Heroine Worship is the second installment in author Sarah Kuhn's Heroine Complex series. Heroine Worship picks up a few months after Heroine Complex. This is a series that is set 80 years after Demon Princess Shasta sent her humanoid demons through a portal which shut immediately. When the portals shut, it killed the invasion team, and sent their powers into various San Franciscans Evie Tanaka and Annie Chang. Annie aka Aveda Jupiter is the protagonist for this book, and to say that she deals with a whole lot of issues, would be the understatement of the year.

Three months ago, Evie and Annie worked together to stop the Apocalypse. They destroyed a power hungry demon princess (Shasta), won a karaoke contest, & kicked demon cupcakes all over the place. Three months later, San Francisco is free from demons, and that is a huge issue for a character who is trying to reform her character's public persona. Aveda needs action. She needs to be out and about, not having second breakfast's or dreaming about kicking the ass of a gigantic demon made out of cereal. 

Aveda was San Francisco's only Asian American superhero once. She was bold, wore unique & eye catching outfits, while wearing her signature pony-tail. She looked utterly fabulous in the process. Hench the Devil Wears Prada selling point. 
That was until Evie Tanaka, her best friend since forever, came into her own powers and helped Aveda save the world. Evie, with her fire wielding abilities, has become a superhero with her own reputation that led to Aveda agreeing to share the spotlight. But, after three months of no sign of imminent demon attacks, or portals being opened anywhere around the city, Aveda is forced to deal with some soul searching. 

It's time to find out who she really is, and who she really wants to be. That includes exploring her relationship with Scott Cameron, the teams resident mage. The fun really begins when Evie gets engaged to marry Nate Jones, who is 1/2 demon, and the teams resident demonology expert. Oy, I nearly forgot. Evie & Aveda have their own team of misfits which also includes Evie's sister Beatrice Tanaka, and Lucy Valdez, the teams weapons expert & trainer. We could, in theory, also add Sergeant Rose Rorick of the SFPD since she is tied to Lucy. 

With the announcement of Evie's engagement via demon princess and blogger Maisy Kane, things really get interesting. Annie wants to be the best maid of honor ever. She wants to make sure Evie has the best dress, and the best of everything for her big day. She is a bull in a china stop and nobody can stop her. Except maybe one person. Annie's story is a curious one. While the story is a way to highlight the things that have pushed her into a unwanted conflict with her best friend, Annie also has to deal with her own parents. 

Annie would be called a bitch to her face in the real world because she is assertive, a bit manipulative, aggressive and headstrong. But, that's because they haven't met the real Annie. The real Annie stood up to bullies who tried to hurt her best friends. The real Annie makes mistakes because nobody is ever perfect. Annie's acceptance leads to some really interesting moments with Scott. I am curious as to who will be the protagonist in book 3. My bet is that Bea will be it since she too is coming into some fascinating times.

Sometimes even a superhero’s greatest nemesis is themself.

Last year in Heroine Complex we got to see Evie Tanaka’s inner journey as she struggled with expressing herself and a hidden super power. Now in Heroine Worship it’s Evie’s best friend and former boss, Aveda Jupiter’s turn to take a hard look at herself.

Author Sarah Kuhn returns with another heartfelt story set among a supernatural urban mystery fantasy… and a wedding. When post-victory stir-craziness sets in San Francisco’s telekinetic demon-kicker Aveda (aka Annie Chang) is ready and determined to take on any challenge that comes her way – be it the shifting dynamics of partnership, teamwork, and friendship; fighting something she can’t see; or being the best Maid of Honor in the history of weddings.

While it’s Evie and science whiz Nate’s wedding in question, Heroine Worship’s romance plot line belongs to Aveda and spellcaster/fellow team member Scott. Props to Kuhn for making it both sweet and hot. The only downside to the new focus is that after connecting with Evie and Nate so much in the last book, having them mostly relegated to the background of this one made them feel so distant. And while it’s interesting to see how they sound to others, their role in this book is more tell than show. Luckily the rest of the team is back too and it’s nice to see them moving forward in their lives.

Once more the demons being fought are both external and internal. The lessons Annie/Aveda needs to learn are fairly obvious but the emotional connection is what pulls the story through. Kuhn’s portrayal of a perfectionist is not always likable but what really got to me was the dive into discovering why Aveda acts the way she does. As a recovering overachiever, I can relate. Perceived inadequacy can be a strange motivator. So can overcoming the stories you’ve told yourself over and over about your past.

