Charlie was once one of Britain's favourite TV personalities, known for sneering at the weirder members of society in his cutting-edge documentaries. But now, after a battle with cocaine addiction, he wants to go straight and show his caring side. A programme about this bizarre new disease may be a chance to get his career back on track.
As he films and interviews a number of people with HEROS, or Rosies, as they call themselves, Charlie gets close to many of them, perhaps too close, and starts to question his role as a neutral observer. This may well be a career-changing experience, but not in the way he imagined.
Whatever You Are is Beautiful is a dark comedy, which celebrates difference and explores the immense human capacity for intolerance. It is both cautionary and joyful in equal measure.
I was very happy to join in on the blog tour for this one.
This book looked quite unusual and grabbed my interest, especially since I love superheroes! The story is set in America, and it’s about a strange phenomenon that is making its way round the states, giving people it affects different powers.
There are 4 stages to the phenomenon known as HEROS. Charlie is a documentary maker and is travelling around interviewing some of the people who have HEROS. We meet quite a few interesting people along the way, like Bo, who woke up one day, coughed up his Larynx, and a new one replaced it. Or Alex who woke up one day and her hands had been replaced with new ones. I liked the characters and it was interesting to see how they lived with their new abilities.
It was a good story, and it was good to see the differences between the different stages of HEROS, and seeing the people try to use their abilities for crime fighting. They get costumes made, with layers to protect them etc when they’re out doing their thing.
There are a lot of adult themes in the book, it mentions sex quite a bit, and even people with HEROS and sexual abilities.
A fun book with a different storyline, I enjoyed it.
Richard Blandford is the author of the novels Hound Dog and Flying Saucer Rock & Roll and the short story collections The Shuffle and Erotic Nightmares.
He has also studied and taught art history. He has written for the art journals Frieze and Elephant and is the author of the visual history London in the Company of Painters.
He lives in Worthing.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rblandford
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rblandfordauthor
Website: http://richardblandford.blogspot.com/
Purchase Links:
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3dOP0RW
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3d09g47
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/31YJcjw
Google Books: https://bit.ly/3cXuCir
Damp Pebbles:
Publishing Information:
Published by Lightning Books in digital format on 24th April 2021
Thanks so much for being part of the blog tour x
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