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A review by catherreads
I'm a Gay Wizard by V.S. Santoni
3.0
I’m a Gay Wizard by V. S. Santoni left me with a lot of mixed feelings. It has it’s pros and cons, leading me to rate it three out of five stars.
Johnny and his friend Alison perform a magical ritual to summon the Cintamani. Something goes wrong and they are whisked off to the Marduk Institute, a school for wizards-in-training where they are told they’ll be able to hone their powers. Yet nothing is as it seems and the two friends have to learn whom to trust as they navigate a new world filled with monsters, magic, and mayhem.
First of all, I love the cover. It’s exploding with color, proclaiming in bold text the title of the story. I’m a Gay Wizard promises readers a tale filled with queer magicians, and it does not disappoint. The entire cast of characters is queer and diverse, starting with Johnny—a gay Latino protagonist—and his friend, Alison—a trans girl. This type of representation is important to have, showing diverse kids and young adults that they’re not alone.
The characters all had different backgrounds, some coming from loving families and others from abusive households, shaping their personalities and their reactions to the different situations portrayed in the story. The romances were all queer, although none of them really seemed like a good pairing in my opinion, causing me to not really care what ended up to the couples. Some of the character reactions also didn’t make sense to me, such as one character being incredibly secretive about being gay, only to not care a few pages later, announcing it to literally everybody. I’m glad he was comfortable enough to take pride in it, but it seemed unnatural and rushed for that character to achieve that level of comfort so soon.
Some parts were difficult to understand due to the writing, and I found it hard to engage in the beginning. However the plot picked up in the end, making the last half a fast read for me.
The plot was fast paced and somewhat interesting, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how this book reminded me of other stories that I’ve read. Wizarding school, the stuck up lineage wizards, and ventures to the town next to the school reminded me of Harry Potter. Other plot points reminded me of middle grade books I read back in my early teens about dimensions and magic. So for me, the plot didn’t seem to be fully original, and I wished there was more worldbuilding and details on how the magic worked and what the limitations were.
Overall, it’s a great book if you’re looking for queer representation and diverse characters and not much else. I found it lacking in originality, pacing, and characterization: making it not the book for me. It is an explosion of color from the cover to the characters, and I only wish it had been more memorable.
Johnny and his friend Alison perform a magical ritual to summon the Cintamani. Something goes wrong and they are whisked off to the Marduk Institute, a school for wizards-in-training where they are told they’ll be able to hone their powers. Yet nothing is as it seems and the two friends have to learn whom to trust as they navigate a new world filled with monsters, magic, and mayhem.
First of all, I love the cover. It’s exploding with color, proclaiming in bold text the title of the story. I’m a Gay Wizard promises readers a tale filled with queer magicians, and it does not disappoint. The entire cast of characters is queer and diverse, starting with Johnny—a gay Latino protagonist—and his friend, Alison—a trans girl. This type of representation is important to have, showing diverse kids and young adults that they’re not alone.
The characters all had different backgrounds, some coming from loving families and others from abusive households, shaping their personalities and their reactions to the different situations portrayed in the story. The romances were all queer, although none of them really seemed like a good pairing in my opinion, causing me to not really care what ended up to the couples. Some of the character reactions also didn’t make sense to me, such as one character being incredibly secretive about being gay, only to not care a few pages later, announcing it to literally everybody. I’m glad he was comfortable enough to take pride in it, but it seemed unnatural and rushed for that character to achieve that level of comfort so soon.
Some parts were difficult to understand due to the writing, and I found it hard to engage in the beginning. However the plot picked up in the end, making the last half a fast read for me.
The plot was fast paced and somewhat interesting, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how this book reminded me of other stories that I’ve read. Wizarding school, the stuck up lineage wizards, and ventures to the town next to the school reminded me of Harry Potter. Other plot points reminded me of middle grade books I read back in my early teens about dimensions and magic. So for me, the plot didn’t seem to be fully original, and I wished there was more worldbuilding and details on how the magic worked and what the limitations were.
Overall, it’s a great book if you’re looking for queer representation and diverse characters and not much else. I found it lacking in originality, pacing, and characterization: making it not the book for me. It is an explosion of color from the cover to the characters, and I only wish it had been more memorable.