No Cape Required: 52 Ways To Unleash Your Inner Hero – Book Review

As a woman who has two primary passions – all things geeky and all things Godly – this appeals to me on a deep, exciting level.

Just take a look at my cosplay page, and you’ll see that dressing up as heroes happens quite a lot in my house. We have everything – the capes, the masks, the yards and yards of spandex and latex. The concept of good and evil, and the human potential to rise above and beyond the call of duty, resonates in every domestic geeks heart, and mine is no exception.

So you can see why I jumped on the opportunity to review No Cape: 52 Ways To Unleash Your Inner Hero by Kristen Parrish for Thomas Nelson Publishing. Here is the books description via Amazon:

What do Katniss Everdeen, Spider-Man, and Huckleberry Finn have in common? They’re heroes—and you can be just like them.

As children, we dream of throwing on a cape and changing the world. Then we grow up, we learn to see the flaws in our movie stars and athletes, and we accept that true heroism is not possible in the real world.  You continue to dream, though. Isn’t that why you still love watching heroes on the big screen? It’s more than just wish fulfillment. You resonate with Superman’s justice and Dorothy’s courage because you have those same qualities within yourself.

In these pages, Kristen Parrish looks at the qualities of fifty-two heroes, and then shows how you can acquire every one of those qualities. No gamma rays or radioactive spider bites are needed. You can unleash your inner hero through prayer and practical action.

Nerdy Christian peeps, are you salivating yet?? This geek-tastic and God-centered devotional is made up of 52 separate chapters, each one spotlighting a character from a movie, show, novel or comic book to be tackled once a week for a whole year.

Each week, the book approaches a character quality (Bravery, Kindness, Servitude, Compassion, Fearlessness, Integrity, etc.) using a hero from pop culture, then draws a parallel or example of that heroic quality from the Bible, and concludes with Scripture, a prayer and a list of suggestions to help you “Take Action” and begin cultivating those character qualities in yourself.

While any book that seeks to draw a correlation between the Bible and cult classics like Star Wars has my attention and admiration, it is very important to clarify that the morals, lessons and Scripture references are all solid and Biblically sound.

This book is suited for reading solo or as a family, though I personally think it would be most effective as a group or homeschool devotional. The fun of this book is that you can begin your week as a “movie night”, watch the film the character is from, and then read the chapter in No Cape Required, making points and taking action as a family.

Action steps range from suggestions to read certain Scripture and spend time in prayer, to tangible donations of time and resources in your church and community. (Smile at as many people as you can today, thank someone in law enforcement for their service, donate to the mission field, get involved in a youth group, etc.)

I read some of this book out loud with Jonathan while we were out running errands and grocery shopping (do we know how to have a good time, or what?!) and with each new hero spotlight and movie reference – Beauty and the Beast, The Karate Kid, Harry Potter, The Matrix, Aliens, Indiana Jones, Gladiator and so on and so on – we’d start reminiscing about our favorite scenes, spark some nerdy debates, and then make plans to watch the movie soon. I honestly can’t imagine reading this book alone, without sharing it – and the lessons it contains – with others.

The variety of examples Parrish covers is quite impressive and my only, only, ONLY complaint in her compilation of heroes, is when she used Melanie from Gone With The Wind for an example of Kindness. Melanie wasn’t kind – she was a dolt. Either she was too stupid to realize that her husband Ashley was cheating, or she was too concerned about appearances to face reality and save her marriage. Either way, I’d hardly say she is hero quality. /end rant But aside from that one example, the rest are spot on!

All in all, I’m thoroughly impressed with this book and burning with jealousy that I hadn’t thought of it myself first. *shakes fist into the air* Christian nerdy homeschool moms, make sure this little gem is in your homeschool curriculum!

[Disclaimer: There are no affiliate links in this review. I am an independent product reviewer. I only review products I am truly interested in. I don’t accept payment for reviews. The products I take the time to jabber on about are either items I have personally purchased, or the product has been provided for review after me incessantly nagging for a sample. All of my reviews are unbiased regardless of how the item was obtained.]