All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault

In 1982, the supernatural creatures of the Dark emerged from hiding, and began selling power and immortality to the world's wealthy.

Decades later, four college roommates become the latest wielders of the Spark when they are exposed to a laboratory accident, and must save the city of Waterloo from destruction.

[1] Publishers Weekly praised it as "often hilarious" and "enjoyable", and noted its "themes of identity and self-discovery", stating that narrator Kim — who is Chinese Canadian — "both exemplifies and resents Asian stereotypes".

[2] Kirkus Reviews lauded it as "terrific" with a "hyperkinetic pace", describing Kim as "vacillat[ing] (delightfully) between snarky and valiant".

[4] James Nicoll observed that the four roommates are "typical" of university students: "kids devoting themselves to projects ranging from self-reinvention to self-destruction".