Title: Karma Girl
Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Bigtime #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Superheroes, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2007

I only have a few superhero books on my shelves, and reading this, it reminded me why I really need more. I might not be hugely into comic books and graphic novels, but I do love the idea of superheroes and all of the nonsense that is tied into having a secret identity, archenemy, so on and so forth. The fact that Estep takes all of these cliches and turns it into a series and a hilarious little romance, just made me love this all that much more. And want more of the superhero stories. I love that this is literally a series which is based on a town just rife with the cliches of superhero stories, and it fully embraces the absolute nonsense.

Carmen is a wonderfully powerful and independent woman. I love that her journey to this whole nonsense starts with unmasking superheroes and villains. Primarily because on her wedding day, she is cheated on and ends up outing her ex-fiancé as a superhero. There’s nothing like a woman scorned to drive revenge and a willingness to expose people for their lies. Whilst her decisions may be somewhat misaligned with reality, I love how she starts on her journey and the strength of conviction that she has. Yet, when her actions impact others, she takes full responsibility and chooses to work to improve on the mistakes of the past. Throughout all of her journey, karma is definitely the key theme to her thoughts and actions. Even in her misplaced moments, it’s all about karma and owning up to the consequences of one’s actions.

As an underlying theme, karma is a great one. Every action has a consequence and Carmen embodies this beautifully. The fact that this leads to her development of powers and the way in which “karma” expresses itself through her is brilliant. I also loved how intertwined all of their lives are – in and out of their superhero get up. It meant that I spent the whole time guessing who was the superhero, who was the supervillain, and even how they got their powers. Adding into the drama and the romance, it made this almost impossible to put down. I think I actually read it cover to cover, it was just that good!

Amongst all of the superhero action and drama, Karma Girl was a great romance. Not only does Carmen find her second chance at love, but it’s also all twisted up and tainted with the guilt and actions of the past. Feelings of self-worth come into it all and it takes a little while for the couple to find their happily ever after. Just enough angst to match all of the superhero drama and definitely make this one of my favourite books to read recently!

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Image source: Jennifer Estep