Hero High: Figure In The Flames by Mina Chara – Review by Francis O’Sullivan

Figure in the Flames by Mina Chara
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hero High: Figure In The Flames collects the first three parts of Friday Fitzsimmons’ story, written by Mina Chara. Friday, or “Fitz” as she is sometimes known, is a trainee superhero in a world where superheroes are celebrities, surrounded by cameras at all times. Friday doesn’t particularly want to be famous, and certainly doesn’t want to wear revealing clothes and smile for the camera, but she does want to make a difference and support her family.
The story is told within a framing narrative of an interview where an older Fitz is asked to discuss her origins. This works well, both reassuring the reader that Fitz will be alright in the end and allowing the older Fitz to break up the flow of the story every now and then to provide useful information or interesting commentary.
I particularly like Chara’s vivid descriptions of things. Everything from settings to clothes and food (food!). Chara gives the reader plenty of detail that really allows you to feel like you’re seeing and tasting everything.
For me, this is a five-star book. I would recommend it to fans of teen and YA superhero stories (it has a particularly X-Men feel to it with the special school for superheroes). There’s a good balance of character drama and action, and there are familiar tropes without it being boring or too predictable.

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