Secret Shopper Experience

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 Hi, everyone!

This secret shopper assignment was pretty fun and I had a fairly good experience. I went to one of the branches of the LFPL, but I won't say which one. The reference librarian was very helpful with choosing read-alikes for me. 

I asked for urban fantasy/paranormal romance novels with "diverse" protagonists. I told her that I had enjoyed the Mercy Thompson series in the past, but wasn't sure how well it held up. She had three suggestions, which she pulled off the top of her head because I lucked out and found someone who enjoyed that genre. 

She asked a few questions about what I meant by "Diverse." I really liked that and it helped her narrow down choices for me. She suggested three books: Minion by L.A. Banks, The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, and Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy. They all sounded pretty interesting, though I am not sure about Urban Shaman. I couldn't find any information as to whether the author is Indigenous American or not, and I have had some pretty bad experiences with white people writing about Indigenous Cultures (*cough* House of Night). If she is white, it's entirely possible that she did research and even had sensitivity readers, but I couldn't know without reading it.

 

Urban Shaman follows an Indigenous American character who also has "Celtic" ancestry who is a police officer. This reminds me a little of Anita Blake, who is a Federal Marshal (it's been a while since I read it). The overall tone seems like a cross between the Anita Blake and the Mercy Thomspon series (Goodreads, n.d.).


Minion follows a Black protagonist who is a vampire hunter. The setting as described by the Goodreads page is reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I also love the cover. The main character's outfit looks like something Phoebe from Charmed would wear (Goodreads, n.d.).


 Tasha Suri's novel has a South Asian coded main character who is a princess exiled by her sycophant brother who took over the Kingdom after their father died. The author has Punjabi ancestry and the story is inspired by Indian culture. It seems a little more High Fantasy than the others, but still interesting (Goodreads, n.d.)

 

 

Image and Synopsis Sources

Goodreads (n.d.) The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdom #1). Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54816780-the-jasmine-throne

Goodreads (n.d.). Minion (Vampire Huntress Legend #1). Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/39305

Goodreads (n.d.). Urban Shaman (Walker Papers #1). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/297929.Urban_Shaman

 

 

Comments

  1. Laurie FancherFebruary 3, 2023 at 12:21 PM

    Hi Katie! It's great that you found a librarian who knows the genre you were looking for! I have to say I share your uhh... problems with The House of Night series, so I understand approaching Urban Shaman with some trepidation. I actually started The Jasmine Throne at one point before Libby rudely snatched it away on the due date. What I read of it was good so far!
    It sounds like you had a pretty good experience with someone who had a good idea of what you were looking for. Diversity and representation in fantasy is sometimes so hit or miss.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katie Reads BooksFebruary 5, 2023 at 6:59 PM

      Laurie,

      I read House of Night when I was much younger and I swear I don't remember it being that bad! Then I started watching someone do a read-through of it on YouTube and just WOW. The constant slut-shaming, the frequent use of the R word (ableist one), and the sporadic, often problematic, references to Zoey's heritage were way worse than I remembered.

      The librarian's line of questioning was really nice because we aren't going to know everything. I suppose we are all on different trajectories of that life experience, so being able to ask questions if half the battle.

      Delete
  2. Erin CataldiFebruary 9, 2023 at 10:44 AM

    Great summary!

    ReplyDelete

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