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Borderline (The Arcadia Project) door…
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Borderline (The Arcadia Project) (editie 2016)

door Mishell Baker (Auteur)

Reeksen: Arcadia Project (1)

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5664641,905 (3.87)39
A cynical, disabled film director with borderline personality disorder gets recruited to join a secret organization that oversees relations between Hollywood and Fairyland in this Nebula Award-nominated and Tiptree Award Honor Book that's the first novel in 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.… (meer)
Lid:cammykitty
Titel:Borderline (The Arcadia Project)
Auteurs:Mishell Baker (Auteur)
Info:Saga Press (2016), 400 pages
Verzamelingen:Verlanglijst
Waardering:
Trefwoorden:Geen

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Borderline door Mishell Baker

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1-5 van 46 worden getoond (volgende | toon alle)
'Borderline' is an unusual book. The premise, someone joining a secret global organisation that polices the border between our world and the world of the Fae, sounds fairly traditional in an MIB-with-a-twist sort of way, so I expected either a thriller of the 24-hours-to-save-the-earth kind or something humorous or hybrid of the two. What I got was more interesting: a book focused on someone who is broken and who is trying to find a reason to keep living. The borderline that the title refers to isn't just between Earth and Arcadia but between normal behaviour and psychotic behaviour.

Milie, our protagonist (heroine doesn't really fit here), has Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) which, amongst other things, makes her subject to intense mood swings and impulsive behaviour. This partially explains why Millie, a film director with a couple of successful Indie productions behind her, ended her time at the prestigious UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television by jumping from a building, She failed to kill herself but succeeded in destroying both of her legs.

When, six months later, after having mastered her prosthetic limbs but not her trauma, Millie is approached by the Arcadia Project (the secret global organisation that polices the Fae border - the Brits are blamed for the classical name), she is told it is because her BPD allows her to see the world differently and makes her better able to cope with the Fae and their glamours. Only when she has started to invest her personal salvation in her new role does she learn that the Arcadia Project recruits throwaway people. People who won't be believed if they try to reveal the Project's secrets. People who won't be missed if the get killed in the Project's service. People like Millie.

I enjoyed the world-building as Millie learns about the Fae and the deal the humans have cut with them. I had to smile at the all-too-plausible relationship between the Fae and Hollywood.

I admired the character-building. I felt that I got inside Millie's rather unusual head and saw the world through her eyes. Her relationships with the people around her, turbulent, distorted but deeply-felt, brought the book alive. 

The mystery/thriller plot around missing Fae and evil intrigue which moves the action forward works mostly to reveal the Fae/human connections and to push Millie into confronting who she is and who she's going to choose to become.

If you're looking for a fast-paced, high body count Urban Fantasy thriller, 'Borderline' isn't it. If you're looking for something original and thoughtful with an emotional payload, you'll enjoy this.

'Borderline' is the first book in a series. I intend to visit Millie's world again to see what she's made of herself.

I recommend the audiobook version of 'Borderline'. Arden Hammersmith did a great job as the narrator and made Millie a real voice in my head. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample.

https://soundcloud.com/simonschuster/borderline-audiobook-excerpt ( )
  MikeFinnFiction | Jan 13, 2024 |
This is a lauded book for it's portrayal of mental illness but I found it a dull read. I never managed to empathize with the main character, much of her behavior was unacceptable and I did not feel that she had any real capacity to work with others, and did not care.
The plot involving the Fae was also dull and did not make up for the characterizations.

library book read 11/10/2023 ( )
  catseyegreen | Nov 11, 2023 |
I very much enjoyed this book.
I picked this up just because it caught my eye, had no scathingly reviews on the top, and a good rating without even checking the blurb.
I didn't even expect the title to actually refer to BPD.
This book had a few pacing issues but, because it had the courage to actually directly tackle all kinds of sensitive topics in an authentic and direct way, I was hooked anyway.
Personal enjoyment-wise this was a 5-star book. But I try to stay somewhat objective with my ratings.

