I first read most of the Velveteen stories when the author was publishing them online as she wrote them. Now, thanks to a friend generously lending me the book, I got to re-read the first volume of Velveteen's/Velma's tales in book form, and I loved this journey into the familiar universe. This book is essentially a collection of short stories interwoven by a common narrative thread that becomes more and more obvious and consequential as the story progresses—and it becomes better and better with each installment.

I love books that put a unique spin on a familiar concept, and that's what Seanan McGuire excels in. Despite the genre and tone differences, Vel's story reminds me a lot of the author's famous Wayward Children series. In both narratives, kids have to deal with larger than life challenges, and then they have to deal with the aftermath without any help from those great forces that governed their fates while they needed those kids to save the world. Except where the protagonists of the Wayward Children books are spat back out into the "normal world" and have to adjust somehow, here the MC has to fight tooth and nail to get out of the Super Patriots governing her life.

This is one of the most frighteningly realistic superhero settings I've ever encountered. Sure, there are all kinds of whacky powers here—the MC controls toys, of all things—and the universe is a kitchen sink of weird science and magic, but, like any of McGuire's 'verses, it's filled with realistic, flawed, human people. In this case, it's filled with realistic and (questionably) human capitalists who want to profit off just about everything. Superheroes included. Kid superheroes included in particular, roped into the Junio Super Patriots' ranks as soon as their powers manifest and given just about everything in exchange for giving up their lives: existing to fight evil part of the time and to smile and look pretty for the cameras the rest of the time because it sells merch. Some get lucky and get away when they grow up, but of course the Super Patriots never forget of your existence.

There are two more books in the series; getting them now is all but impossible, especially for an international reader. Still, I very much hope to get my hands on them one day.

Read for the following September 2020 readathons:
- CoffeeReadathon: Unique Plot
- Mythothon3: Female Author