4.5 stars/5

The Scapegracers is a the gayest, witchiest book in the world and I loved every second of it. Whilst it is more of a slowburn plotwise, the focus on the characters and this deep connection that is formed between the four witches in the new coven was so brilliant. It completely subverts the mean girl trope and I found it one of the most refreshing and exciting portrayals of female friendship that I've read in a long time.

The Scapegracers follows Sideways, a lesbian witch who is invited to perform her magic at a party organised by three popular girls who want their party to be the spookiest in memory at the school. But instead of just getting a killer cool bit of magic out of it, the new coven finds friendship and support like never before. The four of them team up to help Sideways with her new crush, as well as fight off the modern day witchhunters who want to take their magic from them.

The Scapegracers is a slow book, I won't deny it. There isn't a clear enemy or plot across the book as you would expect from a YA fantasy novel. Instead, this book is more of an exploration of friendship with a side of fantasy as the girls investigate and try out their new powers. And whilst I wasn't expecting that, I loved this surprise! The Scapegracers has one of the best portrayals of female friendship I've ever seen. Clarke has taken the trope of mean, popular school girls, and thrown everything you think about them into the bin. Here, these girls are so supportive, so badass and the way they take Sideways into their group is so incredibly beautiful and heartwarming. It's done so well that I found myself tearing up when Sideways is just in awe that these beautiful, loving people want to be her friend because she's so fucked up from being so alone. I also loved that these girls were allowed to embrace their femininity if they wanted and it was amazing because they can still be badass witches too? So often, YA fantasy has to feature "girls who aren't like other girls", ones who need to throw away their femininity in order to be cool and kick butts with magic. But The Scapegracers is just the opposite of that in every way: here are these girls who love make up, who wear tight dresses, who flirt, but can still kick butts with magic. More of this in fantasy please!

I also want to praise the casual queerness in the book which was so great to see. We have a lesbain main character, bisexual and queer side characters, and Sideways has two dads! And that leads me to my second favourite part of this book: Sideways is so. fucking. gay. She is such a clueless lesbian, it is amazing. I loved her pure awed joy when interacting with Madeline, which lead to lines like this: "Hell, if Madeline offered to beat me up, I'd probably weep with joy and give her a hearty tip when she was done" and "She wanted my number in a potentially gay way. Oh God, I wanted to die." I couldn't help but laugh at her, she's such a great character who is a complete mess when she has a crush and it was so great to see.

I enjoyed the bringing of witchhunters into the modern world. Although it was only a small section, I loved finding out about the history of these witchhunters, it was so fascinating how they came to be and how they track witches. The reason I didn't give this a full of five stars is because it did slow quite a lot, particularly in the middle of the book, when the witchhunters seemed to dissappear. I think they could have been a bit more prominent to add a sense of tension and urgency to the book as they were a great, creepy villain!

All in all, I really loved this book! Whilst The Scapegracers was almost nothing like what I expected. I've been having a bad run with YA fantasy recently, but because this was so different to what I expected from "YA fantasy", it resulted in something so much better than I hoped for! The Scapegracers is a really lovely look at female friendships and had such a kickass group of queer witches, so much casual queerness, and a clueless lesbain crushing so bad it made for the funniest lines. Highly recommend this one!

Book review will be posted online closer to pub date.

As a book lover, there’s almost no worse feeling in the world than getting about 75% of the way through a book before realizing there’s no way it can all be wrapped up by the last page. I didn’t realize that this book was the first in a trilogy when I started it - if I had, I probably wouldn’t have read it in the first place, and I would have been missing out. This book created a world I didn’t want to leave - between the fully-fleshed, complex characters and the incredible magic system the author created, I just wasn’t ready for the book to end. In reality, I would rate this as 4.5 stars (there were some stylistic and clarity issues that served as stumbling blocks for me, hence the loss of half a star), but I rounded down because I guess I’m just cutthroat that way. I hope the galley for the next book is available soon, because I can’t wait to spend more time with the Scapegracers and the inimitable Mr. Scratch!

