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Summary
Summary
"Meg wants a normal life. Her new artistic style, born in the depression of her mother's death, is poised to take the art world by storm, if she could just overcome the debilitating anxiety caused by the car accident that scarred her boyfriend, Austin. Encouraged by her therapist, Meg pushes outside her comfort zone to befriend Haley, a guest instructor at the university where Meg teaches. Haley is everything Meg wants to be: charismatic, confident, and perfect, but when Austin expresses his worry that Haley is changing Meg too fast, Meg kicks him out of her life. Or at least, she tries"--
Author Notes
Dawn Cook, who also writes under the pen name Kim Harrison, was born in Michigan. She is a member of both the Romance Writers of America and The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Under the name of Dawn Cook, her books include The Decoy Princess, Princess At Sea, and the Truth series. Under the name of Kim Harrison, she writes the Rachel Morgan or Hollows series. In 2014 her titles, The Undead Pool and The Witch with No Name made The New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This plodding psychological fantasy from Harrison (the Hollows series) tries and fails to juxtapose the psychosis Sylvia Plath describes in The Bell Jar with the body-snatcher horror of Jordan Peele's Get Out. Meg Seton is a contemporary art professor who, due to anxiety attacks, lacks a clear sense of her identity and relies upon a drug called Fitrecepon. Her dreary circumstances change immediately after she meets a new friend, Haley, "the popular girl grown up into success." Meg abruptly casts aside her boyfriend and her apartment with the hope of receiving an invitation to the mythical place Haley calls Perfection. She obsesses over emulating Haley's "perfect, red-painted toenails" and is ecstatic when Haley asks her to dine in a fancy restaurant or go on shopping sprees. Meg's off-putting immaturity makes it impossible for the reader to stay focused on understanding the mystery of Perfection, leaving this story without a point. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Agency. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Urban fantasy (The Turn, 2017) and science-fiction thriller (The Operator, 2016) author Harrison steps into decidedly murkier territory with this gothic-tinged short novel.In the three years since her mother's death and a subsequent car accident that gravely wounded her boyfriend, Austin, gifted artist Meg Seton finds that grief, depression, anxiety, and rock-bottom self-esteem have made it nearly impossible for her to conduct the routines of daily life without being thrown into a tailspin. Then Meg's psychiatrist, Dr. Jillium, puts her on a new medication that gives her the confidence to make instant friends with Haley and Rorry, an elegant but friendly couple who are new in town. Are they simply nice people who are interested in Meg, or are they faeries who want to steal Meg away and exploit her art? And why does Austin seem so threatened by them? A plot in which someone is either hallucinating or experiencing a supernatural event, or both, is a classic and tired trope, expressed more effectively in such works as Russell H. Greenan's It Happened in Boston?, L. Ron Hubbard's Fear, and Richard Matheson's Somewhere in Time. It works best if the writer either descends into outright psychedelic imagery or constructs a consistently mundane world that interlocks with the visions. Harrison tries the latter ploy, but it's riddled with holes. Meg is an incredibly talented painter, but she demonstrates none of the focus or pedagogy needed to teach a class three times a week. Apparently she's being cared for by a single psychiatrist who puts her on a course of an experimental psychotropic drug with dangerous side effects that have already severely affected a previous patientand there's no significant monitoring, oversight by other doctors, rigorous testing protocol, or even a release to sign. There are no relatives or other friends (except for Austin, sort of) to object to this situation, not even a lawyer, which you'd expect a wealthy woman with issues to have.Neither psychologically plausible nor suspenseful. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Meg knows her therapist means well, but any scrutiny is hard to handle when coping with overwhelming anxiety. Even driving a car or going out in public too often is stressful. Luckily, her boyfriend Austin is a help, even though he wears his scars on the outside, owing to the car accident they were both in three years ago. Facing a long teaching semester, Meg takes the chance of befriending guest university instructor Haley. Haley is bright, beautiful, and charismatic, everything Meg wants to be. As Meg warms up to her new friend, finally breaking out of the shell of her anxiety, Austin senses Meg is changing fast and not necessarily for the better. She's looking for a life of perfection, and it might exist-just not in our reality. The story proceeds at a quick clip, with a huge amount of action in a short time frame and a narrator whom readers will feel for. -VERDICT -Harrison ("Hollows" series) presents a twisty blend of psychological suspense and fantasy, blurring the edges of what is real, and to whom.-Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
