Amazon.ca:Customer reviews: Transistor (Heart of Heroes Book 2)

213 total ratings, 26 with reviews

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From Canada

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 26, 2022

Molly J. Bragg had already won me over with Scatter and Mail-Order Bride, and Transistor has continued the trend.

I won't be getting too far into the story, but as with her previous works it examines transness (in a non-allegorical way in this case, unlike Scatter), LGBTQ+ relationships, and in this story especially, justice and the power dynamics between minorities and the state. Pleasantly surprising and new to this work was the presence of a plural character, I won't mention who because spoilers.

One of Molly J. Bragg's strengths as a writer is how real and fond the relationships between her characters feel, and with Transistor having a startlingly large cast for its length, she has plenty of space to show that off. For fans of Scatter, numerous characters make returning appearances, which was a pleasant surprise, but the newly introduced characters- especially the ones originating from the Heavenly Host- are the real delight.

Transistor gets a strong recommendation from me. Molly Bragg's "kitchen sink" superhero setting continues to delight with the incredible variety of fun tropes and homages to put her own spin on (I hope to see more Kaiju (romantically???) if she goes on to write more in the setting!) and her skill at writing lovely and engaging relationships, romantic and otherwise, is as strong as ever.

Strongly recommended!

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Kindle Customer

Loved this so much!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 26, 2022

Verified Purchase

I thought this was a great book from beginning to the end...the people and world building and thought provoking are beautiful and thrilling. I love Eurion so much and the Devil was hilariously refreshing! Can't wait to see what the author comes up with next!

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From other countries

M L Brooks

Mixed feelings

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 26, 2022

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My feelings on this are really mixed which resulted in this being 4 stars instead of 5.

First, the characters were really interesting but I thought the Chance romance (good rhyme) element just muddied the plot and made things more complicated than they need to be.

I also disliked the fact this was the same world as scatter but they were such minor mentions in the background. I liked seeing more Eurion but scatter and focus were basically what I wanted to see more of.

Molly writes well but this is the third book of hers where I felt the end came up short. With Scatter they'd just got back together then boom, over. Mail order bride? Same thing, they solved their problem in the last chapter then it was over with no real notion of how it worked out. And now Transistor, she decided to be a hero but we don't see any actual glimpse of that.

Okay with that said. The plot was good for the most part, interesting take on the divine and I liked Anika and Naomi, they fit really well together. It's not a bad book, I just felt it didn't quite deliver in some areas and other stead were needlessly muddy and overcomplicated the plot.

So do I recommend it? Yes. I enjoyed my time with the book despite any misgivings and I hope to see more heart of heroes books. Though my preference would be to see more of Scatter and Focus....and of course Eurion needs to find a new bride. Honesty Eurion's lack of bride was addressed so much I assumed they'd end up with one in this book.

Vervada

Lots of cool ideas, awesome characters and great banter

Reviewed in Italy 🇮🇹 on June 6, 2023

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4.5 stars
Lots of cool ideas, awesome characters (my favourite being Eurion) and great banter. The book also deals with some serious issues like transphobia and low self-confidence. I really enjoyed it and I'm very excited that there's a third book in this series.

Maya

Love the second book just as much as the first

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 24, 2022

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I've loved book the heart of hero's books and I'm infinitely glad I pre-ordered it to read it all day one!

Kateywumpus

Not bad, but frustrating at the end. (Warning: Spoilers)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 20, 2022

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So those of you who've read my reviews consistently will know that I loved Molly J. Bragg's last two books quite a bit. Like, a lot, and I was eagerly awaiting Transistor to be released. Ho boy was I disappointed in this book. It's set in the same world as Scatter, and she's eager to have cameos of *all* the characters in Scatter show up here, and I think that takes away from the book's identity. I'd rather it have stood on its own with maybe *one* character from Shatter show up, to help tie it in with the universe. As it is, it's more of a distraction than anything else.

One of the other things about this book is that it changes the universe in which they all live. Scatter is set in world with superheroes, aliens and mystical creatures like dragons. Here they add angels to the universe and, okay, I *do* rather enjoy deconstructing Abrahamic mythology, but it just doesn't feel like it fits. That and it's rather derivative. It really doesn't do anything new that hasn't been done before and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, I think it's a missed opportunity.