Heroine Worship is an enjoyable addition to the Heroine Complex series, providing another story of a fully-realized Asian-American hero finding her way through all the relationships in her life – including the one with herself.

Heroine Worship is out now.

The publisher provided FANgirl Blog a digital ARC of this book for review.

In Heroine Worship, the perspective shifts and we get Aveda Jupiter/Annie Chang’s point of view. She’s not The San Francisco super heroine anymore: while she’s sharing the spotlight with her friend Evie, there are also no more demons to fight. This sequel doesn’t have as much action in the first half but does a great work in dealing with the aftermath of the first book events. Evie and Aveda/Annie relationship has started to get better, but acknowledging there was a problem isn’t enough. This book deals a lot with Aveda/Annie trying to be a better friend, stepping down from the spotlight and getting to term with who she is.

This means that Aveda/Annie isn’t the same kind of main character Evie was, while I loved to get in her head and follow her struggles, she can be perceived as an unlikable character. I found this amazing, because it showed how hard it is to always try and be the best, especially as an Asian woman. Aveda/Annie tries to live as an icon, to try and do her best to be better, to be the best in everything. Now that she’s understood her friendship skills were pretty bad, that’s where her perfectionism will bring her to do more.

For anyone who liked the first book but felt icky about the unresolved issues, be it the friendship or the family relationships, Heroine Worship is a great read. I’m only a little bit disappointed because some things were easy to see coming, and the overall plot regarding the supernatural activities wasn’t as engaging as in the first book.

Once again, the romance isn’t the central focus of the story but still hold a significant place. Scott, mage/healer/surfer, becomes the love interest here. I liked to learn more about him, where his friendship with both girls comes from, and the second-chance he and Aveda/Annie give themselves. There were quite a few hot moments between the two, and what I like most is how the fact that Aveda/Annie is physically stronger than him is not an issue. There’s also the fake engagement trope in this book, and while I’m not overly fan of weddings and all of that, it was fun.

We also get more of Bea (Evie’s sister) and I really grew to like her even more. I’m pretty sure I saw on twitter that the third book will be about her and I’m overjoyed about that!

While it felt very different than Heroine Complex, Heroine Worship still had all the elements that made me love the first book. Fun dialogues, a lot of pop-culture references (Star Trek!), a great duo of Asian super heroines… The found family feel was even stronger in this sequel!

This is one of my favourite series, so when I saw it on NetGalley, I may have broken my mouse from clicking “request” so hard. I saw the title in the subject line of an email and tried to cushion myself for a declined notification, but no! I got an ARC! Thank you DAW and NetGalley~!

I loved Heroine Complex so much I recommended it (and she liked it too) more than once and even had it recced back to me when I was looking for good superhero fiction. Both books are commendable for both empowering female characters--there are so many!--and Asian-American representation. They’re also both decent mysteries in an excellent original superhero universe.

While probably more people will have bonded/empathised with Evie Tanaka as the main character of HC, I was more on board with Aveda Jupiter, originally Annie Chang, who has recently decided to give up her diva ways and be an awesome badass while also being a good friend. Annie is terribly divided, and wrecked by the opinions of those around her. It was heart-wringing to see her mother’s constant disapproval, and the way that everyone seemed to deify Evie, most gleefully when Aveda Jupiter suffered for it. Whether in status or her self.

It feels like a spoiler to say that Evie gets engaged, but it’s in the blurb and it’s in the theme. Other brides start popping up like weeds and losing their minds. I’m still not sure if it’s just a joke or a rather clever deconstruction, considering that things like “bridezilla” are nasty ways of dehumanising women. This is sort of addressed even. No spoilers.

Some of the characters were weaker this go-round, but I could easily see why. Nate is almost nonexistent--of course he isn’t the love interest, there’s someone else for that, and it was beautifully set up in the first book, even. But Evie suffers a little from silence and being coddled by other characters. I found myself disliking her, because it seemed as if the reconciliation that both she and Aveda were so relieved by and invested in, was just an excuse for Evie to have her way all the time and take her turn as a shitty friend who doesn’t have to ask how the other is. That all turned around in the end. There’s so much communication in the build-up at the end and really throughout most of the story that I literally cried a couple of times. It’s so refreshing to know that the characters I’m reading about are adults and I never forget it because they act like adults.

