ANDROMEDA KLEIN
by Frank Portman
A disappointing second outing from the author of King Dork (2006) introduces Andromeda Klein, teenage occultist. Hearing-impaired Andromeda enjoys reading tarot, planning her future masterpiece, Liber K, and studying the magic she calls ouijanesse. Once, Andromeda had an excellent older boyfriend (St. Steve) and a partner in the occult (the Most Holy Soror Daisy Wasserstein). But since St. Steve’s disappearance and Daisy’s death from leukemia, Andromeda’s been alone. Andromeda is a compelling character, whose reclaiming of misheard words and misspelled text messages gives her unique and likable flavor. It’s Andromeda’s story that suffers, a low-action, pensive outing from an unreliable narrator. Andromeda’s discoveries move slowly; while there are many narrative mysteries for readers, the occult mystery Andromeda tries to solve is extremely difficult to follow. For readers who are occult fans, this quirky text will be a self-satisfied joy; for others, an unreadable morass. Alas, the conclusion (satisfying but easy, with a frustrating and unnecessary near-magical disability cure) is a rush job after hundreds of pages of meandering magickal confusion. (Supernatural. 12-14)