Heroine Worship

Kuhn follows Heroine Complex with a thoughtful look into the often crowded and complex mind of superheroine Aveda Jupiter, aka Annie Chang, in this roller-coaster romantic urban fantasy. It’s now three months after Aveda, previous protagonist Evie Tanaka, and the rest of the team vanquished Otherworld demons, possibly for good. Used to saving the day, Aveda finds herself at very loose ends, with too much time to think and too few things to punch—a dangerous combination when one is prone to extreme bouts of introspection in the name of learning to be a better friend. Fortunately, a new threat appears in San Francisco: there are traces of Otherworld entities and reports of women flying into unexplained rages. While the team investigates, Aveda faces crises on every front, including a sharp decline in her popularity; the censure of her teammate Scott Cameron, on whom she has a massive crush; and crippling self-doubt as Evie, who used to be her assistant, takes the spotlight. The hints of humor and occasional glimpses of over-the-top fun almost manage to balance out the bleakness of Aveda’s mental landscape, which can be challenging and unpleasant for the reader to inhabit. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary. (July)