This was a much-needed break from the endless piles of clichéed and corny tropes.

I loved how uncompromisingly the book confronts the reader with the reality of a broken and flawed MC. It doesn't shy away from hard truths this leads to and explains the flawed thought processes in the MC's mind.
I've read a lot of books that mix UF with mental illness before and I've never seen it executed in an acceptable way but this book shows that it can work.
The whole mental illness thing is not used as a plot device beyond the basic premise which probably is the crucial difference to other books that attempted this.
The author doesn't hand-wave the issues away when they start to get in the way of the plot.

This book is not for you if you want a UF hero story or have trouble with unpleasant protagonists.
The atmosphere is quite dark and somewhat depressing but, even though this usually tires me out quickly, it felt natural and right somehow in this case.

The magic system is very soft and mostly unexplained but it is hinted at that rules exist.

Sadly, the sequels are not nearly as good as this book. They suffer from a whole host of beginner/lazy writing issues which, confusingly, were mostly absent from this book despite a lot of opportunities for it.
If you are very attached to the characters and can overlook a killing field of plot holes and conveniences you might get something out of continuing with the series but for most, I would recommend reading this as a standalone. ( )
  omission | Oct 19, 2023 |
I feel a little unsure about Borderline. There's a pretty standard urban fantasy plot, centered around an unapologetically, no-holds-barred borderline personality disordered protagonist. And I felt towards it the way that years of being in the medical profession has drilled me to react to borderline personality disorder: man, it's kind of fascinating, but best observed at arm's length. The portrayal of borderline personality disorder is eerily accurate, but also extremely sympathetic. The book has received much accolades on its portrayal of BPD, and I think a lot of that is deserved: this is clearly the best portrayal of BPD in the literature, one of the few protagonists I know of with BPD and its take is quite nuanced. However, at some point, I also felt like Millie got too much of a narrative pass for her behavior and it was pretty clear to me from the writing that the author herself had BPD (indeed, she does.) The way that this is clearest to me is that there's a sense when you're around someone with BPD that their behavior and actions are amped up to a hundred to the point that no one around them has any space, and the book completely treats Millie that way -- all of the other characters are flat and under detailed. Even the plot grinds to a halt to serve Millie's internal churning. Perhaps that's part of the realistic portrayal, but it's kind of off-putting as a reader. What redeems the book for me is Baker's portrayal of Millie's inner self, her suffering and her (meager) attempts at getting better.

Overall, I found this book a fascinating insider's view on borderline personality disorder, but kind of flawed as a novel. ( )
  settingshadow | Aug 19, 2023 |
Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

Content warnings:
This book is about a character who attempted suicide by jumping from a tall building and survived. Her suicide attempt is discussed in detail as is her mental health, her diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and the mental health conditions of other characters in the book. This includes a scene with self harm. This is an ownvoices novel and mental health and disability are handled with respect. As the author has BPD herself the accuracy of the mental health representations in this novel may trigger some people with mental health conditions. If you are feeling particularly vulnerable right now then this may not be the best read for you. I say that with love and kindness as someone who has anxiety and depression.

There are also scenes of violence, blood and death. There are scenes of verbal abuse in the book and one of the characters was abused as a child which is not on page but does come up in conversation. Ableism, casual racism, gaslighting, and bullying are also present in this book.


I reviewed this book as part of GeekDis 2022 an event discussing disability representation in pop culture from the perspective of the disabled and neurodivergent community.

Please note that this review discusses mental health and suicide in detail from the very start.

