Link to review: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/impostor-syndrome-fittingly-complicated-end-game-changing-urban-fantasy-series/

I can't recommend this series highly enough. I enjoyed the first book in the series, Borderline, immensely, and I couldn't wait to dive back into a world that so captivated. I liked the premise a lot. The idea that there are portals to the Fey world dotted all over the Earth, with messy diplomatic relations between the two worlds, is a great idea.

I think MIllie is perhaps one of my favorite Urban Fantasy characters, as much because of her flaws as her talents. It's interesting to have a character like her in a fantasy novel. I dont always identify with her, but I genuinely like her, because she is so well written, and good reasons are given for why she is the way she is, which makes her a very sympathetic. So is her love interest, Caryl, who is also written in a very sympathetic manner. Actually, none of the characters in these books are undamaged, but they are all given some amount of strength, and are written in such a way that even if you ultimately dislike them, you understand them, and care about them.

I really cared a little less about any plot points that did not directly impact Caryl,, and Millie, but there were some great action scenes, many of which prove how resourceful and resilient these two characters are. This sequel isn't as great as the first book, but then, it had the advantage of novelty. This one is well worth the read though.

Millie Roper has gotten deft at juggling all the weirdness in her life.

Even though she isn't dealing with the Arcadia project anymore, she's still in Hollywood, working with an old friend.

Then, things start to go downhill with relations between the fey and the Arcadia Project, and Millie needs to prove her old partner Tijuan's innocence. He's being framed for a crime that could mean his life. Millie needs to get a lot better at juggling--and quickly. Both Reality and Fey worlds depend on it.

Third book in the series, and it's an action-packed addition. Definitely recommended.

3.5 of 5 stars

While I will always continue to recommend and cheer on The Arcadia Project series, this third and I think final installment was probably my least favorite. Having said that, it was well written, as the two previous books had been. Plus, we get to see the return of many of our favorite characters, both good and bad. Whether you love them or hate them, the unique and fascinating personalities that you find in these books are the key to making this series so vibrant and enjoyable to read.

Impostor Syndrome once again stars Millie Roper, a young woman with borderline personality disorder who is still trying to get a handle on all her mental health issues. She’s also a suicide survivor, who had to have her lower legs amputated following her disastrous attempt to take her own life. After joining the secret organization known as the Arcadia Project, keeping tabs on the Seelie and Unseelie denizens of fey realm was able to keep Millie on a new track, but recent events have not helped her already fragile state of mind. A rift has formed in the Arcadia Project, and as a result the fey are at war, with half the Court backing the Los Angeles branch while the other half has thrown in their lot with London. This leaves Millie and her boss Caryl scrambling to find allies for LA, hoping to head off the conflict before things can get too far out of hand.

But then, London decides to play dirty. In an underhanded attempt to sabotage LA, they arrange to have Millie’s partner Tjuan framed for a crime he didn’t commit. As a result, one of LA’s most senior agents is forced into hiding, and it’s up to Millie to find the real culprit and clear Tjuan’s name. Following the clues across the Atlantic and beyond, our protagonist finds herself entangled in web of secrets and lies that go much deeper than anything she could have imagined. With the fates of the mundane realm and Arcadia hanging in the balance, Millie must pull off the greatest heist that both worlds have ever seen by cracking the fae Queen’s impenetrable vault to get at the answers that lie within.

Impostor Syndrome may be the series’ most ambitious book yet. Unfortunately, it also felt like it contained the least amount of development. In preparation for this review, I went back to see what I had written for the first two books, Borderline and Phantom Pains, to see if I could spot what might have been lacking from this third installment. In the end, I determined that the missing ingredient is none other than that sense of wonder and awe which comes with being surprised by something unexpected. With Borderline, I was impressed because what started as a rather conventional urban fantasy quickly morphed into a kind of story I’d never seen before. Mishell Baker portrayed the fey and their realm in refreshingly new and interesting ways, introducing concepts like the Arcadia Project, Echoes, and a whole bevy of other neat ideas. Against all odds, Millie also won me over despite being the kind of protagonist many would find difficult to like. The sequel Phantom Pains developed these elements, patiently planting the seeds in a carefully constructed plot which ultimately led to shocking revelations.

