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Psychic State #1
Psychic City
Fortunetellers. Demotivational speakers. Disillusioned shapeshifters.
You never know quite who -- or what -- you'll run into in Psychic City, but that's what makes life interesting for a PsyOps agent.Penny is a spirit medium hounded by hordes of undead fans, Karen is an empath who spends most of her time hiding beneath an oversized hoodie, and Viv is an eideticist with prophetic visions, a photographic memory, and a lot of baggage she'd just as soon forget.They might not always know exactly what they're doing, but when they're working together to investigate paranormal crime, they get results.
That's until a string of murders targets the city's psychic population, hitting a little close to home and putting the trio of detectives to the ultimate test.
You never know quite who -- or what -- you'll run into in Psychic City, but that's what makes life interesting for a PsyOps agent.Penny is a spirit medium hounded by hordes of undead fans, Karen is an empath who spends most of her time hiding beneath an oversized hoodie, and Viv is an eideticist with prophetic visions, a photographic memory, and a lot of baggage she'd just as soon forget.They might not always know exactly what they're doing, but when they're working together to investigate paranormal crime, they get results.
That's until a string of murders targets the city's psychic population, hitting a little close to home and putting the trio of detectives to the ultimate test.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 22, 2020
37 people are currently reading
222 people want to read
About the author
Page Turner
9 books94 followersPage Turner is the award-winning author of many books. With a professional background in psychological research and organizational behavioral consulting, Page is best described as a “total nerd.” She’s been cited as a relationship expert in a variety of media publications including The Huffington Post, Glamour, Self, and Bustle.
She clearly can’t see the future because she didn’t see any of that coming.
Due to her incurable wanderlust, she has lived many places, but these days she calls Dallas home.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 14, 2022
From a purely technical standpoint, this book needed the services of even a low-level proofreader to catch the typos, missing words, and other typing flubs. I paid full-price (~£13/$16) for a paperback and the copy I received read like a free ARC, not a finished, polished product.
I like where she's going with the series, but nothing much happens in this book until the last 60ish pages as she attempts to cope with the world-building and establish the backgrounds of the three main characters and their relationships with each other and to the rest of the world. Most series suffer from first-book syndrome in that regard and it isn't a major criticism, but it could have been handled with a bit more finesse. More info on Amarynth and them checking in with Connections would have been nice. More detail on the the subsequent murder scenes as well. She just kind of casually shoves the second and third murders in like "Btw, there were more killings, so we have a serial". Less "oh, we can't talk about that because it's *secret*" from all the main characters is a must since it not only makes for a frustrating reading experience, but also because they continually pat themselves on the back about their ability to communicate while also constantly misunderstanding each other. There's more to say, but I'm running out of steam.
The story and the world being built have potential, but the execution leaves me wanting and frustrated.
I like where she's going with the series, but nothing much happens in this book until the last 60ish pages as she attempts to cope with the world-building and establish the backgrounds of the three main characters and their relationships with each other and to the rest of the world. Most series suffer from first-book syndrome in that regard and it isn't a major criticism, but it could have been handled with a bit more finesse. More info on Amarynth and them checking in with Connections would have been nice. More detail on the the subsequent murder scenes as well. She just kind of casually shoves the second and third murders in like "Btw, there were more killings, so we have a serial". Less "oh, we can't talk about that because it's *secret*" from all the main characters is a must since it not only makes for a frustrating reading experience, but also because they continually pat themselves on the back about their ability to communicate while also constantly misunderstanding each other. There's more to say, but I'm running out of steam.
The story and the world being built have potential, but the execution leaves me wanting and frustrated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2021
Enjoyable crime procedural in a brave new world setting
A murder mystery existing in a new “state” where psychics and their powers are harnessed and exploited by the state. The author does a good job of world building, but definitely left me wanting to know more. I thought the representation of polyamory in the protagonists was really well done. Although, in this new world, being in a same sex relationship is still considered taboo and being in a polyamorous relationship is apparently quite unusual and also taboo. I probably would have given it 4 stars because it was just a fun read and I usually save 5 stars for books that are life-changing in some way, good polyam representation is so unusual that I want to boost this novel. And I guess this kind of representation can be life-changing even in a beach read. I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.