First off, I want to say that the writing for this book was beautiful, This is one of those cross-genre books that toes the line between literary and commercial. In addition, I love a good witchy book and Clarke flips the teen-witch trope on its head by making it dark and queer. This book has a total Sabrina meets Mean Girls vibe.
That being said, it was a bit dense and hard to connect with the main character. There was a lot of voice, but the stakes were unclear in the beginning so it was difficult to get into the story. None the less, it was interesting and I'd recommend it.

Interesting characters. Intriguing plot. Dynamic prose. My attention was held the entire time. I enjoyed my time reading this one. I’d suggest this story to everyone who likes a more contemporary stuff.

LGBTQ+ representation, healthy friendships, sarcasm and lots of angst - there’s not much more you could be looking for in a book that you won’t find here! The story moves quickly so the world around you isn’t fully fleshed out, but considering this will be a series there’s plenty of time for improvement on that front!

The Scapegracers is slick like new magic, fitting like a second skin. Gay witches, rural small-town queerness, the anxiety of new friendships, and the terror of being hunted.

The prose hums and clicks, conveying a train of thought without getting sidetracked. It's full of fricatives and phrases begging to be spoken into the air, hurled at the sky. The blend of literal descriptions and visceral metaphors conveys a sense of physicality, of being in a body while magic is in the air and winding through Sideways' skin. It has the teenage friend-group version of "feeling lonely in the middle of a crowd"; capturing a feeling of awkwardness and surprise at being wanted, being invited, being anywhere and having it finally feel right; dreading the possibility that it's all a trick, that anxiety that everyone is just pretending to like her and that they might inexplicably stop.

There's a traumatic event early on (which I won't spoil) and the aftermath affects how they navigate the world throughout the rest of the book. It made that event feel grounded and immediate. It would have been easy to have it kick off the main plot and disappear, but instead it shows up in little ways through to the end of the story, continuing to have emotional impact.

This is one of those where I'm having trouble talking about it without spoilers, but it's full of tiny moments and turns of phrase that just felt right to me. I could always follow the plot but never could predict where it would go next. I loved reading this and I'll definitely read the sequel.

The first thing about The Scapegracers that drew me in is that cover of this book is gorgeous. Then when I saw the words “outcast teenage lesbian witch finds her coven” I knew I had to read this book. I’m a huge fan of anything to do with magic and witchcraft, as well as strong female friendships, and found family. This book is also a lot of fun. It’s dark and witchy in parts, but it’s also just a really enjoyable read. It’s the kind of book younger me would really have adored and appreciated, because I would have obsessed over it’s depiction of female friendships and own voices queerness, and I think it does an amazing job of capturing teens at their best and messiest.

This book was a bit of a breath of fresh air – the characters actually felt like teenagers. Throughout the book, they mess up and make mistakes, had anxieties about their everyday lives as well as the events of the book, and actually went to school! They definitely focused on the wrong things (like going on dates and finding Sideways a girlfriend) rather than the bigger issues at hand, because that’s honestly what most teens would probably do! Everything seems like life and death when you’re that age, so not having your priorities in order felt like such natural thing!

The female friendships in this book are fantastic. I love that instead of Sideways being the outsider who hates the ‘mean girls’, instead we get Sideways becoming friends with them, forming fast friendships and there being so much female empowerment and strength between them all. There was such a focus on them all supporting each other, and a feeling of it being them vs the world. It was such a beautifully positive thing to read about! There are so many books where women are pitted against each other Sideways has always been a bit of a loner, and so her slightly awkward response to being part of a group was so perfectly written! Each of the main characters had their own distinct personality and feeling – Yates was a total ray of sunshine and a sweetheart; Yates was protective and ruthless; Jing was confident and badass; Sideways was spiky and awkward in the best way. I loved all of them so much, and they really made this book what it was! An additional mention goes to Mr Scratch who is honestly my favourite character.

