Why you should get excited:
- This has been pitched as Simon vs. the Homo-Sapiens Agenda meets The Raven Boys and it definitely had that vibe going the entire book!
Review:
“Sometimes, Sam, we fight with people because we care about them too much to give up on them.”
What a fun ride!
Sam’s story was filled with magic, friendship, and growing older. This isn’t really a fantasy, but rather a contemporary with magic in the mix. It was a refreshing blurring of genres not too fixed on any one topic, but rather the ways our lives intertwine with those of others and how power relations come into play, all wrapped up with a glimpse of romance on top.
The world-building and the rules surrounding the magic were a bit blurry and I could have stood to get a bit more information on the limitations and rules to all of it but there was a lot of potential for more. It was really cool how the magic was tied to the person’s feelings and personality and that there is a lot of practice involved in getting to more powerful spells. The backdrop of the high school magic club also made for some excellent discussion on friendship and new loves, as well as the different standards that we hold friends to that we have known forever versus people who we might be falling for.
The ongoing cult-like organisation that is stealing people’s magic for their own gain kept the stakes high, especially when one of the club got involved with their hunger for power. Though it’s never quite revealed for what reason this organisation is hoarding all this magic, it was still intense reading about them luring in their victims with false promises of hospitality and acceptance.
At the center of this story is definitely friendship and how as you grow older, you tend to grow apart if you don’t put in the work to keep friendships alive. Drifting away from your friends happens quickly but holding on can be worth it. The story also showed, though, that you shouldn’t change yourself to fit with the people you love but that they should be able to accept you for who you are.
This is a book where the focus isn’t on the romance or coming out; instead, it’s on friends finding their way back to each other, new loves being introduced and enriching your life with a sprinkle of magic.
A sweet debut, beautifully written and with a lot of potential for magical spin-offs.
The Fascinators is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of May 12th 2020.
Will you be picking up The Fascinators? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A magic-infused YA novel about friendship, first love, and feeling out of place that will bewitch fans of Rainbow Rowell and Maggie Stiefvater.
Living in a small town where magic is frowned upon, Sam needs his friends James and Delia—and their time together in their school’s magic club—to see him through to graduation.
But as soon as senior year starts, little cracks in their group begin to show. Sam may or may not be in love with James. Delia is growing more frustrated with their amateur magic club. And James reveals that he got mixed up with some sketchy magickers over the summer, putting a target on all their backs.
With so many fault lines threatening to derail his hopes for the year, Sam is forced to face the fact that the very love of magic that brought his group together is now tearing them apart—and there are some problems that no amount of magic can fix.