In contrast, Impostor Syndrome felt less well put together, at least when compared to its predecessors. The first quarter of the book was also sluggish and boring (two words I never thought I’d have to use to describe this series) as we followed Millie and the gang around for several chapters while they played at faerie politics, which is quite possibly the most overused trope in stories about the Fey. This unfortunately set the tone for most of what came after, as the characters were shuttled from one disjointed scene to the next, and it took way too long for the main conflict to reveal itself and for the real story to start.

Then, there was Millie. I loved her character unequivocally in the first two books, but something about her just rubbed me the wrong way in this one. I’ve never minded her personality, even though it can be extremely unpleasant and exasperating at times, because up to this point, Millie has been portrayed as a dynamic individual who is constantly growing and adapting. However, in Impostor Syndrome, her character felt stagnant. For the most the book, the narrative merely rehashed the same old patterns of Millie’s self-conflict as well as her conflict with others that we’ve seen before. By the time her epiphany came around at the end, it was a little too late and she was already on my last nerve.

Needless to say, this wasn’t the feeling I’d hoped for when it comes to the conclusion of one of the best urban fantasy series I’ve come across in years. And yet, I’ll always love these books, because nothing can change the fact that Mishell Baker has created something very special in The Arcadia Project. While Impostor Syndrome may have been a bit lackluster when compared to the previous novel, I would still highly recommend this trilogy to anyone looking for a refreshingly imaginative and unique urban fantasy series.

4ish stars.

A great series even if it’s kind of a mess. Is it too much to hope that this isn't the end?

I love Millie Roper. To be clear, though, it’s kind of the same way I love Quentin Clearwater, so fair warning. She's wacky, outspoken, selfish, brilliant?, manipulative, passionate, frustrating, and has a heart of gold. Sometimes. I don’t meet many characters like her. In this book, more than either of the previous ones, Baker really lets her come into her own and let loose. As a result, not only is this book funnier than the previous ones, we also get a deeper look into Millie's soul and emotionally connect with her. Baker gets creative and even throws in a couple (awesome) chapters in screenplay format so that we can see the action through the eyes of Millie the movie director.

“Creative” in this case also means that the plotting goes all to hell. It's so convoluted, I couldn't make heads or tails of what was happening 80% of the time. I couldn't keep track of which heist was for what, who was doing favors for whom, which side the Seelie/Unseelie were on at any given moment and why it all mattered in the first place. Not to mention the myriad of fey whose names all sound the same. Dawnrowan, Shiverlash, Winterglass, Pumpkinbreath, Wigglesnap, Rainbowcrotch, Smellycat. Almost like one of those quizzes where you get your stripper name by inserting your high school mascot and your favorite flavor of ice cream or whatever. I gave up after a little while and decided it wasn't critical.

For those wondering about this series, know that the first book is tight and coherent, and it kind of goes downhill from there, but it’s still worth it to keep reading because it’s so fun. And because Millie.

In Impostor Syndrome, the excitement continues as a stark division is raised between both of the Fey courts as well as the London versus Los Angeles Arcadia Project offices. Millie is set to protect those she cares for, as well as the Arcadia Project as a whole, against all of the upheaval caused by the warring factions.

I continue to really enjoy this series. I love Millie and her personality. She’s not perfect, she has some extra challenges in life, and I just love her attitude and sense of humor that she exhibits whenever she has struggles. It helps to keep things from getting too grim or dark. Another thing I like seeing is that the relationships just feel real. The Arcadia Project seems to be full of slightly dysfunctional characters, and as they each face their own challenges, they don’t always get along with one another. (which is completely natural and understandable), but despite this, when it comes down to it, they do all care for each other. So while Millie and her partner Tjuan may not always seem to mesh well personality wise, they have each others backs completely.

