A review by scotto
Celebromancy by Michael R. Underwood

4.0

this is the 2nd book in an urban fantasy series based around the idea of a pop culture-based magic system. in the 1st book, Geekomancy, we learn about an underground culture of magic users who tune in to games, movies, tv shows, comic books, etc., to acquire magic power; the more popular the item and the more personal the connection you have to the item, the greater the juice you can pull from it. the debut was erratically paced and a little maddening, but i got through it via the charisma of the main character, barista-turned-geekomancer Ree Reyes - watching her sort it all out was interesting enough that i became curious if the next book could be better. turns out - yes, yes in fact, Celebromancy is where the author figures out pacing & plotting and leads us through a nice little romp through the world of making movies, where celebrities can access deep magic that is fueled by the love and attention of their fans. Ree's steampunk sidekick Drake is a hoot, and they work nicely as a team of badasses fending off B-movie monster attacks with wit and style (and an impossible ornithopter, and a working lightsaber). these books have a bit of a shelf life issue: the pop culture references are so thick that there is a danger they might age quickly, which is probably why Celebromancy felt much sharper on that front than Geekomancy.