Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con

by Mari Mancusi

Sometimes a girl's gotta be her own superhero...Comic book creator Hailey Hills has no idea what she's in for when she arrives at New York City's Comic Con for the first time. But when a pair of magical boots manages to turn her into a real life Karma Kitty--the superhero of her own design--she suddenly finds herself battling ninjas, pirates, and movie agent assassins -- all while trying to win back the one guy who got away.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Superheroes, Novella, Paranormal, Fiction, Contemporary Romance

103 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 3, 2011

About the author

Mari Mancusi grew up where the north wind meets the sea (otherwise known as Massachusetts), but has since made her home in the great state of Texas, mostly due to her love of summer. (And tacos.) A former Emmy Award winning TV news producer, today she is the author of more than two-dozen books for kids, teens, and adults, mostly of the sci-fi/fantasy variety. In addition to writing, Mari loves traveling, video games, and cosplaying. She is also Mom to an eight year old Frozen superfan who, when recently asked by her teacher to describe her hero answered: “My Mom!” (Okay, fine, she said Kristin Bell.)

You can find Mari online at www.marimancusi.com. She knows several Samanthas.

Reviews

[Amber Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up Karma Kitty because it looked fun and different. And boy was it ever! A ton is packed into this little book so there's never a lull in action. The world building was great! I wanted to live in Hailey's crazy world. Those magic boots sound like so much fun! It was a quirky read where so many crazy things are happening that shouldn't be able to happen, but somehow it all works. Is this a series?! It should really be a series! It is definitely different from what I normally read, but I greatly enjoyed the change up.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, fun novella filled with references and in-jokes that make my geeky little heart feel all warm and fuzzy.

The Pros:
Reconciliation story (love them), smart and geeky heroine, pining hunk of a hero, a kick ass pair of boots, and more ninjas than you can shake a (chop)stick at. The best way to describe this novella is "fun." I enjoyed reading it. Who doesn't want to be a superhero when they grow up? I think the most enticing thing about Cons is that they give "grown ups" the chance to recapture those fantasies. So, what better place to have someone discover superhero abilities and a nefarious plot than Comic Con? It's wish fulfillment, and it's done well.

The Cons:
The edition I read (Kindle) had a good deal of editing issues. Missing words, duplicated words, duplicated or inaccurate punctuation. Something definitely went wrong either in line editing or formatting. While it happened frequently enough to pull me out of the story in places, it was not so much as to make me abandon the story.

There are editing issues, but the overall story is strong enough to shine through. I enjoyed the characters. I like the setting. If anything, I wish there was more use of the setting in the story, because Cons are just so much fun. For a quick, fun read, Karma Kitty saves the day.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title alone caught my attention and the cover is also captured my attention. This book is over the top funny and keeps you guessing. Hailey and her ex-boyfriend created Karma Kitty but when Hailey leaves Collin at the alter, the relationship ends. Now in NY with new partner Thomas, she runs into Collin, magic boots, mystery, bad guys, hypnosis and a hea.

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con by Mari Mancusi

3.5 stars

Hailey Hills is one of the comic book creators of the popular, Karma Kitty. She arrives at the famous New York Comic Con for the first time with her comic book artist, Thomas. She is anxious about the event because her ex-fiance is going to be there and she hasn’t gotten over him since she left him at the alter because she was kidnapped by alien cats. That’s right alien cats. Strange things happen to Hailey and she wasn’t expecting the boots she bought for her Karma Kitty costume to be magic and able to turn her into Karma Kitty. Hailey finds herself battling ninjas, pirates, and a past love she isn’t sure she wants to leave completely behind her. I’m never really sure how to rate short stories or even novellas because they just aren’t books and for me I have different guidelines for rating them. Unspoken guidelines that I just seem to automatically know how I feel about rating and writing a review for. I really like Karma Kitty (I’m not typing out that title it is far too long), but I didn’t feel like it was a five star or even four star story. It was definitely higher than a three though hence the rating. To be a five star story you really have to blow me away and Karma Kitty didn’t do that. For me, Karma Kitty was a fun short story I downloaded for my Kindle and would read periodically when the current book I was reading would get too dark. There are a lot of spelling and grammar errors in this book, but it’s easy to look past because it’s fun.

Whimsical Writing Scale: 3.5

The main female character is Hailey. I liked Hailey well enough for her small part in the story and I felt like Mancusi did a great job of giving her a character. She was funny, sarcastic, sassy, and smart. She reminded me of myself a few times. Her situations were just so crazy and outlandish, but they would make me smile or laugh. One thing that really bothered me about Hailey was how she would lie to Collin and say it was because he wouldn’t believe her so there was no harm in lying. I disagree lying is lying and you should own up to the fact that your lying and not make excuses about it.

