Confession: I don’t get the appeal of Rogue and Gambit. Like it’s not that they’re bad characters but they have the least dramatic story of any superhero couple. Their only obstacle is Rogue not being able to touch Gambit and they’ve figured out a way around that half the time. The recent decision to have them get married was a brilliant one and let them just be a happy couple. Good.

But that’s not going to stop me from reviewing a novel all about them. I am bound and determined to cover every forthcoming comic book novel and next up is indeed Rogue: Untouched from writer Alisa Kwitney, author of the fascinating Hawkeye/Black Widow romance novel New Avengers: Breakout, which suffice it to say isn’t an accurate adaptation of the comic but is pretty good. I’ve got biases. I’ve got a chance to put them aside. So how did this shake out for me?

Anna Marie is a waitress in the south afraid of her ability to drain the life from people. Into her world comes trouble in the form of Remy LeBeau, a redeyed swaggering Cajun hunk. They hit it off at once as Remy helps her realize her powers can be a benefit. But then a mysterious order led by a shapeshifter gets its eyes on her. And then an organization captures her and Remy, referring to her as a “rogue specimen.” Can the newly dubbed Rogue fight her way out and find her place? Will she revert to a normal life or use her powers to help? And what about Remy and the blonde in his past? What’s to come?

OK so even though this book covered very familiar territory I largely enjoyed it. I’ll get my issues out of the way first. This is hardly anything new. You know exactly where it’s going from the word go. There’s a bit of Rogue’s comic origin here and a bit of the movie prequel comic. Nothing here is fresh or shocking. It’s not bad but if you’re looking for something startling, this ain’t it.

That said this is a page turner. It’s a fun brisk read that moves fast. The villain is interesting if a bit of a cliche with his plot to sell mutants as weapons. Everybody is written very well actually. Rogue is a nicely strong heroine and her speech thankfully not written with an accent. I can’t complain that Gambit is from the Christian Grey/Edward Cullen cloth since he always has been.

What this really does is deliver the premise. This is a Rogue/Gambit story and it feels like the purest dose of that. Thus far the Aconyte line has stayed away from familiar characters but this was a stellar way to get classic. If you’re a fan of these two, you’ll be thrilled. The addition of characters like Toad in the background and Mimic also helps this feel like a line drive from 90s X-fans. It genuinely captures the comic vibe perfectly.

So yeah, I’m not the biggest Rogue/Gambit fan. But I can recommend this one. It arrives on May 4. Give it a read.

NOTE: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

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