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morgankailackerman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Homophobia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Deadnaming, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Toxic relationship
goldenlake's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Bullying, Chronic illness, Alcohol, and Homophobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, War, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Outing, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Biphobia
pkc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Violence
bookishpriest's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Racism, Homophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Outing, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Transphobia, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Classism
pagesofnay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This story was very compelling. As soon as I started the audiobook, I couldn’t turn it off. The writing was great, it flowed really well. It was a quick and easy listen. The queer history that was included in the book was enlightening. It’s mot often you read a book that brings up important social issues and queer politics from the ‘90s while being blended with fiction that is done so well.
I loved how it had multiple point of views. Each character has such a distinct narrative and it’s interesting to switch between them. The story follows Zooey, Daniel, and Leo. They are very well written and I loved their relationships with one another.
This book was quite the read and I most definitely will be rereading. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, and Death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Vomit
Minor: Deadnaming, Sexual assault, and Racial slurs
amengels's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Bullying, Vomit, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Cursing
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
All opinions are my own.
I LOVED the narration! Having each MC have their own narrator enhanced the story.
This was a great book and very true to the times in terms of how queer people were treated. And that the author didn't shy away from the language. I loved that it was set in 1991 as it was able to include more queer historical elements, as the author said than 2001 would have had.
The main characters were great. Very lovable, I think Leo was my favorite. They were very well fleshed out. I just wish that some of the other characters besides the primary 4 were more full characters. Like maybe if the bully had a more extensive backstory. Or more from Lucas would have been great!
I'm a sucker for dark academia which is probably one reason why I really enjoyed it. It was a great setting, but I also enjoyed the parts outside of it. I like that this tackled hard topics as well as being funny.
Overall a great book!
Graphic: Alcohol, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Cancer, and Racism
Minor: Racial slurs
This is mostly in a historical context, so it's true to the times in which the book takes place the 1990s.elizabeth_delozier's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Please mind the trigger warnings (listed below) and take care of your mental health while reading this story and review.
Zooey is a gay teen who transfers to an elite all-boys boarding school following bullying and abuse at his previous school. He finds himself experiencing similar bullying at the new school. He also finds himself making new friends who share in his queer identity and have a secret society of for queer students. Daniel is a Black, gay teen who is living a bit of a double life: the popular jock and the romantic gay kid, secretly in love, and wrapped up in dark magic. Leo is an openly gay, effeminate, and quirky, also wrapped up in dark magic and doesn't initially want to disentangle himself from the dark magic that has previously helped him get by in the rather hostile environment of the boarding school. The boys find themselves in over their heads both with dark magic and in managing their emotions and finding acceptance in their identities.
I felt conflicted while reading this story and had to give myself some time to process my thoughts on the story afterwards. The author depicted difficulties of living during the AIDS crisis well, really pulling those awful emotions from the reader. It was clear that the author was able to pull some of the content regarding the difficulties of being queer in the 90s from his own experience.
However, what I had to reflect on was the authors writing of a Black main character and this character's experience of racism. Daniel experiences near constant overt racism, racial slurs, and harmful racial stereotypes by his peers throughout the story. The author's portrayal of this racism was not necessary for the story or development and, in my opinion, was poorly handled.
The author does say the following in his author's note at the beginning of the book where he also listed TWs regarding racism and homophobia: "To not include these details would be to white wash history and deny the characters the reality of their intersectional experiences as they would have lived them."
While, I understand the idea of not wanting to "white wash history," I also want authors to understand that if they cannot depict these experiences in a respectful manner, they are doing more harm than good. It is clear that this author did not have enough sensitivity readers for this book or simply didn't care. What purpose did those slurs serve? What purpose did those harmful stereotypes serve? They surely didn't add to character or story development. The author also uses his unique writing style to not include other difficult to discuss details (e.g., the death of a parent) by having the narrator state "I'm not going to go into detail here" or "You'll understand why I don't want to repeat XX." So, why couldn't the author have done the same by referencing that the character experienced slurs without writing such harmful words into the story...onto the page for readers to experience. The author should reflect on this.
Overall, I did enjoy this paranormal dark academia story and I enjoyed seeing the characters grow to accept their queerness. However, for the poorly handled inclusion of racist experiences noted above, I will not be recommending this story to anyone.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Andy Mientus, Kyle Beltran, and Daniel K. Isaac, via NetGalley. An advanced reader's copy of this audiobook was provided to me via NetGalley by RB Media in exchange for an honest review.
TWs: racism, racial slurs, homophobia, internalized biphobia, homophobic slurs, a conversion camp, discrimination on the bases of races and sexual orientation, bullying and assault, death, death of a parent, grief, child abuse, references to a sexual relationship between an adult and a minor, medical content, suicidal thoughts
Graphic: Death, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Biphobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
childoftheninth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books for an advance audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Fraternity is out 9/20/22!
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Cancer, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Homophobia
Moderate: Blood, Racism, Transphobia, and Vomit
Minor: Deadnaming, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
ditten's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The book basically has two storylines/narratives that run concurrently and are linked: a search for and struggle with identity and the paranormal. The POV shifts between Zooey, Daniel, and Leo throughout the book as they tell the story of what happened at Blackfriars.
Heads up: Make sure you read the author's note and content/trigger warnings as this is set in the early 1990s and the vocabulary and setting reflect this.
All three boys are members of the Blackfriar secret gay society The Viscious Circle, and they're all trying to keep their sexuality hidden from most of their peers as being out isn't a feasible option in a school in the 90s where most students appear homophobic and/or racist. They all are attempting, with various levels of success, to fly below the radar and just get through school unscathed and mostly unnoticed.
Zooey is a recent transfer student who had to leave his previous school after he was
Daniel is a black student jock whose family is "new money" in a school of mainly white kids who think "old money" is the only acceptable way of being rich. His father especially has always put a lot of pressure on Daniel to remember that average or decent isn't ever good enough, and Daniel fears he can never tell his family he's secretly in love with his roommate.
Leo, Daniel's roommate and boyfriend, is too flamboyant to be able to hide from the school bullies. Leo only got into Blackfriars because his father was a legacy as his family isn't rich or influential. He was raised by a single mother, his father having passed away before Leo was born, and while not growing up with wealth, Leo did grow up with a loving and supporting mother. He's generally confident in his skin but when the verbal taunts turn to physical beatings, he knows something needs to change.
This is where the paranormal comes in. They find a book that's supposedly magic and try a spell that makes Leo "invisible" and thus stops the bullying and harassment he's been facing. The boys quickly learn that doing magic has consequences but when Leo's past is discovered by the school bullies, they have to figure out if the risks that come with using the book are maybe worth dealing with one more time.
From here the plot unravels a little but it also gets even harder to put the book down (or in my case, turn off the audiobook) and I found Fraternity a really intriguing read.
The audiobook is great, different narrators are used for each boy so the dual POV works really well.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Death and Child abuse