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brandi_at_the_tardis 's review for:
We Can Never Leave
by H.E. Edgmon
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Edgmon is quickly becoming a go-to author for my queer fantasy fix.
In this book, 5 traumatized magical teens, raised in a cult that caravans across the country, wake up to find everyone has vanished. They reluctantly need to work together to find answers. Told in 3rd person multi-POV with 4th wall breaks from the narrator, it dives deep into the impact of trauma. And while the world itself is queernormative, there's no missing the direct connection to religious trauma invoked on queer youth in the real world.
All 5 characters are flawed and often unlikeable, making choices impulsively and struggling with self-acceptance. Bird, who just returned to the caravan after living 3 years in the "normal" world with their father, found that they couldn't fit in in even the simplest ways. Hugo and his little brother, Felix, are part deer/part human, so have no chance passing in public. Hugo's heart was broken when Bird left, and is coping with that abandonment and the demons of what his parents have made him do in the name of the cult. Felix lives in a fantasy world, trying to manefest goodness to help him make sense of the world. Cal was both raised by and feared by the cult, never allowed to get close to anyone. And Eamon was brought into the caravan only a few weeks ago, with no memory of his past life.
This rag-tag crew of found family come together slowly as they travel across the country, looking for answers and learning that the caravan wasn't always truthful.
I received this ARC from publisher @stmartinspress through @netgalley. The opinions are my own.
We Can Never Leave was just released on June 10, 2025 and is available at booksellers now.
Edgmon is quickly becoming a go-to author for my queer fantasy fix.
In this book, 5 traumatized magical teens, raised in a cult that caravans across the country, wake up to find everyone has vanished. They reluctantly need to work together to find answers. Told in 3rd person multi-POV with 4th wall breaks from the narrator, it dives deep into the impact of trauma. And while the world itself is queernormative, there's no missing the direct connection to religious trauma invoked on queer youth in the real world.
All 5 characters are flawed and often unlikeable, making choices impulsively and struggling with self-acceptance. Bird, who just returned to the caravan after living 3 years in the "normal" world with their father, found that they couldn't fit in in even the simplest ways. Hugo and his little brother, Felix, are part deer/part human, so have no chance passing in public. Hugo's heart was broken when Bird left, and is coping with that abandonment and the demons of what his parents have made him do in the name of the cult. Felix lives in a fantasy world, trying to manefest goodness to help him make sense of the world. Cal was both raised by and feared by the cult, never allowed to get close to anyone. And Eamon was brought into the caravan only a few weeks ago, with no memory of his past life.
This rag-tag crew of found family come together slowly as they travel across the country, looking for answers and learning that the caravan wasn't always truthful.
I received this ARC from publisher @stmartinspress through @netgalley. The opinions are my own.
We Can Never Leave was just released on June 10, 2025 and is available at booksellers now.