If you are feeling particularly vulnerable right now then this may not be the best read for you. I say that with love and kindness as someone who has anxiety and depression. I do not want anyone to be triggered because of me

Millicent, Millie Roper, is in a psychiatric centre when we first meet her. She has been there for six months after surviving a failed suicide which resulted in her losing both her legs. That’s where magic first walks into her life, as she tells us, and it is in the form of a stranger who offers her a job. It’s very cloak and dagger, but it’s Millie’s only way out of centre. At some point the funding is going to run out and with no close family or friends no one else is queuing up to offer her a place to go. The woman is also offering her a chance to break back into the film industry, a career path that Millie thought was forever closed to her. A big selling point is that The Arcadia Project is specifically looking for people who are mentally ill and Millie fits that bill one hundred perfect; she has borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Taking the chance Millie is prepared for disappointment, what she’s not ready for is to be introduced to the world of magic and to find out that fairies exist. The Arcadia Project is really a secret organization that polices the traffic to and from a parallel reality filled with creatures straight out of myth and fairy tales; the fey. They help Fey and humans find their Echoes, a platonic soulmate on the opposite reality that completes them and enhances their creative talent. Humans become stars, and fey gain more substance. Without human Echoes fey drift around as if in a dream.

Given a simple first assignment with her partner, to find a missing sidhe noble, it of course turns out to be anything but simple. There’s a terrifying conspiracy going on, one that goes much deeper than anyone at her new place of work realises. All the while Millie is struggling with her mental health, she’s living with multiple strangers all of whom are mentally ill as well and in a house that is not accessible.

I was completely blown away by every single aspect of this book. Baker herself has BPD, which I suspected from the way Millie has been written, but I didn’t confirm until after I completed the book. It’s something that Baker talks about openly on her blog and there is a great interview here where she talks about why she chose to write about BPD.

While I’m familiar with mental health, I’m not with BPD, so I appreciated the insight into the condition through Millie. Millie is not a reliable narrator, she sometimes isn’t even a likeable character with Baker pointing out her casual racism multiple times. There are a lot of flawed characters in Borderline and Baker excels at showing them in all their imperfect glory. There is one character who I couldn’t stand, who reminded me of a lot of people I have known in my life, and yet I ended up feeling things for them that I did not expect because Baker showed the other side of them.

Likewise, I cannot comment on the authenticity of the representation of a double amputee and prosthetic user. What I can say is that it was wonderful to see so much detail, to see Millie’s prosthetics, mobility aids and accessibility needs always at the forefront. There is a scene when Millie has an embarrassing accident in public and has to call a relative stranger for help. It was such a raw moment that I know a lot of writers would have shied away from for many reasons, however, it was an incredibly important one for disability representation. Scenes like that need to be included not hidden away because no one wants to “see that”. These are our lives, these things do happen, and that authenticity is in every word of this novel.

The world building is also top-notch with a wonderful and vibrant new fey mythos and magic systems that I thoroughly enjoyed. Borderline was a great read all round read with authentic representation!

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  justgeekingby | Jun 6, 2023 |
1-5 van 46 worden getoond (volgende | toon alle)
Despite having some complaints with the narrative as I read (primarily, Millie’s unflagging self-awareness, even in real-time as she makes life-altering missteps), they all seem negligible when I consider the book as a whole. Borderline is dark and creeping and smart as a whip. It is also Baker’s debut novel, and an exceptional one at that. I am beyond excited to read more from her, whether it’s in the the Arcadia Project series or otherwise.
toegevoegd door karenb | bewerkTor.com, Emily Nordling (Feb 29, 2016)
 
Starred review.

Fully articulated, flawed, and fascinating characters combine with masterly urban fantasy storytelling in Baker’s debut novel.
toegevoegd door karenb | bewerkPublishers Weekly (Jan 18, 2016)
 
An enjoyable fantasy mystery that tackles physical disability and mental illness without sacrificing diverting, fast-paced storytelling.
toegevoegd door karenb | bewerkKirkus Reviews (Jan 15, 2016)
 

» Andere auteurs toevoegen (3 mogelijk)

AuteursnaamRolType auteurWerk?Status
Mishell Bakerprimaire auteuralle editiesberekend
Hammersmith, ArdenVertellerSecundaire auteursommige editiesbevestigd
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A cynical, disabled film director with borderline personality disorder gets recruited to join a secret organization that oversees relations between Hollywood and Fairyland in this Nebula Award-nominated and Tiptree Award Honor Book that's the first novel in 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.

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