Hench: A Novel Paperback – November 9, 2021

I am not a big superhero person. I don’t actively go out and look for superhero books or watch superhero movies. They can be entertaining, but they aren’t really my bag of oats. However, when I saw Hench, I was exactly in the sort of mood to read something that isn’t my typical. I also kind of really like stories about antiheroes or “the bad guy” and this seemed to slot right into both of those categories quite nicely.More, I love moral ambiguity, and you really get a lot of that in Hench.Anna works as a hench, or think of her as technical support/office grunt for supervillains (you also learn about “meat”. Think: hired muscle.). Anna’s sort of a data genius, which ends up being the core of the book later on. Anyway, Anna works as a hench for a supervillain. Things go awry and she ends up getting seriously injured. In her recuperation process, she starts studying these streams of data, which is the pin around which the whole book turns.I hesitate to say more. Discovery is half the fun.Anna, however, works for the bad guy, which means some of the things she does are questionable and may or may not make you a bit squeamish. That being said, while you go into this book knowing from page one that Anna works for the “bad guy”, the so called “good guys” don’t look that good for long. In fact, the way the author created this equal playing field across the spectrum for all of her characters was nothing short of spectacular.While Anna has this dark, sarcastic sense of humor that really jived with me on a personal level (I instantly clicked with her), I spent as much time reading this book laughing at her sarcasm as I did thinking deeper thoughts about good and evil, and the so-called cost of both. I was quite amazed by how Walschots managed to provoke so many deeper thoughts and analysis from me, while making me laugh at the same time.Anna, as I mentioned, is a character I loved, and while this is a book about superheroes and supervillains, this is ultimately the story of a woman who is stuck between the two and becomes a power in her own right. As a hench, she is behind the scenes, one of the people who are basically hired to make a supervillain look important. However, as the book advances, she turns out to be more than what she seems, and her personal evolution truly is something to behold.Hench is a book that works on several levels. First, it’s a fun superhero vs. supervillain romp, and if you want to read it for that, then I advise you to go for it, because it really is good. However, I really enjoyed the deeper themes here. What is a superhero, and what is a supervillain, and who determines who fits where, and why?Walschots is a fantastic author, who has a knack for really nailing a character’s voice. There is absolutely no one else but Anna who can speak, act, and think like Anna, and I loved how unique that made her. She made the entire book shine, whether she was laying on the couch recovering from surgery, or working in an office setting, or making really tough decisions and backing up her supervillain. She’s just who she is, and I love books who have characters unique enough to own the story they are set in.What I loved about this book was how the author managed to humanize all these characters who are, by definition, somewhat beyond humanity. Suddenly, under Walschots deft hand, they are just people doing what people do. The office workers required to back these supers up, the muscle that fights for them, the people who fill these jobs are just humans. They worry about rent, they worry about bills, they go to temp agencies to try to find jobs so they can make ends meet. The superheroes/supervillains do not look so glamorous after reading Hench. They seem, if anything, like CEOs of companies more than anything else.The ending of the book was fantastic, as was everything else. Unexpected and a (sort of) win for the people I was hoping would come out ahead. However, my one disappointment was that the book ended. I was having so much fun with Anna and her crew, I didn’t want to leave them.Hench was an unexpected delight. It was funny and thought provoking, and sort of flipped the script on supers in a way I truly enjoyed. More, I loved Anna. I mean, I truly loved this character. She just made the entire book, which was already good, positively glow.Hench was a book I did not expect to like, but it ended up being one of the highlights of my reading year so far. I cannot recommend this one highly enough.

I haven't finished a book for enjoyment in waaay too long. "Hench" easily resolved that with its funny, bitter and real world- building. As I was reading it I imagined many inferior versions of itself. One version would have reveled in the silliness of the premise without making the details jump out so poetically or detailing the different forms of pain of its lead characters. Real-life sidekicks and henches as constantly at-risk temp workers is a fascinating concept for exploring marginalization, financial precarity, and feeling like you'll never amount to anything. But it also could have been so much more cartoonish and goofy than it ended up being. I also could have imagined a Zack Snyder-y dark and gritty version of this book that took Anna's glory in "badness" up to 11 and smoothed out the weird humor and rough edges. Again, the real book is so much better than this. I had a few quibbles with the trajectory of the book, the way the dark humor and offkilter observations were replaced with "let's get to it" action over time - it absolutely made sense for Anna's progression but i missed the old style. I also found some of the romantic progressions - and the way Anna constantly crushes on friends and enemies - a little unnecessary. Still, this book is so worth reading, even if you aren't a superhero fan - we all live in a world Marvel and DC have conquered and are in that way more like Anna than we'd like to admit. Living in their shadows, begging for their scraps of fame and success, cleaning up their messes. I'm grateful for this thought provoking fun. It's a reminder to always look at the bigger picture, the true effects of those who are trying to help.

