Thursday #Review - Heroine Worship by Sarah Kuhn #Fantasy, Urban

Series: Heroine Complex # 2
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
Release Date: July 4, 2017
Publisher: DAW
Source: Publisher
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Once upon a time, Aveda Jupiter (aka Annie Chang) was demon-infested San Francisco’s most beloved superheroine, a beacon of hope and strength and really awesome outfits. But all that changed the day she agreed to share the spotlight with her best friend and former assistant Evie Tanaka—who’s now a badass, fire-wielding superheroine in her own right. They were supposed to be a dynamic duo, but more and more, Aveda finds herself shoved into the sidekick role. Where, it must be said, she is not at all comfortable.

It doesn’t help that Aveda’s finally being forced to deal with fallout from her diva behavior—and the fact that she’s been a less than stellar friend to Evie. Or that Scott Cameron—the man Aveda’s loved for nearly a decade—is suddenly giving her the cold shoulder after what seemed to be some promising steps toward friendship. Or that the city has been demon-free for three months in the wake of Evie and Aveda’s apocalypse-preventing battle against the evil forces of the Otherworld, leaving Aveda without the one thing she craves most in life: a mission.

All of this is causing Aveda’s burning sense of heroic purpose—the thing that’s guided her all these years—to falter. 

In short, Aveda Jupiter is having an identity crisis.

When Evie gets engaged and drafts Aveda as her maid-of-honor, Aveda finally sees a chance to reclaim her sense of self and sets out on a single-minded mission to make sure Evie has the most epic wedding ever. But when a mysterious, unseen supernatural evil rises up and starts attacking brides-to-be, Aveda must summon both her superheroine and best friend mojo to take down the enemy and make sure Evie’s wedding goes off without a hitch—or see both her city and her most important friendship destroyed forever.

Heroine Worship is the second installment in author Sarah Kuhn's Heroine Complex series. Heroine Worship picks up a few months after Heroine Complex. This is a series that is set 80 years after Demon Princess Shasta sent her humanoid demons through a portal which shut immediately. When the portals shut, it killed the invasion team, and sent their powers into various San Franciscans Evie Tanaka and Annie Chang. Annie aka Aveda Jupiter is the protagonist for this book, and to say that she deals with a whole lot of issues, would be the understatement of the year.

Three months ago, Evie and Annie worked together to stop the Apocalypse. They destroyed a power hungry demon princess (Shasta), won a karaoke contest, & kicked demon cupcakes all over the place. Three months later, San Francisco is free from demons, and that is a huge issue for a character who is trying to reform her character's public persona. Aveda needs action. She needs to be out and about, not having second breakfast's or dreaming about kicking the ass of a gigantic demon made out of cereal. 

Aveda was San Francisco's only Asian American superhero once. She was bold, wore unique & eye catching outfits, while wearing her signature pony-tail. She looked utterly fabulous in the process. Hench the Devil Wears Prada selling point. 

That was until Evie Tanaka, her best friend since forever, came into her own powers and helped Aveda save the world. Evie, with her fire wielding abilities, has become a superhero with her own reputation that led to Aveda agreeing to share the spotlight. But, after three months of no sign of imminent demon attacks, or portals being opened anywhere around the city, Aveda is forced to deal with some soul searching. 

It's time to find out who she really is, and who she really wants to be. That includes exploring her relationship with Scott Cameron, the teams resident mage. The fun really begins when Evie gets engaged to marry Nate Jones, who is 1/2 demon, and the teams resident demonology expert. Oy, I nearly forgot. Evie & Aveda have their own team of misfits which also includes Evie's sister Beatrice Tanaka, and Lucy Valdez, the teams weapons expert & trainer. We could, in theory, also add Sergeant Rose Rorick of the SFPD since she is tied to Lucy. 

With the announcement of Evie's engagement via demon princess and blogger Maisy Kane, things really get interesting. Annie wants to be the best maid of honor ever. She wants to make sure Evie has the best dress, and the best of everything for her big day. She is a bull in a china stop and nobody can stop her. Except maybe one person. Annie's story is a curious one. While the story is a way to highlight the things that have pushed her into a unwanted conflict with her best friend, Annie also has to deal with her own parents. 

Annie would be called a bitch to her face in the real world because she is assertive, a bit manipulative, aggressive and headstrong. But, that's because they haven't met the real Annie. The real Annie stood up to bullies who tried to hurt her best friends. The real Annie makes mistakes because nobody is ever perfect. Annie's acceptance leads to some really interesting moments with Scott. I am curious as to who will be the protagonist in book 3. My bet is that Bea will be it since she too is coming into some fascinating times.

Previous Installment:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo