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5 Read-A-Likes for The Umbrella Academy

The Umbrella Academy is now a 10-episode series on Netflix and people (including me) are loving it. Viewers follow seven supernaturally-gifted adopted siblings in the aftermath of their father’s death. With quirky powers, emotionally-stunted characters, and an apocalypse on the way, what’s not to love. Although the series is adapted from an award-winning comic book series written by Gerald Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá, fans of the comics will notices changes in casting, scene curation, and some plot choices. Nevertheless, the series is a stellar example of an adaptation that pleases the fan base and appeals to the masses, so here are some read-a-likes to occupy your time afterward.

Meddling Kids By Edgar Cantaro

Heres the premise:

If the kids in Mystery Incorporated from Scooby Doo grew up and everything in their lives went wrong because of their last mission. The jock turned movie star committed suicide, the horror nerd was committed after seeing his ghost, the budding scientist ended up as a bartender, and the tomboy of the group is wanted in multiple states. We love the classic let down of prodigy culture with a little supernatural horror thrown in.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

You have:

Teens saving the world from an apocalyptic future

Absolute power corrupting absolutely after one mysterious day

Hilariously specific main characters

An old man in charge with a mysterious past

A series supervillains with oddly specific powers

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire

So, contrary to the title there is no Armageddon at the end of the book, you do have a family of secretly-trained Incryptid specialists who grew up knowing how to create fake identities and escape from any situation. The Price family aims to protect American monsters from a European institution who would wipe them all out. As adults, they try to understand their training to find their place in the world... It’s a great time.

Zeros By Scott Westerfield, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti

One Supercrew

Blind girl with the power to see through other’s eyes

The boy no one can remember

A leader with a supernaturally-enigmatic pull

Someone who says what you want to hear... anything you want to hear

A girl who can share her emotions with a crowd

And another who can break any piece of tech

Renegades By Marissa Marr

Our main character is a villain who sneaks into a superhero academy to destroy them from the inside. In a world where superheroes act as the government, police force, and hospitals, normal people no longer feel the need to do anything themselves.

Superheros are not elected, they don’t answer to the public, so what's stopping them from making choices for the greater good that are neither great nor good?

Read-A-Likes for Anime Lovers (Part 1)

My Hero Academia follows a teenager as he gains powers in a Shōnen anime. When superpowers are everywhere, so are superheroes and supervillains. Growing up without powers, he has obsessively studied the strengths and weaknesses of anyone he encounters with powers. By chance, he encounters his hero and goes through the process of learning how to use his gifted power in a super-school environment.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson also involves a world where many people have superpowers, unfortunately, they are all supervillains. Our main character is powerless and would like to stay that way. He has obsessively collected information on all supervillains after his father was killed by stealheart, the supervillain and dystopian leader of Newcago. Soon, he joins up with resistance group who want to take down the supers. It’s My Hero Academia if the League of Villians ruled the world with a small group of geeky quirk-less rebels trying to stop them.

Sword Art Online is a Shōnen anime where a teen gamer is one of the many people to get stuck in a VR game. If you die in the game, you die in real life as well. In this world, groups filled with magic and sword fighting aim to clear levels and challenges so they can all be free.

Arena by Holly Jennings follows a VR sports legend as she looks to find a balance between the virtual world and the real one. Fighting in teams, players battle to the death in a VR game for public consumption. The catch is anything they can do in the real world, they can also do in the virtual one. Rigorous team training paired with the hard party lifestyle lead to short careers for many players. Instead, she aims to survive and thrive in the industry with her team behind her as one the first female team leader in the game’s history.

Soul Eater, a Shōnen (wow I swear this isn’t on purpose) anime explores the world of death. Or at least what happens when you die. One human weapon and one weapon meister come together to reap souls. The main characters are going to school to become certified in their field, learning how to work in the world and with each other in the process.

Croak by Gina Damico follows one rage-filled teenage girl who comes to learn that she is a Grimm Reaper. When she is carted to a town of others with her profession, her anger lessens and her powers appear. Reapers work in teams of two, one reaps the soul and another contains the soul so they can be carted to the afterlife. The light tone and macabre idea go hand in hand with Soul Eater.

Psycho Pass is a crime-thriller that continues this Shōnen trend with a dystopian society and a government of thought police. From the perspective of an investigator new to the force, this system is explored and pushed to its fullest extent.

1984 by George Orwell its impossible not to recognize the origin of thought police in literature. The dystopian novel explores a future where the government decides the emotions that someone should have and express, the history that someone should remember and promote, and the role someone should perform in society. While the book comes from the perspective of a citizen rather than an enforcer, you would be hardpressed to find a more relevant read.

Kill La Kill *wipes forehead* is a Seinen anime where battles are used in a school setting as a way of granting prestige and strength. The main character wants to find her father’s killer as she collects life fibers used to improve her own battle gear.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff follows one young girl on her bloody path to revenge. After her family is killed, she is able to control the shadows of herself and others. The fearlessness she is granted helps her in her classes as she becomes a part of an assassination group. The battles, magic, and overarching terror should carry any lover of fantasy right to the bookstore.

I finished the Feehan book. It wasn’t horrible but it’s not something I would rec unless someone was looking for this type of scenario. The pacing was odd. It was sort of like 5 chapters of what these characters found attractive about each other - a couple lines about her background; more about him and instant love. They were married by chapt 3 and having sex in chapt 4 or 5. Then it was adventure for a few chapters and then it stopped so they could have more sex while the evil bad was attacking their friends. Then boom more action, hero hurt and snap, happy ending.

I really like the premise and world build set up in the prologue. As far as vamp stories go meh. Not sparkly vamps but not my thing. The compelling their women to do was they want really crossed a discomfort line. She tried to explain it away but um nope on that one.

The guy was more interesting than the main femme. To me she was weak, boring and kind of milk toast. She didn’t need to be. Her back story could have really set the tone but I didn’t think it did. Maybe if more of that was incorporated?

I think my next book is Kennyon - The Dream Hunter - it’s mythology based and sounds interesting. I’ll be curious to see how they compare ;)

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