Books: Monster of the Week by F.T. Lukens (2019)

“Spring semester of Bridger Whitt's senior year of high school is looking great. He has the perfect boyfriend, a stellar best friend, and an acceptance letter to college. He also has this incredible job as an assistant to Pavel Chudinov, an intermediary tasked with helping cryptids navigate the modern world. His days are filled with kisses, laughs, pixies, and the occasional unicorn. Life is awesome. But as graduation draws near, Bridger's perfect life begins to unravel. Uncertainties about his future surface, his estranged dad shows up out of nowhere, and, perhaps worst of all, a monster-hunting television show arrives in town to investigate the series of strange events from last fall. The show's intrepid host will not be deterred, and Bridger finds himself trapped in a game of cat and mouse that could very well put the myth world at risk. Again.”

In the sequel to The Rules and Regulations For Mediating Myths and Magic, author F.T. Lukens Monster of the Week continues the quirky, often funny weird life of Bridger Whitt. Still, while as good and readable as the first book, MOW does not reinvent the formula, but Lukens is able to poke fun at reality TV series that air on cable (like Monster V Man came to mind) and remind everyone that lives of teenagers in modern life is just as complicated as always. Bridger remains a well developed character, a wisecracking, smart-mouth teen who still has a ton of insecurities –especially with his burgeoning relationship with Leo- but who can mistakes. 

The book has a lot of subplots (which becomes a problem as the book goes on), but the main story involves Summer Lore (which I hoped was not her real name, but a stage name due to her series. It just too much of convenience for me) and her desire to prove that the myth world was real and not just some careful editing, crafty camera tricks, and open ended questions. She’s not very three dimensional, but she is the “villain” of the story. And if there is one drawback to the book, is because Lukens spends a huge amount of time dealing with Bridger’s family problems, issues with the LGBT, and the end of his time in High School, the Summer Lore aspect gets the short stick here.

While the universe of this book series is great for teens who are LGBT –everyone supports and loves bisexual Bridger and gay Leo (along with a few lesbian characters)- it does not shy away from Bridger’s fathers homophobia when learning his 18 year-old son is in a relationship with another male. I could’ve done with more meat to this part of the story –Dad is portrayed realistic I think- but at least Lukens didn’t resolve Bridger and his Dad’s relationship in any easy way. 

I get the impression that this will be the last book, but I hope Lukens decides to continue writing new stories for Bridger and his friends. There was already a Scooby-Doo vibe to these two books, but with everyone heading off to college, it might be fun to see them become a full Scooby gang.

Books: The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic By F.T. Lukens (2017)

"Assisting an intermediary between the worlds of myths and humans is easier than asking the football hero to homecoming. High school senior Bridger Whitt is determined to escape humdrum Midden, Michigan, so he can finally be himself (read: determine his hetero-, homo-, or bisexuality far from familiar faces). When he is accepted by a Florida college, he realizes the only way he and his single mom can afford it is to fatten his coffers via part-time employment. Answering a very peculiar ad, he’s hired to assist the terminally tackily attired Pavel Chudinov, who is charged with ensuring humans don’t mix with cryptids. And the sudden abnormal influx of creatures in Midden (troll, unicorn, mermaids, etc.) has them burning the mythic candle at both ends. As if dodging toxic troll spit while maintaining his GPA wasn’t challenge enough, Bridger must also contend with his burgeoning feelings for dreamy Puerto Rican neighbor Leo, who just might also be into him." 

 

At last weekend’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books event at USC, I stumbled into a small booth for Duet Books, a publisher of young adult LGBTQ novels. The persons running were some genuinely charming women who were more than helpful talking about the small line-up of books be presented here. One of the ladies was really excited about F.T. Lukens' The Rules and Regulations For Mediating Myths and Magic. It was on her enthusiastic love for the book that made me decide to get it.

Now, I don’t read much in this genre, which despite some mainstream publishers releasing books in this genre; a lot comes from indie-publishers like Duet Books or self-published houses like Jay Bell’s Something Like…series). Part of the reasons is that these tales have a tendency to lightly written with cliché ridden characters and well worn tropes that romance novels (both straight and gay) fall into. There may also be some internal homophobia from me, as well, so I've found myself passing up a lot of gay fiction. But still, even when I do read this genre, I’m always looking for something that can me offer something different, while still bringing something new to the table.

While there is some repetitive clichés that (maybe) these type of books can’t escape from (Oh, I do long for a gay male character who also has a plutonic relationship with a straight male one; I’ve grown weary with the idea that every gay male character in this genre has to have straight gal-pal like Astrid here), but the book is surprisingly warm, funny, and charming. But Lukens does constantly remind us that Bridger is an odd-ball (not a weirdo per se) and knows way too much convenient bits of trivia (the TV game show Jeopardy is named-dropped a lot here). Still, what really works here is the pacing and believability of the main characters, which I liked. I also appreciated that Bridger’s struggle with his sexuality was set more or less on the fringes of the book (and the fact that he's not sure if he's bi or gay is refreshing), along with Luken’s choice to make the supernatural aspect more prominent (and while she does some World Building here, she also chooses to limit this, which is fairly refreshing in fantasy novels these days). So those strengths outweigh some minor quibbles with the structure. 

Pavel Chudinov and his band of merry-odd co-workers (that includes two pixies and werewolf) are all well drawn out but as I read the book, I could not help but ship the main characters of Bridger and Leo. I could see both Grant Davis and Davi Santos (the stars of Something Like Summer) playing those two boys. Perhaps because I’m so close to the film, the cast, crew and Jay Bell, that this is unavoidable? And I could genuinely see Jana Lee Hamblin (who was also in that film and played Ben Bentley’s Mom) playing Bridger’s mother here as well. Play what you know?

The book does have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but I kind of hope that Lukens' writes another book featuring these characters. I like what she’s created here and would enjoy the further adventures of Bridger and Leo. 

Is it me, or does the silhouette character of Bridger on the book cover look like the cover artist is also a huge fan of The Venture Bros?