The pair head to LA for filming, but Aveda struggles to get truly excited. Instead, she’s preoccupied wondering about the fate of the world and her role in it. You know, the usual. Now that Otherworld activity has been detected outside the Bay Area, Aveda can’t help but wonder if the demon threat will ever be eradicated.
When the drama on set takes a turn for the supernatural, Evie and Aveda must balance their celebrity commitments with donning their superhero capes again to investigate. And when the evil they battle reveals a larger, more nefarious plot, it’s time for the indomitable Aveda Jupiter to rise to the occasion and become the leader she was meant to be on a more global scale–and hopefully keep some semblance of a personal life while doing so.
Oh no. I’m sad.
Like, real sad. With the late August release of HOLIDAY HEROINE, Sarah Kuhn’s brilliant & dynamic urban fantasy series HEROINE COMPLEX came to an end. I’m saving the book for December, as it’s got a holiday theme & so that’s just too perfect to resist.
But yeah, wow. It’s always a cool feeling when you finish (or are very close to finishing) a longer series. But it would be impossible to overstate what these books have meant to me, and I’m definitely feeling some feelings about not meeting up with Team Tanaka/Jupiter for any more new adventures.
On the surface, the premise for HOLLYWOOD HEROINE has a similar feel to HAUNTED HEROINE, but then it struck me: that’s clearly a deliberate choice. It looks like the last three books all take place in different locations, whereas the first three were pretty much grounded in San Francisco.
The fifth book sees Evie & Aveda traveling to Los Angeles, with Scott meeting them there. Turns out there’s a whole entire television show being made about Evie & Aveda’s lives as superheroes, and they want to go for a set visit, for a little consultation & also some fun in the sun.
Things naturally do not go according to plan.
Five books into the series, and we are still finding new ways of exploring the friendship between Evie & Aveda. At this point, Evie is rather far along in her pregnancy, which has sent Aveda into super-protective mode. But at the same time, Aveda begins to question Evie’s enthusiasm for the superhero life going forward. Which is hard on Aveda, because as much as she has grown & matured, and wants to support all of Evie’s decisions, Aveda is fully ALL THE WAY IN on being a superhero. So this creates some interesting tension/dynamics between these two lifelong friends.
The book also explores burnout in some interesting ways, with Aveda constantly pushing herself to the breaking point. It’s this gradual process of her learning to trust everyone around her to do their jobs, and to know that things will be ok. And that she can’t do it all.
There’s also a lot of exploration of Aveda’s relationship with her Mom & Dad, certainly more than I think we’ve seen up until this point.
Oh, and there’s vampires.
VAMPIRES!!! I mean, the cover kind of gives it away, no? But still, very cool stuff, and Sarah Kuhn clearly had a lot of fun playing with the typical vampire mythology.
I think this book also works as something of a love letter to Los Angeles, with a lot of real locations sprinkled throughout the story. I was Googling some of the restaurants/food they seek out, and honestly contemplating ordering these famous cheeseburger potstickers via Goldbelly! There’s always so much love for food in the HEROINE COMPLEX books, and this one is no exception.
I am SUPER not emotionally dealing with the fact that there’s just one book left in this series for me to read, but here we are. These books mean the fucking world to me. This is the kind of series I can for sure see myself going back to & reading again, maybe via audio. Gah, I’m just really gonna miss the feeling of getting a new HEROINE COMPLEX book every year! That said, I am EXTREMELY excited to see what’s next from Sarah Kuhn!!
Grimdark Dad 