Book Review: Heroes 'Til Curfew (Talent Chronicles #2) by Susan Bischoff

Summary: 

In the world of the Talents, kids with supernatural powers are condemned to government research facilities from which they do not return. For a Talent, the most important thing is keeping the secret…

--Six weeks ago, Dylan Maxwell slugged it out with his best friend. Over a girl.

But Marco had it coming. After all, it looked like he was going to use his supernatural strength to kill Joss Marshall. That should have been the end of it, but Marco’s got bigger plans for crime in Fairview than Dylan ever understood. This time he’s going after the town’s merchants with a crime wave that threatens Joss’s family’s business and all the Talents’ secrets.

--Six weeks ago, Joss Marshall was alone.

Now there’s Dylan. It’s not always comfortable being just friends with the guy she’s had a crush on forever. And the more she learns about the boy with the easy smile, who always seems to know what to say, the more she learns how much they have in common. He’s so much more than she understood, and so much more than she could stand to lose.

That was then, this is now.

And now, everything changes.

 

Release Date: August 30, 2011

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Review copy from author

Review:

I really enjoyed Hush Money (Talent Chronicles #1) so I jumped at the chance to review Heroes 'Til Curfew.  And while I did like the book, I liked Hush Money better.  

I love the premise of the Talents.  I think the varying Superman-like abilities add such a good twist to the story.  I liked how the Talents teamed up to fight the bad guys together.  I liked the twist about the mole and Mr. Dobbs, which was surprising.  I couldn't believe how evil Marco and his cronies truly were.  I liked the sense of justice Bischoff imbues in her writing: everyone usually gets what's coming to them.  I love that!  I really liked Joss and Dylan in the first book and thought their mutual crushes on each other were sweet.  I liked seeing their relationship develop into something more.  I also really liked that Bischoff's characters did not automatically rebound from adversity.  They had some trouble dealing with things, which was totally believable and realistic. 

I felt like Heroes 'Til Curfew was a little too adult to be classified as a YA read.  There were some pretty graphic (and long) fight scenes, and a lot of bad language.  The bad language got old for me, and it had me wondering if teens really talk/think like that?  I know I sure didn't talk like that when I was a teen---or now---and that kind of language cheapens a book for me.  Yes, I am an established prude: see my post about my prudishness here. 

Overall, I liked Heroes 'Til Curfew, although not as much as its predecessor, Hush Money.  I will definitely keep reading the series, and look forward to seeing how Joss and Dylan's stories end.