Cute Mutants Vol 2: Young, Gifted & Queer by SJ Whitby
Synopsis
"Despite the chaos and me being a dumpster fire, things turned out okay last time. We beat the villain, and I'm part of a superteam. I have cool friends, and somehow (don't jinx it, Dylan), I even got the girl. Not just any girl—the icy badass who’s secretly soft-hearted. Things should be great, right? Now the government’s come knocking, and we’re summoned to superhero school. Which is a dream come true, except it's run by a corporation. But not all corporations are shady, right? It's fine, if you can get over the teeny, tiny problem that there’s also an evolution-obsessed organization trying to figure us out. Plus, it turns out we aren’t as rare as we thought. There’s another group of mutants with dangerous powers running loose, and we’re the ones who’ll have to stop them. I hope the part on my school records that says “near-pathological disregard for authority” isn’t going to come back and bite me. Maybe it’ll be the thing that saves us."
My Thoughts
So, in my mind at least, sequels are notoriously hard to live up to the amazingness of the first book. And this one managed to be very different and totally fantastic all at the same time. It had a very different vibe because the situation was totally different, it also felt much more serious than the first but in a way that built on the events of book one and expanded it in such a wonderful way.
This was so good! Definitely did not disappoint as a follow-up to one of my favorite books of 2020. Once again, this series is so unapologetically queer and it just made my heart sing through the whole thing. You got to spend some wonderful time with Dylan and Dani in this one as well as their very real insecurities that didn't magically vanish because they're in a relationship now. That's one of my favorite things about this series is just how honestly human these characters are. They're not perfect, but they don't have to be. Because who is?
As I mentioned before, this book gets a lot more serious. The team has to navigate systems larger than them who may not be doing the right thing. I mourned a bit for their carefree attitudes from the first book but also loved seeing them grow as characters too.
So basically, this series continues to be amazing and everyone should read this book because it's amazing and very queer!
Genre: lgbtqia+, ya, sci-fi
Representation: bi, ace, trans, lesbian, Asian, BIPOC, gender fluid (questioning), non-binary
Content Warnings: language, HP references, violence, dismemberment, kidnapping, medical experimentation, character death, discussion of depression, suicide, transphobia (misgendering)