Thank you Netgalley for the E-Arc in exchange of a review.
I started listening this one but didn't hold my interest. I thought the concept was good but I wish I could have connected with the characters and plot more.

Thank you to NetGalley for granting this ARC, super good and fast read. The story was intruiging and the characters had an interesting back story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I actually read this book two times.
The first time I read it was shortly before its release, totally obsessed with it and in the hype of the street team that I was a part of, I gave ut five stars.
The second time, about a year later, I still really enjoyed it but found a lot of things annoying or not so well done, so I gave it three stars.

The story is imaginative and super fun! It does have some stereotypes in it but overall I really liked it. Especially a protagonist that is part of an alternative scene (in this case Lolita) was really refreshing and something I miss in YA/NA books.
The characters and their relationships and interaction seemed a bit forced and flat oftentimes. A part of that definitely stems from the fact that we have an unreliable narrator who suffers from mental health issues and doesn't perceive a lot of things the way you'd expect. Still, some little things bugged me because they seemed just unrealistic.

Overall a really fun book when you overlook some character issues.

When I first heard about this book, it immediately piqued my interest, and the cover is no exception. The writing, pacing, and flow, which I found inconsistent throughout the story, were the first things I noticed about this book. In terms of the characters, I found them to be overly superficial and unlikeable in a number of ways, which turned me off.

Overall this was a disappointment.

This was unfortunately a DNF for me. The characters lacked a depth which made it hard for me to connect to them. The storyline was just kind of…odd to say the least? I just don’t think it was for me!! The premise sounded cute and promising.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This is a fast paced young adult fantasy book. It sucks you into the world from the first page. It is a entertaining book. The world building is phenomenal. If you love young adult fantasy books this is definitely the book for you. I definitely will be reading more books by this author in the near future. This book is in stores for $7.31 (USD). I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

I wasn't very fond of this story. It didn't keep my attention like I thought it would. I felt the storyline was lacking a little and the chapters needed more depth.

this was a great start to a series, it was a fun read and worked for the young adult genre. The characters were great and I thought the plot was a fun read.

I absolutely love the cover, but I feel like the book didn't quite reach its full potential, as it could have. I did very much like the writing style, just not exactly the way the story went.
This is a 4.5/5 star review.

A fantastic, magical, and beautiful romp! I loved the diverse cast throughout, and was absolutely here for the great queer representation!

Interesting concept and upbeat writing. The story is face paced with characters that where interesting and different enough from one another to keep the reader engaged. The cover is a real draw and the tone and pacing of the story goes along with it.

This was a miss for me. The writing style was choppy and odd enough to prevent me from understanding what was happening. It threw you in right at the beginning in a very confusing way with very little descriptions or narration to orient the reader at all. Some of the elements didn't quite sit right with me, like the use of the "mystical Asian" trope. I was so looking forward to this one, but ultimately it let me down.

This is a little bit of conundrum for me, on one hand, it's good and an enjoyable read but on another, it is lacking of a little bit of a pull in the plotline. The pacing gets a little convuluted in the middle, and some parts of the representation is not accurate. Hope the author improves for the better in her future works.

A short read, but a big disappointment. The glitzy glamour of the cover promised a pink punk protagonist, and the concept of a superhero-type main character who kicks ass in Harajuku/Lolita fashion was so enchanting to me. The portrayal of the unsexualized hyperfeminine in conjunction with heroism could’ve been so great, but instead we were given a jealous, petty main character, a rushed plot, and some truly questionable characterization choices. I was, reluctantly, still charmed by the aesthetic and devotion to the concept, but a shiny exterior did little to hide a mostly hollow interior.

