It’s been so long since I read an urban fantasy novel, but I am so pleased that my homecoming was through Borderline.
Summary
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.
No pressure.
Review
TW: self-harm, suicide attempt
Borderline is full of characters with rough edges. But that’s what I found I loved most about this book – how real, flawed, and messy – our main character, Millie is. Millie has borderline personality disorder, and disabled, and this first person narration isn’t afraid to show us how self-destructive and jagged she is. It’s in the thoughts she has, the though processes she struggles with, and the progress she has to make. Even more than that, she’s welcomed into this almost secret side of Hollywood, and the world really, with Seelies and more.
Not to mention, Borderline is full of interesting characters and a promising world. This is a series I am planning on continuing this year, which I feel is high praise enough considering my crushing TBR. Millie, in the midst of drowning in her own problems, has to figure out these new politics and trust issues. Who can she trust in this Arcadia Project house, but the world in general. Millie was by far my favorite character and actually one of my favorite in a while. She’s discounted because of her disability, her scars, her past, and she’s really hurting.
There are moments where you actually feel uncomfortable and empathetic to those around her because Millie does what we do best – hurt the ones around her. But even in these moments, she’s very honest with us, saying she knows that she’s doing this, but she can’t stop herself. And if that wasn’t a moment I really felt like I could relate to Millie, I don’t know what is.
Find Borderline on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound & The Book Depository.
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