Title: Livewire (The Valient Universe)
Author: Sarah Roughly
Genres: SciFi/Superhero
Pages: 288
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Review Copy: ARC by publisher
Availability: Available now
Summary: Amanda McKee is a psiot, an evolved subspecies of humanity with mysterious psychic powers. According to billionaire Toyo Harada and his secret research organization, the Harbinger Foundation, she has the ability to talk to machines, control technology, and even see into a secret parallel world that exists inside computers: the Digital World. But Harada wants Amanda to keep that last bit under wraps–along with the fact that she’s his adopted daughter.
But when a man from the twenty-seventh century named Matsuoka Sho appears, intent on killing her to save his future, she realizes her days of hiding who she really is are over. Especially after Matsuoka gives her an ominous warning: “One day, you and Toyo will destroy humankind.” At first, Amanda doesn’t want to believe it. But when techno-soldiers from the future kidnap her father and drag him into the Digital World, she has no choice but to follow. Going into the Digital World with her hot, time-traveling frenemy and fighting off mecha soldiers with her psiot powers? That’s one thing. But can she handle learning the truth about who Toyo Harada really is?
Review: While it’s no secret that I’m a fan of Sarah Raughley’s work, I must admit that I struggled with this novel. It is so very different from her other works because it is an origin story of an established character from Valiant comics. To me, it felt like Raughley was constrained by the parameters of the Livewire character, which to me, held back Raughley’s brilliance when it comes to creating unique characters that readers can easily emphasize with. I’m not saying it was a horrible read, as I did enjoy most if it, but when I think of Raughley’s other works, especially since my first review of 2025 was her novel The Queen’s Spade, Livewire doesn’t quite measure up.
The novel is set in present day Tokyo where Amanda McKee is living and going to an international school under a different name due to a horrible incident at her old school. She is an popular influencer with a good following but also runs a gossip site called Livewire that she uses to expose other’s secrets. The secrets she receives by using her psiot powers to gain information on folks. The way her powers work is actually very cool and I enjoyed the way Raughley described them. Amanda has named her connection “Terminal” and it practically has a personality of its own. When she and Matsuoka enter the Digital World, it becomes a guide for both them as they navigate trying to find her adoptive father. I feel like Terminal is like her conscience in a way as he will warn her before she makes decision, but does help her in times of need. At the same time Terminal felt like a sentient AI and really, that scared me. The world building of the Digital World was interesting as in that world everyone had “digital castles” which was a reflection of the information they put online and how they interact on line. In Matsuoka’s time people live in the Digital World so seeing how it began while knowing what it could evolve to was also disturbing in a way as our lives become more and more ingrained with our digital lives. This aspect of the novel was a compelling statement on the hold that social media, shoot the internet in general, has on us and a reflection on what we can do to change that.
Overall, the book is fast paced with a number of action scenes that are exciting, yet terrifying in a way. The powers of the soldiers from the future were often so strong that while I know Amanda had plot armor, sometimes my heart was racing wondering how in the world she and Matsouka would get out of the situation. While I have never read the original comic, I did look it up a bit and I think Raughley did a good job working in the Valiant Universe.