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bookishpriest's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
childoftheninth's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- 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
“Being a freak alone is tough, but being arm in arm with your fellow freaks can feel pretty punk.”
Fall 1991: Zooey Orson transfers to Blackfriars School for Boys and is quickly inducted into a historic secret club for queer students called the Vicious Circle. As he befriends Leo, Daniel, and Steven he is swept up in the unfamiliar world of boys who have accepted this part of themselves that he cannot even bring himself to name.
Fraternity is a difficult but important book that weaves dark occult magic with queer culture and history. It’s a story draped in darkness that doesn’t let up through most of the book, but as it’s YA I was expecting a hopeful ending if not an overly happy one (I wasn’t disappointed). The ending was satisfying and left me in tears both of queer joy and of the deep kind of sorrow that comes with reading about the tragedies and trauma experienced by queer people who came before me (and still experienced by many today).
Facing down a lifetime of having to hide themselves or be outed and face the consequences, the members of the Vicious Circle cling to one another for safety, for love, for sex, and for a space they can always be themselves in. Sometimes home is not a place you rest your head but the people who see you for who you are.
The author tackled many very difficult topics in only a few hundred pages and wove a story of occult magic and rituals into it as well, and I felt it was successful. At times the narration can be a bit cringey and some of the story felt clumsily put together but the writing was overall very good. At the beginning of the book I felt unsure about the representation of gay men and the thoughts that some of the characters had about being gay, but it was also probably an accurate representation of being a gay boy in the early 90s. I don’t need to agree fully with a character in order to see the truth and importance in them. The one character I wish we had been able to learn more about was Steven, as he was mostly a proxy for what happens when you abuse power.
I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook which featured a unique voice for each narrator (including the author himself). There's something powerful about audiobooks to me, especially when done well. I feel like I've gotten to the know the characters on a more personal level and they reside in my mind as unique voices. The deep lines cut even deeper when I hear them spoken.
The characters are not always lovable but they are real and I loved them for that. They do horrible things, they face terrible odds, they lose and are lost again and again. Not everyone makes it out alive.
This isn’t any easy book by any means. Homophobic slurs and brutality, death by magic, death by AIDS, violence, on-page conversion therapy, off-page statutory rape, and racism are all things to look out for when entering the world of the Blackfriars boys. Unfortunately, these are all things that occur in our own world still. The story of Zooey, Leo, Daniel and Steven may be fiction, but it is all too real (barring the occult magic and demonic possession, as far as I’m aware).
“history lets us carry the work of those who came before us forward, so that we might finish it.”
Not everyone makes it out, but we don’t forget those who are left behind. We keep fighting: for us, for them, and for everyone who comes after.
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Cancer, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Homophobia
Moderate: Blood, Racism, Transphobia, and Vomit
Minor: Deadnaming, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
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