So when Tjuan has been framed for murder, Millie feels a personal drive to to figure out not just how he was framed, but also by who. And then do whatever she can to help save him. The book has some serious heist action, drama and action. And for fans of the magical side of the story, you have more to look forward as well since this book revealed even more of the fey world and all of that magic it brings to the series.

As much as I still enjoyed this, I have to admit, it was not my favorite of the books in this series and I think it is because Millie struggled a bit more in terms of her mental illness. One thing I commented on with both the other books in the series is that her disabilities were not what the books were about, just additional obstacles for her to overcome and handle every day. They are a part of her and therefor a part of the story, but they were never the actual story. With this one, they are still not the story, however, since Millie struggles more, they do get more focus and the become a larger part of the book. Or at least if felt that way to me and the book seemed to be approaching the tipping point at times for me.

Overall, this is another fun and exciting installment in the series and offers up a very unique and diverse cast that gives readers something entirely unlike any other series I’ve read. Obviously I still highly recommend the series.

The nitty-gritty: A satisfying conclusion to one of the most inventive urban fantasies out there.

Going through international airport security with two prosthetic legs and a steel plate in your head isn’t exactly a piece of cake, but it’s easier than going through with a turban.

- Millie Roper

The Arcadia Project has been one of my favorite urban fantasy series in the last few years, and so it was with excitement and a bit of trepidation that I started the last book. And I’m happy to say it was a fitting ending for the series overall, but I did not love this book the way I loved Borderline and Phantom Pains. Baker's books absolutely must be read in order, as she is one of those authors who literally picks up in the spot where the previous book left off. Don’t expect any helpful recaps, either. One of my big issues with Impostor Syndrome was that I felt completely lost for the first 25% of the story. I’ve read the previous two books, and yet for some reason I had forgotten the events at the end of the last book. It wasn’t until the gang had a clear plan to execute that I finally settled in and enjoyed myself.

And fair warning, there will be mild spoilers for Phantom Pains in this review, just in case you’re a purist!

After the events at the end of Phantom Pains, the British and American factions of the Arcadia Project are splintered, as Millie and her friends refuse to back someone who would allow spirits to be enslaved in order to do magic. When Millie’s partner Tjuan is framed for murder and thrown in prison, Millie concocts an elaborate plot to not only prove his innocence and rescue him, but to gain the trust and backing of several influential Seelie and sidhe characters who could help knock Dame Belinda off her seat of power. But Millie’s plans tend to go spectacularly wrong, and so the stage is set for a caper of the most chaotic kind, as Millie, Caryl and the others attempt to steal a magical artifact, infiltrate the un-infiltratable White Rose Palace in Arcadia, and bring justice to millions of enslaved spirits.

That’s the plot in a nutshell, but of course it’s much more complex than that. This is a character-driven story, and the action scenes, while exciting, aren’t really the main focus. Driving the plot is the incomparable Millie Roper, double amputee, suicide survivor, and a member of the Arcadia Project, an Earth-based organization that monitors the activities and whereabouts of the Seelie and Unseelie fey. Millie is unique in the fact that her body is riddled with iron—gifts from her suicidal jump off a building—which renders spells inactive. Millie has become a powerful weapon of sorts, and despite her impulsive behavior, the Arcadia Project cannot seem to function without her.

Millie has complicated relationships with just about everyone in this story, including Zach, her human “boyfriend,” Tjuan, her partner in the Arcadia Project, Caryl, another extremely damaged young woman who Millie falls in love with, and of course, Millie’s Echo Claybriar, the faun. (For more on Echos, check out my review of Borderline below.) Because Millie is telling the story from her perspective, everything is infused with her feelings and observations. This makes reading Impostor Syndrome a frantic experience, as you’re constantly in the head of someone who is unable to contain her opinions and ideas. I loved many of the other characters, especially a talented young fey prince named Shock who makes “facades” to hide the fey’s true appearances, and Elliot, a spirit who helps Caryl reign in her emotions. The truth is, this is a crowded story, and there are so many characters to keep track of. But no matter how much I loved or hated them, in the end this story belongs to Millie.

