In Strings by Jeremy Scott, the boys are older and dealing with being mid-teen superheros while still going to school and worrying about the disappearance of custodians. There’s plenty of action and it’s a fun read up to the end. The only Black character dies and no one really seems to care or bat an eye. Phillip is sad for a quick second that his best friend, the boy who gave him sight, is dead. But, not too long after (maybe a few weeks or so) Phillip goes on a date with a girl he’s been crushing on at school. It isn’t as though the series is chock-full of PoC characters but the one major one has to ‘heroically’ die? Donnie happened to have died ‘heroically’ as well in the previous book.
The death of the final PoC character left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t like feeling like my existence in a book is strictly to serve as a plot device or way of furthering another character’s development. That was a severe let down. With everyone I identified with gone, I’m officially checking out of this series. Should a 3rd book come out, I will be skipping it. I do, however, recommend this series to boys who feel overlooked in the YA scene which is mostly heroine centric. This series is also good for those looking for disability empowerment reads. Not good for buddy reading where everyone chooses a character they want to be or most identify with. Odds are, if don’t chose Phillip, you probably wont make it to the next book. Main characters aren’t safe from being killed off.
***this review is based on an arc copy provided at no cost in exchange for an honest review ***
