The portrayal of sexism felt so real and tangible. Chaotic Good is a book about being a girl and trying to interact with nerd guys, and oh man, is it unfortunately relatable. Given that the humor was maybe my favorite part of that book, the lack of strong voice really disappointed me.ĭon't worry, though the nerdy bent of this novel made up for it. While our heroine, Cameron, is feisty and real, she doesn't have the snarky whit of Julia from You're Welcome Universe. I have to say, I don't think I loved this quite as much as her debut.

Her second novel is about a nerd girl who dresses as a boy to avoid harassment. Her debut was a romance-free book about a Deaf street artist and the friendship she forms with a girl at her school.

She's got a strong writing voice, fantastic concepts, and a great commitment to casual diversity. Both are quite different from the usual cute fluffy romances / issue books that I seem to pick up all the time. I have really loved both of Whitney Gardner's contemporaries so far. Soon, Cameron finds herself drafted into a D&D campaign alongside the jerky shop-owner Brody, friendly (almost flirtatiously so) clerk Wyatt, handsome Lincoln, and her bro Cooper, dragged along for good measure.īut as her 'secret identity' gets more and more entrenched, Cameron's portfolio falls by the wayside-and her feelings for Lincoln threaten to make a complicated situation even more precarious. Unfortunately, the only comic shop in town-her main destination for character reference-is staffed by a dudebro owner who challenges every woman who comes into the shop.Īt her twin brother's suggestion, Cameron borrows a set of his clothes and uses her costuming expertise to waltz into the shop as Boy Cameron, where she's shocked at how easily she's accepted into the nerd inner sanctum. When Cameron's family moves the summer before her senior year, she hopes to complete her costume portfolio in peace and quiet away from the abuse. But when she wins a major competition, she inadvertently sets off a firestorm of angry comments from male fans. Cameron's cosplay-dressing like a fictional character-is finally starting to earn her attention-attention she hopes to use to get into the CalTech costume department for college.

Chaotic good by whitney gardner