Looking For a Good Book

Velveteen is a superhero with a chip on her shoulder. Raised in the Super Patriots, Inc. since being discovered to have super abilities as a child, Velveteen was one of the early superhumans to leave the corporate atmosphere for independence. This didn’t sit well in the world of corporate greed, of course, and she marked as a villain by the corporate desk jockeys (though she managed to become the official superhero for the state of Oregon).

More recently, Velveteen and her friends defeated  the Super Patriots, Inc., though to do so, Velveteen had to make a bargain with Santa Claus and now she has to pay the price for his aid (the consequences of her actions). While the world rebuilds and reinvents itself after the loss of one of the biggest superhero organizations, Velveteen must spend a specific amount of time in the Seasonal Lands.

Velveteen spends time in Winter, Spring, and Fall, solving unique problems in each season, drawing on her power of animating inanimate objects. Her time in the Seasonal Lands is extensive and despite recognizing some of the people she interacts with as alternate versions of people she knows in her reality, Velveteen grows lonely and tries avoid her loneliness by focusing on her tasks.

When she’s finally able to return to the regular world she is shocked at how much time has passed and how much the world has changed. Now Velveteen has to get her friends back together to right some things that have gone wrong, and to somehow save her long-time boyfriend, Tad.

This is only my second time reading a Velveteen novel. Despite being a huge fan of Seanan McGuire’s work, I was never quite drawn to this series because of – oh how it’s hard to admit – the covers. The cartoon-y, comic-book-like covers led me to think these books would be rather juvenile. I should know better. I should know better about Seanan McGuire, specifically. This is anything but a light, fluffy, juvenile book. It is dark and almost anti-heroic. I found much of the book practically depressing, but engrossing.

Based solely on her powers, Velveteen hardly seems like the sort of superhero that we’d want to read about, which is part of the point, I’m sure.  But it’s Velveteen’s personality, her life in general, that has us curious to be reading on.

Stylistically, this is an interesting book. It’s both a collection of short stories, and it’s a novel at the same time.  My understanding is that these were written and originally presented as short stories (they each have their own copyright information), but I can’t imagine trying to read any of these on their own. Context and conclusion are important and we only really get both by reading these as chapters of a book.

McGuire isn’t afraid to bend reality and that’s evident here.  There are alternate versions of Velveteen and everyone she knows in the different realities that she navigates. Sometimes they’re friends, sometimes enemies, sometimes they don’t recognize one another. Readers need to read carefully and understand where the story takes place.

I do like, perhaps even prefer, character-driven books, but there was something about the story arcs here that didn’t work for me as well as I’d hoped. These were not quite as engaging or exciting as the previous volume (Velveteen vs The Early Adventures). But you can’t deny the writing skill of McGuire. She’s poured a lot of energy into Velveteen and the character is a true hero in the classic sense that she grows and is transformed, understanding her role in the world.

Looking for a good book? Velveteen vs The Consequences of Her Actions, by Seanan McGuire, is books 3 & 4 in the Velveteen vs series. Whether you consider it a collection of short stories or one or two novels, it doesn’t really matter. It may be important to have knowledge of what has gone before – I encourage anyone interested read the previous volume(s) before getting into this darker look at the superhero world.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

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Velveteen vs The Consequences of Her Actions

author: Seanan McGuire

series: Velveteen vs #3-4

publisher: Subterranean Press 

ISBN: 9781645243069

hardcover, 608 pages