Holly Roads is an heiress of the most tragic kind; she’s flush with cash because of a large insurance payout she was given upon her parents’ untimely deaths. The money allows her an apartment in the city and the ability to purchase the elaborate Harajuku outfits she wears on the daily, but does little to help the loneliness she feels in their absence or solve her own social anxiety. When she fends off two monstrous men who approach her as she walks home alone one night, one of them explodes all over her, drenching her in blue goo. Her accidental murder doesn’t go unnoticed: the next day a mysterious agent shows up on her doorstep, her strength goes out of control, and she’s introduced to a secret governmental agency who were trying to develop super-soldiers, only for their unstable formula to be stolen. That formula has made its way through the goo and into Holly’s bloodstream, and for reasons unknown, it’s worked for her and no one else. With the other monstrous soldier still on the loose and the thieves after the one successful experiment, Holly, this Lolita soldier now has to uncover who’s after her and why, all while keeping her best friend and new teammates safe.

The integration of Harajuku fashion was about one of the only interesting things in this book. There were a lot of good discussions about the sexualization of young women, the “male gaze”, and the community that forms out of primarily female hobbies. Holly, for her flaws, is always ready to defend her unusual fashion choices and call the boys out for doing or saying something misogynistic in a way that doesn’t feel preachy or inaccessible. Holly feeling like an outsider within her own community is sure to be a relatable experience for many people, even if it did feel a bit hollow given the bizarre demonization of the other women in the fashion community. The aesthetic was just too good to pass up.

Unfortunately, that was about it for what I enjoyed about this book. For a woman who spends a lot of time talking about girl power, how tight the Harajuku community is, and the effect of sexualization on women… she sure doesn’t seem to like other women at all. Holly meets her sexy government agent early in the narrative and spends virtually the rest of the novel growing increasingly territorial of him, being depressed when he doesn’t show her enough attention or the type of attention she wants, and being catty towards others whenever other women show any kind of interest in him. This all culminates in her putting his life in danger because she didn’t like the way he was talking to other women, despite them not being in a relationship or be remotely on that path at the time. Her feelings of social anxiety in the Harajuku community could’ve easily become a discussion about how her wealth sets her apart despite its tragic circumstances, her lack of a close friend group in that sphere, or any number of things, and instead the author chooses to make the other members of the community petty, bitchy, gossipy backstabbers who are trying to steal her (not) boyfriend and talk badly about her behind her back.

All of this over a love interest who’s aggressive, unlikable, violent, and a glorified cop while being the only dark-skinned man in the narrative (we also have a Latinx character who was, surprise, a cartel drug dealer). I hope we can see why this is an issue. She falls for him immediately, even as he threatens her. I’m the biggest fan of an enemies-to-lovers romance, tough men with secret hearts of gold, but I’m not about instalove or a romance that seems to develop entirely one-sidedly, making Holly look a bit stalkerish. It’s explicitly stated in the narrative that she values his life more than her own in just a few days, which I find concerning at best.

This let me down on plot, not only characterization. I wasn’t expecting a fantasy epic, with the aesthetic and basic plot description feeling influenced by superhero stories and action anime alike, but the way I was able to tell beat for beat what was going to happen, down to the big twist, was tiresome. Complete with a final sequence that feels pulled out of a bad action movie, Magic Mutant Nightmare Girl didn’t hold up to any of the stories it was obviously influenced by, feeling instead like a cheap knock-off.

This pseudo-girl power, faux feminist narrative was an incredible letdown. The magical girl genre is so short of intense, mature action and has its own propagation of misogyny. A Harajuku protagonist felt like such a fun update to the glamorous genre, but instead actually managed to perpetuate a lot of the issues it claims to fight. I could forgive a less than stellar plot, but not the rest. Magic Mutant Nightmare Girl was far more nightmare than magic.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel.

After volunteering to review Magic Mutant Nightmare Girl through a blog tour and not being selected I spied it on NetGalley and requested it. To my surprise, I was approved quickly! Alas, other tours got in the way and I wasn't able to review this book back in March in time for release. Thank you to whoever granted me access on NetGalley! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community who grew up watching Sailor Moon and X-Men, Magic Mutant Nightmare Girl sounded like something I would connect with and enjoy. I was looking forward to reading a bisexual accidental superhero and learning about Lolita culture, and those things I did indeed get in spades in this book!

