Sidekick Returns by Auralee Wallace
21 December 2015 
Sidekick Returns by Auralee Wallace is the second book that brings to us the very entertaining exploits of would-be-superhero Bremy St James.
I really enjoyed this, in fact I’d go so far as to say I thought it was better than the first.
In this second instalment Bremy is once again striving to be the superhero. Her mentor Dark Ryder seems to be giving her the cold shoulder, her best attempts at crime fighting all end in disaster, she seems to be getting mixed up more deeply with the mob and her hot boyfriend appears to be giving her the Big E. Things aren’t looking good and to top it all off Bremy’s maniac father is having her followed, she’s not in his good books and given that he’s already tried to kill her once this means she needs to be very careful and, her sister, the one person in the world who she genuinely cares for, is also ignoring her calls. What more could possible go wrong – well, just read it and find out.
Madcap, over the top, comic book style adventures, carnival floats, baddies, goodies, moustache twirling, female wrestling and kickass style antics. Okay, the moustache twirling I just made up but the rest is all in there.
I’m not going to talk of the plot at all. Suffice to say that this book is crazy, zany, fast paced and fun. I really enjoyed it and the inner voice of Bremy made me laugh. Think of Batman and all his super cool heroics, his gadgets, his demeanour – now deduct all of that and you’re still even nowhere near in the vicinity of the disaster of Bremy! She makes you want to tear your hair out. If something can go wrong it will. She thinks she’s tough but frankly she’s more of a flailing rich tea biscuit than a chunky hobnob. She literally can’t see the writing on the wall, even when it’s written on the wall, in front of her eyes, in huge pink neon letters with blinking lights and a huge arrow pointing to it. However, what Bremy lacks in superhero ability she makes up for with dumb persistence and being a bit of a softie. She can be a bit ‘judgey’, or more to the point her mouth tends to run away with her sometimes before her brain catches up, but she’s really not a bad person and you do end up shouting in her corner.
And to prove that she’s okay – she has a bunch of even weirder, prickly on the outside but soft and gooey on the inside friends. I’m particularly thinking of the chapters of the fancy pants party at the museum where Bart turns up as the Crime Mime and Queenie rolls up in a hearse, accompanied by the Funeral Director and dressed as Jessica Rabbit’s evil sister. Of course we have Bremy’s father who is the ultimate baddie but on top of this we have a new player called the Little Big Shot and a new superhero called The Angel of St James who is very capable and has her own bag of goodies – not to mention a cape!
I’m really not going to elaborate further. I think this was a great second story – I’m pretty certain it could be read as a standalone. It’s an excellent comic book style superhero story with oodles of crazy fun and seat of the pants action. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks to the author and publisher for a review copy. I sincerely hope there’ll be more Bremy on the cards.
Sidekick by Auralee Wallace
Just finished reading Sidekick by Auralee Wallace which I really enjoyed – it was good fun, very entertaining and basically combines a comic book type superhero style with a YA story about a young woman trying to survive in the big bad city after breaking free from her billionaire father. It has a hint of romance, a lot of bungling adventures and near mishaps told in a witty voice and fictional, Gotham-esque city setting. This is a fast paced romp told very much tongue in cheek.
At the start of the story Bremy St James finds herself in debt to her landlord. Living in what could best be described as a broom closet as opposed to an apartment she still needs to pay rent – particularly if she wants to stay in one piece. Bremy seems to have left home under a cloud which isn’t immediately explained, only that she feels like she’s escaped and is now trying to make her way in the world in order to set up and bring her twin sister to live with her. Taking herself off to the bank to withdraw her remaining cash Bremy finds herself in the midst of a bank robbery – by a bunch of circus performers! Now, this pretty much sets up the tone for the rest of the book. Bremy finds herself in one dire situation and then usually spirals to the next as she desperately tries to clutch at straws to retrieve the situation.
The one thing you can say for Bremy is that even though she’s a bit bungling her heart is in the right place and she can’t resist interfering, even in the most threatening situations, if somebody needs help. This is a good thing of course and it’s refreshing to read a character who is willing to assist others in need but does of course put her in the limelight which is the last place she wants to be as she tries to remain hidden from her father.
The city has it’s own superhero – the Dark Ryder. A kickass woman who swoops fearlessly into the fray and who having come to Bremy’s attention becomes her unwitting mentor. Yep, Bremy, decides that becoming the Dark Ryder’s sidekick is the perfect solution to all her problems – however willingness and the desire to help others might not be enough and trying to keep her identity hidden from not only her father but her would-be boyfriend, plus holding down a job in a rather seedy establishment where she already owes her boss money, not to mention having a landlord keen to find her and possibly remove her fingers also won’t help. She’s got a lot to juggle here not to mention becoming embroiled in a plot to save the City.
In terms of the other characters there’s the journalist boyfriend (although his investigative journalism skills leave a little to be desired!), there’s obviously the host of super baddies, the superhero of the City – Ryder, and the friends that Bremy eventually finds in her next door neighbour Queenie and her geeky IT friend Bart.
Anyway, I enjoyed this. It was fast paced, amusing and entertaining and a perfect set up for future novels in the same series. It probably won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but providing you go into the read thinking along the lines of ‘comic book’ and ‘superheros’ and also being prepared to accept that anything goes then you’ll no doubt enjoy this. It’s writing style is very easy to get along with and it’s good fun to read a novel with a comic book feel. Anything goes and the finer detail is completely out the window – just roll with it!
I received a copy of this from Netgalley in return for a honest review. The above is my own opinion. I can’t deny that this great cover was the first thing to capture my attention! Fickle but true.
Books and travelling with Lynn 