Chasing Stars (The Superheroine Collection) by Alex K. Thorne

8 reviews for Chasing Stars (The Superheroine Collection) by Alex K. Thorne

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Aj Smith – February 28, 2018:

   Be still my beating heart! From very early on I was utterly smitten with both Ava and Gwen, two of the most vulnerable but also mesmerising and intoxicating characters I’ve had the pleasure of spending the day with in a while.

   Gwendolyn Knight is a politically active but still very successful, Hollywood actress with a string of ex-husbands, a precocious son and a long-suffering assistant Ava Eisenberg, who really wants to be a screenwriter but is instead fetching the screen queen’s essential “almond macadamia milk latte with a smidge of maple syrup.” When she’s not procuring caffeinated beverages, or managing Gwen’s schedule Ava just so happens to spend her time fighting crime and saving the citizens of LA from one disaster after another in the guise of Swiftwing – everyone’s favourite supersonic superhero. As Swiftwing, not only is Ava able to help others but the mask that comes with the cape gives her the confidence to be a friend to Gwen in a way that Ava feels she never could be. As if dealing with all of that wasn’t enough, when Gwen needs a fake partner to help her beat her ex in a custody hearing and her male co-star backs out, who else is she going to turn to but the ever-reliable Eva?

   The best recommendation I can give this book is that I read it from start to finish in one day! On one level it’s a fantastic superhero adventure, then there’s the insane romantic and sexual tension running through the text but the real clincher is the beautiful writing and the way Alex K. Thorne negotiates the layers of meaning around identity and the literal and metaphorical masks we wear to hide our vulnerabilities from the outside world.

   Buy it and read it right now.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   A. N. – March 5, 2018:

   I’m only on page 12 of the preview, as it appears the book is not yet available; I’m fairly hooked, all things considered. I will be purchasing this book when it will be released.

   From what I have read, which, granted, isn’t much, it’s well-written and nicely paced. The characters are likable and I’m already invested in finding out what happens to them. Of note, there appears to be great diversity in the cast, which is something I so rarely see and also deeply appreciate. I don’t know how the story will touch on various issues, but I feel that it will be unlikely to disappoint me.

   Cheers.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   qhabib – March 6, 2018:

   I’ve read through the excerpt already and it was amazing. I like the pace and the characters. Cant wait to read it and just wish it was released already! I’m seriously jealous of the person who go the advanced copy – not because it was for free but because it was sent to them to read well before we get it.

   Oh well…. cant wait for this one

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Karola Meyer – March 21, 2018:

   ***free ARC
   That was a really fun read. Imagine a Superhero who is really shy and vulnerable in her feelings and a famous actress with lots of habits, which aren‘t very nice. Anyway Superhero Ava, who is working for actress Gwen while not saving the people in LA, is already in love with Gwen, although she thinks Gwen doesn‘t even notice her. Until Ava has to commit to a fake partnership with Gwen, which complicates everything. The describing of the characters, their issues, is very well done.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   tlkiseleva (verified owner) – March 21, 2018:

   i forgot i had preordered it, so when i opened my email today i was like “this is he best day ever”. the book is marvelous, i love both ava and gwen so much, i tried to slow down my reading as much as possible but i couldn’t, i was so engrossed and worried that i read it like during my lunch break, this is a wonderful book, i already feel like rereading it

6. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Miira – August 5, 2018:

   Swiftwing is a superhero. She is also a assistant to Hollywood star Gwen Knight. When Gwen needs someone to pretend to be her new girlfriend, Swiftwing/Ava steps in to help. The problem is, Ava already has a crush on her boss and it gets more and more difficult to just pretend.

   Add some alien bugs, human drama, and a bit of angst, and it’s a highly entertaining romp. Sweet, funny and action-packed – well worth a read even if you’re not that into science fiction or superheroes.

   I especially liked how the character interactions and relationships were written – not just between the main characters but also the supporting ones, like Ava’s best friend Nic or Gwen’s son Luke.

   Way back when this was a fanfic story, I read it at least three times. Now I’ve read the book version twice. It’s that good.

7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   nylanth (verified owner) – November 4, 2018:

   This was a delight to read from beginning to end. I found it hard to put down, and I found myself disappointed I had exercised so little self-control and reached the end so quickly. The characters are heartwarmingly believable and sympathetic, the developments were easy to follow, and the writing was full of all the tidbits that make for a good story, and good romance. I found myself getting weird looks on the train from giggling out loud at unexpected moments, and there was at least once or twice I had to clear a tear from my eye. I was delighted the superheroine was not the one with all the answers and self-assurance. This book was an absolute breath of fresh air. I’m definitely going to look for more to come from Alex K. Thorne.

8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Word Saviour – May 11, 2020:

   Alex K Thorne has the rare talent to write a story like a layer cake.

   𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿: 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆
   Ava is an alien – a gorgeous one – little clumsy and without any fashion sense (although I made a note to myself to buy underwear which features T-rexes vomiting rainbows 🦖🌈🦖) but utterly nice and joyful. She saves the world before breakfast, breaks through the sound barrier like others take an Uber and mediates between different alien races and human authorities on a daily basis. She stands for equality, justice and everything good out there.

   𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿: 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 ❤
   So there’s Ava and then there is her boss, the glamourous actress Gwen. Seventeen years her senior, and every bit the demanding diva you would expect her to be. But Gwen is also a loving mother to a ten-year-old son, a mentor to Ava and yes, slowly falling for her.

   𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿: 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 🌍
   Even if grown-ups live in the same “Nightosphere” as the ones growing-up right before their eyes, they sometimes DO live in different worlds.
   And Miss Thorne doesn’t need a 450 pages social study kind of novel to make you feel what it’s like, she uses those “hidden treasure sentences” to paint a specific sentiment – like this:

   “𝘏𝘦 [𝘈𝘷𝘢’𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳] 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘍𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵.
   𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦.”

   or

   𝘈𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘈𝘷𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯-𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.

   As you might get it by now, I absolutely enjoyed this novel and all the little details in it (thanks for the “Adventure Time” references😉), like the fact that there’s a cat named “Gabor” and a movie script for a “Hedy Lamarr bio-pic”, and I guess our heroine gets her name from 𝘵𝘩𝘦 Ava Gardner – divas, divas, divas.

   And last but not least – 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝗼 ⬇
   “𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠,” 𝐺𝑤𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦, 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑛𝑙𝑦, 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐴𝑣𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. “𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢.” 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑚𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑘 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑤. “𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑠𝑦, 𝑓𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑍𝑟𝑖𝑥’𝑑ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐼𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ? 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑?
   𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙”

   Yes, I would!