Second Bookses

I... am a little bummed.I've been looking forward to reading Celebromancy since the second I finished Underwood's first book in the series, Geekomancy. I dove in the second I downloaded it, and ended up reading it in two separate sittings (I had some books that got in the way in the middle).Like the first book, Celebromancy is chock full of pop culture references, especially as they pertain to the geek world. It also introduces a new type of magic that surrounds celebrity culture, and several new characters as Ree is drawn into the world of Hollywood on location in the PNW when her script gets optioned for a new TV series pilot.So why am I disappointed?First off, the bigger-than-life character who meant so much to the plot of Geekomancy, Eastwood, is all but invisible in this book. Ree's carrying this one on her own with the supporting cast, and for the most part, they aren't very compelling. You have the Hollywood star on the decline trying to regain her fame, her longtime business partner Yancy, her bodyguard, and appearances from Grognard and Drake from book one. Maybe it's that I'm not all that enamored with Hollywood star culture and didn't really get into the plot. But with all the characters popping in and out, a sort of love square that didn't really get resolved much, and an odd lack of chemistry between Drake and Ree this time out and I just kept having the feeling that something was missing. The engine was put together, and it seemed to be running, but there was this piece on the side you felt was supposed to go somewhere, but you weren't sure what it was.I'm hoping we'll get back to the antagonistic/Miyagi relationship between Eastwood and Bree and her own complicated family history in the future.