Monster of the Week

Okay, it's official, I've ADORED pretty much everything about this series. : )

In this second installment, Bridger's life was starting to fall into place, with a boyfriend, a best friend, and a chosen family that he truly cared about, and was equally cared for in return.

Although Bridger still possessed a penchant for getting himself into sticky situations, with both paranormals and humans, he had begun to mature and think before he took dangerous leaps. Mostly, but he was still Bridger, so... you know.

But Bridger's mostly-ordered existence got turned on its ear when supernatural journalist Summer Lore arrived in his hometown to overturn a whole bunch of stones that Bridger and his boss, Pavel, needed to stay out of the public eye to ensure the safety of the "Myths".

Unlike the first book, which was chaotic start to finish, the actual action in this story was limited to only a few occasions of what I'd term actually as "action".

Instead, there was a lot about Bridger's high school life, his 18th birthday, his impending graduation, and his continuing relationship with his boyfriend, Leo. I didn't really mind, and never found myself bored, but I wouldn't have frowned on a tiny bit more action being included.

One aspect of the book that truly worked for me was the drama introduced by the return of Bridger's decade-long-absent dad, what that ultimately meant to the abandoned son, and how Pavel [(spoiler) may have unwittingly and unintentionally stepped into the pseudo-father role for Bridger, as sort of a proxy, of sorts (hide spoiler)], there at a moment's notice, quite literally anytime that Bridger might need him.

If I had to pick a least favorite aspect of both books, it would be the limited amount of on-page time that Bridger and Leo spent with one another. Both of their schedules were hectic, but I freaking *craved* to see them spend their days living out of one another's pockets, but alas.

A close second least favorite would be how the book ended with a wishful HEA, but realistic HFN, as [(spoiler) no long-term details as to precisely how the boys would remain together were shared.

We were told that Leo would attend college in another state, and that Bridger would also be attending college, just not *where*, which is kinda goddamn important in maintaining a post-high school relationship. (hide spoiler)] : (

These were two fairly minor niggles, though, allowing me to still thoroughly enjoy the series. However, that still doesn't stop me from praying that there is at least one more book to come, that would hopefully cement Bridger and Leo's romance into "Forever And Ever" territory.

Overall, the angst was manageable and the one steamy scene was totally off-page, so we didn't get to witness Bridger becoming less "unicorn-friendly", as he himself would put it.

I'd rate this second book at around 4.25 stars and highly recommend it to any lovers of M/M YA fantasy stories.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

In the sequel to F.T. Lukens' The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic, 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. Oh, he also has this incredible job: 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 F. T. Lukens' novel, Monster of the Week, it's the end of the senior year of high school for Bridger Whitt with all the anxiety, stress, and sheer anticipation that time of year brings to kids everywhere. For Bridger that means being in a new relationship with the popular sports star boyfriend, finishing his finals, dealing with prom and the yearbook quotes!  But that's not enough, because for Bridger, it's also about daily tasks like gathering unicorn poop for pixies. All  part of his job as a assistant to Pavel Chudinov, intermediary extraordinary to the non human realm that Bridger is  now a part of.

That realm and it's beings actually form an unconventional "family" for Bridger, along with his  boyfriend Leo, and bestie Astrid,a support system Bridger will need if he's to graduate and make it through to attend college next year.

I adore this story.  It's a sequel to The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic but if you haven't read that one, the author does a great job in  giving the reader all the pertinent information here so  you don't feel like you have missed too much.  Except for all the joyful and scary goings on that is but that's another story.

Here we are dealing with the end of senior year and that plenty scary enough.  Bridger is full of senioritis!  All the "what ifs"  are filling his brain and making him crazy.  The leaving behind, the fear of the future, the new boyfriend, the what will happens, ....everything!  And Lukens makes us remember ours while bringing Bridger's freakout front and center in funny and heartbreaking ways.

Plus there's his job and  there is always something wonderful and fundamentally hairraising going on there. This time it's a cable TV show headed to town for an expose to film the residents about the events that happened in the previous story.  Things Bridger was in the middle of and no one wants exposed!

The pace is fast.  The writing is excellent and the characters amazing.  Lukens has gifted the readers with a story that resonates with genuine teenage feelings, sharp, sparking dialog, and in some truly heartrending moments, recognizable angst and family drama to empty many a tissue box.  Those scenes with his returned absentee dad?  Felt so authentic and sadly real.

As this is a true YA, the sex  scenes are non existent or left to the mild kissing.  Everything else happens "stage left" as it were.  And that's perfect.

I'm hoping this isn't the end for this gang and couple.  I would hate to see the end of Pavel, and Elena, the pixies, and the Unicorn.  More of Astrid and Luke, and even Bridger's mom.  She's hilarious.  And most definitely more of Bridger and Leo.

