Of Anime and the Baeci by Alessandra Ebulu

 All Ray wants is peace and quiet—something he is never going to get with his idiotic neighbor blasting anime and crazy music at all hours. When he finally breaks down and asks Cata to knock it off, he doesn't expect a friendship to develop. And he definitely does not anticipate a romance.

A romance he fears won't last, given that Ray is much more than he seems and only in the apartment building because he's desperately searching for a serial killer—and trying to keep Cata from becoming the next victim.

First off, this is a well-written book. It captures you and drags you along, most of the way through. My favorite and least favorite character? Cata. Cata is a Bacci, basically an androgynous human who claims no gender, but accepts whatever pronoun you wish to place - I’ll use he for the point of this review. My favorite parts about him? First off, he was completely unapologetically him. He made no excuses, was not ashamed, and others’ opinions did not bother or sway him. Cata had a great head on his shoulders, and, as it turned out, a huge history to back him up when it was needed. What I didn’t like about him were two things: A: anyone who blasts their stereo/television/yells loudly in the middle of the night for days/weeks on end and then tries to come across as “Oh, I didn’t know it was too loud”? I instantly dislike. I’ve been in apartment complexes with people like that and so that was a major checkmark in the Bad Cata box. Especially when he tried to say “but nobody told me.” Uh, Ray told you twice. B: Cata’s description of what anime is and why he eats, breathes, and lives it? I was one with Ray’s reaction to it.  Strangely enough though, his description, which came across as rather cultish, fit in perfectly with his brothers in Bacci’hood, who ended up being victims of our bad guy.

And that brings me to one of the best parts of the book - The evil guy was truly evil. He wasn’t bad, misunderstood, or a product of his upbringing. He reveled in his evilness. And I kind of like that in an antagonist. He’s hunting Bacci, murdering each one, and then bathing himself in their blood and taking in their soul to use their power. Oh yeah, and he’s otherworldly, as in not from here.

So if you take the blurb, add in a huge paranormal element, an overwhelming dash of anime, an amused Bacci, an annoyed and attracted Ray, and a bevy of secondary characters who are for the most part amusing, you’ve got Of Anime and the Bacci.

Solid 4 star book.

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