YMMV / Michael Vey

• Anti-Climax Boss: The Elgen ends up being this in the final book. While Hatch getting quickly dealt with was understandable since he's a Non-Action Big Bad, Zara gets taken out after the reader only knew her for a few chapters, and Bryan and Kylee just disappear from the story for the climax.
• Ass Pull:
  • Book 6 reveals that Talyor can have psychic dreams. Granted, what her dreams show her are metaphors rather than straight up visions, but it still seems to serve the purpose of Five-Second Foreshadowing. Richard Paul Evans must have realized how absurd it was since it wasn't used again in book 7. Though it did come back in The Parasite.
  • Zara. While her existence has been alluded too since she's the 17th Glow, she appears more than halfway into the final book.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Nichelle a sadistic bitch, or does she have an inferiority complex from bullying? Her rant to Taylor about how cheerleaders are superficial and how they always reject unattractive girls, along with her anger when Ostin called her ugly, help reinforce the latter. Her Heel–Face Turn in Book 4 helps the latter even more.
  • Wade: After he died, the Electroclan found a blog of his that revealed how much he cares for Jack that he never revealed out of fear of being seen as soft. Some believe this to be a sign of Wade being a closet homosexual who had an unrequited crush on Jack. Back when he was a bully, his favorite prank was pantsing people, especially boys, which does (or doesn't) help.
• Complete Monster: Dr. C(harles) James Hatch is an egotistical, child-abusing man who ruthlessly exploits the power of electric children called Glows, holding many of their families—and often just murdering them—in order to use them in his terrorist exploits, among them taking down populated jet liners and invading countries. Anyone he has no use for, be they his own minions or his own associates, are sent to the Rat Bowl to be horribly devoured alive. A complete sadist, Hatch hacks off the tongue of the prime minster of a country he's just taken over; offers one of the protagonists as a Sex Slave in exchange for betraying the resistance; and later has the resistance itself located and almost totally massacred, save one survivor that Hatch spares purely to use as leverage against Michael's father Carl Vey.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: Ostin's poor social skills, analytical behavior, hard time understanding sarcasm, and Literal-Minded-ness hint at him having Asperger's Syndrome.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Ostin and McKenna were this, even before they became an Official Couple in the third book.
• Growing the Beard: The Battle of the Ampere was probably when the series really started to shine.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • In the first book, when Jack requested that Wade joins him, Michael, and Ostin, Ostin is clearly against it considering their history together. He then comments that if he saw him in a shark tank, he would dump a bucket of chum on him. As funny as that was, it becomes depressing when not only Wade died in the third book, but Ostin clearly showed grief for it.
  • A less comedic example was how Wade said he would risk his life for Michael and his mother. And then Jack says the same thing in the sixth book.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In the first book, Taylor scolds Ostin for calling her and Michael "mutants" in reference to their powers. In context, it was simply because Taylor didn't like being called a mutant. However, when you consider the legal complications the Marvel Cinematic Universe had by replacing Mutants with Inhumans, it looks more like Taylor was worried about something else.
• Ho Yay: Jack and Wade's relationship. While Jack is clearly straight, Wade's sexuality is more questionable.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Jack and Wade. Wade especially dealing with both Abusive Parents and Grandparents.
  • Zeus. Because of his powers, he can't get near water without electrocuting himself. This makes him avoid bathing, which he is sensitive about.
  • Nichelle. She was either abandoned by her parents or orphaned, having been through many foster homes. The Elgen made her feel like she had a purpose in life until Hatch abandoned her.
  • Quentin in Storm of Lightning. His loyalty to Hatch is thrown out the window when he finds out that he ordered the execution of EGG Welch, who he bonded with in the Academy like a father. He manages to get him out before his execution and seemingly covered his tracks. Hatch rewarded him for being his Yes Man by making the king of the newly conquered Tuvalu, and all seems to go well for him. Then Hatch finds out that Quentin was behind Welch's escape and subjects him to a Fate Worse than Death while he prepares to have Torstyn and Tara executed for helping him.
• Memetic Molester:
  • Dr. Hatch has quiet a few traits that would give you the impression that he's a pedophile. He stalks kids and abducts them. He treats them like adults and showers them with gifts, but because he wants something from them. Not helped is when he tells Michael that he's an admirer of his in their first meeting.
  • J.D., who not only flirts with Taylor, but also requested that Hatch let him keep her as a "pet." Because this is a young adult series, don't think too hard what Richard Paul Evans meant by it.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • The Peruvian Government crosses it when they have the Amacarra Tribe executed for harboring Michael and Tessa. This hits Tessa pretty hard since they raised her like a family.
  • Torstyn is a remorseless sadist. However, his acts have been a case of Offscreen Villainy (like killing animals in the jungle with his powers for fun). That changes in The Hunt For Jade Dragon when he used his powers on a punk that insulted him at a shopping mall. Even the rest of Hatch's followers, who were just using their powers for acts of Jerkassery, had to beg him to stop.
• Padding: Much of Book 7 is taken up by the Tuvualuan rebels building up an army, fighting Hatch's forces, retaking some of their home, and meeting with the Elder. None of these characters have been introduced before, so it's very hard for the reader to care about them (especially since these scenes are intercut with a tense chase sequence as Hatch tracks down the protagonists aboard the Joule). While some of the main characters link up with the rebels later on, everything could have easily been described in a few lines of exposition instead.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Some considered Wade to be the blandest and most unnecessary character. However, the third book rescues him after he dies taking a bullet for Jack, and then we later learn more about his character during his posthumous birthday party.
• Spiritual Successor: This series can easily be compared to the Infamous series. Both have a protagonist with electrical powers that develop throughout the course of the series (Michael and Cole), said protagonist's best friend is a chubby Badass Normal who acts as The Smart Guy of the group (Ostin and Zeke), and one of the antagonists is a Corrupt Corporate Executive who is a Boomerang Bigot (Hatch and Bertrand). If you throw in Michael's Power Parasite capabilities, you could also compare him to Delsin.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Mitchell, Jack and Wade's friend, only appeared in the first two books, and we don't even see his reaction to Wade's death.
  • In the final book, the Electroclan, save for Jack and Ostin, aren't given a moment to shine.
  • Zara. With her being the 17th Glow and having a pretty threatening power, more would have been done with her character. However, she's introduced late in the series (more than halfway into the final book), and gets quickly dealt with by Michael.
  • Torstyn as an antagonist. Despite being built up as Hatch's Ax-Crazy Dragon, he ends up having a Heel–Face Turn by the 6th book.

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