That may be just a personal preference—and based on how the first book ends, I suspect the sequels may explore beyond the setting of book 1.
Overall: 7.75/10. A solid four stars! If you’re looking for a new kind of superhero epic, dive into the pages of Talented today.