Borderline

Starred review from January 18, 2016
Fully articulated, flawed, and fascinating characters combine with masterly urban fantasy storytelling in Baker’s debut novel. Millie, a former filmmaker, is a lost soul in soulless Los Angeles. A suicide attempt has left her body broken, and a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder both shatters and relieves her. She’s at loose ends until a mysterious woman named Caryl comes to the mental institution where Millie lives to offer her a job with a secret group called the Arcadia Project. A fae noble has gone missing, and Millie’s unique skills and perspective are needed to bring him home before interdimensional war breaks out. Not only does Millie have to learn to navigate life outside an institutional setting, but she also has to transition to a new normal, one that incorporates both mental and physical challenges. The richly nuanced presentation of Millie’s multiple diagnoses allows for a deeper knowledge of the character, which, in turn, serves to enhance an already beautifully written story that is one part mystery, one part fantasy, and wholly engrossing. Agent: Rachel Kory, Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary

Starred review from February 15, 2016

Millie Roper lost both her filmmaking career and her legs in a failed suicide attempt. After six months in a psychiatric center, she is presented with a second chance at life--one filled with magic. Recruited by the Arcadia Project, Millie joins an elite group that watches over the fae that travel between their own reality and Hollywood. Her first charge is to track down a Seelie Court nobleman who is also a movie star. Millie finds that both faerie and Hollywood glamour only disguise the ugly truth in the world. With both physical and mental limitations in play, Millie must discover what has happened to the missing royalty. Failure is not an option, as it would not only cost Millie her job but could instigate a devastating rift between the two realms. VERDICT Baker's debut takes gritty urban fantasy in a new direction with flawed characters, painful life lessons, and not a small amount of humor. Millie's inner battles serve as a unique foil of realism against the otherwordly action.--KC

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2016

Millie Roper has been at the Leishman Psychiatric Center in Los Angeles for more than six months, having checked herself in after a failed suicide attempt that resulted in the loss of her right leg. She's visited by a woman who wants to recruit her for something called the Arcadia Project, which she describes as a nonprofit employment project partially funded by the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, but refuses to provide any more details unless Millie meets her the following day. Intrigued, Millie packs up her belongings (wheelchair, crutches, cane, prosthetic limb, and suitcase) and takes a cab to the designated location. Thus begins a roller-coaster ride through Los Angeles and environs, as Millie is tasked with locating a missing actor. What she doesn't realize until she's well into the case is that fairies and other magical creatures live among the residents of her reality and that one needs only a special pair of sunglasses to be able to see them. Millie is a delight-outspoken to the point of rudeness, with a wry wit and (despite her history) a healthy sense of self-preservation. The supporting characters are a motley crew, all with physical or mental issues of some kind and of varying ethnic backgrounds, and the story is an entertaining mix of fantasy and mystery noir. VERDICT Most comparable to Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files," this should appeal to his fans as well as followers of Charles de Lint and MaryJanice Davidson.-Marlyn K. Beebe, Los Alamitos, CA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2016
Once a film student with a promising directing career ahead of her, 26-year-old Millie Roper attempted suicide, which cost her both her aspirations and her legs. Diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and recuperating in a Los Angeles psychiatric center, Millie has no idea what's next for her, until a mysterious woman named Caryl walks into her life and offers her a trial position with the Arcadia Project. Millie soon learns that Caryl and her cohorts, including handsome but standoffish Teo, Southern belle Gloria, and forbidding Tjuan, help regulate contact and traffic between the parallel world of the fey and our own. Millie partners with Teo to track down popular actor John Riven, who is actually a fey nobleman. The hunt brings Millie to the door of a personal herolegendary director David Berenbaum, who shares a deep creative bond with Rivenbut it also tests her patience and her control over her disorder. Boasting a truly unique heroine whose flaws only make her more compelling, Baker's debut is an exciting entry into an imaginative new world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)