Bryan Lee O'Malley

I picked this up on a whim (I find that I really enjoy most Image titles), and what started out as a seemingly fluff story about fashion bloggers and their rather shallow lives takes a surprising turn into something more... sinister? A mysterious "resurrection", possible supernatural elements, a stalker, a police investigation into the possible death of the possibly resurrected friend, and another possible murder. Or is it all just an allergy drug-induced hallucination? We'll have to wait show more until the next collected edition to find out more, but needless to say I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly intrigued to find out what happens next. show less

Raleigh finds herself on a road trip from California to Vancouver with a group of kids she sort-of knows from school. She spends most of the trip in her own head, because of reasons, but eventually starts to open up to her travel companions, especially Stephanie. This leads to some strange revelations, like Raleigh believing she has no soul, and the group's search for said soul in a small town in California (or possibly Oregon).

I absolutely fell in love with this book because Raleigh's show more inner-monologue felt way too much like mine at times. It still does. I should start reading this whenever I feel truly low, I think it might help. show less

OMG ok so vol 2 was EVERYTHING i hoped it would b AND MORE

best phrases to describe this r definitely "psychological thriller" (from jacket blurb) and "emotional rollercoaster" (from goodreads description), i might combine them to say this is a psychological rollercoaster

the bi energy radiating off the pages: ~powerful~

caroline's brother? the ghost girl? the episode w the tea in the desert? PERFECT. ICONIC.

this has become a wild and psychotic journey thru the limits of The Real as it show more manifests in everyday drama, compounded by everyday neuroses into a truly unexpected and apparently unassuming nightmare show less

Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Seconds focuses on Katie, the executive chef and creator of the eponymous restaurant who’s planning to open a new space, named Lucknow, in a different part of her city. While balancing her responsibilities to renovate the new space, saving money by living above her current restaurant, and slowly transitioning out of her role as the head of Seconds, she begins to see a strange elf-like creature. After a terrible accident she blames on her lost focus from balancing show more too many responsibilities, Katie discovers that the creature is the house spirit, Lis, who grows mushrooms that allow a person to undo a mistake. Despite the house spirit’s warnings, Katie begins to use the mushrooms to undo any mistake, big or small. Soon, she learns that meddling with reality has its price and she cannot keep up with all the changes to reality she causes. Worse, her actions put Lis and reality in danger.

O’Malley’s story has the tone of a fable transplanted to the modern day. Despite the presence of cars and cell phones, there’s something about it that feels entirely gothic. His depiction of the new restaurant tucked away under a bridge or Katie’s original restaurant as akin to an inn or public house evokes an earlier time when magic could inhabit an urban space. The story further has a moral about accepting life’s changes rather than brooding on what could have been. O’Malley brings his sense of humor with Katie breaking the fourth wall to react to and engage with the narration, adding a metatextuality to this modern fable. Great for fans of fantasy and an excellent work demonstrating O’Malley’s storytelling talent! show less