The magic in ‘The Scapegracers’ was really interesting, although it wasn’t well explained. I think this is because Sideways doesn’t really understand it herself, and we learn most of our information through her, and she has no idea how things work or what is going on. I’m really looking forward to learning more about magic in this universe, and more about the coven as they grow and learn together.

‘The Scapegracers’ is so beautifully written, with a lot of sumptuous descriptions and the writing style was honestly really gripping and pulled me into the world. It was a bewitching read and I loved the journey it took me on. There was a slightly predictable plot twist in this book, but honestly guessing what what would happen didn’t alter enjoyment of the book at all. It kept me wanting to know HOW and WHY everything would happen, especially because of the engaging writing.

Overall this was a really enjoyable and positive reading experience. This book had a lot of amazing queer rep including lesbian, bi, questioning, gay and non-binary characters, which made my queer little heart sing! It was such a brilliantly fun read that left me desperate for more. I’m so happy I read this book and I really can’t wait to read the next in the series, and anything else Clarke writes in the future!

“Fresh scapegracers, making their own little band. Doesn’t happen much anymore.”
“It’s a bit archaic, I know. Means you’ve escaped the grace of God. It was up there with rascal for a while. Implied a particularly nasty kid. I like it.”

This book is not dainty, or sweet, or soft. This book is about the feral energies all teen girls have to some degree. Add a little magic into the mix and you have Sideways Pike, Daisy, Jing, and Yates. Sideways has been on her own most of her life, but the rest of the girls claim her as their own after a dramatic Halloween party.

I adored this book. It was so much fun to read. The girls felt real, their emotions felt like ones I’d had myself. The concept of feral but popular girls finding witchcraft and making their own coven was everything, but then you add queer representation to the mix? Hell yes. This was what I wanted “These Witches Don’t Burn” to be. Their stories were built well, as was the characters as a whole. The story building was subtle but interwoven neatly.

“You girls freed me. You freed me and showed me your talent and cunning and curiosity, your marvelous disregard for authority, your relentless care for one another...”

If I were to describe my experience as I read this book, I would have to say it was like watching a teen drama on TV. I'm not fond of teen dramas and can barely make it to the second season but this book makes me want to read more.

The Scapegracers follows teenage witch Sideways Pike and her new found friends, three popular girls who initially hired her to perform magic during a Halloween party. Yet when the magic becomes something Sideways didn't expect, she, along with Daisy, Yates, and Jing, delve deeper into the world of magic and covens and witchhunters and hopefully, find more about the strength and power they have in themselves and with each other.

The book is really character-driven and Sideways is such a good main character. She's true to herself, she has her flaws, and well, she's just your typical teenager: young, reckless, strong, and determined. I love her perspective and her personality and how she is just relatable and honest. Also I really appreciate the LGBT+ representation in the book as seen in Sideways, who is also a lesbian. Throughout the book, we see her growth as a witch and as a social being as she slowly finds a group of people and even a love interest. Sideways is such a good character and even if there are times where she can be quite frustrating and stressful, she still manages to make me keep on reading because her growth throughout the book is so fun to watch.

Other than Sideways, I just absolutely loved her friend group. Initially, I thought they were going to be like the Heathers but I was wrong. Daisy, Yates, and Jing are a diverse set of characters who are all different yet work well together. In the book, we are also introduced to their pasts and each girl has their own set of characteristics that make them stand out as individuals. Put these four girls all together and they just work so well and their power and sisterhood is just so nice to read.

The fantasy aspect in the book is quite interesting and complex and I was able to understand it easily. While this book has well-written characters, I find its plot to be quite lacking. I didn't exactly feel a sense of urgency or pull from the plot to keep me reading. The characters really got me to stay. The plot was a bit dragging and when it finally came to the climax, I didn't really feel anything. The ending was also lacking for me since it just ended abruptly and although I do like cliffhangers, I was hoping to get some closure or security.

Overall, I appreciate The Scapegracers for its characters and the way the author incorporated witchcraft into the story. Hopefully the second book would pull me even deeper into this world of covens, magic, and ghastly girls.

When you combine the words lesbian and witch, my queer little heart leaps for joy. This combination is my ultimate “have to have it” book.

