Thank you to Amulet Books/ABRAMS Kids for a copy of Fraternity in exchange for an honest review.
Summary
A queer, dark academia YA story about a mysterious boarding school, a brotherhood that must stay in the shadows, and an ancient evil that could tear it all apart.
In the fall of 1991, Zooey Orson transfers to the Blackfriars School for Boys hoping for a fresh start following a scandal at his last school. However, he quickly learns that he isn’t the only student keeping a secret. Before he knows it, he’s fallen in with a group of boys who all share the same secret, one which they can only express openly within the safety of the clandestine gatherings of the Vicious Circle — the covert club for gay students going back decades.
But when the boys unwittingly happen upon the headmaster’s copy of an arcane occult text, they unleash an eldritch secret so terrible, it threatens to consume them all.
A queer paranormal story set during the still-raging AIDS crisis, Fraternity examines a time not so long ago when a secret brotherhood lurked in the shadows. What would Zooey and his friends do to protect their found family? — From publisher
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The problem with kitchen-sink cookies
I want to get my criticisms of Fraternity out of the way first. Andy Mientus‘s book is doing way too much. And unfortunately, some of the efforts fall short, as often happens when we overdo it. Here is an Instagram post Mientus shared to give you an idea:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgo-a1QuCAr/?hl=en
I truly believe this was an oversight — antisemitism so often falls through the cracks, and we must do better. The thing is, this isn’t the only example of this sort of … blip … in Fraternity. (Not to mention Fraternity‘s Jewish-coded character gets the major short-end of the stick).
In his author’s note at the beginning of the book, Mientus mentions he included overt and covert racism to be authentic to the setting of Fraternity. Fair enough. I just question if it was necessary. Do we need Black trauma if we don’t have Black joy? Do we need Black trauma written by a non-Black person?
Similarly, a white-passing character is “revealed” to be half Korean. There’s one fascinating conversation about it, then that storyline is just … dropped. Also … the one Black character disappears from the book for about 100 pages only to reappear in an awful situation.
These aren’t my only criticisms, but I’ll leave it there, as, shockingly, I’m not trying to dissuade you from reading Fraternity.
All this to say that while, as you’ll see, there is a lot to love about Fraternity, it shows how important the editing, beta and sensitivity reading process is. And highlights that those processes are not infallible. I have a lot to think about when it comes to my own writing.
“Hiss, hiss b****”
Andy Mientus has a unique writing style. I’ve not read his other books, so I don’t know if this style is unique to Fraternity, but it worked for me. There’s a lot of repetition of language to the point that it becomes almost poetic, and being the language nerd I am, I was in heaven. One of those perfect lines that repeats and comes back is, “Hiss, hiss b****” — a reference to using the venom of your words, not your fists.
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There’s also something unhinged about Fraternity. Haven’t all of us bullied at some point wished we could get occult-level revenge on our bullies? Of course, revenge isn’t the sweet release we expect it to be. There are dark consequences. And for all I’m not sure how I feel about Fraternity‘s “twist,” I can say that I was surprised. And, y’all, this jaded millennial enjoys a fictional surprise— it’s a rare treat.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKi3po-hxqy/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=e1ed8538-e0e8-4c8e-9dfe-7ff2f7069e32
Bisexual Restoration
I do not often discuss creators’ identities when reviewing. For one, they don’t owe us their identities, and two, writing often leads people to discover their identities. For reviewing purposes, I try only to mention it when there is a lot of discourse or someone seems really out of their lane. Here, I want to talk about just the opposite.
Andy Mientus is openly bisexual, and I don’t know his personal story — in fact, it doesn’t matter. But the bisexual storyline in Fraternity is so raw and honest. Mientus and I are the same age, and I feel echoes of my own story, of my own closet, in the one he created for this character.
Reading it was both painful and cathartic. We don’t have enough bisexual male voices. I’m glad Mientus is sharing his.
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Should you read it?
Yes. If for nothing else than the bisexual storyline. There are issues with Fraternity that I don’t want to minimize. But it sounds like Mientus has taken the criticism to heart, and I hope other writers do too.
At the end of the day, this is an imperfect revenge fantasy that taught me (finally) what “Dark Academia” means.
Fraternity is out on September 20, 2022. Pick up a copy at your local indie bookstore or library. 📚🏫🩸
Content warnings: Child abuse (sexual), body horror, racism, homophobia, biphobia, parental death, drinking and cannabis use. Note: There is the use of outdated language, such as how trans people are referred to and the abundant use of the f slur, but it is more or less appropriate to the time.
This article was originally published on 9/18/22.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/book-review-reluctant-immortals-gwendolyn-kiste/
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