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Chaotic Good

by Whitney Gardner

Cosplay, belonging, and a double identity

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Cosplay, belonging, and a double identity

Cameron hopes to turn her costume-making work into a college portfolio, but online backlash after a competition win complicates that goal. After her family moves, she finds the local comic shop unwelcoming to women and begins visiting in her twin brother’s clothes. The disguise opens a door into a Dungeons & Dragons group, while also creating a growing divide between the identity she presents there and the work she means to finish. The story brings together cosplay, gendered gatekeeping in fandom spaces, online harassment, and the pressures of planning for college, with Cameron’s crush adding another complication to her hidden persona.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in cosplay, comics, or Dungeons & Dragons
  • Readers interested in stories about bullying, online harassment, and gendered barriers in hobby communities
  • Readers who enjoy young adult fiction involving college applications and identity

Themes

Cosplay and creative ambitionOnline harassment and bullyingGender and belonging in fandom spacesIdentity and secrecyCollege applications

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Cosplay, comic shops, and college applications collide in this new novel from the author of You're Welcome, Universe, perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Noelle Stevenson!

Cameron's cosplay creations are finally starting to earn her attention--attention she hopes to use to get into the CalArts costume design department for college. But after she wins a major competition, she inadvertently sets off a firestorm of angry comments from male fans online.

When Cameron's family moves the summer before her senior year, she hopes to complete her costume portfolio in peace and quiet away from the abuse. Unfortunately, the only comic shop in town--her main destination for character reference--is staffed by a dudebro owner who challenges every woman who comes into the shop.

At her twin brother's suggestion, Cameron borrows a set of his clothes to waltz into the shop as Boy Cameron, where she's shocked at how easily she's accepted into the nerd inner sanctum. Soon, Cameron finds herself drafted into a D&D campaign. But as her "secret identity" gets more and more entrenched, Cameron's portfolio falls by the wayside--and her crush on one of the guys in the group threatens to make a complicated situation even more precarious.
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