Haunted Heroine

Look, I have enjoyed every installment of this series, but this one is probably going to be my favorite for combining non-gory ghost scares with the really scary parts of relationships and regrets

The adventure continues as superheroine Evie Tanaka confronts the past and faces the future in Haunted Heroine. Sarah Kuhn’s latest entry in the Heroine Complex series has all the action, humor, and heart I’ve come to expect from this wonderful, original series. When she and Aveda go undercover as grad students at Evie’s former college, it’s time for Evie to face what might have been. She had to drop out as a grad student because she was burning the candle at both ends, trying to be a mom to her grieving little sister while also taking a challenging class load was just too much. Being back at Morgan College posing as a grad student makes Evie question things. She loves her life, loves her husband and the family she’s made, but impending motherhood (with a baby who has both superhero and demon DNA) and an emotional distance between her and Nate is making Evie doubt herself. I really loved that there wasn’t false drama; these are all logical questions. Take away the supernatural elements and Evie’s doubts and insecurities are all real-world problems people face. Evie has already become the bada** superheroine she’s meant to be and I won’t spoil the story by going into detail over the obstacles she faces. Suffice it to say that in Haunted Heroine Evie fully comes into her own and learns self-acceptance, which I absolutely loved. Evie’s college adventure wouldn’t be complete without her co-superheroine at her side. The growth of Evie and Aveda’s friendship is one of my favorite things about the Heroine Complex series. While their friendship was toxic at the beginning of Heroine Complex and Aveda really had to learn boundaries, she’s come a long way. Aveda is supportive and protective of Evie, recognizing her own faults and determined to be the best friend she can be. She also takes to college life immediately and her enthusiasm was infectious. I adored watching their friendship grow even stronger. They also make plenty of new friends at Morgan and each of these students are interesting and engaging characters in their own right. The bonds that form in this book are wonderful to read about and the pages of the story practically flew by because of them. It would be remiss of me to talk about Haunted Heroine and not mention the hauntings. Morgan College is experiencing some fearsome ghost activity and Evie and Aveda are on the case. I loved watching the layers of the mystery unfold as Evie and Aveda investigate the supernatural happenings. The action is fun and exciting, the mystery and its potential consequences are interesting, and I finished the story excited to see what Ms. Kuhn has in store for the Heroine Complex-verse. I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Evie is pregnant with the first part superhero, part demon baby and while there is the normal nausea and slightly elevated blood pressure, Evie’s husband Nate is so overly solicitous that Evie is feeling like an experiment on a slab in his science lab. It doesn’t help that she is feeling extremely amorous and Nate keeps turning her down so Evie is frustrated, incredibly frustrated, which is not helping her doubts about whether or not she can handle becoming a mother. When an invitation to a reunion at the college Evie attended shows up in her email even though she is suspicious, after all she never even graduated, she and her crime fighting partner Aveda cross the bay for a girl’s weekend away. But, once on campus, Evie finds that not only must she confront the ghosts of her past life but real ghosts who are injuring students. When young student Julie is attacked and then disappears after telling Evie not to trust the college authorities, Evie and Aveda go undercover to find the truth and protect the students. I have not read the first trilogy but there is enough backstory mentioned that it is possible to start the series with this, the beginning of the second trilogy of the Heroine Complex. The characters are well-developed, each with their own strengths and weakness as well as self-doubts and areas of confidence. A fun series with characters you will want in your friend circle. Since the next book does not come out until July, I am off to look up the first trilogy and find out even more about these superheroines. Recommended

(Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.) It\’s been a while since I read the last Heroine Complex story, but Haunted Heroine reminded me why I love the series. It\’s one of my favorite superhero series because of how emotional and endearing the characters. In Haunted Heroine, Evie has to confront her own past mistakes and failures. We think we\’ve moved on from the past, that we\’ve made peace with our ghosts, but then they come back to haunt us. They prove that they\’ve never really left us. In Haunted Heroine, Evie\’s grappling with her past, her ex-boyfriend who was awful, and her decision to leave grad school balanced with her new fears of being a mother. Ghosts and hauntings aside, Haunted Heroine had moments that struck a chord within me. The burden of women of color to represent, and be perfect. Memories of being gaslight and having ex-boyfriends who thought they were more knowledgeable dismiss my opinion. And the influence of Asian American superheroes/representation growing up.

Every bit as delightful as earlier books in the series! I love this heroines and the found family they have built. Part of what I loved about the earlier installments was the blend of supernatural hijinks with the very real emotions of navigating early adulthood and all its tumult: friends, relationships, relating to siblings as grown humans in their own right. HAUNTED HEROINE naturally extends Evie Tanaka\’s life into its next phase, and it\’s marvelous to see. I particularly loved that this book has her grappling with her past and the way it can cast unhelpful echoes onto the present and future. I also ADORED that a major step for Evie is in learning to allow herself to feel whatever it is she\’s feeling without pushing it down. In that, Kuhn examines something I think is so crucial to so many women. This book was excellent, and I\’m so happy this series continued!

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