A murder mystery existing in a new “state” where psychics and their powers are harnessed and exploited by the state. The author does a good job of world building, but definitely left me wanting to know more. I thought the representation of polyamory in the protagonists was really well done. Although, in this new world, being in a same sex relationship is still considered taboo and being in a polyamorous relationship is apparently quite unusual and also taboo. I probably would have given it 4 stars because it was just a fun read and I usually save 5 stars for books that are life-changing in some way, good polyam representation is so unusual that I want to boost this novel. And I guess this kind of representation can be life-changing even in a beach read. I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.
September 8, 2020
I didn't want to put it down. Definitely building a world I'm eager to see more of, with characters that feel real to me. The world is like our own except where it's not, but this story nails the bureaucratic reality of a society that doesn't want to treat people who are different equally. I'm not typically a mystery reader, so I didn't guess anything before the end, but upon a re-read, there were so many little details spread throughout the book that made me grin. The ending left me desperate for the sequel, and there are so many other questions I could ask.
Will definitely be looking forward to more from this author!
Will definitely be looking forward to more from this author!
October 2, 2023
Disclaimer: I have not finished the book, and have skimmed past the point I stopped to find substance for my review. I may or may not go back later to refine my review.
Let's talk about author bias. This will be lengthier than a typical review.
Note that I will not talk about the writing or narration styles in this review, both of which I find lacking, which could simply be a result of this being the author's first book. The assumed absence of a creative writing course from the author's pedigree as well as the nonexistence of editors or sensitivity readers in this book's making are noted, but I will not elaborate on these points further.
Author bias is less about what the author wants to communicate, but rather what they don't necessarily realize they are communicating. Trigger warning for ableism.
The premise of this book is great: a triad of polyamorous women solve mysteries. Awesome! I love me some good polyamorous representation. I bought this book because the author, Page, runs a website and a page called poly.land, which I follow on various social media. However, my first impression is that of an author who focused too much on one aspect and did not refine the meat around it.
I will not discuss the mystery itself; I leave that to people who have read the whole book/series. Rather, my review will consist of a few points:
Autism and the "usefulness" to society
Early on in the book, we are introduced to Amarynth, an agent whose job is to draw up what's referred to as a "causality board", and deduct things that other agents can use. Before we even meet the character, the narration points out that Amarynth essentially speaks another language, and that only she knows how to deduct her own mess, as it were.
Now, Amarynth is autistic. This may come as a surprise to people who do not know much about autism itself, and indeed it may even be a surprise for the author herself. However, as an autistic person myself and an autistic advocate for many years, this was something I noticed immediately.
Amarynth is portrayed as, quote, "The Cassandra of PsyOps", as she can see things other people couldn't, and became frustrated as others ignored her warnings. Combined with the depiction of someone who can make sense of random events — strong pattern recognition — and that of one who struggles to communicate to others, this is a very clear-cut description of (some forms of) autism.
However, it starts to fall apart when combined with a specific type of miscommunication issue that, in my experience, does not coincide with this form of autism. Indeed, Amarynth simply bursts out "You need to go to jail" when the characters walk in. This is, very plainly, done for comedic effect, as she means to say that this is where their investigation will take them. An autistic person in a similar situation would, instead, give them a short sentence or even just a few words, like, in this context, "East Watson". Saying "You need to go to jail" in this context is purposefully misleading, and no one speaks that way unless they themselves are trying to mislead.
The narration describes the characters as getting frustrated at her, but putting up with it because she's useful. Which brings me to my next point:
The perception of autistics from outside
In the same chapter that Amarynth is introduced, it is said that overloading her leads to "her becoming overwhelmed and storming out of her office space to go hide in one of the many unmarked closets". This is called a sensory overload, and can happen when an autistic person has too many things to process at once, and will lead to them finding a way (even if not the best) to calm this. Storming off is a common response, as is screaming, punching, or curling up in a ball. An overload is a deeply painful thing — that's why it's an overload — and something we try to avoid at all costs.
