Richard Blandford – Whatever You Are Is Beautiful

‘Whatever You Are Is Beautiful’ by Richard Blandford. One thing I am a sucker for is superheroes, so when I read the synopsis, I really wanted to read this.

Set in America a story about a mysterious illness, known as HEROS that is making its way through the country. HEROS has four different stages it goes through with the final stage changing people into super-powered and costumed superheroes.

Charlie is a documentary maker and is travelling around interviewing some of the people who have HEROS in the hope that his career will get back on track. He meets plenty of interesting people as he goes. The illness can manifest in quite different ways some are talents that can enhance a person’s life but others are useless and just cause problems for the sufferer. I got sucked into how the victims and their families cope with having HEROS, they spend their time just waiting for the delusional stage to kick in. Charlie himself becomes attached to Alex, who woke up one day and found her hands had been replaced with new ones and Bo who coughed up his larynx and randomly it was replaced. I really felt for the families, particularly Bo’s, who are attempting to make peace with the fact that one day they will lose the Bo they know and love.

A touching, unique, thought-provoking and interesting book that I enjoyed.

Thanks to Damp Pebbles Blog Tours and Lightening