It's always hard reviewing a book from an unfamiliar genre, mostly because I have nothing to use as my point of reference when assessing how much I enjoyed the book with respect to others that are similar in style and content. When I found KEEPING IT REAL on my library shelves, I can't deny that I was reaching vastly beyond my realm of comfort -- on purpose, actually -- but I really wasn't thrilled with the results and I'm even more tempted than before to stick to those little niches that work for me. 
 Basically, this is the story of a robo-chick (half human and half machine) who poses as a bodyguard for an elf rockstar named Zal, who has recently been receiving what appear to be poetic death threats in an magical language. Apparently, in this futuristic world, everything has been shaken by a major quantum bomb, which pretty much opened up all these crazy realms where elves, demons, and faeries had previously been able to hide away from the human eye. 
 The novel spends a pretty significant bit of time in the beginning delving into these odd dimensions, complete with their strange semi unpronouceable names, and I must admit -- things got confusing. But beyond that, this story just didn't capture my interest at all. If I wasn't currently on a kick where I insist on finishing any book once I've reached the halfway point, I honestly probably would have given up and returned this one right back to the library. 
 I don't know if I'm just not a fan of this weird mixture of sci-fi, fantasy, and romance -- or if this just wasn't *that* great of a story. I felt no investment in the lives of the characters and I really didn't care what happened to any of them. It appears that this is first in a series, and I'm definitely not planning on spending my time on any future novels in this set. There are too many books that I'm dying to read and just not enough time to spend it in genres that don't keep my interest. 
 However, it seems that this novel did get fairly favorable reviews from other readers, so maybe it's just not *my thing*. Your results may vary.