by Jordan Dinwiddie – Guest Writer
They say the second effort is the hardest. Well, how about the eighth for Bryan Lee O’Malley? Bringing us his follow-up to the massively popular Scott Pilgrim series, you’d think that he wouldn’t have much to talk about. A story about second chances and perhaps O’Malley’s second phase of his career, there is a level of maturation in the storytelling of Seconds that Scott Pilgrim simply didn’t have, without losing any of the spunk or charm of his earlier work.
Basically, this is nothing like Scott Pilgrim. Our protagonist Katie, a motivated and ambitious chef, makes Scott seem like the ultimate scrub. After an accident that causes an injury in the kitchen, Katie finds a secret panel of her dresser allowing her to correct her mistake. Surprisingly, it works. So what does Katie do? Like any successful 20-something, she takes advantage, of course. Eventually, Katie discovers just how bad things can get as she tries to fix everything in her life, only to see it fall apart in front of her.
O’Malley’s ability to embrace the spirit of a 24 year old girl trying to figure it all out is really what stuck with me , because well, I’m trying to do that myself. I couldn’t put it down. It’s a brick (325 pages to be exact) but a quick read. Please check out Seconds, I’d love to see this trippy Ground Hog’s Day tale turned into a movie.