Heroine Addiction [Kindle Edition]

Jennifer Matarese (Author)

Book Description

Vera Noble belongs to a long line of famous superheroes, but she's done quite enough lifesaving in her time. Now, she's perfectly happy to serve pie and coffee in her small-town cafe, far away from the bright explosions and enormous radiation-spawned monsters of the big city. However, no life ever stays safe and quiet forever, and one simple request from her family's former mortal enemy upends Vera's semi-average existence.

Product Details

• File Size: 747 KB
• Print Length: 264 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1257806505
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00520IH62
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,394 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Superhero + noir + family drama = remarkably addictive read May 24, 2011

By Lawrence Chu

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The story begins with a meeting between a dame and a retired man, and what looks like a simple "favor" uncovering something much, much bigger: a staple of dime-store detective novels. Of course, in this case, the "dame" is Vera Noble, superheroine and current coffee-shop owner, and the man a retired supervillain who has made the Vera's life significantly more complicated than your typical hero/villain archetypes usually allow for. Thus begins Heroine Addiction, which manages to take staples of assorted genres and blend them successfully into something significantly more unique than its ingredients.

Heroine Addiction is basically what happens if you give a postmodern feminist the Incredibles' universe and a film noir plot to play with and tell them to go to town. The nameless settings in which the story takes place (both a bustling metropolis filled with tabloid and beat reporters and a quieter, more remote city) is examined as a culture where superheroes and supervillains are the norm, and treated as funny-paper material the way celebrity stories are. It features a plot involving murder, arson, robot invasions, and the ruler of an alien planet. And yet, because this story is told from Vera's perspective (aren't all good noir plots told from the protagonist's perspective?), all this insanity is peripheral (to be fair, it's a sizable periphery) to an examination of relationships between friends, family, exes, crushes, co-workers both current and former; how some of these relationships can be strengthened, occasionally at the expense of other relationships; and how they all interact with one another.... Jennifer Matarese more than competently weaves all this together into a compelling narrative, so that both the personal and public stakes are on your mind during a zombie uprising, particularly when some of the bodies involved are a little too familiar. (I'm pretty sure it's not anything like you're imagining it is.)

You know a story is awesome when neither a robot invasion nor a zombie uprising is the climax of the story, but rather obstacles (and setpieces) to overcome on the way to a climax.

Having just finished reading the book for the first time, I feel like an encore reading is in the cards in the near future, and I do hope that Ms. Matarese allows us another glimpse into this universe somewhere down the line. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable debut from a long time blogger fave August 30, 2011

By Tracy Rowan TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Jennifer Matarese is a funny, creative writer on a day-to-day level. Her sense of humor is sharp and her worldview is what might be called "mordant" at the best of times. It's no surprise, then, that she's written a novel that is darkly funny and often a bit uncomfortable.

Vera Noble, a recovering superhero, is the daughter of two still-active superheroes who are arguably among the most famous in a world that apparently teems with people who have super powers and use them for good or evil. But Vera doesn't like the superhero game and gave it up years earlier. About the same time her father ran off with his arch nemesis. The family has kept Everett Noble's affair a secret, which is nothing short of a miracle for a group of people who are so completely dysfunctional that they find it difficult even to have a civilized conversation with each other. Vera doesn't even live in the same city as the rest of her family, but is hiding out in a small town where she runs a cafe called "Tea and Strumpets."

Vera, bless her, is a plus size, bisexual smart-ass. When her father's lover comes to the cafe, her instinct is to spit in his tea. But one day he comes in to tell her that Everett has gone missing, and against all her instincts and wishes, Vera is drawn back into the superhero business and into her own family business. She may not want anything to do with them, but she needs to find her father, the only member of her family for whom she seems to feel anything warmer than a constant, low-level annoyance.

There are a couple of issues that keep this novel from being a real five-star read. One is that Matarese paints many of the characters with too narrow a brush.... We have a good idea of what Vera looks like, what her ex-lover, Hazel looks like, and a few other people, but many of the others lack enough definition to allow the reader to form a mental image of them. I've been criticized for the same thing, so when I see it in someone else's work it leaps out at me.

Another problematic point, for me at least, is the death of a character at the close of the book. I can't say too much without spoiling the event, but it felt contrived to me, as if someone had to die, and this person had been set up to be the sacrifice.

Still, for a first novel, "Heroine Addiction" is impressive, and I look forward to reading more of Matarese's work in the future. Read more ›

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars like sky high for grown ups June 19, 2011

By Jen

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm a big fan of superhero stories and this one is no exception. The world that Vera lives in reminded me of the world of the movie Sky High, only with a lot of swearing, bisexuality, homosexuality and grittier violence than you're likely to find in a Disney flick.

The heroine, Vera, has given up the superhero biz, despite her family legacy, preferring to live a quiet life in a small town, running her coffee shop, Tea and Strumpets. Naturally, that all goes to hell when she gets a surprise visit from her father's secret male lover, who happens to be a notorious super villain. The visit sends Vera on a reluctant return to superherodom in an effort to figure out what the hell is going on with her family. She has plenty of 'help' from her ex-girlfriend, Hazel, her current crush, Troy, and an old family friend, Travis.

Matarese writes snappy, fun dialogue and handles a fast-moving, compelling plot along with complicated world building deftly.

I hope there's a sequel!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and different January 17, 2012

By Robeena

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Sort of like The Incredibles but for grown-ups, this book sucked me in right from the start and was a lot of fun. There were a few times when I would have appreciated a little more explanation because it seemed like what was clear in the author's head did not come across clearly on the page, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. I truly hope she is writing a second book in this series, because I really enjoyed the world she made.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Put Down May 22, 2011

By Bobbi K.

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm not very good at reviewing anything, so this will be short but sweet. Heroine Addiction was such a fun and enjoyable read, and will join my short list of books that will be read again and again. The book was one that was hard to put down. I kept getting annoyed whenever someone interrupted me, not willing to stop reading because it was so good. I love the character of Vera. I adore strong female protagonists and she is no exception. She is witty, smart, funny and sexy. The story itself was fast paced, and each character jumped off the page at me. I'm looking forward to more books by Jennifer Matarese.

More About the Author

Jennifer Matarese hopes to write novels for a living, writes fanfic for fun, and dreams of writing movies. It's possible she needs to get out more.