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mcstressy 's review for:

Disco Witches of Fire Island by Blair Fell
3.25
challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
LIKED:

  • The setting of Fire Island in the late 80s was fun to read as someone who was not alive during that time. I’m not sure if it was the most accurate in description but it very much felt like its own little world 
  • The topic of the HIV/AIDS crisis during that time and how it devastated different people and groups of people was really emotional to read. The way that the disease and its aftermath affected the different characters was quite compelling. 
  • Generally, I liked the characters.They were very flawed, but each of them had something about them that was relatable or captivating in some way. Joe was deeply frustrating, which is kind of the point, so I don’t want to fault him too much. He was written in a way that made him feel way younger than he was (acting more like the 24-year-old he was lying to be rather than the nearly 30-year-old he actually was).
  • Ronnie was my favorite character. I found him to be the most nuanced and his interactions were the most fun. Vince was probably a close second. 
  • I really like the cover. It’s very eye catching even if it doesn’t tell the whole story. 

LOATHED:

  • Saying that it is and marketing this book as a fantasy is a bit unfair to the readers. This book probably lies somewhere under the magical realism umbrella, but even so, I was left pretty disappointed in the aspect. The main draw of me for picking this book up was the magic and the idea of a coven of gay witches in the 1980s. We got a smidgen of it towards the end, but I think we, the reader, were left way too in the dark about their practices for the majority of the book 
  • Others have also mentioned this in their reviews, but the pacing and flow of this book is clunky. There was a really lovely chunk of the book around 20-25% where I was feeling really invested and immersed, but then the character decisions and everything would take me back out of it. 
  • I did not feel any chemistry or interest in Joe and Fergal. I did not care. Actually, in fact, I wanted Fergal to leave. 
  • I also wanted more description and details about Fire Island. I wasn’t able to really make a mental map of the island, and having never been there, I think it would have helped me immerse myself even more. Honestly, I think I could say that about most of the locations, sans maybe the witches’ house. But I still could not tell you what Asylum Harbor looked like at all. 
  • The writing of the sex scenes or anything sexual was not for me and honestly quite cringe. There were some analogies and metaphors that just made me uncomfortable. 
  • This is a personal thing, but I don’t care for books like this writing real people into the story. Like, yes, Jerry Herman was a very important, prominent figure during the AIDS crisis in New York specifically…but him being there added nothing and just felt like a cameo for…a cameo’s sake? It also did not read like him at all.

LONGED FOR:

  • More magic
  • More descriptions and detail about the locations and the island overall 
  • Further character explorations that added further clarity as to why certain characters were making the decisions they made (Joe less so)


Will I read the next one? : Maybe? This was a tough read for its content. I’ve seen good things about A Sign for Home, so maybe I’ll possibly check that out.

*Thank you to Alcove Press & NetGalley for providing this ARC!

 
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