Borderline

The Arcadia Project, Book 1

By: Mishell Baker

Narrated by: Arden Hammersmith

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

A cynical, disabled film director with borderline personality disorder gets recruited to join a secret organization that oversees relations between Hollywood and Fairyland in the first book of a new urban fantasy series from debut author Mishell Baker.

A year ago Millie lost her legs and her filmmaking career in a failed suicide attempt. Just when she's sure the credits have rolled on her life story, she gets a second chance with the Arcadia Project: a secret organization that polices the traffic to and from a parallel reality filled with creatures straight out of myth and fairy tales.

For her first assignment, Millie is tasked with tracking down a missing movie star who also happens to be a nobleman of the Seelie Court. To find him she'll have to smooth-talk Hollywood power players and uncover the surreal and sometimes terrifying truth behind the glamour of Tinseltown. But stronger forces than just her inner demons are sabotaging her progress, and if she fails to unravel the conspiracy behind the noble's disappearance, not only will she be out on the streets but the shattering of a centuries-old peace could spark an all-out war between worlds.

No pressure.

©2016 Mishell Baker. All rights reserved. (P)2016 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

super fun, great voice actress

I loved it. The story was fun to listen to and kept me engaged from beginning to end. I was sad for the story to be over.
sci fi meets mystery novel summer reading good time

amazing

loved this so much. it grabs you and won't let go. the the narriation was top notch. I also just found out this is a trilogy, will be getting them all.

Insightful and Unique

This book showed up on my suggestion list a fee times so I gave it a shot and I was not disappointed! The story was fresh and clever. The insight into some mental illnesses was very well written. Utterly brilliant!

It's the characters

Every once in a while, I run across a book I really shouldn't like, but I do. I don't go in for urban fantasy, I'm relatively bored with Los Angeles as a setting, Hollywood politics interest me not at all, and I typically close a book as soon as I see the word "fae".

But really good writing supersedes all of that. The characters in Borderline are so vivid and quirky that if one of them walked up to me and said even three words, I'd recognize him/her immediately. And this is true of *all* the characters, not just the main protagonist and antagonist; even the walk-ons breathe.

I'm sure other reviewers will comment on the fact that this is probably the first SFF novel ever to treat Borderline Personality Disorder seriously, and of course it's a gem for that reason alone. And yes, the magical world presented is clever and fun all by itself; but it seems to me that I would enjoy this novel even if it were mainstream literary fiction, and even if BPD didn't come up.

If you like living with characters who fascinate, this book is for you.

Interesting Premise

Based on the description I thought I would like the book more from the beginning. It took me a while to warm up to the characters and story. I thought there would be more personality and humor, but it was fairly dry and straight forward...which there was a little lack of character development.

The narrator was okay. I am not certain it was the best pairing as the world and characters were not brought to life. The voices were drab and dull, not very inspirational and added to bvb the lack luster story which is a shame because a very unique world was created... from the choice of characters with mental illness , to Hollywood, to a fae driven world. I wanted more from every angle. I do believe if there was a less drab narrator the story would gave come to life.

I am on the fence about the next book... part of me wants to check it out but another part lacks certainty.

Very unique— well worth the credit

What a unique urban fantasy novel— not necessarily in its storyline, but rather in its characters. Millie is a one of a kind character and I honestly think that it was her (in combination with the other characters) that made this book so fantastic. Don’t get me wrong, the story was interesting and solid, but the characters are really what make this book shine. Each and every one is three-dimensional and I was sucked in by them immediately. No warming up to the book here. I was hooked from the start. There was just something about the writing and the characters that drew me in.

The audiobook is excellent. Arden Hammersmith does an excellent job narrating. She really became Millie and the other characters. Her pacing was excellent. I turned up the audio to 1.25x and it was perfect for me, but 1.0x speed wasn’t bad either. The audio sucked me in so much that I listened to this 11 hour audiobook in almost one sitting (luckily I had the free time today). I had a kindle copy available from the library, but I didn’t feel the urge to switch to the print version to read it faster because the audio was just that good. I am SO glad I took a chance on this and used a credit for it. I am also glad that I get my next credit in a few days so that I can get the next book in the series.

amazeballs

not usually my favorite genre, but simply fantastic!!! I cant wait to read everything else the author has to offer.

Fantastic representation of disability

What a lovely surprise this book is. It shouldn't be, because it was obviously very well received, but I didn't fully investigate before reading. I added it to my audible library a while back, and kept skipping over it because I thought the subject matter might difficult -- the protagonist has Borderline Personality Disorder, and is multiply physically disabled, including having had her legs amputated, following an unsuccessful suicide attempt. It's a lot.

And yet, what had scared me ended up being the glory of this novel. I am getting a little bit (meaning a whole lot) over the colonization of the entire fantasy genre by YA or semi YA books, especially as written by women. As great as some of these books are. This book is certainly not that. It is urban fantasy surrounding the Fey, yes, but the MC has physical and personality disorders, is newly released from a residential treatment facility, has a screwed up family history and a screwed up sexuality and sexual history, and is definitely on the salty side.

The story as a whole isn't as dark as it could be be given all that and the ultimate discoveries regarding the Fey and events at the end. It is excellently paced, and I basically marathoned it in two days. I adored reading the first person narrative of someone with BPD, as the author herself has and it is so well done. The plot itself is really good and yet almost incidental. I mean, if it was bad it wouldn't be, but as it twists and turns, it is the characters that stand out, and some are truly outstanding.

I am so glad I dusted this one off and took it off the shelf.

A highly unusual heroine

Or I guess unusual heroes and heroines. Mental illness and physical disabilities are unusual in stories let alone of the main character. It's a refreshing perspective of people whose lives I see from the outside and never really get a view of internal thoughts and motivations. The explanations about how borderline personality disorder was very interesting and made it easier to empathize with someone who from the outside is unlikable. The premise of the story that only people with mental issues were recruited to be intermediaries to the Fae seemed week at best. Especially since after recruitment these people were expected not to break the "rules" many of which were characteristics of their illness. It was especially frustrating that the main character was treated especially had in this regard. However since I like under dogs and characters that suffer before finding some truth I did enjoy the book. It wasn't as funny or snappy as I was lead to believe but I did enjoy the dialogue. The narration was very good also which always makes an audiobook enjoyable. The various ethnicities of the characters was refreshing as I get so tired of the unimaginative whitewashing of most sci-fi and fantasy and even urban fantasy. Overall a refreshing story. If it was a series I'd read the next one.

A league of its own

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. I'm honestly not sure what made me choose this or where I even came across this title as it's not my normal cup of tea. However, I will say that it was definitely worth the credit. The plot was refreshing, very different from the plethora of cookie cutter storylines out there these days. Even the background characters had depth to them. I found that Millie was easy to relate to, even with (or maybe especially because of) her disorder. It was nice to see a heroine who wasn't flawless for once. I didn't agree with some of her actions, or reactions, but that's what it is to be human. And insecure. And feel like you're alone and searching for your place in a world you dont fit in.

It took me awhile to get used to the narrator's male voices, but it's honestly hard to find a female narrator who CAN voice males accurately, and hers were better than the norm. All in all she did a pretty excellent job.

I sped through this and will be getting the next in the series.