Strictly no heroics, by B. L. Radley
The world is run by those with the Super gene, and Riley Jones doesn’t have it. She’s just a Normie, ducking her way around the hero vs. villain battles that constantly demolish Sunnylake City, working at a crappy diner to save up money for therapy, and trying to figure out how to tell her family that she’s queer. But when Riley retaliates against a handsy superhero at work, she finds herself in desperate need of employment, and the only place that will hire her is HENCH. Yes, HENCH, as in henchmen: masked cronies who take villains' coffee orders, vacuum their secret lairs, and posture in the background while they fight. Riley's plan is to mind her own business and get paid...but that quickly devolves when she witnesses a horrible murder on the job. Caught in the thick of a gentrification plot, a unionization effort, and a developing crush on her prickly fellow henchwoman, Riley must face the possibility that even a powerless Normie can take a stand against injustice.
The writing was very reminiscent of tumblr folk tales, probably because B. L. Radley apparently used to(?) write on here. Or maybe I thought that because I knew Radley wrote on tumblr... Whichever it is, the vibes of the writing style were there, it was fun
It was also nice to have representation that doesn't end at "this character is gay, and this one is black": we get different gender and sexual identities, different body types (our MC doesn't have gressin limbs), different skin colors, Riley's sister even has a prosthetic leg. I feel like a lot of people would think it's too """woke""" but like, that's actually what the real world looks like outside of your bubble? Minorities are still a good chunk of the population and queer people do tend to band together, somehow. Anyways, I really liked that aspect of the story
The plot wasn't some convoluted evil master plan from some removed villain with the fate of the world at stake, it was closer to home (which makes sense given Riley and her lack of powers), so it was really refreshing and made the whole story seem way more realistic.
I'll definitely want to read more of Radley's works if they get more publishing deals after this one!
French version under the cut