Review:
John is a Zero, the only person without superpowers at his school. He spends his days trying to avoid bullies, and his only friend is Sera, an extremely powerful girl who used to be at the top of the school's food chain but who, for some reason, completely quit caring about being the best at everything after an encounter with John. When John isn't able to avoid his bullies, Sera is usually able to step in and either help or deescalate things. Unfortunately, the two of them are separated when it's discovered that Sera has a copy of Unordinary, a banned book about a person with superpowers in a world of Zeroes who uses his superpowers to defend those weaker than him.
Their separation puts a huge strain on John, who no longer has anyone around to watch his back. As he tries to deal with bullies determined to beat him to a pulp, cracks start to appear in his facade. What he doesn't realize is that one of his classmates, Arlo, has begun to suspect that he isn't who he says he is.
I wouldn't call this a very original series. It feels like a blend of My Hero Academia and Classroom of the Elite. The world-building is also a bit confusing. Does Sera have multiple superpowers? We know she can apparently stop and/or rewind time, but that doesn't really explain how she managed to slam the one bully into a building. Does she also have super strength? And it seemed like her classmates expected her to be at the top academically, as well, so does that mean super-powered intelligence or just generally high expectations?
Various schools fought for territory via battles between their top three students (the King, Queen, and Jack), with no sign that any adults had a problem with this. Readers also learned that there were a few people who, influenced by the book Unordinary, became vigilantes, protecting those weaker than them. It could be assumed that powerful people abusing their abilities was accepted as the norm in general society, not just as John's school. I have lots of questions about how a society like that might function, but I suspect this series is never going to answer them.
Still, I was somewhat intrigued by the storyline involving the murdered vigilantes, and I liked that the author seemed to be leaning towards turning Arlo into another one of John's allies, rather than yet another bully. Also, while I have some suspicions about John's true abilities, I'm interested to see where the author goes with him. Right now this series isn't exactly wowing me, but I'll probably give it another volume at least before moving on.
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