The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths and Magic (2017)
Written By: F.T. Lukens
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Pages: 304 pages (Kindle ARC)
Series: Book One of The Rules
Publisher: Interlude Press
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Why I Chose It: The description made me laugh. And when I read the first few pages, the main character made me laugh, too. That’s all I needed.
The premise:
Desperate to pay for college, Bridger Whitt is willing to overlook the peculiarities of his new job — entering via the roof, the weird stacks of old books and even older scrolls, the seemingly incorporeal voices he hears from time to time — but it’s pretty hard to ignore being pulled under Lake Michigan by…mermaids? Worse yet, this happens in front of his new crush, Leo, the dreamy football star who just moved to town. Fantastic. When he discovers his eccentric employer Pavel Chudinov is an intermediary between the human world and its myths, Bridger is plunged into a world of pixies, werewolves, and Sasquatch. The realm of myths and magic is growing increasingly unstable, and it is up to Bridger to ascertain the cause of the chaos, eliminate the problem, and help his boss keep the real world from finding the world of myths.
Very minor spoilers ahead.
Discussion: Can I call a book adorable and still be taken seriously? Because oh my gosh. This was so fun and hilarious with some truly eccentric characters who were surprisingly relatable. I think I chuckled most of the way through, and there were definitely feelings leaking out all over the place. We start the book with Bridger halfway up a drainpipe, seriously considering the decisions that have gotten him in this position, and his antics and internal snark just get better from there.
Bridger’s voice was probably one of the best things about this book. His particular brand of wit and awkwardness really worked for me, and it was just so much fun to watch him put his foot in his mouth every time Leo even walked by. I don’t know about you, but I really hope my high school awkwardness was even half as cute as Bridger’s.
And while Bridger and Leo’s budding romance is just too adorable for words, theirs wasn’t the only relationship Lukens nailed. Bridger and his best friend. Bridger and his mom. Bridger and his boss. These were all so well done and artfully crafted they felt more real than some friendships I’ve had. Lukens really managed to hit the sweet spot between supportive and affirming while still providing enough conflict to make me worry about the outcome of certain arguments. And given how the book ended, I’m really excited to see where these relationships go in the sequel. If Bridger’s best friend got to beat up a nightmare hag with a hockey stick this time, who knows what she’ll take on in the future.
That exploration of folklore and myth is something I’m really excited about for book two. The idea of these mythical creatures being regulated and cataloged in the real world was one of the things that drew me to the book in the first place. While I do think we got a neat look at the world through Bridger’s eyes as he started to understand it, I’m looking forward to seeing it expanded and fleshed out from the original idea.
In the end that was only the only real complaint I had. In some ways the worldbuilding felt a little glossed over. While the characters and relationships got a lot of detail, the magic of the world took kind of a back seat. And when the book ended, it really just ended. There was a big reveal for a specific character that I was really looking forward to that didn’t end up happening “on screen.” That felt like a pretty big miss for me, considering how important this character and his arc were to the story. I wanted to see his reactions for myself, and I felt a little cheated. Hopefully the sequel will make up for this.
In Conclusion: I really couldn’t put this down. If you’re looking for some urban fantasy with LGBTQ+ themes or if you enjoy sweet awkward romances interrupted by magic, this is going to be right up your alley. I’ll definitely be giving the sequel Monster of the Week a try.
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