This line in itself is not too problematic, though if I were writing that, I would be focusing more on what Amarynth feels during these moments, rather than how she reacts. Focusing on how a certain autistic person reacts to stimuli is very common in society, as people don't understand the level of pain and discomfort that leads there, and as such rarely empathize, typically reducing these serious events as nothing more than a tantrum.
Additionally, allistics (that is, non-autistic people) often see the resulting event, and rarely what leads up to it. In Amarynth's case, it's pointed out that she can only handle a very small number of questions at once before getting into a sensory overload. While consistent with some autistics, this strikes me as odd in regards to someone who regularly handles loads of different information at once. Not impossible, but certainly odd.
In a way, this part mirrors society, in that autistic people are often regarded from an outside lens, without much regard or even thought to their own self-perception. But what makes this bad is what follows:
Autistic people viewed as a mere inconvenience
After explaining to the reader that Amarynth gets sensory overloads from too many questions at once, the narration makes light of this fact, off-handedly mentioning that, in some cases, "they could afford to mess around with a meltdown or two from Amarynth". I have not seen other reviews talking about this, but this line — which doesn't seem to even be acknowledged at any point past this — lets the readers know that the characters are sometimes actively malicious with her.
The characters "can afford" a meltdown or two means, when you view it from the lens of an autistic person, that our well-being is not important and viewed as a mere inconvenience. At best, it means the characters — who have known her for years — have not bothered to learn or care about Amarynth's limits. However, this theory is disproven before it can even take form, as the paragraph before says that they learned to not ask too many questions at once.
This means, in other words, that the characters either sometimes find it funny to overload Amarynth on purpose, or that they forget to care about her well-being when the case is not urgent. In either case, this is, well, bad. Now, it could be a matter of simply a bad character, but the narration seems to take their side, and never cares about that. This leads me to another, far more interesting point:
The author (allegedly) expects other people to know what she thinks
To echo the start of this, the author seems to have biases that have either not been addressed, or, more likely, are in her blind spot. Now, I am no psychologist, but I am autistic and a pretty good reader. As part of my daily life, I have had to learn to see the true intents behind what people say and do, as allistics rarely say exactly what they mean (and they say we're the ones with communication issues... but I digress).
A while ago, I decided to join the Poly.Land discord server, to chat with other polyamorous folks and possibly find other people with mutual interests. Upon joining, I introduced myself, and then a random bot (I don't remember which at this point) was like "Congratulations! You're now level 1!". Now, I understand other people might like that (good for them!), but this kind of thing — which I didn't ask for and could not opt out of — tarnished my joy.
I brought it up, and asked if I could opt out of it or if it could only talk in some specific channels (rather than all of them, potentially muddying important conversations). Of course, no one owes me anything, especially not as a newcomer, but Page's response was to essentially deal with it. Fair, I suppose. I wouldn't even be bringing this up if not for the fact that the characters mostly seem to behave this way.
Indeed, one of the characters seems to expect all the other characters around her to mostly just... know what she's thinking. Even then, they don't always get it. While people like that absolutely do exist, it was extremely jarring to see that here. Mature adults talk about issues, they don't take it out on their partners; then again I might just have not gotten to the part where that's talked about. But I felt the need to include that as part of, maybe, an unconscious part of the author slipping in. That said, this is somewhat related to my original point:
Unaddressed biases cause real-world harm
I know this seems a bit far-fetched, but stick with me for a minute. Yes, this is just a fiction book, and no, this book itself will likely not be used to deny autistics agency. However, the author, Page, has a platform talking about and promoting polyamory. And as with every person with a large enough audience, she has a duty of care to the people of the community she represents, autistic people included.
If someone with such a platform is able to write something as blatantly disrespectful to autistics as this, I fear what unaddressed and harmful biases could make it into her articles, which in turn could lead to negative repercussions for people in the community.
