This book is lacking the unique tone and atmosphere that distinguished the first book from the rest of the generic UF pile.
The biggest difference is that the bittersweetness got mostly replaced by cheesiness.
What came across as heartache-inducing melancholy in the first book now doesn't go much beyond extreme teen-angst.
There is a little of the previous heartache in this one but it had far too little page-time which made it feel cheap and on top of that, it's drenched in cheesy HEA vibes which makes it really hard to care.
Maybe people found the first book too depressing and this was an attempt at correction?
But then, who would pick up the second one if the first one was too depressing?

The protagonists mostly lost their moral ambiguousness and instead just became goodie-two-shoes.
Apart from one exception, the entire cast has pretty much been split up into good and evil.

The big focus on the unique personal flaws and the concrete description of various facets of mental disorders and how a grown-up might cope with them became little more than a footnote.
I particularly disliked this change because I enjoyed the "inside the mind of a borderline" core character idea a lot.
I myself have seen various psychiatric centers from the inside and have gotten to know people with various personality disorders and other mental illnesses, and while not everything in the first book rang entirely true, I was very much surprised by the accuracy of the imparted feeling in particular.
But in this book the whole mental illness stuff got in the way of the plot and one thing had to give. So the mental illness stuff ended up suffering a lot. For example, it suddenly only applied when it wasn't inconvenient to the plot.

The plot itself is far more intricate and there are multiple well-executed twists but the shift in tone was so jarring for me that I had trouble getting on board. I would probably have enjoyed this book a lot more without the first one anchoring my expectations so entirely different. ( )

Really good followup to Borderline. The MC's voice remains fresh and distinct, and decisions make sense given the context. I can't wait for the next one.

The story continues to have stakes for the MC and the other characters, and I'm enjoying getting to know both the world and the characters. Really hated one of the consequences though.

Also, the titles to both Borderline and Phantom Pains could NOT be more perfect. ( )

PHANTOM PAINS by Mishell Baker. Sequel to BORDERLINE, picks up right where the first left off. Millie Roper has a new job and a new life away from the Arcadia Project, until the Project comes crashing back in. Fun read that went a direction I did not expect. ( )

And I thought I loved the first book. This middle book was more plotty and less driven by Millie's chaos (though she manages a few upsets...) But these books!

Not only does the story become more complicated than "good vs. bad" but the characters evolve and drive the plot. I'd read an entire book with these characters doing nothing but going grocery shopping. They are all such interesting and complete people. I also really loved where she's taking the Sidhe Courts storyline. It's been awhile since the traditional fae stories have surfaced past the omnipresent vampires/weres.

ALSO!

The white character acknowledged her own racism, twice! ( )

I liked this about the same as Borderline, but I liked it differently. This felt snappier, lighter, more optimistic, and closer to the typical urban fantasy feel—which I credit to Millie having four months of therapy and Baker’s ability to realistically develop her characters. Baker’s also expanded on her world a lot in this one, and … it’s pretty kooky, at least the Fae side of it. I wasn’t expecting quite that level of kook, but I didn’t mind. It made sense. (See again: Baker can write.)

Of course by “typical urban fantasy,” I mean about as typical as Borderline. Sure, it nods to all the tropes (law enforcement, love triangles, a heroine who doesn’t like rules) but then it takes them in a refreshingly different direction. The mystery’s so twisty I didn’t see half the stuff coming, there are more shades of moral grey than I’d expected, there are women doing awesome things besides solving crimes, and, like in the last one, nearly every human is queer, of colour, neurodiverse, or otherwise disabled.

Possibly my favourite bit, though, is how Baker has managed to turn mental illness and disability into assets and occasionally almost superpowers. (Life-giving, as Tumblr might say.) I also liked that Baker had me rooting for Millie not because that’s what you do for heroines, but because I was genuinely worried she wouldn’t succeed.

This is still one of the coolest and most original urban fantasy series I’ve run into, definitely the most diverse, and it manages to balance fun with serious messages. Recommended to urban fantasy fans and fans of diverse casts, especially if you want to see your mental illness treated well.

Warnings: Ableism, immediately shut down. Several instances of “mind rape,” including of neurodiverse people, also treated as not okay.

8/10 ( )