Underdogs by Chris Bonnello

The Quick Cut: A group of neurodiverse kids and teens find themselves heroes when they are the rebels fighting an army of clones. 

A Real Review:

Thank you to Unbound for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

 Being neurodiverse can make you feel a bit like a reject sometimes. You function differently than most and even though you want to fit in, you just can't seem to find your place. In this British based novel, a group of neurodiverse kids find their unique abilities a positive force helping them save their society. 

 Dr. McCormick is one of the few older adults who managed to survive the Take over Day in Britain and has been in charge of the neurodiverse heroes know as the Underdogs ever since. At a once thriving number of thirty, these kids use their diverse abilities to work together as one and fight against the clone army that has taken over their country to hold their society hostage. Can they win the war to return everyone's lives to normal?

 As much as I appreciate the concept for this book, it seems like the author bit off more than he could chew. On the upside, the characters are dynamic, well written, and interesting. On the downside, so much of the focus is on the characters that the plot is left weak, which leaves it with holes, questions, and in the end a far too familiar sounding tale. 

 In addition, it probably would have been best to stick with 1 or 2 conditions to display in this book instead of the multidude that were highlighted. More time would've been spent understanding what it's like to be in the mind of the characters grappling with these mindsets instead of the rapid flashes we got. 

 With a stereotypical story that fails to differentiate itself, this book tries to do too much at 1 time. 

My rating: 2 out of 5