The Academy for Young Supervillains by Taylor A. Jenkins

One night, while Theo Palmer is hanging out with his sister, Tara, at the convenience store where she works, two criminals try to rob them. Unfortunately, for the criminals, Theo isn't your typical teenage boy. He has superpowers.

His powers allow him to do all kinds of cool things. Mostly, manipulate shadows and darkness.

After he uses his powers to save Tara and stop the criminals, certain events transpire, and soon, Theo is offered a spot in The Academy for Young Superheroes. But when he gets to the school, he's told that he's actually been enrolled in The Academy for Young Supervillains.

Sucky twist. Theo is not happy about it. He's determined to prove that he's a hero.

But this school has a lot of secrets. It's impossible to know who Theo can trust. Sometimes, he can't even trust his own mind and thoughts. And with the dangers piling up alongside the pressure Theo puts on himself, how long will it be before he crumbles?

Theo is an excellent main character. His powers are intriguing. The way he can form weapons from the shadows and morph/disappear into the darkness is freaky and awesome. There's still so much to learn about his powers, though. And his journey is far from over. 

Theo cares deeply about people and the world. He loves his family. He carries the weight and trauma of his father’s death with him everywhere he goes. His dad was the first person to ever encourage Theo to be a hero. Theo also cares about his friends a lot. He makes a bunch of new friends at the academy, but only a few are given a spotlight, mostly Penny and Dion. 

Penny is Theo's crush. She's a fantastic character. Super sweet and selfless. Her power is healing. She can heal other people by taking their pain. It hurts her, but she does it anyway. She’s also an expert fighter. She kicks Theo’s ass in one of their first scenes together, which I really enjoyed. Plus, Penny’s strength and confidence really seem to sharpen throughout the story. I really loved her POV chapters.

I also love Dion. Theo's best friend. Dion's powers are really cool. He can basically possess people, which is freaky like Theo’s powers but also pretty handy. At least I think so. Dion’s backstory is sad, too, but that sad origin story is the first thing that he and Theo bond over. 

Dion is a good friend. He’s a good person. He cares about Theo a lot, which Theo needs.

Peter is another character I want to mention. He seems to be the only student in the entire school who knows what's really going on, or at least bits and pieces. He’s been there six years. His power is invisibility. He stays invisible through most of the book. 

Peter also makes for great comedic relief. His comments made me smile.

There are several other weird, freaky, and cool powers featured in the book. All the characters have some sort of superpower, whether it be sonic scream, time manipulation, or super strength. And those are just a few examples. Each character is interesting and well-rounded. I would’ve liked to learn more about certain side characters. Gotten to know them better. But there wasn’t really time in the storyline. We did get glimpses into the origins of a couple of characters, which I liked.

The whole book felt sort of like an origin story, especially after reading the end of it. It has set the stage for what I imagine will be an amazing adventure for Theo and his friends.

I can't wait to see what happens next.