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Well, I think it’s safe to say I have never read anything quite like Serra Elinsen’s [b:Awoken|18244295|Awoken|Serra Elinsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1377395691l/18244295._SY75_.jpg|25693030]. While this is a story about a teenage girl who falls in love with Cthulhu, I would consider this more-so a parody/critique of 2010’s popular YA paranormal romance than one of H.P. Lovecraft’s work. Wow, was this a trip.
The story centers on (the very casually named) Andromeda Slate—Andi for short. She’s an especially obnoxious teenage girl who is more or less unable to see beyond her own feelings, typically to the detriment of her friends and family around her. Andi’s favorite book is [b:The Phantom of the Opera|480204|The Phantom of the Opera|Gaston Leroux|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327867727l/480204._SY75_.jpg|2259720] and it is referenced A LOT; Serra Elinsen thanks Andrew Lloyd Weber as the “author” in her final author's note, so that should give you an idea for how accurately she nails Lovecraftian lore. Anyway, Andi meets a mysterious Riley who stares creepily at her, refers to her as “puny one,” and inexplicably drives his enemies insane. So, you know, Andi falls incessantly and madly in love. Where others would see red flags, Andi just sees ”beautiful insanity,” because “love” is just that powerful.
And it’s all a hoax.
Now that it’s 2019, I think it’s safe to just put out there that Serra Elinsen was the drunken brain child of Lindsay Ellis (a youtube essayist I highly recommend), Nella Inserra, Elisa Hansen, and five ghost writers. You can actually see how this project came together in the web series Booze Your Own Adventure, where the audience helped the hosts pick the most obscene choices possible to create the funniest YA stealth parody 2013 had ever seen.
Hands down, this book is stupid funny, like, the kind of laughter that hurts your stomach. That said, because this is a parody of the YA paranormal romance genre, there were many elements of said genre present that was genuinely grating. The (beautiful) crack team that wrote this were a little too on the nose at times. That said, even though I enjoyed the story of how the book was made more than the book itself, I would still definitely recommend it if meta nonsense is up your alley.
The story centers on (the very casually named) Andromeda Slate—Andi for short. She’s an especially obnoxious teenage girl who is more or less unable to see beyond her own feelings, typically to the detriment of her friends and family around her. Andi’s favorite book is [b:The Phantom of the Opera|480204|The Phantom of the Opera|Gaston Leroux|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327867727l/480204._SY75_.jpg|2259720] and it is referenced A LOT; Serra Elinsen thanks Andrew Lloyd Weber as the “author” in her final author's note, so that should give you an idea for how accurately she nails Lovecraftian lore. Anyway, Andi meets a mysterious Riley who stares creepily at her, refers to her as “puny one,” and inexplicably drives his enemies insane. So, you know, Andi falls incessantly and madly in love. Where others would see red flags, Andi just sees ”beautiful insanity,” because “love” is just that powerful.
And it’s all a hoax.
Now that it’s 2019, I think it’s safe to just put out there that Serra Elinsen was the drunken brain child of Lindsay Ellis (a youtube essayist I highly recommend), Nella Inserra, Elisa Hansen, and five ghost writers. You can actually see how this project came together in the web series Booze Your Own Adventure, where the audience helped the hosts pick the most obscene choices possible to create the funniest YA stealth parody 2013 had ever seen.
Hands down, this book is stupid funny, like, the kind of laughter that hurts your stomach. That said, because this is a parody of the YA paranormal romance genre, there were many elements of said genre present that was genuinely grating. The (beautiful) crack team that wrote this were a little too on the nose at times. That said, even though I enjoyed the story of how the book was made more than the book itself, I would still definitely recommend it if meta nonsense is up your alley.