Let’s start with what I did like:
Other than the obvious, I love having lesbian representation in fantasy;
I loved certain dialogue aspects where the “pretty girl” tells our MC to never refer to herself as ugly. Ever. That she is beautiful. The MC has a lot of self deprecating humor and I love that the “pretty girl” tells her to knock it off.
I loved the uniqueness of the magic system and some of the angst within.

That said, the writing felt really disjointed at times. So much so that I’d have to re read a paragraph because MC is talking and doing something and the next thing I know she’s waking up and a new thing is happening. The language was also a bit high school for me, but I think would be fine for the audience it was intended for.

The Scapegracers is one of my new favorites of 2020!! I absolutely loved this book, it was incredibly good! The Scapegracers follows the misadventures of Sideways Pike: our sarcastic and angsty resident witch. Sideways connects with three popular girls at her school, who pay her to do magic at a party. When Sideways experiences magic like never before, she’s found her coven- just in time, as some very creepy witch hunters are in town.

As if witch hunters aren’t enough to deal with, Sideways meets a beautiful girl who seems to have an interest in her. But is it all too good to be true? Sideways is such a fun, angsty, and sarcastic character who can scarcely believe she’s found her coven and true friends. The supporting characters, from the girls in the coven to Sideways’ dads, are such lovely characters to spend time with. The characters feel real and personable! The portrayal and exploration of LGBTQ identity is extremely well done.

The complex female friendship, interesting magic system, and well-paced story absolutely stole my heart. Sideways and the girls who make up her coven are utterly bewitching. I am living for this sisterhood - these girls have each other's backs and take no prisoners. The spooky atmosphere was delightful, with unapologetic writing, and filled with witchy details. It is so satisfying when an author completely nails the pacing of a book and leaves you eagerly awaiting the next adventure! This book has a piece of my heart and I highly recommend it.

I can’t wait to see how the coven’s adventures continue and I’m already ready for book two! The Scapegracers releases September 15, 2020. Thank you so much to Hannah Abigail Clarke, Erewhon Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh wow, I can't even begin to express just how much I LOVE this book! The Scapegracers takes magic and witchcraft and describes it in the most electric and beautiful way I've ever read it. I felt the power of magic in this book and in these girls in a way that made me unable to put this book down. Sideways Pike is an incredible main character. She's full of flaws but she's true to herself, and her friendship with the other girls was deeply endearing while capturing the absolute power and ferocity and kindness of teenage girls in a way I've rarely seen in a book. All of these girls felt very real and genuine and complicated as people and I loved getting to know their personalities. I also loved the way the book rooted itself in the real world without ever feeling too stuck in it and the role of magic in the books was incredibly done. I also loved the way identity was explored in this books, especially with having many queer characters in the book who all felt deeply real and genuine. It was especially wonderful to have a powerful, quirky and wild main character who embraced her identity as a lesbian. I can't get over how great of a character Sideways is. I'm absolutely obsessed with this story, with its characters and with the way the plot moved so intricately that I was always left intrigued and always discovering something new. My only complaint is that I don't already have the second book in my hands! I can't wait to see where this story goes and I hope that anyone and everyone takes the time to meet the Scapegracers. I'll be recommending it to everyone I know.

From the Publisher: An outcast teenage lesbian witch finds her coven hidden amongst the popular girls in her school, and performs some seriously badass magic in the process.

Skulking near the bottom of West High’s social pyramid, Sideways Pike lurks under the bleachers doing magic tricks for Coke bottles. As a witch, lesbian, and lifelong outsider, she’s had a hard time making friends. But when the three most popular girls pay her $40 to cast a spell at their Halloween party, Sideways gets swept into a new clique. The unholy trinity are dangerous angels, sugar-coated rattlesnakes, and now–unbelievably–Sideways’ best friends.

Together, the four bond to form a ferocious and powerful coven. They plan parties, cast curses on dudebros, try to find Sideways a girlfriend, and elude the fundamentalist witch hunters hellbent on stealing their magic. But for Sideways, the hardest part is the whole ‘having friends’ thing. Who knew that balancing human interaction with supernatural peril could be so complicated?

