Book Review: OVEREMOTIONAL by David Fenne

                                                 


**Disclaimer: I received a free electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Genre:  YA, Fantasy, LGBT
Release Date: July 6, 2023
Description:
"Sometimes, emotions can be a little too powerful . . .
Seventeen-year-old Steven has a big problem . . . Whenever he feels intense emotions, weird things happen.
Like when he kissed a boy for the first time, and the boy's head literally exploded.
Fleeing to the miserable town of Grunsby-on-Sea, Steven is determined to not hurt anyone else - but he doesn't count on his best friend Freya, her boyfriend Marcus and American friend Troy following him. And when agents from the mysterious DEMA organisation show up talking about "neutralisation", Steven realises that Grunsby-on-Sea might not be the safe haven he'd hoped for . . . 
The first in a wholesome queer YA fantasy trilogy packed with magic, loveable characters and big plot twists from debut author DAVID FENNE. Perfect for fans of TJ Klune, Rainbow Rowell and Adam Silvera."

As exciting and interesting as the synopsis was for this, I'm afraid I didn't love it as much as I would've wanted to. It was not horrible by any means-quite far from that.

I enjoyed the representation that it has. It didn't feel overwhelming/forced. It flowed naturally in the story. Character-wise, I'm meh about. I enjoyed most of the main cast. Did I necessarily vibe/click with them? Not really, but I don't really have any complaints thus far. The supporting cast, not so much. I found many of those characters pretty incompetent, especially ones that are part of the DEMA organization. At times it made me wonder how low were the qualifications to even be an agent of that organization. The antagonist of the story was also pretty obvious from the get-go. Also, we do get chapters from all four of the main cast, with Steven being the main one. I honestly didn't mind that we got so many POV's, as it did add depth to the characters, even Marcus, who was annoying and a prick from the beginning, but by the end, he doesn't feel like a thorn in your side anymore. I would say Steven and Troy were the best characters out of everyone.

Story-wise, it was okay to me. It has an overall interesting premise, but the more I find the story delving into DEMA/superpowers, the further my interest strayed from the story. I also didn't find myself interested in the log/reports from the DEMA organization. I pretty much skimmed through them just so I could get back to the main story.

Overall, while I didn't find myself completely invested in the story, I do see the appeal of it. Maybe it's because I'm not the targeted demographic. I still think this YA urban fantasy is still worth the read if you're looking for a young teen with superpowers.

Overall rating:  3/5

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