My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a weird, wonderful, wild ride through time and space.
Set after Mutantsitters Club, Project Himbo by SJ Whitby plays with time and narrative structure to show the events of the Dark Year and the backstory of several new characters.
Joining the cast are Goat Bee, a transwoman with goat hooves and horns; Eva, a sentient algae colony suspended in water contained in an AI-controlled suit who became a mutant to exterminate mutants; Ian, Ion Storm, Eva’s partner and lover who can manipulated electricity; Nails, who shoots nails from machinery in their mouth; Twinkle Lights, who has Jubilee-esque light powers; Hench, a windup biomechanical mutant who has worked for various villains to pay of her medical debt; and Tentacle Princess, a hyperdimensional alien creature whose race were worshiped like gods and fed on humans and Cybele.
Fan favorites Feral, Penance, and Onimaru also make appearances, but my favorite of the new mutants is Eva. Her backstory and raison d’etre drew me in, and I would read a whole book from her point of view. And it’s her quest to save Ian that propels the story forward as she seeks to reverse time, creating pocket dimensions and nearly destroying the space-time continuum in the process.
Which leads me to my next point.
Unlike previous entries in the series, Project Himbo uses multiple first-person POVs and switches between past and present, which was confusing at first trying to keep the timelines and characters straight. It also veers into metafiction at time with the characters talking about things like narrative arcs, plot structure, and character development.
Ultimately, I got what Mx. Whitby was trying to accomplish, but I can see how this book could throw readers off, especially in Penance’s chapters where it delves into religion, philosophy, and the metaphysics behind her powers.
At times, the book all but broke the fourth wall, and while I predicted the twist, it was still a head trip getting there.
Overall, I loved this book much more than The Mutantsitters Club and can’t wait to see where the series goes next. I give Project Himbo 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.
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