Book Review: Mindfire by L D Houghton

Mindfire is a multi-generational superhero story about the struggles of life with super powers while being a young adult. This story isn't about secret identities, costumes, or evil plots endangering the world. Instead, self-discovery and adaptation is at the forefront as the reader follows the lives of the characters who are unafraid to show love and explore spirituality.

Leia Hamilton is a young woman in a difficult position, finding out that she’s about to be a mother with her boyfriend's child. Instead of that being the biggest issue, her pregnancy activates her latent powers of Pyrokinetics. Her mostly normal world was about to be upended as she learns the truth about her parents including her birth mother.

This isn’t your normal fast pace high action superhero story. It's a much more casual paced story of finding faith and its power to overcome pain and trauma. This take on the traditional superhero tropes was interesting. 

Normally I’m much more action focused when it comes to stories like this and I did struggle through several slower parts of the story. That being said, if you go into it expecting more of an emotional slice of life story with occasional superhero action, I think you should enjoy it. I would recommend this story to readers that are looking for a slower story with multiple points of view that focuses on faith and the emotions of becoming a Super Hero.

The main character of the story is one of the main emotional struggles of the book, but this story is more about the family as a whole. You spend a lot of the book in the heads of a variety of characters, including several flashbacks from the main character’s parents as well as a few others. These additions are interesting and lead to some subplots that fill out the world well. 

The focus on faith and how it can help with struggles like PTSD and other mental illnesses was very interesting. It is a unique theme that I’ve never seen before and I hope to see more stories with this theme. The idea of the effects on even the most powerful of heroes really struck home with me.

If you’re looking for a fun casual read that will tug at your heart strings and make you reconsider the struggles that your favorite heroes are dealing with when you watch your favorite Marvel or DC movie or show, this is the read for you. It was a good quick read that I enjoyed.