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A review by deepbutdazzlingdarkness
Fraternity by Andy Mientus
5.0
Not gonna explicitly compare this to another queer dark academia book I read this year, but yeah, this is just so much better in literally every way. The characters are all so interesting and complex and I loved getting the different POVs. They all have different feelings about and relationships to their sexuality and it gets complicated in such interesting ways.
I liked the demonic/witchy aspects of it and how Daniel and Leo are understandably freaked out by what happened and meanwhile Zooey’s like fuck that he got what he deserved and I’m embracing it. And the way that his “corruption” develops is by him deciding to make himself “straight" is an interesting twist on the typical stereotypes about gay people. Also because of course he isn’t straight or gay, but bisexual, which duh I should have realized from the start because the author is as well, and I think I’ve even heard him talk about having known he liked men before he realized he liked women as well?
I also really loved how deeply rooted it was in the setting and time period, and it being set in the early 90s feels so fitting. I’ve read plenty of books about secret societies of straight white men who control everything, but usually from the perspective of women, never queer men, and that was really refreshing. I didn’t expect the second half of the book to deal more explicitly with AIDS, which was heartbreaking, but also I loved how much it explicitly talked about gay joy and the community and how important it is to have people who love and support you. The ending made me cry sooo much, in a good way.
“I can take you back to that other life,” Lucas said, “but only if you want it. I can’t promise you’ll be safe. I can’t promise that road will lead you to a job at the White House, or to a happy marriage, or even to a comfortable life free of violence. But I can promise you that all of those memories you keep, the dancing and the weeping, the good touch and the bad touch, the life and the death, the joy and the agony . . . those are the truth. Your truth. And having lived mine, I can promise you that the joy outweighs the agony in the end. I only remember the dancing.”
I already loved Andy Mientus as a singer and actor and to find out he’s an incredible author as well? What a delight and I really hope he’ll be writing more novels after this!
Editing my review to change it to this edition because it’s the cover that I had and I like it so much better
I liked the demonic/witchy aspects of it and how Daniel and Leo are understandably freaked out by what happened and meanwhile Zooey’s like fuck that he got what he deserved and I’m embracing it. And the way that his “corruption” develops is by him deciding to make himself “straight" is an interesting twist on the typical stereotypes about gay people. Also because of course he isn’t straight or gay, but bisexual, which duh I should have realized from the start because the author is as well, and I think I’ve even heard him talk about having known he liked men before he realized he liked women as well?
I also really loved how deeply rooted it was in the setting and time period, and it being set in the early 90s feels so fitting. I’ve read plenty of books about secret societies of straight white men who control everything, but usually from the perspective of women, never queer men, and that was really refreshing. I didn’t expect the second half of the book to deal more explicitly with AIDS, which was heartbreaking, but also I loved how much it explicitly talked about gay joy and the community and how important it is to have people who love and support you. The ending made me cry sooo much, in a good way.
“I can take you back to that other life,” Lucas said, “but only if you want it. I can’t promise you’ll be safe. I can’t promise that road will lead you to a job at the White House, or to a happy marriage, or even to a comfortable life free of violence. But I can promise you that all of those memories you keep, the dancing and the weeping, the good touch and the bad touch, the life and the death, the joy and the agony . . . those are the truth. Your truth. And having lived mine, I can promise you that the joy outweighs the agony in the end. I only remember the dancing.”
I already loved Andy Mientus as a singer and actor and to find out he’s an incredible author as well? What a delight and I really hope he’ll be writing more novels after this!
Editing my review to change it to this edition because it’s the cover that I had and I like it so much better