Erin Grammar Magic Mutant Nightmare Girl review

A book review? It’s been a hot minute since I wrote one of those, let’s hope I still know how to even do that! This book really deserves a review and deserves to be shared amongst the lolita community. Why? Because it’s about one of us and by one of us!

Full disclosure: I have received my copy for free. Back in 2019 @baninabear ran a giveaway for the book on her Instagram on behalf of the author, and I was lucky enough to receive a copy. In the meantime the book changed publishers as a result of the pandemic, resulting in a delay and is being officially released on March 10th 2021 by Midnight Tide Publishing. My opinions remain my own and I was not asked to write this review, however, I felt it fair to be honest about the fact that my copy was given to me for free as a result of the giveaway.

So what is this book about then? Allow me to quote from the publisher’s website, because that really is the best summary:

“When eighteen-year-old bi, socially anxious Harajuku fashionista Holly Roads is infected by blue blood that bestows destructive strength, she strikes a deal with a stubborn ex-CIA prodigy: Capture the mutant his mad scientists accidentally unleashed on San Francisco in exchange for the cure for her powers.”
(A longer synopsis is available on the author’s website.)

Now, Holly is more than just a Harajuku fashionista - she is a lolita. As is Erin Grammar, the writer. And she’s not afraid of guiding the reader through that world fully. For someone who is into the fashion themselves, this is a magical experience: to read a story about someone who also enjoys this niche thing, to get all the terms and in-jokes before they’re explained, to understand some of the instincts that Holly has that must seem odd to non-lolitas. As a lolita, I fully understood the emotional pain caused by staining rare brand beyond rescue and the reflex to protect my clothes first and myself second. As someone wearing the fashion pretty regularly, reading about a daily lolita was fun because I understood both the distress of having to suddenly “look normal” and the feeling of foreignness when forced back into mainstream clothing. And being versed in the fashion, even the briefest outfit descriptions were vividly clear to me.

In fact, I would’ve loved more details on those outfits, a coord rundown, but that would’ve been too much for the non-lolita readers. Whilst I can’t fully understand what reading Magic Mutant Nightmare Girl must be like for someone who’s never even seen a lolita outfit, I do feel that the author did a fantastic job at taking their hand through it and introducing them gently. Part of this is through Holly’s interactions with the other characters. They act as those uninitiated readers and who have to be explained things so that they’d understand, while we, the lolitas, are Holly, going over the answers we know so well by now we give them without thinking. On the other hand, the readers won’t get lost because the lolita fashion aspect is kept to the minimum required for either the story or character development. Because the story is narrated by Holly, and lolita fashion is important to her, she does talk about her outfits - but only in the barest details, like here in chapter 2:

To a lolita the above is enough and we know the rest. To a non-lolita this is enough because it gives the overall idea without a detail overload. Moreover, the book includes a very handy glossary at the end with all the key terms, so whilst they are also explained in the text, readers can refer to it at any point if they need to. The glossary is split into four themes: the subculture, the clothes, the sub-styles, and the brands, keeping all that information tidy and organised. In a way, this would also be a great way for someone to be introduced into the fashion: be captivated by the story, learn the basics from the glossary, and then disappear down the rabbit hole of a google search that is lolita fashion.

Because I must reiterate that the fashion is but a small element of the whole book. An important one, but not the entire plot. Following Holly’s adventures, from a nightmare encounter with a mutant, through witty quips with an annoying(ly) handsome ex-CIA, to attending a big tea party, was genuinely engrossing. Erin Grammar’s writing is light and before you know it, you’re pages deep into the book, cursing that you have to wake up early for work the next morning because you’d much rather keep reading. The story has great pace, going ahead at a speed that can sometimes make your head spin, yet still allowing plenty of breaks in between to process what has happened and come to your own conclusions. Whether you figure out the mystery or are surprised by the turn of events, you’re never bored and chapter after chapter fly by until you’re left with the final page.

This is in huge part thanks to how well the characters are written, starting with Holly herself. She is wonderfully complex, which makes her all the more relatable, to lolitas and non-lolitas alike. She could’ve easily been a one-dimensional “it girl”, the one who has all the brand and is just spoiled to the extent that ruining a coveted dress is the worst thing imaginable in her life. Except that she isn’t the “it girl”. Lolitas will recognise the social anxiety of trying to fit into a lolita community, particularly a big one, and the worries of being gossiped about behind one’s back. I imagine that non-lolita readers would probably relate that to the clique-y experience of high school. Still, even ignoring the fashion aspect, watching someone come to grips with their world literally falling apart or trying to navigate an awkward relationship with someone who we’re simultaneously attracted to and who annoys the high hell out of us, or finding the courage to do the right thing because we know we’re the best person to do it even though we’re terrified - those are all experiences we can relate to.

The N.E.R.D.s too feel like people that we recognise, the misfits, the odd ones who are all to engrossed in their passion, who strive for someone’s approval or for a better opportunity than the one they currently feel stuck in. Yes, there are stereotypical elements to all characters, but every one is more than just the singular trope, which allows us to have favourites and to respond to them on an emotional level. There’s no way of confusing Brannon and Nuñez, not only because Holly responds to them differently, but also because they react completely differently in the same situation. Someone like Kyle could have easily faded into the background, but having developed from an odd neighbour to someone desperate to please the authority figures around him, even when that authority figure is Holly dressing him up and instructing how to behave at a tea party, he is a fully fleshed individual. Even Dr Laura, arguably the closest to a stereotype, has so much of other elements in her, like a motherly care for those she works with and and the genuine doubts of whether she can undo her own work, despite being pleased beyond words that work it did, that the combination of familiar traits shape an entire human being beyond just “a mad scientist woman”.

The only downside to this book is actually a gain; a downside because I either didn’t listen properly to the information available to me at the time of the giveaway or it wasn’t made clear. And that is that this book is not a standalone story - this is volume one of a trilogy. A downside when you’re expecting the story to be self-contained and finish on a horrible cliffhanger. But a gain for me, the reader, because that means more of this story than just one book. Two more books filled with Holly overcoming her anxiety and insecurities, of Holly (hopefully) getting closer to Brannon (in words of the Internet: I ship it!), of Holly drawing the uninitiated readers further into the magical world of Harajuku fashion… And hopefully of Holly either becoming the lolita hero we want or finding that cure so that she could go back to simply being “the weirdly dressed girl” in her area. Honestly, I don’t know which outcome I want more and I don’t care, I just want to read the rest of this story as imagined by Erin Grammar.

Most of you who are on this blog, reading this now, are already into lolita fashion. So you shouldn’t even be asking yourself whether to buy and read this book - you should find a place you’re comfortable purchasing from and pre-order it now! Magic Mutant Nightmare Girl is simply fun to read, exactly the YA story that you should reach for when you need a bit of colour and glitter to brighten up your day. The nod to magical girls in the title is precisely the kind of thing you should expect: fighting evil wearing pink and being unashamedly feminine, whilst courting some doki-doki feelings on the side. And if you’re not into Japanese fashions at all, but you still like stories about young women fighting evil, being unashamedly themselves and courting some doki-doki heart-jumping-out-of-your-chest feelings on the side - then also get this book! You’ve already googled something right to have ended up here, reading my review of it, so what else are you waiting for?

Although the book is not officially out yet, I know that there are several people who also received advanced copies, either through the same giveaway as I was part of or the later one, also hosted by @baninabear. If you’ve read it too, tell me what you thought. What were your favourite parts? Do you also ship it? I am genuinely dying to talk about this book with someone, I’ve kept my silence for too long!