Reviews

This series is so much fun, and loves to solve problems through good communication and working together.

Read for the Popsugar 2022 challenge prompt: A book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another installment in the Heroine Complex series, and it remains as fun as ever. I did have some concerns again, like I did for the prior book, given we were following Annie/Aveda, and she already had a lot of character work done in her prior book, but just like with Evie, there’s plenty to be done here.

I love when books take a meta twist on their fictional characters by having them “go Hollywood,” and in this, I wasn’t disappointed. The pairing of Evie and Aveda has drawn a lot of attention, so of course some big movie exec wants a piece of the pie. But in doing so, the story touches on the racism that exists within the industry, especially with casting, where all Asians are the same to them, and the two are swapped in casting, with Evie being played by a Chinese-American actress and Aveda by a Japanese-American one. Not to mention the director-producer guy and white male co-star are classic examples of white male privilege that plagues Hollywood. And that’s before you add in the supernatural element.

I liked seeing how the two responded, especially Annie/Aveda, who is especially worried both about keeping the world safe and looking after a pregnant Evie. Evie feels more passive than she would normally be, but given it’s not her book and she’s literally carrying around another life inside her, I can give her some slack. And it’s wonderful to see Annie doing the heavy-lifting, especially since she started the series being so self-involved.

I love how the cast continues to grow and love each other, both returning and new characters alike. One character, Pippa, absolutely spoke to my soul in her love for and voracious consumption of romance novels. And on that note, I love that Sarah Kuhn couldn’t send her characters to LA without having them visit The Ripped Bodice!

This is a fun addition to the series, and I look forward (somewhat bittersweetly) to what seems to be the final installment coming at the end of the month.