This Will Be Interesting, by E. B. Asher

 

I hate deckled edges and I love sprayed and painted edges. Deckled edges are when the pages of a paper book don’t all evenly line up. it’s how books used to look a long time ago but nowadays it’s just an obnoxious affectation, in my opinion. I have repeatedly refused to buy a physical book in a bookstore because of deckled edges - the tactile experience is so incredibly unpleasant that I’d rather not read the book. 

Sprayed edges, however, are a trend I wholeheartedly endorse. I love going into a bookstore and seeing a book pop with color on the top and side! I don’t know what it is that makes it seem so fun and enticing! I first found E.B. Asher’s first book, This Will Be Fun, at a local bookstore because of the sprayed edges. Something about the title and cover and design called to me so I bought it on impulse, and I enjoyed it! I didn’t love how much of the high-magic world replicated 21st century technology but I really enjoyed the characters and the quest. So I was quite pleased when I got an eARC of the sequel, This Will Be Interesting, from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

This sequel was much better than the first novel! Like the first book, this novel traded chapters between its 3 POV characters (which I think map onto the 3 different coauthors who make up the pen name of E.B. Asher, but I’m not 100% sure of that).  But these characters felt much more interesting and well rounded than the ones in the first book. The plot was fun and the romances felt believable (in a fantasy romance novel kind of way). I would totally read another book by this trio again!