Rich with the urgency of feral youth, The Scapegracers explores growing up and complex female friendship with all the rage of a teenage girl. It subverts the trope of competitive mean girls and instead portrays a mercilessly supportive clique of diverse and vivid characters. It is an atmospheric, voice-driven novel of the occult, and the first of a three-book series.

I know The Scapegracers was suggested to me at some point on NetGalley, but the description above from the publisher just sounded too fluffy cliched high school-y to me (especially the second paragraph), despite an awesome phrase like 'sugar-coated rattlesnakes' and a gorgeous cover. Then I came across the author's article on queer visibility and coding in The Last Unicorn (my favorite movie for over 35 years) on Tor.com and...oh. They can write and they're making me look at a movie I can quote from memory in new ways. Yes, I will definitely request your book. I'm so very glad I did.

As described above, the book follows Sideways and her new friends as they discover their powers. It leaves out the dead deer, the mysterious auction house, and some very interesting spell books. As the first volume in a trilogy, The Scapegracers does end with some pretty big plot points unanswered, and I'm very much hoping that more focus will be on these in future books, especially the witch hunters.

I loved this book. I devoured it in 24 hours, which has been par for the course during these Trying Times. Either all at once or abandoned half way through. No in between. This is the very best of The Craft but queer and without the betrayal (which as someone who was never popular I kept bracing myself for). It made me want to hug my female friends and braid their hair.

I'm including this quote because I think it gives a far better feel to the book than the summary that was provided. 'She and Jing and Yates were all feliform angels. They laughed and sneered and drank pink lemonade. They were vain, self-centered, overconfident. They ran riot and wrecked the world. Who was I, comparing myself to one of them? Daisy could murder someone with a glance. Holy hell, I wanted that. I wanted to be gorgeous and reckless and legendary, or at least somebody people liked. I wanted the privilege of being mistaken for someone like her. I wanted to be her.'

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for the ARC. The Scapegracers will be out on September 15, and this review will be updated in regards to obtaining the book through Galesburg Public Library.

This review originally posted at Books You Can Die in the Middle Of: http://lookgoodifyoudie.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-scapegracers-by-hannah-abigail.html

I liked this book way more than I had expected too, I ended up enjoying it alot! The main character is angsty, and sarcastic and perfect!! Not mention diverse LGBTQ secondary characters as well, turned up the heat for this book!! The storytelling was very exciting and fast paced which didnt leave a lot of world building. However the characters development was on point!! Very relatable attributes in each character, for every individual reader!!
Thank you so much to the author for my chance at an early copy!! It did not disappoint!!

Either way it was still beyond enjoyable!! So glad I got the chance to read this from Netgalley and the publisher!!

4 stars
*Thank you to Netgalley and those involved with Spacegracers for my advanced readers copy.

LGBT witches in high school is the best description I can give to this book, though it is so much more than that.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though it had more than a few issues.
The main character is a loner who due to circumstances in her early life finds it hard to make friends and the other characters are surprisingly refreshing since they are the stereotypical "mean girl" archetype deconstructed.
I didn't expect to be so overjoyed that the "mean girls" were actually... nice. They were still popular but like every human had vulnerabilities which made me really happy. I love fleshed out characters that belong to archetypes and I found myself relating to them even though I was definitely NOT popular in school. They were vibrant and charismatic and I might have enjoyed reading about them more than the main character.Literally everyone is relatable in some fashion for me at least also so that's a plus!
Also, witchcraft. Let's talk about the other representation in this book. So witchcraft is an actual religious practice that is demonized or misrepresented in media and books most times, but it was not in this book.
The author either is a witch or did their homework when it came to this. Though magic is not seen as this potent in witchcraft (Practitioners usually don't levitate for instance) sigils and rituals are a big part of the craft. So yeah, good job on that!
Now for the reason this is not five stars.
Pacing.
The pacing was really disorienting because it went 1 to 100 so fast. For example, we are escaping the antagonists and then we go to school and it slows down drastically. Maybe that was just a problem for me but it really took me out of the immersion of the book but this is going to be a trilogy so I'm sure the author can fix most of the problems listed here. This is their first book to my knowledge.
Antagonists.
So early on in the book we meet the villains/antagonists and until the end of the book they don't even mention them really again. Also the twist was kind of predictable but I'll let that slide because it made me anxious for the main character and scream "No! Don't do that!"
Overall, I loved the book though and can't wait for the next installment in the trilogy.