Part of this book were infuriating and the main characters is built up in a way that you can’t help but root for her. I would say the ‘bad’ guys in this book are so inherently bad it’s ridiculous but then again I think anyone who know a text book narcissist would agree that they’re as realistic as any self righteous zealot you’d meet in real life regarding their cognitive dissonance and their groundless beliefs in being right regardless of evidence otherwise. I would also say that the public in this book may come off equally frustrating, may be asking why doesn’t anyone do anything? Then you just really have to think about how gross injustice is currently treated in our society.Vague spoilers about the themes:Regardless, it a fun read even if you take the underlying theme to heart. In the context of this book, being a villain is a good thing, being a villain is the same as being a really astute reporter, it’s keeping people publicly accountable for there actions and speaking up in the face of evil, even if that evil is apathy and rigid morality regarding the ‘greater good’ despite the high cost of human life.What is it to be a good person, how much is a single life worth against the lives of many, is stopping nonviolent crimes worth a human life, hurting people? At what point is it one to take life and can their really be justice if there the judge & jury is a single person?I liked it, it was well done, a creative take on how labels and morals can be subjective given context.Also, if you’re angry & like the idea of being a villain or divergent thinker, then your likely gonna like this book.

I'm only a third of the way through the book but I had to put it down mid chapter and mid laugh to write this review.I'm enjoying every aspect it. The writing is humorous and relatable, as are the characters. I find myself smiling and laughing out loud.I will be very sad when I finish reading this. I need the author to come out with 100 more books right now so I can dive into all of them with absolute abandon.And the lgbt bits make my queer little heart so happy.My only less than positive note is that the edges of the paper the pages are printed on is very rough and uneven which can make it difficult for me to turn the page easily.Overall, all I can say is I love you, Natalie Zina Walschots.

This was great, tight writing, interesting characters that feel really real and managed to do the hero/villain genre justice at the same time as subverting it a bit.Read it!

Definitely only for people who like stories about superheroes and villains. But it's well written and even though it was a mistake for me, I finished reading it. So if you like stories like this, you should grab it, otherwise stay away. I'll give 3 points because it's written really well and excitingly.

In a media landscape overflowing with superhero stories, looking at you marvel, DC etc... HENCH gives us something a little different. Anna Tromedlov doesn't test as superpowered, doesn't posses a quirk, isn't the test subject of a super serum experiment she is a temp. Well educated, experienced with navigating the processes and software of the modern world. She just happens to be employed as a temp by supervillains. I imagine they pay better than the sanctimonious superhero organisations like 'The Draft' and certainly less nauseating to work for.So you can imagine when the world's apex hero Supercollider attackers her employer and injures her, ending her employment, her medical bills and frustrations pile up.Anna uses her skills to pull together the 'injury report' which highlights to dollars and 'lifehours' how much these heroes cost society more than the crimes the supervillains commit.This helps her find new employment with the Uber-supervillain 'Leviathan' who thanks to his resources, her own impressive skills, and hatred of Supercollider finds a more effective way to end a hero's journey, slowly and painfully.There are all the trappings of the genre, the fights, the hi-teck gadgets and cars, and the faceless muscle nicknamed in this story as 'the meat', and of course the supporting Henches. Not henchmen as thankfully gender parity seems to an accepted principle after all when one of her fellow henches states "Anna we're the bad guys" Anna replies "That doesn't mean we're inconsiderate dicks".Anna's growth as a character and the prices she pays for that growth, the cast of supporting characters and their individual traits and stories puts this well above a lot of the narratives that feature spandex in the descriptions. Also any Author who includes a Farscape quote by the protagonist knows the way to get my attention.A great read that I hope will make anyone who reads it a bit kinder to any temps they work with, now excuse me I am off to play Evil Genius on the computer.

I loved this book. I read it as part of the Canada reads finalist group of books, and it was in my top 2 of the 5. It took a couple of chapters to adapt to the superhero genre, but after that, it was one of those books you can't wait to return to. I hope there is a sequel.