Title: Hoods: The Beginning (Hoods #1)
Author: David Niall Wilson
Format: ebook
Source: BookSirens
From Goodreads: San Valencez is a city with many levels. Near the barrio, on the south side of town, gangs rule the streets, and those that don’t find a way out tend to be sucked into the shadows and consumed. Not far away, near the border between the bad side of town and civilization, there are those standing up to the shadows. They aren’t superheroes, exactly, but they aren’t regular kids either. They have abilities, intelligence, strength, skill—and a desire to see their city become a better place.
Four teenagers, Weaver, Cami, Shooter and Combo, come together with a mutual desire to make things better, to help those who need it and punish those who deserve it. When Shooter’s old friend Mikey approaches them, concerned over his brother Dale’s connections with a gang called Los Escorpiones, they organize and become something stronger than their separate parts. The city is in danger from a threat it doesn’t even know exists. All that stands in the way of disaster is a group of “Hoods.”
My Opinion: San Valencez is a tough place to live, so having friends, your own squad, is highly recommended, especially if you have to go out at night. Our four young heroes-to-be are pretty much loners, until a chance encounter in a dark alley brings two of them together. Bobby and Eddie both have enhanced abilities, and, unknown to them, they are caught on video by a classmate of theirs by the name of Luisa, code name Weaver. Weaver and Cami (another classmate named Lisa) have already been working together to help clean up their city, but they are not getting as far as they would like, so when Weaver sees what Bobby and Eddie can do, she knows instinctively that she needs to recruit them to join her cause. The boys agree that someone has to take on the gangs and other bad elements in their neighborhood, so they join forces with Weaver and Cami, and get their own code names, Shooter and Combo. They have to keep their identities secret because it would be very dangerous if anyone found out who they were.
I really enjoyed reading this book. The setting was described in such detail that I could feel the gritty darkness of it slipping into my mind as I read. The four kids who headline this book were well fleshed out and easy to like. You get to know them through their back stories and family history, which was written into the story very naturally.
I thought the plot flowed along at a good pace, which made the book very easy to read. It was a quick read because of this.
In summary, I enjoyed this book very much and enthusiastically recommend it to lovers of MG/YA fantasy stories. I give it 5/5 stars.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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