Continued…

I read less than anticipated this week but it was a tradeoff for writing more and grabbing extra art time so, while I only have one post covering a couple of books for you, new words did happen and I hope you’ll read them at some point in the future. If you’re curious about the art you can head over to my shop and check out the vampire apples and carnivorous fruit blossoms. Orchid witches coming soon.

Today, book-wise, we’re talking next installments in ongoing series I love. There are sagas that get stale as they progress, milking characters and plot points for all they’re worth, those you ultimately drop because no matter how great the ending is, getting there isn’t worth the pain. And then there are series like Sarah Kuhn’s Heroine Complex and Maggie Stiefvater’s The Dreamer Trilogy that get deeper and richer, the characters growing and changing as the events of the each volume unfold, the authors balancing the through plots that unite the whole and discreet events of each new entry in a way that satisfies fans and excites us enough that we wait on tiptoes for each new volume.

Speaking of Kuhn and Stiefvater…

Hollywood Heroine (Heroine Complex #5) by Sarah Kuhn (10/26 from Daw Books)

I have made no secret of my love for this series. Superheroines, sisterhood, found families, a little spice, and an unflinching look a the racism that would no doubt be aimed at women of color no matter how brave they were, no matter how carefully they controlled their public images, no matter how much they gave of themselves, no matter how widely they smiled if they dared to claim their power even for the common good.

Also, demon cupcakes; snarky, awful-yet-hilarious tabloid reports; hunky half-demons; bridezillas, fashion, and the empowerment, and women boosting women… It’s like putting your squad in your pocket and carrying them around with you. Power ponytails for everyone, even if you have short hair and they’re metaphorical.

Everything in perfect balance for that, “okay, but what happens when the cape comes off,” comedy-dramedy-buddy hero-romance. I love it. I wait for the ARC of each new volume to land in my inbox right before Halloween every year. I will shed actual tears when this series comes to an end and I didn’t cry when I had appendicitis. I don’t particularly like feelings but I have them when I read the Heroine books: kinship, enlightenment, the right to take up space, the right to make noise… Jewish women are trained to do… not those things. So feeling like I have the right to them is big.

I am baffled, especially with the popularity of Kuhn’s recent jaunt into the Star Wars universe (Doctor Aphra) that Heroine Complex hasn’t absolutely exploded, what is wrong with you people, go, shoo, start reading.

In this latest installment, Aveda and Evie go to LA to watch the start of filming for a very important show: the one that will bring their exploits to the world. Everything is not as it seems in Tinseltown, however, when one of the actors suddenly attacks a colleague in an extremely vampiric manner! And as if that weren’t enough, Aveda runs into an old frenemy: “Magnificent” Mercedes, which brings up past trauma and makes her doubt everything about her future.

Hollywood Heroine may be tied for my favorite in series with Unsung Heroine (a standalone novella). A little longer and a little slower paced than previous volumes (these are good things in this context and as you’re all aware if you’ve read my previous commentary, moar book is something I never say), we watch Aveda enter a difficult period and come out the other side having experienced a transformation she wouldn’t have been capable of before. And if she can do it, maybe we can too.

Mister Impossible (The Dreamer Trilogy #2) by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic)

The Raven Cycle’s Ronan Lynch is all grown up and it really, really sucks. It sucks because dreamers are being murdered, it sucks because his younger brother Matt found out he’s a dream, it sucks because dreaming isn’t fun anymore, because he can’t be with Adam and maybe Adam doesn't want to be with him, and because he can’t trust anyone, not even himself.

It’s rare for a character to be one of the most interesting in an ensemble cast (see the aforementioned Raven Cycle) and be fascinating as an individual protagonist but Stiefvater has made Ronan Lynch so and it’s an impressive feat. When I discovered there was going to be a spinoff and that it was going to feature only two of the original “cast,” I was a bit surprised but I was willing to give it a shot because Ronan and Adam have always been my favorites (the dark horse, LGBTQ+ boys, yes, I’m sure you’re all shocked). I’ll admit I’m a little bummed that Adam hasn’t feature a little more prominently in the first two books of the trilogy but I’m also strangely okay with it because this deep dive into Ronana’s brain is… wow. This is a fantasy novel but there is a deep understanding of trauma, of the damage it can do, and the ways it can affect a developing brain, the ways in which the psyche will scramble to protect itself sometimes to its own detriment.

For some readers it will provide understanding.

For some it will be a mirror, one that may be difficult to look into but can also help you realize where you need help to heal.

There are so most excellent chase scenes too. With swords. Also, Declan gets increasingly interesting.

And I still want more Adam.

Working on comics and neurology for next week, plus more next in series and comics. Listen. There are lots of books in the world.

Disclosure(s): 

Bookshop.org affiliate

 Many of the books I review are advanced copies received in exchange for honest reviews