One of Baker’s strengths is her dialog, and it’s just as snappy and funny this time around. The fact that Millie doesn’t have a filter comes in handy as her outbursts are some of the funniest things I’ve ever read. She may be damaged in more ways than one, but when it comes to her mind, she’s smart as a whip. And that intelligence isn’t limited to funny dialog. Millie’s experiences have given her an interesting perspective on relationships that I found refreshing. Baker’s story is full of characters lusting after each other, but Millie is able to take an honest look at things like cheating and falling in love and give us wise observations on the ugly truth of romantic and sexual relationships.

However, Millie has become a double-edged sword for me, in the respect that I’ve adored her character throughout the series, even though she has a sometimes annoying and grating personality. I loved her just for those reasons, because she is unique and has such a different outlook on life than most of the characters I encounter. However, for some reason she started to get on my nerves in this book, which didn’t bode well for me. Her quirks, which I found lovable in the previous books, started to annoy me. One of those annoyances was a repetitive habit that Millie has of rating Caryl’s stress levels on a scale of one to ten (Caryl also has some mental health issues). She is constantly saying things like “I watched Caryl shoot straight to a level 7” or “Oh boy, we were at a 9 or a 10 here.” These observations went on in this vein for the entire story, and after the first five or six times I was over it.

On the flip side, I ended up feeling really sorry for Millie this time around. She’s got such a good heart, despite all her mental issues, but the bottom line is that many of the people in her life don’t really like her at all. They put up with her, appreciate her abilities, and want to sleep with her, but at the end of the day these friends and lovers are ready to put some distance between themselves and Millie for sanity’s sake. One thing’s for sure, Millie will always be one of the most interesting and unique characters I’ve ever come across, and I appreciate that Mishell Baker has given a voice to a physically and mentally disabled woman who manages to overcome most of her hurdles, and if not, to make peace with them.

The ending was so well done and wraps up many of the loose threads of the story, bringing some satisfying emotional resolutions to most of the characters. And even though this wasn't my favorite book of the series, it had just the right blend of heart, wistfulness and emotion, which is all any reader can ask for. Baker doesn’t close the book on Millie’s adventures, however, as she leaves the door slightly ajar for possible future tales. This trilogy has been quite the ride, and I’m so thankful I had the chance to experience it.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

The Arcadia Project was torn apart three months ago with half of the fey courts supporting L.A. and the other half staying loyal to London - and London is doing all it can to take out the resistance. Unfortunately, due to a backslide in her mental health, Millie is in no shape to fight. London's first move is to frame Millie's partner, Tijuan, for murder and Millie has no choice but to do all she can for him to clear his name. The key to saving Tijuan and winning the revolution is locked in the White Rose in the heart of Arcadia under the fey Queen's nose. It's all up to Millie to pull off a heist that could potentially shape the future of the human and the fey worlds. She'll just have to convince everyone, including herself, that she knows what she's doing.

The Arcadia Project by Mishell Baker is one of my favorite urban fantasy series and I think Impostor Syndrome, the final book, is my favorite of the three. There's just so much to love about the novel. Millie herself is a key element of my love of this story. She's physically disabled and she has Borderline Personality Disorder. She is such a complex, unique, and compelling character - one of most fascinating that I've had the pleasure to read. I particularly love her unvarnished honesty, especially when it comes to Caryl. One of my other favorite aspects of this story is Baker's take on the fey - the Unseelie and Seelie Courts. She takes many traditional elements and completely manages goes her own way with that realm's inhabitants. Finally, I also like unspooling the mystery alongside our main cast of characters.. I'm sad it's over, but I don't think I could have asked for a better finale. Baker still leaves some things open, and I have to admit that I like that she doesn't just wrap up everything neatly in a bow.

Overall, Impostor Syndrome by Mishell Baker is a brilliant conclusion to The Arcadia Project series. The author does a wonderful job of continuing to develop the world of the Project, her characters, and the fey. This novel will easily be one of my favorite reads of 2018! If you like diverse urban fantasy, Seanan McGuire, and Daniel José Older, then you may also want to try this series. I'm looking forward to Mishell Baker's future works.