Please talk to advocates, and hire sensitivity readers. And for the love of all that is good, run your draft by a competent editor. There's many other unrelated issues I could spot that would have been greatly improved through an editor, but I don't think it relevant to mention those here, as this review is dragging on too long already.
Let's talk about author bias. This will be lengthier than a typical review.
Note that I will not talk about the writing or narration styles in this review, both of which I find lacking, which could simply be a result of this being the author's first book. The assumed absence of a creative writing course from the author's pedigree as well as the nonexistence of editors or sensitivity readers in this book's making are noted, but I will not elaborate on these points further.
Author bias is less about what the author wants to communicate, but rather what they don't necessarily realize they are communicating. Trigger warning for ableism.
The premise of this book is great: a triad of polyamorous women solve mysteries. Awesome! I love me some good polyamorous representation. I bought this book because the author, Page, runs a website and a page called poly.land, which I follow on various social media. However, my first impression is that of an author who focused too much on one aspect and did not refine the meat around it.
I will not discuss the mystery itself; I leave that to people who have read the whole book/series. Rather, my review will consist of a few points:
Autism and the "usefulness" to society
Early on in the book, we are introduced to Amarynth, an agent whose job is to draw up what's referred to as a "causality board", and deduct things that other agents can use. Before we even meet the character, the narration points out that Amarynth essentially speaks another language, and that only she knows how to deduct her own mess, as it were.
Now, Amarynth is autistic. This may come as a surprise to people who do not know much about autism itself, and indeed it may even be a surprise for the author herself. However, as an autistic person myself and an autistic advocate for many years, this was something I noticed immediately.
Amarynth is portrayed as, quote, "The Cassandra of PsyOps", as she can see things other people couldn't, and became frustrated as others ignored her warnings. Combined with the depiction of someone who can make sense of random events — strong pattern recognition — and that of one who struggles to communicate to others, this is a very clear-cut description of (some forms of) autism.
However, it starts to fall apart when combined with a specific type of miscommunication issue that, in my experience, does not coincide with this form of autism. Indeed, Amarynth simply bursts out "You need to go to jail" when the characters walk in. This is, very plainly, done for comedic effect, as she means to say that this is where their investigation will take them. An autistic person in a similar situation would, instead, give them a short sentence or even just a few words, like, in this context, "East Watson". Saying "You need to go to jail" in this context is purposefully misleading, and no one speaks that way unless they themselves are trying to mislead.
The narration describes the characters as getting frustrated at her, but putting up with it because she's useful. Which brings me to my next point:
The perception of autistics from outside
In the same chapter that Amarynth is introduced, it is said that overloading her leads to "her becoming overwhelmed and storming out of her office space to go hide in one of the many unmarked closets". This is called a sensory overload, and can happen when an autistic person has too many things to process at once, and will lead to them finding a way (even if not the best) to calm this. Storming off is a common response, as is screaming, punching, or curling up in a ball. An overload is a deeply painful thing — that's why it's an overload — and something we try to avoid at all costs.
This line in itself is not too problematic, though if I were writing that, I would be focusing more on what Amarynth feels during these moments, rather than how she reacts. Focusing on how a certain autistic person reacts to stimuli is very common in society, as people don't understand the level of pain and discomfort that leads there, and as such rarely empathize, typically reducing these serious events as nothing more than a tantrum.
Additionally, allistics (that is, non-autistic people) often see the resulting event, and rarely what leads up to it. In Amarynth's case, it's pointed out that she can only handle a very small number of questions at once before getting into a sensory overload. While consistent with some autistics, this strikes me as odd in regards to someone who regularly handles loads of different information at once. Not impossible, but certainly odd.