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 4

The main male character is Collin. Collin is a rather bland character compared to Hailey, while I did like him he didn’t have enough characterization for me to say if I really liked him or was just neutral. Even with his POVs, I learned nothing about him. While it’s not a bad thing considering this is a short story, I would’ve appreciated just as much depth as Hailey was given.

Swoon Worthy Scale: 3.5

The Villain- This was your typical bad Saturday morning cartoon villain. Not Joker bad because that is just far too evil, but more like Mojo Jojo and unless you were a 90s kid (or born in the 90s *cough cough* me *cough cough*) you probably don’t know who that is or even remember him.

Mojo Jojo was a villain that is scary for a kid but funny for a teenager and that is exactly how these villains are for me. They were so mediocre and I honestly thought they we didn’t even need them to continue the story. The ninjas were good enough and we didn’t need the whole Nancy Drew thing Hailey attempted to pull.

Villain Scale: 2.5

Our other character in this story is Thomas, Hailey’s comic book partner. He’s the artist of Karma Kitty and Hailey’s best friend. I really liked his character and he was just so funny. He reminded me of Beast Boy from Teen Titan personality wise.

Character Scale: 3.75

This cartoon pictures and gifs are probably unnecessary, but I like them. Anyway keep in mind that this is only 92 pages. While it is developed quite well for a novella/ short story, I thought it could’ve been better. Once again Mancusi is able to achieve making me laugh (which is really hard to do in books) and I recommend her if you want a fun writer who will have you giggling.

Plotastic Scale: 3.75

Cover Thoughts: I like it. It says “Karma Kitty”. It would’ve been cool if she looked like she was ready to fight somebody, but it’s simple and fun. Perfect for a short story!

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun superhero action/adventure story with a secondary second chance at love storyline. Hailey Hills is the creator of comic book superhero Karma Kitty. She is attending her first Comic Con to sign her comic books. Hailey’s former fiancé Collin is also attending Comic Con and she’s hoping to get the chance to reconnect. Hailey is ecstatic when Collin invites her to dinner. Unfortunately, Hailey’s magical boots turn her into Karma Kitty and she ends up battling ninjas, making her late for their date. This sets the tone for the rest of the story. The book is short and action packed. In the end the hero defeats the villains and gets her man.

[Madison Warner Fairbanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con by Mari Mancusi

Totally enjoyable superhero fantasy novella. The boots are magic and turn her into her superhero comic character. Now she just needs to decide if the guy that got away is worth the effort to chase or not. Fun and campy.

Hailey Hills writes a comic called Karma Kitty. While at the NY Comic Con, strange things start happening in Hailey's life. Again. It seems her new shoes, ordered from hiheelia.com have the ability to turn her into her comic book character. So now she's fighting ninjas and protecting innocents while trying to connect with her former fiancé.

"Get a grip, Collin. She's never going to end up at your hotel room if you can't even get up the courage to ask her to dinner.
"Would you like to go out to dinner?" he blurted, necessity being the mother of getting over yourself."
Excerpt from Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con my Mari Mancusi

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was HILARIOUS!!! The author did an excellent job of pulling me in from the start. It has adventure, comedy, action, and characters having to believe the unbelievable. It was just what the doctor ordered for me. I was able to relax and enjoy. I didn't want to put it down. It is a must read.

[Paul Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of frivolous geek fun read.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review appears in full on What Am I Reading?

Rate: 2

Ok, so what’s this story about? Uh, I don’t remember (sort of). Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con is a novella so it’s supposed to be short and a quick-read, but it’s also unremarkable. There isn’t much that happens in the story that’ll leave you wanting more or even recommend it to someone. In all honesty, the only reason I read the novella is because (a) it was free on Amazon and (b) Mari Mancusi also wrote the Blood Coven Vampire series, a series I loved back when I was reading it. So I thought I was getting a steal when I bought the book for free by an author I had enjoyed. It was obviously too good to be true.

The Two Things I Enjoyed About This Story

Magical Boots: I wouldn’t want boots based off of a comic book of a cat and have to fight crime, but I’d love a pair of boots that helped me to fly, or helped me walk faster when I running late for the train, or even just heat up when the temperature drops to unspeakable temperatures. Yeah this may seem pretty unimaginative, but I’ve got enough going on in school that I don’t want to a superhero too. Kudos to Hailey for beating up ninjas with her kitty powers, you have time, energy, and patience that I do not.