The main character is... fine. She's trans and she gets her ideal body from being submerged in a nanite bath (who later becomes sentient and gives her her powers.) Clearly this is a trans power fantasy and for me (let me stress this is *for me*) I'm getting kind of tired of them. I always end up feeling that these novels are written more for the author than the audience, and while I don't have a problem with that I find it kind of exhausting. I mean, yes, I wish that I could have been submerged in a nanite bath to have my ideal body, but the entire book kind of revolves around that. There *have* been books where the trans fantasy has been presented but it was just a facet of the book (Like the wonderful Dreadnaught), and these are more suited to my taste. The fantasy is there, but there's more meat on the bones.

Now, the thing that really killed it for me. (Gonna spoiler this because it spoils the end of the book) <spoiler> At the final fight, the emergent AI nanite swarm that lives in the main character, gives up its existence to merge with the main character. I was hoping this meant that this would created a merged consciousness, but alas, it's only the MC. Whatever. Moving on. The thing that *really* got me was that after about a week of grieving the AI, she stumbles upon a letter that they wrote her, so she opens it up and it goes on and on as a kind of eulogy for themself about how they loved her, and how they'll miss her, and getting out all the feels. Which I was like.... d'aww. That's sweet. But then.... BUT THEN the MC finds a folder that has a plans for her superhero costume and wouldn't you know it... WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT it also had a *backup copy* of the AI's consciousness, so it comes back online. WHAT WAS THE FRIGGIN POINT OF THE GOODBYE LETTER IF YOU'RE JUST GOING TO REBOOT YOURSELF?!? I didn't want the AI to come back. Let the AI sacrifice itself, it's more dramatic this way. I honestly didn't like the AI as a character anyway. This bait and switch was just.... uuuuuuuuuggggggggggghhhhhhhhh. </spoiler> Totally ruined the book for me.

Ahem. Anyway. Do I recommend this book? Eenh? :woman_shrugging: You might want to read it if the next book in the series references these characters, but on the whole I say skip it. 3 stars.

3 people found this helpful

Issy W

brilliant trans superhero/romance story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 27, 2022

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A trans superhero story by an author whose books I have thoroughly enjoyed? There was no way that I wasn't going to read this one. But given that I loved Scatter, the previous title in this series, it did mean that I went into it with high expectations, especially as for this one the main character is trans (and I appreciate that she is post hatching and transition for this story).

Naomi has just received an experimental surgery, come out of it well, and finally managed to gather the courage to ask her long term crush, Anika, out. Then suddenly everything gets rather complicated and messy as an angel attacks them at the end of their first date. And only gets more involved from there.

Wow. I loved this story. It really did manage to meet and then exceed my expectations. There aren't a huge amount of good trans stories out there that I can related to, but this one I certainly can. The challenges that trans people face, both external and internal, are well represented and only add to Naomi's depth. That there are other trans characters is a nice bonus.

The story is well written, engaging, decently paced, and thoroughly enjoyable. It is very much a superhero story, even if it plays with the divine element, and it adds so much to the universe that it is set it. It was nice to see cameo's of characters from the first book, though the focus of the book was very much on Naomi and Anika. The romance was adorable, and seeing them come to accept each other and the situation they were in (and all of the complications that are involved) was really sweet. Again, as per her other books, Transistor is low crisis, but I see that as a strength to her story telling. It is worth noting that this is a story that involved angels and all that they come with, though their representation may not match what some people expect. It works well for this setting and story, and adds to story.

Overall, absolutely loved this story, and would like to see more in this setting. Highly recommended.

3 people found this helpful

Shauna Delaney

So good!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed this book! Definitely a must read. The story between Naomi and Anika is beautiful and I didn't want it to end.

MPCRUSHER

Transistor (Heart of Heroes Book 2)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 1, 2022

Verified Purchase

Funny, sad, irreverent, dramatic. The use of the religious & theological combined with mysticism references was very interesting. The struggle for acceptance, to be allowed to be themselves, of the characters resonated with me. What is next?

April Starr

Great read!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 12, 2022

Verified Purchase

Okay so I saw there was a second one and absolutely had to read. I had no idea what I was getting into but oof did i love it. I relate to Naomi’s struggles a bit in my own way so go girl! Lol. And Chance oml I did not think i could love a AI character soo much so fast. But, I did and I would fight to save Chance any day of the week no joke. A truly delightful read.

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5 star		74%
4 star		17%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Transistor (Heart of Heroes Book 2)

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