The writing is rather like kunafeh mixed with hi-chew. A great, sweet dessert that hits all my marks, while also being a little silly and incredibly standout. Personally, I felt like some of the slang dated it or made things weird, but that was mostly coming from Evie’s younger sister Bea, and that’s probably part of the joke. Some lines are just unbearably awesome, good-weird, or funny. I’m going to be saying, “you mind-melded with the puppy,” out of context for days.

In Heroine Complex, I loved the setup for Aveda and Scott, and I liked them individually, so I could have loved Heroine Worship on the romance count alone. They’re going through a lot of the same difficulties, and most importantly, Scott seems to be the only one who sees Aveda’s difficulties right away. What keeps them apart isn’t this giant epic thing, but it’s believable and terribly human.

There was nothing in this book I didn’t love, from the friendships to the romance, to the world-building, to the fight scenes. I could go on forever, and I may have to come back and amend this review to do that while I wait for the third book. 2018 is too far away!

This is the second in the Heroine Complex series with Aveda and Evie as superheroes. And, just like with the first one, although it looks sort of like a YA book, it mostly isn't. This one seems to not have quite as many adult themes, but, still, I thought it was definitely an adult book.

It starts with not much happening. It's told from Aveda's point of view and she's not feeling very superheroish. She's going along with everything Evie wants, but she feels like she's stuck and that she's losing everything that makes her her.

And then, just as she thinks that perhaps she can dive into a new case (the portal in Maisy's store shows a little bit of life) Evie suddenly is engaged to Nate, and Aveda is the maid of honor.

She wants to be the best at that, but what the gang calls a 'puppy demon' is plaguing them in weird and different ways.

It looks like Aveda may not just screw up fighting the demon, but screw up her BFF's wedding and friendship too.

I felt like the book went back and forth really drastically between 'poor Aveda' and 'Aveda's a jerk'. And here and there that pulled me out of the story or had me confused whether I was supposed to be rooting for her or against her.

I did like a lot of the stuff with Shruti and her hair though, that was different and cool, and if there does happen to be a third book I'd love to see more of her in it.

But, I really wish that there had been much more Rose and Lucy. That seems like it could be such an interesting story and to also see some more non-super powered human heroism would be cool.

Still, it was a fun book to read and the story had plenty of interesting and awesome twists and turns. Plus... female superheroes. That alone makes it a must read in my book.

I got this ARC through Netgalley on behalf of DAW and Berkley Publishing Group.

**Live July 3rd**

Oh my goodness, Heroine Worship was so cute and original! I guarantee nobody has read a superhero novel like this series. In the first book we got attack cupcakes, and this one is full of surprises that were just as creative! I feel like I’m an imaginative person, and I would never have thought of turning mundane every day things into possessed demons. I love it!

Not only do I think this series has a completely original plot, I also love that it’s not only about romance. While the relationship between Annie and Scott was definitely important, Annie’s relationship with Evie was also prominent. As was the relationship and friendship among all of the superhero gang. In particular, I’m interested in seeing how everything turns out with Evie and Bea.

Still, obviously it was the moments between Scott and Annie that really tugged my strings. I felt the heat between them when I was reading Heroine Worship, and knew when they came together it would be passionate, and it was. Each of their interactions had me grinning and smiling, and even giggling. I giggled right along with Annie every time she giggled! Scott was seriously dreamy, and I liked how he was playful more than he was serious, but he also knew when to turn that goofiness off. I also loved how Scott and Annie’s connection went back to their childhood. It created an interesting dynamic.

I liked Annie too. It always surprises me when I like the heroine as much as I like the hero, but I was able to relate to Annie in ways that surprised me. Outwardly, I’m definitely more like Evie, but I was able to understand Annie’s emotional turmoil. She was a little bit over the top and it was easy to see why her loved ones became annoyed, but there was something sincere about Annie. I felt for her, and I loved that she saw her flaws and was trying to recreate herself.

So, in Heroine Complex we got the story of Evie. In Heroine Worship, we got to delve into Annie’s personality. I wonder who’s next? I’m eager for more about Bea, but I think I want Lucy to be next. There’s still so much mystery about her, and I’m definitely intrigued. (I’d also love more about Shruti.)