I think this book had a great premise and a great cast of characters. I felt like there was some great diversity and representation in this book. I struggled with the clunky writing and the all over the place pacing in this book.

This was way more fun than anticipated!
I mean, I really hoped it would be fun, because there's not many things that are better than lesbian witches imo.

I had my problems with it at first. I didn't particularly like the writing style, it felt fabricated and... stilted, I guess? It took me almost a third to get used to it. But once I did, and got really invested in Sideways and her newly acquired friends, I really liked this!
And since I somehow got even worse at writing reviews that aren't bulletpoint lists, I'm just going to list all the things I liked and didn't like. Maybe I'll revamp this review once the publication date (September 15) draws near.

- The characters felt real! Which is somehow very uncommon for books with teen main characters, apparently. But these teens curse, they are kind of dicks, but are still human and lovable characters!
- It's very diverse without coming off as forced (like, how some authors force in half-formed characters just for browney points). Sideways' a lesbian. She has two dads. There's casually characters with they/them pronouns, and casual characters with sexualities all over the place and that was just cool
- I didn't particularly like the part where The Clowns (you'll know who I'm talking about once you read the book) turn up. It felt very out of tune with the rest of the story, and just felt like an underdeveloped plot Point
- that being said, I loved that Clarke put enough thought into this to have Sideways emerge from that situation not a-okay, but shaken (re: cars)
- I'm a sucker for the Found Family trope, even more so if said found family are all super supportive girls that will murder anyone to protect each other. This is my jam!
- Some things were a bit too convenient, but I'll forgive that. Writing is hard. Coming up with solutions that work but that aren't convenient is even harder.

All in all, I really enjoyed The Scapegracers! More so than I thought I would! If you like the idea of The Chilling Adventure of Sabrina, but not the execution, and want it gay: Here you have the perfect candidate!


@Erewhon and Netgalley: Thank you guys for the ARC!

***Thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books Publishing Company for providing me an ARC of THE SCAPEGRACERS by Hannah Abigail Clarke in exchange for my honest review.***

3.75/5

This book is both an interesting and fun read (although it definitely isn't light). I was personally super excited to read it because of the female friendships and it certainly paid off. I loved the relationships that were established between Sideways and the "popular girls." TOO many times in popular media the "popular girls" are portrayed as these awful people, when in reality that is oftentimes not the case. Also I don't know how accurate the coven/witchcraft aspects were, but I absolutely loved it. I am really enjoying that these are topics in so many new YA books.

Writing:
-The writing in this book is okay. There were some typos that I caught and sentences that didn't make sense, but since this was an ARC that should be fixed up for its release.

Pacing:
-The pacing in this book was a bit of a problem for me. At times it was super fast paced and fun, while at other points in the story I found myself to be kind of bored (I would recommend that you stick with is though).

Characters:
-I really liked the characters (LGBT+ and racial diversity), but I have to say that Jing is hands down my favorite. She is a cool, smart, badass and I love her.

-I will recommend and already have!!!

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
•
2*
Pros: Queer lead and secondary characters. Creepy and mysterious. Features an awesome coven and full of witchcraft. Feminist notes included. Interesting characters and engaging dialogue.
.
Cons: Stilted and clunky description. Unnecessary and unimportant scenes. Messy plot and sequences.

I can’t wait to continue with the series!!! I can honestly see a Netflix adaption of this.
Girl friendships that aren’t toxic and lesbian representation, what else do you need?