A cynical, disabled film director with borderline personality disorder gets recruited to join a secret organization that oversees relations between Hollywood and Fairyland in this Nebula Award–nominated and Tiptree Award Honor Book that’s the first novel in a new urban fantasy series from debut author Mishell Baker.
A year ago, Millie lost her legs and her filmmaking career in a failed suicide attempt. Just when she’s sure the credits have rolled on her life story, she gets a second chance with the Arcadia Project: a secret organization that polices the traffic to and from a parallel reality filled with creatures straight out of myth and fairy tales.
For her first assignment, Millie is tasked with tracking down a missing movie star who also happens to be a nobleman of the Seelie Court. To find him, she’ll have to smooth-talk Hollywood power players and uncover the surreal and sometimes terrifying truth behind the glamour of Tinseltown. But stronger forces than just her inner demons are sabotaging her progress, and if she fails to unravel the conspiracy behind the noble’s disappearance, not only will she be out on the streets, but the shattering of a centuries-old peace could spark an all-out war between worlds.
Millie is a Borderline - someone who has lives on the edge of personality disorder. She also jumped off a building in order to kill herself, though that didn't work as she had hoped. Now, she has prosthetics for legs, a scarred face, and nothing to look forward to. She is perfect for the Arcadia Project.
I was surprisingly impressed with this novel. Weaving in very real mental illnesses into a larger story that includes fairies was quite an interesting tack to take. I was concerned that the book would either be harsh or sappy, largely for that reason. However, Baker did an excellent job simply letting Millie do her own explaining and never making Millie seem pathetic - simply her own flawed human self.
The overall story was excellent, and according to the author's website, it is the first in a series. I can't express how thrilled I am for that. Baker has a way with words and characters that make them feel as real as if they were standing in front of you. Real, raw, and only sometimes human.
