3.5 stars

Ugh. Hard to review this one.
This is so weird. It feels like a caricature. Even though important issues were raised and handled well, there's just a little too much fun and not enough serious. There are parts I loved, but largely I can't take this story as seriously as [b:Kid Dark|30558167|Kid Dark Against The Machine|Tansy Rayner Roberts|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465878829s/30558167.jpg|50876629].

I loved getting back to this world. But I'm not too keen on this girl, reporter or not.

Friday has SO much growing up to do. Because right now she is a brat. Worse yet - a privileged, first-world-problems brat (which she herself admits, bless her). I kind of have a problem with people who don't take anything seriously. Which means Friday rubs me the wrong way. And yeah, humour helps but making fun of EVERYTHING is NOT a healthy way to cope. Ahem.

This is a fun and very positive story with enough punch to make you think about things that matter. Just maybe a little off for my tastes.

FINAL VERDICT : TRY IT ( )

A delightful tale of superheros and plucky Girl Reporters with an insightful essay on the archetype Lois Lane to round it off. I enjoyed this very much. ( )

Girl Reporter by Tansy Rayner Roberts is a novella set in the same universe as her short story "Cookie Cutter Superhero", published in Kaleidoscope, and the novella Kid Dark Against the Machine. You don't have to have read the earlier stories to enjoy or understand Girl Reporter, but the characters from the earlier stories show up and provide minor spoilers for their backstories.

This novella was a positively delightful read. It blends Roberts' humour with social commentary on the state of superhero fiction and various contemporary issues, especially those surrounding representation. Additionally the novella is so Australian it hurts (in a good way). Despite the alternate universe setting, Roberts finds plenty of opportunity to engage with modern Australian culture and hark back to the Australian culture of the 80s and 90s. I expect there will be some references that non-Australians will miss, but the novella won't be the worse for it. And everything really important is explained anyway.

The other delightful thing about this novel is the upbeat and clever voice of Tina Valentina. I will always have a soft spot for snark, but it's also nice to have a protagonist who is pretty upbeat and excited about things, despite some cynicism. Also, Tina drops backstory into the narrative very naturally, whether it's superhero history or about her mother. Roberts has nailed alternate-dimension young Millennial, and I say this as a non-super-dimension older Millennial.

This was my favourite of all three stories in the "Cookie Cutter Superhero-Verse" so far. I hope there will be more. I love the setting and all the characters so far have been great. There hasn't been very much superhero fiction (that I'm aware of) set in Australia and the strong Aussie-ness of the setting really boosts the book into an even more exciting take on superheroes, rather than yet another superhero story set in New York.

I highly recommend Girl Reporter to all fans of superhero stories. It's fun and fresh and full of diversity. Being a novella, it's also a pretty quick read. I can't wait to read more books set in this world.

5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog. ( )