Unfortunately, I found that the plot was confusing and disjointed. Throwing the reader right into the action is a great way to handle the need for a hook, but you've got to back track and explain yourself fairly early on. This book doesn't do that. Holly is wide-eyed and thoroughly confused and so is the reader for a good chunk of this book, and it made reading feel more like a chore than something I was doing for fun.

Additionally, while I appreciate the vast array of representation in this book from LGBTQ+ inclusion to mental health diversity to racial and socioeconomic diversity, there are some glaring stereotypes employed that felt forced. Representation and diversity are great things and we all want to see it these days, but tokenism and stereotypes can do more harm than good. Less is more, write what you can write well. I think this book could have used a more diverse readership in the beta stage with readers who were looking for and willing to speak up on issues of problematic representation.

That said, the mental health representation is excellent! As someone who has struggled with anxiety-umbrella issues all my life, I love seeing this sort of thing written in a real, raw, unashamed way. We need more of this in mainstream fiction so that we can promote understanding and remove stigma. For that alone, with the LGBTQ+ rep as a bonus, I really do think this book is worth a read even if it isn't the easiest to get through, and I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Sadly I had to DNF this book. Honestly it was mostly because of the language. It felt like a reddit post and not like a published book. I can understand the use of spoken language when in dialogs or inner thoughts but I don't think abbreviations like "irl" are suited for a book.

1.5 stars rounded up.

I really wanted to love this book. I was really excited about it when I heard about it and the synopsis sounded like something I'd love. A beautiful cover, Magical Girl vibes with Lolita fashion, monsters and a main character who has anxiety but becomes a superhero? Exactly my kind of thing! Unfortunately that wasn't really what I got.

This review was delayed because waited for a while then re-read it just to see if the things that annoyed and upset me about this book were just me not being in the mood for this kind of book, but they're still unsettling upon a second read. I don't like giving low ratings to new authors but there are some things I just couldn't overlook.

Holly was not a likeable protagonist. That's not a dealbreaker for me at all, but she was selfish, extremely judgemental, rude, mean and frustrating. She is bi, but made a lot of assumptions about other characters sexualities which made me really uncomfortable, and was completely unnecessary. Over a 'girly' back tattoo of all thing which... is honestly ridiculous. As a bi person, she should really know better. She was also really rude and kind of nasty about the other people at Lolita meet ups, but got aggressive and bitter when other people assumed things about her because she wears the fashion. She was constantly a hypocrite with double standards which to me, gave an awful, untrue impression of both the Harajuku fashion and LGBTQIA+ communities, both of which I am part of.
It also really irritated me that the Latinx character had a history with a drug cartel, which is honestly such a racist stereotype. The Asian character had a psychic Grandma who made Holly uncomfortable and owned a nail salon. Another stereotype. It just came across as really offensive and made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I feel like there should have been something more to those characters, (or more BIPOC characters without racist stereotypes) because they didn't get much other character development outside that.
The love interest was also really unlikable. I guess he and Holly kind of match because they're both abrasive, aggressive and rude. I didn't understand their 'romance' at all because it was just based on 'this person looks attractive' rather than any meaningful connection.

Now, the things I liked. I was really happy about the fact that the majority of the characters were queer. It's always refreshing to see characters of varying identities, especially multiple in one book.
The descriptions of Lolita fashion were brilliant, and I liked the references to Kamikaze Girls and Lolita fashion maganzines, the mentions of brands and iconic prints.
The plot was interesting, and definitely had MCU vibes, though there was nothing Magical Girl or anime about it to me, aside from some Harajuku fashion influence, and the Sailor Moon style cover.

Overall, I think that this book could have been so good, and would have ticked a lot of my boxes if not for the problematic aspects of the book. I would like to try reading something by this author again in the future, but I'll wait and see if I want to continue this series,

I think maybe I’m not the right audience for this book. I was confused and it just wasn’t grabbing my attention so I had to DNF. I’m still giving it 3 stars because what I read wasn’t bad necessarily, it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

While the synopsis really got my attention, the execution of this book didn't hold up. I didn't care for any of the characters especially Holly. She was self-centered and loved to jump to conclusions. Along with that, the plot was pretty weak. All in all, This didn't work out for me.