Goodreads Monday (8/10/20)–The Infinite Noise

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme created by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do to participate is pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and explain why you want to read it.

The novel I’m going over today is a far more recent addition to my TBR. Found family vibes and powers? Consider me completely hooked.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (8/10/20)–THE INFINITE NOISE by Lauren Shippen

Blurb from Goodreads:

Caleb Michaels is a sixteen-year-old champion running back. Other than that his life is pretty normal. But when Caleb starts experiencing mood swings that are out of the ordinary for even a teenager, his life moves beyond “typical.”

Caleb is an Atypical, an individual with enhanced abilities. Which sounds pretty cool except Caleb’s ability is extreme empathy—he feels the emotions of everyone around him. Being an empath in high school would be hard enough, but Caleb’s life becomes even more complicated when he keeps getting pulled into the emotional orbit of one of his classmates, Adam. Adam’s feelings are big and all-consuming, but they fit together with Caleb’s feelings in a way that he can’t quite understand.

Caleb’s therapist, Dr. Bright, encourages Caleb to explore this connection by befriending Adam. As he and Adam grow closer, Caleb learns more about his ability, himself, his therapist—who seems to know a lot more than she lets on—and just how dangerous being an Atypical can be.

So why do I want to read this?

I usually cut out the blurbs and such from the Goodreads synopsis, but I figured I would share the one at the bottom of The Infinite Noise:

“What if the X-Men, instead of becoming superheroes, decided to spend some time in therapy?”

-Vox, on The Bright Sessions

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand you had me at X-Men.

This one’s based off of a podcast, which I’ve never previously heard of, but I’m willing to go in completely blind. (I really don’t listen to podcasts much at all, for reasons I can’t place.)

That aside, this novel sounds so exciting! The Infinite Noise sounds like a superhero story with a unique, introspective twist. Not only do we have some great LGBTQ+ representation, I’m excited to see Caleb’s powers; there’s something that makes me so happy to see a male character with powers connected to his emotion. In a society that all too often belittles men for crying and feeling emotion, here we have a character who’s going through the all-too-human struggle of exploring his own emotions–and his superpowers. So that’s a wonderful step, and a necessary one in the pantheon of superpowered literature.

In short: I’m here for a timely, progressive, and romantic superhero story. GIMME ALL THEM X-MEN VIBES!

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!