In a way, this part mirrors society, in that autistic people are often regarded from an outside lens, without much regard or even thought to their own self-perception. But what makes this bad is what follows:
Autistic people viewed as a mere inconvenience
After explaining to the reader that Amarynth gets sensory overloads from too many questions at once, the narration makes light of this fact, off-handedly mentioning that, in some cases, "they could afford to mess around with a meltdown or two from Amarynth". I have not seen other reviews talking about this, but this line — which doesn't seem to even be acknowledged at any point past this — lets the readers know that the characters are sometimes actively malicious with her.
The characters "can afford" a meltdown or two means, when you view it from the lens of an autistic person, that our well-being is not important and viewed as a mere inconvenience. At best, it means the characters — who have known her for years — have not bothered to learn or care about Amarynth's limits. However, this theory is disproven before it can even take form, as the paragraph before says that they learned to not ask too many questions at once.
This means, in other words, that the characters either sometimes find it funny to overload Amarynth on purpose, or that they forget to care about her well-being when the case is not urgent. In either case, this is, well, bad. Now, it could be a matter of simply a bad character, but the narration seems to take their side, and never cares about that. This leads me to another, far more interesting point:
The author (allegedly) expects other people to know what she thinks
To echo the start of this, the author seems to have biases that have either not been addressed, or, more likely, are in her blind spot. Now, I am no psychologist, but I am autistic and a pretty good reader. As part of my daily life, I have had to learn to see the true intents behind what people say and do, as allistics rarely say exactly what they mean (and they say we're the ones with communication issues... but I digress).
A while ago, I decided to join the Poly.Land discord server, to chat with other polyamorous folks and possibly find other people with mutual interests. Upon joining, I introduced myself, and then a random bot (I don't remember which at this point) was like "Congratulations! You're now level 1!". Now, I understand other people might like that (good for them!), but this kind of thing — which I didn't ask for and could not opt out of — tarnished my joy.
I brought it up, and asked if I could opt out of it or if it could only talk in some specific channels (rather than all of them, potentially muddying important conversations). Of course, no one owes me anything, especially not as a newcomer, but Page's response was to essentially deal with it. Fair, I suppose. I wouldn't even be bringing this up if not for the fact that the characters mostly seem to behave this way.
Indeed, one of the characters seems to expect all the other characters around her to mostly just... know what she's thinking. Even then, they don't always get it. While people like that absolutely do exist, it was extremely jarring to see that here. Mature adults talk about issues, they don't take it out on their partners; then again I might just have not gotten to the part where that's talked about. But I felt the need to include that as part of, maybe, an unconscious part of the author slipping in. That said, this is somewhat related to my original point:
Unaddressed biases cause real-world harm
I know this seems a bit far-fetched, but stick with me for a minute. Yes, this is just a fiction book, and no, this book itself will likely not be used to deny autistics agency. However, the author, Page, has a platform talking about and promoting polyamory. And as with every person with a large enough audience, she has a duty of care to the people of the community she represents, autistic people included.
If someone with such a platform is able to write something as blatantly disrespectful to autistics as this, I fear what unaddressed and harmful biases could make it into her articles, which in turn could lead to negative repercussions for people in the community.
Please talk to advocates, and hire sensitivity readers. And for the love of all that is good, run your draft by a competent editor. There's many other unrelated issues I could spot that would have been greatly improved through an editor, but I don't think it relevant to mention those here, as this review is dragging on too long already.
October 3, 2020
What a page turner Page Turner!
Fascinating detail of a psychic abilities and sort-of government containment. Fabulous story line. My interest is at an all time high! Page Turner, I want more! I've always been into psychological crime thrillers and this one puts psychic into psychological. No better combo in my book. A must read!
Fascinating detail of a psychic abilities and sort-of government containment. Fabulous story line. My interest is at an all time high! Page Turner, I want more! I've always been into psychological crime thrillers and this one puts psychic into psychological. No better combo in my book. A must read!
July 17, 2021
It took a little while for it grow on me, but I absolutely adored this book. It is full of so many quaint little details, tidbits of life and it's eccentricities, as if it's always throwing a new insight or a hidden observation about the world.
