Chaotic Good

Whitney Gardner's YA novel earns its place on the shelf by doing something genuinely unusual: blending first-person prose with full-page comics Gardner drew herself, so Cameron's imagination and real life occupy different visual registers. The online harassment Cameron faces is handled with authenticity rather than melodrama, and the fandom community around the comic shop ends up portrayed with warmth. One real weakness is the cross-dressing plot device — critics have noted it skirts questions about nonbinary identity without meaningfully engaging them, which may bother some readers. The antagonist is thin. Content note: the novel includes gay characters and a scene discussing consent, addressed straightforwardly. At a brisk 245 pages it reads fast, and for teens who love comics, cosplay, and tabletop gaming, the appeal is immediate.