History Literature / HandbookForMortals

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Zade's full name is Scheherazade Esther Holder.

* FortuneTeller: Zade and her mother are [[UnfortunateImplications gypsies]] who have powers of foresight, and read tarot cards.

* AnachronismStew: Music/ThePlainWhiteTs are shown to be starting to become famous and on the verge of getting a record deal, which would place the story sometime in the first half of the 2000s, but the TV show ''Series/GameOfThrones'' is mentioned as having at least two seasons, meaning that the novel must take place after 2012. Finally, Zade and Jackson go on a date to see a superhero movie starring Creator/RyanReynolds, which must have been either ''Film/{{Green Lantern|2011}}'' or ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'', films that came out in 2011 and 2016 respectively.[[note]]It could also potentially have been referring to 2009's ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'', although Reynolds had more of a supporting role than a starring one in that film, and this still doesn't help much with the other anachronisms[[/note]]

* AnachronismStew: The Plain White T's are shown to be starting to become famous and on the verge of getting a record deal, which would place the story sometime in the first half of the 2000s, but the TV show ''Game of Thrones'' is mentioned as having at least two seasons, meaning that the novel must take place after 2012. Finally, Zade and Jackson go on a date to see a superhero movie starring Ryan Reynolds, which must have been either Green Lantern or ''Deadpool'', films that came out in 2011 and 2016 respectively.

* MulticoloredHair: Zade dyes her hair in many different colors. [[AuthorAvatar Just like the author does.]]

* ItsPronouncedTroPay: Zade will insist her name is pronounced "Zayd". Even though her full name's last syllable is usually pronounced "Zahd".

Early-twentysomething Zade Holder is the magically-gifted daughter of a tarot card reader living in a [[SmallTownBoredom small, closed-minded Tennessee town]]. Because of this, she has always felt like an outcast and longs for a [[IJustWantToBeNormal more normal life]]. One day, she leaves to work in the prestigious Las Vegas magic show run by famous illusionist Charles Spellman. Using actual magic, Zade easily gets a role, and achieves stardom, friendship, and the sense of belonging she’s always wanted. Most significantly, Zade attracts the affections of two other employees of the show named Mac and Jackson. After months of dates, concerts, celebrity run-ins, and a magical duel in a shopping mall parking lot, Zade and Charles begin working on an [[ImpossiblyAwesomeMagicTrick actually-magic, potentially deadly, showstopping act]]. On opening night, [[ThirdActMisunderstanding complications in Zade’s love life]] cause the act to go horribly wrong.

!''Handbook for Mortals'' provides examples of:
* AnachronismStew: The Plain White T's are shown to be starting to become famous and on the verge of getting a record deal, which would place the story sometime in the first half of the 2000's, but the TV show ''Game of Thrones'' is mentioned as having at least two seasons, meaning that the novel must take place after 2012. Finally, Zade and Jackson go on a date to see a superhero movie starring Ryan Reynolds, which must have been either Green Lantern or ''Deadpool'', films that came out in 2011 and 2016 respectively.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Zade’s full name is Scheherazade Esther Holder.

* BishieSparkle: Zade describes Jackson’s eyes as “sparkling” multiple times.

* ByronicHero: Mac is easily angered, has trust issues, and gets a little bit physically violent. Zade thinks he’s passionate and intense.

-->She wasn’t amused—nor did she find me funny, in the least
-->Jackson seemed pretty happy that I had agreed. “Sweet,” he said happily

-->I was messing with a particular kind of magick—a kind of magick that was both strong and volatile. I was messing with a particular kind of magick, which I hadn’t quite yet mastered. Chaos magick, is both strong and volatile, as it’s name implies and is by nature very unpredictable.

* EntropyAndChaosMagic: Zade’s trick that goes catastrophically wrong is literally done with “chaos magick”.

* HotMenAtWork: Not a conventional example, but Zade thinks several times about how she thinks "show blacks” are sexy.

* MulticoloredHair: Zade dyes her hair many different colors. [[AuthorAvatar Just like the author does.]]

* OutOfContextEavesdropping: Mac overhears Zade and Charles saying they love each other and hugging, and he thinks that they’re romantically involved. They’re not.

** The first novel ends with ''“and they lived happily ever after…OR DO THEY?”''. The "preview" of the second book begins exactly where the chapter left off, suggesting that it may have been the actual ending to the book.

-->'''Mac: '''Think there’s a book or something out there?\\

* WomanScorned: Literally name-dropped, Dela calls Charles’ assistant this.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: [[spoiler: Sofia]] falls 50 feet into a pool of water and lands flat on her back. She walks away with a minor concussion and a few bruises, despite being unconscious and not breathing when she's pulled out of the water. Likewise, when Zade flips a cyclist's bike while he's ''on it'' ([[DisproportionateRetribution he accidentally bumped her]]), and he lands on ''his'' back on asphalt, he's not seriously hurt.

* WomanScorned: Literally name-dropped, Dela calls Charles’ assistant this.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Presumably, Charles breaks up with Sofia in order [[spoiler: to reunite with Dela]], but she never actually appears again after she's mentioned singing in Zade's chaos magick illusion.

* LoveTriangle: Zade spends the entirety of Act 2 torn between the dashing musician Jackson and the brooding, wounded Mac.

* WizardDuel: Zade and the mysterious girl in the parking lot
* WomanScorned: literally name-dropped, Dela calls Charles’ assistant is this.

* PeepingTom: Mac watches Zade through a cracked-open door while she's getting her measurements taken.

* WeddingDay: [[spoiler: Dela and Charles]]

''Handbook for Mortals'' is a 2017 novel by Lani Sarem. It enjoyed a brief tenure on the New York Times bestseller list before being pulled because of the controversy surrounding the circumstances of its ascent.

* UnreliableNarrator: Zade misremembers events and does not disclose everything she knows as she learns it.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: [[spoiler: Sofia]] falls 50 feet into a pool of water and lands flat on her back. She walks away with a minor concussion and a few bruises.

* ProductPlacement: The book is ''filled'' with namedrops of real brands, from Levi's jeans to Dakine duffle bags to Too Faced makeup. It happens so much that it's jarring when [[Film/Deadpool a superhero movie with Ryan Reynolds]] ''isn't'' mentioned by exact title.

** Jackson is obviously modeled on Jackson Rathbone (whom the author knows in real life!)

** There are also multiple typos left in, including at least one floating unpaired quotation mark.