I frequently read the author's column, and I think that she did an exceptional job of portraying a realistic polyamorous trouple, from their origin to their day to day dynamic. The struggles, the interactions, the experiences all felt painfully real and relatable. It was woven expertly into the story, particularly well with the world-building and the changing world it sets its place into. I think the narrative wraps around nicely, and my but one regret is that it ends on a cliffhanger. Excited for the next one!
I frequently read the author's column, and I think that she did an exceptional job of portraying a realistic polyamorous trouple, from their origin to their day to day dynamic. The struggles, the interactions, the experiences all felt painfully real and relatable. It was woven expertly into the story, particularly well with the world-building and the changing world it sets its place into. I think the narrative wraps around nicely, and my but one regret is that it ends on a cliffhanger. Excited for the next one!
October 22, 2020
Very good story.
I’m looking forward to the next book.
Emotionally I’m very much a Karen but my outward personality/style is rather like Penny.
I am curious about how much the girls keep to themselves.
I find I’m unable to keep things to myself.
In a relationship particularly I have no filter and share everything.
The internal thoughts of Karen, Penny, and Viv regarding what to say and what not to say to each other disturbed more because I began to worry maybe I share too much? I don’t know.
I’m looking forward to the next book.
Emotionally I’m very much a Karen but my outward personality/style is rather like Penny.
I am curious about how much the girls keep to themselves.
I find I’m unable to keep things to myself.
In a relationship particularly I have no filter and share everything.
The internal thoughts of Karen, Penny, and Viv regarding what to say and what not to say to each other disturbed more because I began to worry maybe I share too much? I don’t know.
November 6, 2021
I've been a long time fan of the author's online blog and always loved her writing style there, so I was really surprised to not really like the writing style in this book. I'm not sure exactly what it was but something was off to me, and distracted me from the story and characters. I really like the overall concept of the book though, and of course having queer polyamorous main characters is part of why I wanted to read it. I may have to try rereading, or continuing the series, to see if my feelings around the style change.
February 6, 2022
This book has polyamorous representation like I've never seen before. The characters feel like real people - fully developed individuals. The relationships are not idealist, but rather they beautifully portray the nuance involved in each dynamic.
The premise of Psychic City is intriguing, full of dense conflict, entertaining characters and puns, and plenty of relatable queer content. Five out of five green stars.
The premise of Psychic City is intriguing, full of dense conflict, entertaining characters and puns, and plenty of relatable queer content. Five out of five green stars.
November 27, 2025
"What ya reading?" Kym said
"Psychic City" Jewel said
"We do love urban fantasy" Kym said
"And queer and polyamorous representation" Jewel said
"Who's the author?" Kym said
"A blogger & content creator I've followed for years" Jewel said
"Ah. So. Happy to support them with the cost of a download, then." Kym said
"Indeed" Jewel said
"Is it readable?" Kym said
"Hm?" Jewel said
"I asked if it was readable." Kym said
"Oh." Jewel said
"No?" Kym said
"What a nice day we're having." Said Jewel.
"Psychic City" Jewel said
"We do love urban fantasy" Kym said
"And queer and polyamorous representation" Jewel said
"Who's the author?" Kym said
"A blogger & content creator I've followed for years" Jewel said
"Ah. So. Happy to support them with the cost of a download, then." Kym said
"Indeed" Jewel said
"Is it readable?" Kym said
"Hm?" Jewel said
"I asked if it was readable." Kym said
"Oh." Jewel said
"No?" Kym said
"What a nice day we're having." Said Jewel.
January 2, 2022
Brilliant story. A bit slow to start with all the world building, but as someone who loves that stuff it wasn't anything negative in my opinion.
Well rounded characters, though I constantly screamed for them to communicate more, oh my gods they need to communicate.
Looking forward to the next one.
Well rounded characters, though I constantly screamed for them to communicate more, oh my gods they need to communicate.
Looking forward to the next one.
August 7, 2021
Apparently this book isn’t for me…I couldn’t figure out what was going on…I dnf…
September 25, 2024
Didn’t finish. Couldn’t get into it
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews