Amy Kim Ganter

Nicole has extremely vivid dreams and daydreams about a lonely sorcerer named Ellon who was betrayed by his familiar and only friend, Sonneth. She writes these vivid dreams into her dreamlog, paying only the most minimal attention necessary to things like her business classes and her friend Susan. At night she works as a secretary.

Josh is a bookstore employee who's gotten all his tips about interacting with women from Riley, a pickup artist who happens to be his roommate. Female customers show more practically fall over themselves to give Josh their number, which he always deposits in a jar. The person he's really interested in is Nicole, who he was never able to charm. When Nicole enters his store, Josh figures he'll give it another shot, but he doesn't realize that he's competing against Nicole's daydreams about Ellon.

I wanted to like this more than I actually did. A big part of the problem was that I was not on board with what appeared to be the central romance, between Nicole and Josh. I think readers were supposed to view Josh as a nice guy who just had unfortunate taste in friends. He didn't see anything wrong with collecting girls' phone numbers like trophies - weirdly, the only person who had any problems with it was Nicole. I'd have thought he'd have at least one regular customer who got fed up with or annoyed at his constant flirting. It certainly irked me.

I could sympathize with Nicole's annoyance at Josh's behavior, especially considering the flashbacks to the time when he lived a floor below her and would literally bang the ceiling with a broom and cheerfully call her up to let her know that he was causing that noise (was that supposed to be cute??). And the fact that he wouldn't leave her alone, even though he noticed she was trying to avoid him. And when she asked him to quit all the constant flirting, his response was: "I wouldn't be flirting with you if you didn't make me feel like it was working! So, whose fault is this?" Ugh. Josh, you're responsible for your own behavior, and Nicole asked you to stop, so just stop. Unfortunately, considering all the blushing, I'm pretty sure readers were supposed to view that moment as romantic or something.

I've written a lot about Josh, but I wasn't really wild about Nicole either. I could understand her tendency to escape into daydreams, since she didn't seem too excited about the direction her life was taking and appeared to mostly be doing whatever would make her mother happy. However, her daydreaming was so constant that she barely paid any attention to the people in her life. Granted, she didn't seem to care much about any of those people - she had nothing in common with Susan, her supposed friend, and her feelings for Josh were a muddled mess.

This is a short series - just one more volume to go. Let's see if it improves.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

Nicole has decided to cut things off with Josh because being with him distracts her from the story she's been writing about Ellon. However, when Josh chases after her and asks for an explanation she finds herself telling him about the story - and then he even reads part of it in her dreamlog and loves it. From that point on, Josh becomes Nicole's writing cheerleader, encouraging her to finish the story so she can submit it to a magazine. He still loves Nicole, but he's determined not to let show more it show so he doesn't mess things up again. However, things come to a head as Nicole is forced to choose between studying enough to pass the business classes her mom wants her to take and finishing the story in time for the magazine deadline.

This was definitely better than the first volume, even though it didn't really make sense that Nicole would tell Josh everything about her story and then just hand him the dreamlog to read. Yes, she'd once had a crush on him, but then she'd seen him act like a sleazy player and had to deal with him chasing after her every time she tried to avoid him. On the plus side, Josh's behavior improved drastically in this volume, so the way their relationship progressed wasn't too much of a stretch.

Just as in the first volume, Nicole and Josh's story was occasionally interrupted by snippets of Ellon's story. I realized in this volume that aspects of Ellon and his story reminded me strongly of Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle - I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the author was influenced by that movie. I liked how Ellon's story worked out and could definitely see the influence of Nicole's final decisions, although the shift in the way a couple of the characters were drawn was more than a bit jarring.

As for Riley and Susan, they were a horrible couple who I could imagine getting into screaming fights multiple times a week. They were useful for complicating Nicole and Josh's story, but it made me wince to see things somehow work out for them.

All in all, this was a so-so series. The art was charming, but I didn't warm up to the romance until the second volume. Also, the overall message was maybe a bit too simplistic, and aspects of it didn't really age well. I couldn't help but think about student loans, and about Tokyopop and reports of what its contracts were like. It's probably not a bad idea for creatives to learn a bit about business in addition to honing their craft.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

I just re-read this (first read about a year ago) and was surprised and delighted at the whimsy and magic in the story.

Nicole's just a little bit obsessed with fancy, particularly a story she's dreaming and writing. She doesn't have time for or interest in anything else; it's all just noise that distracts her from the real story. Josh is a collector of girls' phone numbers who can't quite get Nicole out of his head even though she never sought his company, and he's moved out of her building. show more It's an interesting beginning to the story of these two moving closer together.

I hope the second volume will be as lovely and magical.

I do have to point out that Josh is a bit of a jerk about women. He's never shown actually seeking their phone numbers, and they're quite unrealistically shown throwing themselves at him. Still, he keeps a jar of their numbers. His roommate (not going to look up his name) is a world-class slimeball about romance. I hope he gets a metaphorical (or literal, that'd be fine, too) kick in the balls in the second volume. show less

Sorcerers & Secretaries, Volume 1 by Amy Kim Ganter is a two part graphic novel series, done in a manga style. Volume 1 introduces Nicole Hayes, an artist who is stuck studying for a career her mother wants her to have, and a terrible job as a receptionist to pay her bills. When she has free time, she draws in a journal.

Nicole's journal drawings form the basis for the second plot in this series. There is a powerful wizard who has powers stripped for his arrogance. As a wanderer he goes in show more search for something that will restore himself to his former glory.

In the middle of the blending of Nicole's real-world story and her fantasy, is a romance (sort of). There's a former neighbor who has a complete crush on her. Except he's a bit of a player so there's no reason for Nicole to take his interest in her seriously.

It's a good start to a manga-esque series. I'm curious to see how it wraps up. show less