Scan barcode
hazel_oat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
MAN this was really good. i inhaled it during a flight. would be 5 stars but starting this feels like you're missing the first three or four chapters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Bullying, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
woodsofthebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
beautiful showstopping amazing. i loved the casual non assumptions, i.e. calling a couple a 'straight couple' or saying 'sweating like a teenage cis boy' instead of assuming those were the norm. the feminine rage was wonderful. truly embodies the spirit of supporting women's wrongs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Misogyny, Death of parent, Animal death, Kidnapping, and Cursing
raptorq's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent
tlaynejones's review against another edition
4.5
It took me ages to get into this one. I could tell it was great, but there was just too much dialogue with multiple characters at the beginning. For me, this made it feel sluggish and created a block to properly engaging with the protagonist. I figured this difficulty - with such a dialogue heavy start - was a me thing so I pushed through. I’m so glad I did because it was a fun and interesting story. It’s a contemporary teen story about a group of friends who are snarky, angry, defiant, loyal, and magic.
Having said all that, the book just stops. There is no ending. It’s sort of cliffhanger-y, but it’s also sort of just the end of a chapter. Like the printer got jammed before they could finish printing the book, so they stuck a cover on this bit and called it ‘book one’. I do want to know more about these witches though, so I’m going to look for the next instalment.
Having said all that, the book just stops. There is no ending. It’s sort of cliffhanger-y, but it’s also sort of just the end of a chapter. Like the printer got jammed before they could finish printing the book, so they stuck a cover on this bit and called it ‘book one’. I do want to know more about these witches though, so I’m going to look for the next instalment.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Toxic relationship, and Violence
xeniba's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I really wanted to like this, but it was such a slog. It felt overwritten, often taking pages to convey what could have been said in a couple of paragraphs. I wanted more about Sideways’ dads and the Delacroix House, really.
The plot was nonsensical. ESPECIALLYthe part where she was kidnapped and injured. The fact that nothing really happened about that was so odd to me. Her dads didn’t really follow up. And I kept thinking the Chantry boys would track her down, but nope. It was so odd to me. Same with when they got pulled over.
I wanted to DNF multiple times, but kept hoping it would get better. It got marginally better, but not enough to make it worth the read, imo.
The plot was nonsensical. ESPECIALLY
I wanted to DNF multiple times, but kept hoping it would get better. It got marginally better, but not enough to make it worth the read, imo.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, and Blood
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Violence
thecourtofreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"fresh scapegracers, making their own little band. doesn't happen much anymore."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Bullying
frantic_vampire's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Holy crap, The Scapegracers was such a good book! I was a little unsure going into it, but it grabbed my attention almost immediately. It’s got a gritty neon hazed weirdness to it, reminiscent of teen horror movies. And weirdness is something that I absolutely love in a book.
I loved Sideways and the rest of this magical girl gang! Daisy is absolutely unhinged and I loved that about her. Yates is the sweetest person ever and she deserves all the hugs she could ever want. Jing isn’t quite what I expected. She’s a little cold, but loves her friends and would do literally anything for them. And Sideways... damn, I really loved her. She’s so freaking relatable and she’s a huge bundle of contradictions. She’s a social outcast, she doesn’t take shit from anyone and will start a fight, she’s soft and sweet, she’s anxious. And she will do anything for her new friends. I just can’t get enough of these girls and their magic!
Another thing that I loved about this book was that Sideways’ parents were actually involved in her life. Their interactions were so loving and sweet. They gave me hope for other YA books to actually have good parental figures.
If I’m being honest, I don’t think there was anything that I didn’t like about this book. It was such a fun ride all the way through. I loved the blatant lesbian rep, the sapphic rep, the queer rep, the bisexual rep, the gay rep. All of it was so nice to see explicitly stated and not have it floating in some nebulous “are they, aren’t they” space. The Scapegracers is getting a solid four and a half stars from me and I can’t wait for the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Blood and Violence
ramunepocky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH AND IM SO SO SO HAPPY ABOUT IT
THE MAGIC !!! THE FOUND FAMILY !!! THEIR COVEN !!! MR SCRATCH !!! YATES !!! SIDEWAYS !!! JING !!! DAISY !!! I LOVE THEM ALL SO SO SO MUCH
I LIKED HOW IT HAD A TOUCH OF LIKE DARKNESS AND EERIENESS TOO, IM SO HYPED TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, IMPATIENT FOR THE SCRATCH DAUGHTER
THE MAGIC !!! THE FOUND FAMILY !!! THEIR COVEN !!! MR SCRATCH !!! YATES !!! SIDEWAYS !!! JING !!! DAISY !!! I LOVE THEM ALL SO SO SO MUCH
I LIKED HOW IT HAD A TOUCH OF LIKE DARKNESS AND EERIENESS TOO, IM SO HYPED TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, IMPATIENT FOR THE SCRATCH DAUGHTER
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
The Scapegracers is slick like new magic, fitting like a second skin. Gay witches, rural small-town queerness, the anxiety of new friendships, and the terror of being hunted.
The prose hums and clicks, conveying a train of thought without getting sidetracked. It's full of fricatives and phrases begging to be spoken into the air, hurled at the sky. The blend of literal descriptions and visceral metaphors conveys a sense of physicality, of being in a body while magic is in the air and winding through Sideways' skin. It has the teenage friend-group version of "feeling lonely in the middle of a crowd"; capturing a feeling of awkwardness and surprise at being wanted, being invited, being anywhere and having it finally feel right; dreading the possibility that it's all a trick, that anxiety that everyone is just pretending to like her and that they might inexplicably stop.
There's a traumatic event early on (which I won't spoil) and the aftermath affects how they navigate the world throughout the rest of the book. It made that event feel grounded and immediate. It would have been easy to have it kick off the main plot and disappear, but instead it shows up in little ways through to the end of the story, continuing to have emotional impact.
This is one of those where I'm having trouble talking about it without spoilers, but it's full of tiny moments and turns of phrase that just felt right to me. I could always follow the plot but never could predict where it would go next. I loved reading this and I'll definitely read the sequel.
The Scapegracers is slick like new magic, fitting like a second skin. Gay witches, rural small-town queerness, the anxiety of new friendships, and the terror of being hunted.
The prose hums and clicks, conveying a train of thought without getting sidetracked. It's full of fricatives and phrases begging to be spoken into the air, hurled at the sky. The blend of literal descriptions and visceral metaphors conveys a sense of physicality, of being in a body while magic is in the air and winding through Sideways' skin. It has the teenage friend-group version of "feeling lonely in the middle of a crowd"; capturing a feeling of awkwardness and surprise at being wanted, being invited, being anywhere and having it finally feel right; dreading the possibility that it's all a trick, that anxiety that everyone is just pretending to like her and that they might inexplicably stop.
There's a traumatic event early on (which I won't spoil) and the aftermath affects how they navigate the world throughout the rest of the book. It made that event feel grounded and immediate. It would have been easy to have it kick off the main plot and disappear, but instead it shows up in little ways through to the end of the story, continuing to have emotional impact.
This is one of those where I'm having trouble talking about it without spoilers, but it's full of tiny moments and turns of phrase that just felt right to me. I could always follow the plot but never could predict where it would go next. I loved reading this and I'll definitely read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
CW for assault.
More...