If you guys are looking for an Urban Fantasy with great characters and a plot like nothing you’ve read before, you really should check out this series!

Heroine Worship manages to be kick-ass, funny, and heartwarming all at once. It can’t be easy to have a heroine who was previously somewhat unlikeable and definitely demanding, but author Sarah Kuhn proves that she’s more than up to the challenge. Aveda is fierce, powerful, a self-confessed hurricane…and also loving, lonely, and more vulnerable than she lets on. I absolutely loved her.

In Heroine Complex, we got the story of Evie Tanaka, personal assistant to superhero Aveda Juipter (aka Annie Chang), Evie’s childhood best friend. This time around it’s Aveda/Annie’s story, and I loved seeing the reformed diva get her own book. Ever since Aveda and Evie saved San Francisco, things have been quiet, which means that all’s quiet at Aveda Jupiter, Inc. Not only that, all of San Francisco seems to have fallen in love with Evie, which means that she and Aveda are less co-superheroines than superheroine and former superheroine-turned-sidekick. Aveda is someone constantly trying to prove herself, to be the best, and between not having demons to fight and having everyone look at her like she’s still a diva, she’s going mad.

Aveda/Annie’s personal journey is the heart of Heroine Worship and I loved peeling back the layers of her character. She may have been a diva and a pretty bad friend at the last book, but Aveda doesn’t make excuses for herself. She’s determined to be the best friend to Evie that she can be and also protect her from anything that would upset or hurt her, and that isn’t always easy. Aveda tends to rush into things head first, which means that even when she means well she often screws things up. My heart actually broke for her more than once over the course of the story, as she takes a lot of hits. There were times I wished I could have reached into the book and stopped her before she made a mistake or her actions were misinterpreted. She’s on a quest to be the perfect friend and maid-of-honor to Evie, and at the same time she’s having an identity crisis and the denizens of her fair city aren’t looking too kindly on the mistakes she keeps making.

If feeling internally lost wasn’t enough for a now-outsider superheroine to handle, Aveda has a new problem on her plate: a demonic force seems to be attacking San Francisco brides. Non-possessed Bridezillas are frightening enough, so when you add in a demonic influence…let’s just say things get ugly quick. It’ll take all of Aveda and co.’s combined power to capture the demon, save San Francisco from evil Bridezillas, and get Evie and Nate down the aisle in one piece. The action sequences are fun, unique, and balance out the more serious storylines.

Heroine Worship has a lot of flash and dazzle, but there’s a lot of emotion packed into this story as well. Aveda and Evie have a couple of hurdles to overcome in order to repair their friendship, and I loved that Ms. Kuhn didn’t make things easy on them. Aveda also must face her feelings for Scott, surfer-mage extraordinaire and a longtime friend to both Evie and Aveda. Aveda and Scott have wonderful chemistry, but her fears and insecurities make her constantly push him away. I was absolutely rooting for these two to get together, and the romance storyline is just what I needed to round this story out. All in all, I adored Heroine Worship and I’m looking forward to seeing where Ms. Kuhn takes our kick-ass co-superheroines next!

After reading and LOVING book one in this series, I was super excited to get my hands on this book. Alas, I am disappointed to say that this one just isn't working for me and I am tapping out at 50%.

I found this one just incredibly boring and slow, and I couldn't stand Aveda Jupiter AT ALL. She came across way too narcissistic and abrasive, and since she is the narrator of the story, it made it almost a painful experience to read.

That said, I will most likely still give book three a go, and I hope it will be more like book one.

I read this before I read the first novel and while I do believe this is a companion, I highly recommend reading book 1 first to understand the timeline. Anyway, this book was just so much fun! It wasn't what I expected, but in a good way--it surpassed them in every way! I highly recommend picking this series up!

Gosh I love this book! And why on earth is no one talking about this series? It's brilliant!Heroine Worship combines everything you could ever want in a super hero novel: badass fight scenes, incredible dynamic duo, romance, and laugh out loud moments. Two female Asian-American superheroes protecting San Francisco from demons and trying to work on their friendship at the same time - plus, book 2, it's time for a wedding! This is going to be your new favorite series!

This book might loose something if you haven't read the first one, but it is a great read! If you have read the first, read tjis! If you haven't, read them both!