Autobiography "in costume"

of Alessia Mainardi

A young woman with a degenerative disease, who upon encountering the world of cosplay learns to fight against every hardship and to love life with both its positive and its negative sides, succeeding in becoming someone she would never have imagined to be.

The proceeds from the book will be donated to fund research into genetic diseases, and in particular into Friedreich's ataxia, througt the international project of BabelFamily: http://www.babelfamily.org/en/

If you wish to purchase a copy of the book,

you can write an e-mail to

ryuki@ryukicosplay.com

The author

A popular cosplayer, organizer of cosplay events, and writer of the fantasy saga "Avelion", Alessia Mainardi decided to write a book reviewing her life as a cosplayer to record the road taken in this colorful world from 2003 until today, both for those who have known her during these years and those who have encountered her only once. But above all, she writes to show to the readers how anyone can overcome their own limits and reach their own dreams. As the author explains in the book "Alessia in Cosplayland": "The will is what makes anyone able to achieve the impossible."

The story: from Alessia to Ryuki

Alessia lives in Parma with her grandparents, and ever since she was a child she dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. Like all teenagers, she attends school, plays sports, and in her free time, reads books and goes to the cinema. But just as the time when she is dreaming about her own future and her own aspirations, she is diagnosed with Friedreich's ataxia, a progressive degenerative disease of the nervous system. She is 18 years old, and her first reaction to the news is depression and withdrawal into herself, embarrassed about the looks and judgment of the others. But one day something happens: Alessia, who had always loved comic books and cartoons, came into contact with the world of fairs and cosplay. So she bought a sewing machine and together with her grandmother Betty, she started to create clothes so splendid that, running around in these costumes, she would make the very people who, out of fear, avoided her look at her. Just like Alice in Wonderland, Alessia entered into "Cosplayland" and became Ryuki, a well-known and admired cosplayer. In the space of a few years, she turned herself into Lady Oscar, Queen Elizabeth, the Corpse Bride, Jack Sparrow, and many other characters, which she interpreted one after another to perfection. After eight years in "Cosplayland", Alessia/Ryuki, who was now age 26, decided to tell her own story, paying homage to the world which, to a certain extent, helped her be reborn and find herself, using her experiences as an example of redemption and integration for all those who, in this life, feel or have felt themselves "different".

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or e-mail ryuki@ryukicosplay.com

Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is a progressive, degenerative disease of the nervous system; it is caused by the degeneration of the spinal cord and of the functioning of the cerebellum (the control center for movements); this leads to ataxia, the loss of coordination of movements. The disease takes its name from the German physician Nicholas Friedreich, who first described it in 1860.