The last page or two: In the beginning of the story, and pretty much throughout the story, Hailey goes on about how she’d love to get back with her ex-fiance, if only he’d believe her ridiculous stories. Well in an ironic twist at the end of the story, it turns out that the story that caused the couple to break up wasn’t fake and the two get back together. I know this doesn’t sound ironic right now, but just image a significant other telling you how they couldn’t attend an event because he/she was abducted by aliens, breaking up with the person, and finding out much later that the significant other was actually kidnapped by people dressed as aliens for a reality TV show and you didn’t believe him/her. Yeah, that’s what makes the story funny and not a complete failure.

Overall, Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con was a short, quick read that didn’t feel particularly quick, but it offered some humor so it wasn’t a complete bust.

[Paula Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in New Zealand, since it's such a small country we don't really have great Conventions so I have to resort to reading about it . Though , I'm not a huge Comic reader or a LARP type person or even Anime - the idea of attending Comic Con in America sounds amazing and would be so much fun and excitement. So of course, when I saw that one of my favourite authors Mari Mancusi had released Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con , I just had to purchase it as the other thing I love is superhero type novels. Reading Karma Kitty, I was in for a ride as I met the author of the Karma Kitty comics Hailey who seems to live quite an adventurous life and with Comic Con coming up she has created the perfect Karma Kitty costume complete with some boots she has brought online - the thing though is these boots have magical properties and they ACTUALLY transform Hailey into her comic book character and alter-ego Karma Kitty complete with ears and a tail as well as the kick-ass superhero or in this case superkitty powers and it looks like she will need them in Karma Kitty goes to Comic Con as someone is killing off Comic Book Authors if they won't sign their film right deals and it's up to Hailey aka Karma Kitty to save the day so that she and her friend Thomas - the artist won't be next in the obituaries column.
A nice fun and light-hearted reader packed with laugh, action and a thread of mysteriousness throughout the covers. One for all Gamer Girls and Geek Girls , those like myself to read.

[Lady Entropy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I suffered from a harder version of the "Gamer Girl" syndrome. I wanted to LOVE Gamer Girl. The cover was awesome. The topic was near and dear.

And then it turned out contrived, convoluted and outright pointless. The HEA (and main conflict) came more thanks to divine intervention than actual work and effort from the heroine. And she tries to convince us she's a "geek" or "nerd" or part of the culture, but all she gives is the impression that the author only has passing knowledge of the culture and the rest was wikipedia-ed.

Same thing happens here. The author still does the very "tell not show" dance, to the point I notice (and I'm very tolerant of tell). Half the time, the book wanted to play cute and go slapstick (rent-a-ninja! "as you know, bob" moments) and then playing it straight.

I wound up getting whiplash, and the insight I was hoping to get into the functioning of a Comic con seemed made by someone who has no clue on how reality works. Even I could tell that the research was shoddy (for example, the villains brainwashed an artist to sell out the comic he drew -- when said comic wasn't HIS. The IP had been developed by the writer, who had even had another artist. And now they had sold to a publisher. So, instead brainwashing the people who could sell the IP, they went after the guy that was just a paid artist.

Yeah. No.

Don't get me wrong. It's not "bad" or "nasty" or "offensive". But it's just... not well made.

[P.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored Karma Kitty because:

1) It's an adult book, not a kid's book, and it's nice to vary my reading a bit from time to time.
2) Comic Con. Seriously. This alone is a selling point for me.
3) The main character gets super powers from a kick-butt pair of boots.
4) It's fun. It doesn't try to take itself too seriously.
5) It's a fast read and full of action.
6) It's only 99 cents!

So if you're a fan of ereading, this one is totally worth checking out.

[Melindeeloo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, silly and kind of frenetic. This was a fun little kindle freebie. Glad our heroine finally got her own HEA with the love of her life.

I like the new cover (it's not the one here on Goodreads), it reminds me of the costume my very own kiddie kitty wore to Anime Expo.

[Caro Kinkead · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needed editing, enough so that I found myself pulled out of the story. Fifth time it happened, I stopped.

[Maryalice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't the type of book I would normally read, but it was a good change of pace. Karma Kitty was a nice easy read and it was good to read an adult romance that didn't involve sex.

[Moonlight Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please read our full review at www.moonlightreads.com.

[Angela]

21 September 2014: $0.00 FREE on Kindle

[Courteney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Lots of craziness going on and the magic boots were awesome. I loved the actions scenes and the characters were great!

[Kenneth Pallais · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and a quick read. It has some funny moments but that's about it.

Cute and a quick read. It has some funny moments but that's about it. Highly recommend for the short flight.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun book - it just needed to be about 5 times longer.

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

It needs a lot of editing work, and the writing is very childish.

[Diane Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great mystery. Love the humor.