Because this ends on a HFN, as it should.  They are, afterall, teenagers.

But wouldn't you like to know what comes next?  I certainly would.  Here's hoping Lukens is listening.

Until then I highly recommend both stories in The Rules series.  Read them both.  They are quite remarkable!

Cover art is sassy and fun.  Love it.

F.T. Lukens writes a story with the clever wit and edge that young readers (and older YA connoisseurs) will enjoy. What struck me most about this book was the balance of sharp voice and original, inventive prose. The chapters, at times, lagged a bit but not enough to lessen the overall reading experience.

"He'd become a cautionary tale about the hazards of eating fish tacos from the diner and dating hot baseball players and carrying ancient books around in his backpack."

I was provided this novel (as an advanced reader copy) by NetGalley. All views expressed in this review are my own.

I love this series so fucking much; I will attempt to articulate my feelings further, but that is an important thing to know to start. I picked up the prequel to this novel (The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic) on a whim a month or two ago and was immediately in love with the book and its characters and all of the cryptids involved (as, fun fact: i love cryptids so much).

If you like YA contemporaries, with cute romances and lgbt+ characters, but wanted a little bit (or a lot bit) more story-wise, then this is the book for you. In the first book in this series (I love duologies, but I would love another book in this series), Bridger learns about the world of myths and magic as well as learning a lot about himself and acceptance. He falls for a jock, comes out, and ends the book with good relationships all around. This sequel introduces some new conflicts for both Bridger's personal life and for the magical world that he has grown to love; not only is Bridger facing graduation and college and the return of his absentee father, but someone is trying to expose the cryptid world to the human world. To say the least, Bridger's anxious about a few things.

I'm so impressed with how well this sequel continued the story--expanding in scope and introducing new conflicts and relationships--while still remaining true to its roots. Everything that I loved about the first book--Astrid and Bridger's banter, Leo and Bridger's relationship, the cryptids, and more--were present here, but even better. I loved seeing the contrast between Bridger's relationship with Pavel and with his father, and how he learned to prioritize himself by the end of the novel and recognize that not everything has to be solved at once. As someone with anxiety, I think that his day-to-day anxiety was really relatable (as were his moments of increased stress and anxiety attacks). These are some realistic ass teenagers in some unreal situations, and it such a great contrast; I can't wait to see what FT Lukens comes out with next!

This series is quirky & adorable and Monster of the Week made for a great next installment! Bridger is his usual hilarious mess and I love him. Leo is practically perfect. Getting to see their relationship develop more was icing on the cake. And where would the book be without the rest of the gang, Astrid, Pavel, Elena, & the Pixies? The world continues to be both fascinating and endlessly entertaining, so I certainly wouldn't mind getting even more books! *hint hint* Overall, I'm completely smitten and loved every sparkly page of this goofy not-at-all-horror/totally-a-romance story.

This might just be my new favorite series, honestly. I love bridger SO FREAKING MUCH. I love his big heart and how he gets anxious and how much he loves and how he just wants to be himself and how he has this big huge family that loves him when he thought he was all alone for so long. I love Bridger and I need so much more of this perfect little cinnamon roll.

I really loved getting more of Bridger and Leo's relationship in this one. I love how sweet and soft they are with one another. I love how cute and adorable they are. I loved how their picture was on the front of the school paper and how the whole school loves them. I loved their sex talk and how comfortable they were with each other. I loved how they still get nervous and how adorable it was when Leo asked him to prom. I love them. They own my heart and soul.

I like Astrid and how she's there for Bridger and how Luke asked her to prom and how they started dating and how cute they were and how the four of them would hang out together and ugh, so adorbs. I love.

Pavel is forever my fave. I love how he's the father Bridger deserves and how much he loves Bridger and how he assigned him a toaster and how he would show up the moment it started ringing and how he always offers to help in whatever way he can. He's just amazing and incredible. I love his friendship with Elena and how she offered to help Bridger and views him as her family. I love how the pixies made all that money and gave it to Bridger and how they're paying for his college tuition and how Pavel was so low key about it, like OF COURSE this is a thing they would do for him. I just love their little family. They make my heart happy.

Bridger's dad was the absolute worst and it hurt how much he hurt Bridger, how much he could still hurt him even after ten years of being gone. I loved when Bridger told him off and how it was okay because he had this great, big support network that was there for him when his dad couldn't be. I loved the Riveras and how they love Bridger. Bridger's mom is the greatest and I love how much she loves Bridge and how she defends him and ugh, she's the greatest mom.

I just really love this series and all these amazing characters and I just need a thousand more books with them all <3