Review of Hero
Posted: 14 Jul 2025, 15:53
[Following is a volunteer review of "Hero" by Danielle Bouthillier.]
In Hero by Danielle Bouthillier, a young woman with supernatural powers who moonlights as a superhero reveals her backstory to a psychologist. This psychologist just so happens to be a person that she saved when they were younger, as well as the son of her worst enemy. Mia recounts years of trauma that influenced her decisions.
The premise of this novel sounds interesting, but unfortunately, it is incredibly poorly written. Generally, I try to find something positive or a redeeming factor in books I review, but this book really strained my ability to do so. Simply put, it reads like it was written by a child. Although I didn’t see any grammar mistakes, the writing is incredibly choppy, abrupt, repetitive, and simplistic to the point that it’s painful to read. Similarly, neither the plot nor the characters saves the reading experience.
The shifts between scenes and time frames can be confusing. The plot is questionable enough that the reader can’t suspend their sense of disbelief. For example, at one point, Mia’s brother inexplicably joins a gang, then his friends kidnap her to save her from her abusive mother, and she begins secretly working as a hero while living amongst a crime syndicate. She is simultaneously portrayed with a painfully shy personality. The continuity is poor. Most importantly, the characters are written in such a juvenile way.
I’ll provide an example from the actual text: “She gasped as she looked up at the handsome stranger and was immediately in love with him…“Hello Beautiful,” the stranger flirted, but Mia became bashful and ran to her brother for protection and shyly hid behind him...She was overwhelmed by sadness, fearing the stranger already had a girlfriend or two and was uninterested in a woman with small breasts and brown hair….She began to fear him, knowing that she was unattractive and unworthy to have a mate.”
Frankly, I don’t know who an appropriate audience for this book would be. From the way it reads, I would say a child, but the content is too mature for a younger age group. I can’t in good faith recommend this book to anyone; therefore, I’m giving this novel my first one-star rating out of five. The single star is earned for having no real typo issues. Despite being relatively short, the book is so painful to get through that I can’t bring myself to give it any other stars. The plot is a mess. The characters are a joke. The writing is abysmal.
Personally, I recommend skipping this title.
******
Hero
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
In Hero by Danielle Bouthillier, a young woman with supernatural powers who moonlights as a superhero reveals her backstory to a psychologist. This psychologist just so happens to be a person that she saved when they were younger, as well as the son of her worst enemy. Mia recounts years of trauma that influenced her decisions.
The premise of this novel sounds interesting, but unfortunately, it is incredibly poorly written. Generally, I try to find something positive or a redeeming factor in books I review, but this book really strained my ability to do so. Simply put, it reads like it was written by a child. Although I didn’t see any grammar mistakes, the writing is incredibly choppy, abrupt, repetitive, and simplistic to the point that it’s painful to read. Similarly, neither the plot nor the characters saves the reading experience.
The shifts between scenes and time frames can be confusing. The plot is questionable enough that the reader can’t suspend their sense of disbelief. For example, at one point, Mia’s brother inexplicably joins a gang, then his friends kidnap her to save her from her abusive mother, and she begins secretly working as a hero while living amongst a crime syndicate. She is simultaneously portrayed with a painfully shy personality. The continuity is poor. Most importantly, the characters are written in such a juvenile way.
I’ll provide an example from the actual text: “She gasped as she looked up at the handsome stranger and was immediately in love with him…“Hello Beautiful,” the stranger flirted, but Mia became bashful and ran to her brother for protection and shyly hid behind him...She was overwhelmed by sadness, fearing the stranger already had a girlfriend or two and was uninterested in a woman with small breasts and brown hair….She began to fear him, knowing that she was unattractive and unworthy to have a mate.”
Frankly, I don’t know who an appropriate audience for this book would be. From the way it reads, I would say a child, but the content is too mature for a younger age group. I can’t in good faith recommend this book to anyone; therefore, I’m giving this novel my first one-star rating out of five. The single star is earned for having no real typo issues. Despite being relatively short, the book is so painful to get through that I can’t bring myself to give it any other stars. The plot is a mess. The characters are a joke. The writing is abysmal.
Personally, I recommend skipping this title.
******
Hero
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon