Maybe im just getting too old for YA but this felt so forced? The narrator wasn’t great and it didnt help that the writing in itself was trying to be very ~that sassy character~ in media SOMETIMES.

Historical, magical, and queer, this novel is set in an isolated and elite academic environment – what's not to love? The synopsis promised many of my favorite themes, and while it didn't delve deeply into the gothic aspects of dark academia or focus heavily on the characters' studies, it excelled in exploring interpersonal relationships and social hierarchies. Through the eyes of a character who unwittingly unravels the hidden underbelly of this privileged world, the story gradually built momentum, blending magic with real-world issues like AIDS, conversion therapy, queerness, and race in a way that felt natural and fitting. Set in the early 90s, the novel avoided overloading on pop culture references but authentically captured the period, including the pervasive systemic homophobia and racism. The characters' struggles with casual yet demeaning remarks and the exhaustion of constantly having to protect their true selves were poignantly portrayed. The magic and political themes were seamlessly interwoven, creating a clever and thought-provoking narrative.

This was a good read. Definitely would recommend for older teens and enjoyed the queer story line and the fraternity aspect

I had never heard of this book and only picked up this book because I know of Andy Mientus from Broadway (mostly as his turn as Marius in Les Miserables) and wanted to see what he came up with. This dark academic book set in the 90s amidst the AIDS epidemic was not at all what I expected. I went in thinking it was going to be storyline similar to the movie The Craft (group of teens delving into witchcraft) and instead we got a much more emotional story that deal with a variety of issues including racism, classism, privilege, bullying, coming out, parental pressure, and more.

Synopsis: When Zooey transfers to an all-boys boarding school after a scandalous incident at his previous institution, he tries desperately to just blend into the background and not be seen. Instead, he's swooped by the the group of "misfits" and enters a secret society that has gone back since the beginning of the institution. Here, he finds his true friends and begins to grow into his own person. Along the way, he is told about a secret book of spells that is hidden in the headmaster's office that the group has been using for various things. The group decides to cast a spell over the school bully and that sets off a string of events that changes all of their lives.

Review: As I said earlier, this was not at all what I expected. The "Craft/The Coven" aspects gave me the teen dark academic vibes that I was expecting, but all of the other issues that were brought up only added to the story (personally, I would have liked a little more spells/witchcraft but that's only because that's what I thought that was going to be the main story). I wasn't really sure why we were set in the 90s during the AIDS crisis, but there was one scene set in a hospital room that I thought was very sad and emotional and I could see how that just became an unspoken underlying fear in everyone's lives.

The writing style did take a while to get used to. The book is written from three different POVs. I listened to this as an audiobook so having three different narrators helped bring each POV to life. I will say though, I wasn't really into the writing for the first 10% or so. It was a odd style and I didn't think I would be into the story. I can see many people putting it down in the first few pages because of it. Thankfully I stuck with it and I quickly became engaged in the story. By the end, I really enjoyed the story. I don't think this is one for everybody but if it does sound interesting to you then I would say give it a chance.

Thank you NetGalley for a free audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am so frustrated this this book isn’t getting more attention, because it’s outstanding. It has all the hallmarks of excellent Dark Academia, and some other wonderful elements that go beyond that.

Generally I don’t love DA that has a message. Not because the message the author is trying to get across isn’t a good one, but because it’s tough to incorporate into this type of novel and is thus rarely successfully done. Mientus, by contrast, has done such a good job of marrying message and entertainment that it adds a lot to what the book has to offer.

Most DA novels are populated almost exclusively by people just like me: Straight, white, female. While I understand that this is probably because they demographic represents a huge swath of the DA audience, it was fantastic to see an author break with genre convention and give us something more diverse.

Mientus wrote an excellent story from an entertainment perspective that hits all the right DA notes: The setting is well drawn, the vibe is academic, the atmosphere is eerie, and the magical system is creative and integrated into the rest of the story well. But he’s also giving us a wonderful thinkpiece on the AIDS crisis, on queerness, and on the idea that we all deserve to be allowed not just to exist but to thrive as our authentic selves.

Fraternity is smart, sweet, and compelling, and it’s one of the best pieces of Dark Academia that I’ve come across in a long time.

This was a charming, haunting little book!

I've been an Andy Mientus fan since I first saw him on Broadway back in high school and I'm glad to report his talents are not limited to the stage. This was definitely a debut- with some kinks and tropes to iron out- but overall, a very solid YA thriller. Dark academia vibes for the win!

I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would, and much, much more than the first chapter would have lead me to believe I would. That’s the first thing I want to make clear in this review: the first chapter of this book is bad. It is off-putting and bizarre, and not at all a good representation if what this book has in store. If you do choose to read FRATERNITY, I implore you to power through the uncomfortable first chapter to get to the actual story of the book.

This is a love letter to queer history set against the backdrop dark academia and witchy horror. These characters jump off the page and come to life, they are vibrant and engaging, and each narrator has their own idioms and turns of phrase that really set each one apart. The narrative lost me at points, but the overall plot is unique and certainly filled a gap in my fall spooky reading list.

Similar to Catherine House and A Lesson in Vengeance, I thought aspects of this book would have been more believable had it been aged to college students rather than high schoolers, but I know Young Adult Fiction is much more marketable and lucrative than New Adult Fiction.

This one was so fun and campy and just I adored it. I know Andy from Smash and his book did not disappoint. Thanks to the publisher.

This was well written with three good narrators.
The concept was interesting with likeable characters that had some flaws.
It is a fun, paranormal story and als a serious story about AIDS and homophobia with a secret society.

If you're looking for a paranormal, dark academia story with a healthy dose of queer, I would definitely recommend Fraternity. I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed it immensely.

Two points toward my recommending this book to others are that it's well-written and has an interesting concept. I may not know much about the early '90s, but even I know enough to know a lot was going on at the time. Add witchcraft to this and there's almost no risk of boredom.

There is, admittedly, a risk of taking on too much, of becoming too cluttered, but I think the author managed to fit everything in nicely. He tells a complete story and touches on a variety of important subjects in a way that doesn't belittle their importance. (That said, some of the characters used to introduce some of those topics could definitely be fleshed out. if Andy Mientus ever decided to write a sequel focusing on Jackson, I'd buy it in a heartbeat)

Plus, I laughed out loud in some areas.

Despite my liking the writing and the concept, what I'd really consider to Fraternity's crowning glory was the characters. Daniel and Leo are just so darn likable. Zooey wanders away from that classification for a bit, but he comes back rather quickly (Seriously, I fully expected to stay frustrated with him until the last minute). They just come across as really good people.

It does have to be said that there is at least one aspect that I don't find to be entirely realistic. Daniel and Leo ( and Zooey to a lesser extent) have an astounding ability to process and voice their emotions that a lot of teenagers don't have. Additionally, they are much more accepting of things like bisexuality than a lot of people, even within the community, would have been at the time. Furthermore, they also had a lexicon that seems much more indicative of 2022 than the early 90s.

Mind you, I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who went through a lot of confusion in the 2000s. It's entirely possible that I'm simply assuming that everyone was as clueless as I was.

Even way, I don't think these things are at all detrimental to the overall story. I may have found them to be a bit of a diversion from reality, but honestly, it was a refreshing one. With so many bi and trans folk not being accepted by their own community, it was nice to escape it here. With all the times I was unsure about my feelings or couldn't find the words to express them as a teen, it was wonderful to hear Daniel and Leo assert themselves. Good for them!

Since I did listen to Fraternity on audiobook. I'd like to close with my thoughts on that. I thought all three narrators did a fantastic job, even if they were not all to my taste to the same degree. The voice of Zooey was a bit too sardonic for me while I could listen to the voice of Leo reciting the phone book.

Final ranking 4.5/5

My thanks to Netgalley.

This book covers a lot of really heavy topics and goes to some really dark places, yet somehow manages to stay fun through the whole story.

Set in 1991 at an all boys boarding school in rural Massachusetts, Fraternity has 3 main POVs: Zooey, Daniel, and Leo. All three boys have secrets to hide and all are queer but in different levels of being out and/or acceptance of their queerness. I adored all of these characters. They aren't perfect and they make bad decisions and they hurt people but they all felt in line with what a teenage boy in that situation would do. I love the way Andy Mientus wrote about navigating identity so much. Zooey in particular has some spaces where he is navigating his bisexuality that I loved. I also loved that the audiobook had different narrators for each of the three boys.

I think a lot of the book's fun had to do with the voices of the characters. The book starts from Zooey's perspective and it is clear that he is narrating the story from a point after the events of the book and as the story progresses you realize why and how the book is being told that way. I think upon reread I will love it even more because there are little hints of the versions of the boys currently writing the book that bleed through the narrative (in some cases actually interjections from one boy to another correcting/commenting on what was written) and I love that.

While I preferred the historical aspects of the plot to the paranormal one, that is very much a personal preference and not a commentary on the author's skill in either area. In fact, once the paranormal things started happening the action felt nonstop and I could not put the book down. Overall, I had a really great time with this book and I look forward to seeing what Andy Mientus writes next!

Oh wow. I really liked this.
1991 boarding school, gay kids dealing with trauma and homophobia, in a witchy underground club?
Over simplification of a beautiful layered story.
The scary parts could have been fleshed out a little more to make it a true horror. It had a very Lovecraftian "Horrors you could never imagine" type vibe. Which works for some parts but not so much others.

Fraternity took a little bit for me to get into, but once the paranormal stuff showed up, I was hooked. I hadn't read the synopsis close enough so I wasn't expecting paranormal, but it was a lot of fun. The characters were flawed and felt like people you could root for. Know that there is a lot of homophobia but the author does give a trigger warning at the beginning of the book.

I have so many mixed feelings about this one! It took a long time for the plot to fully develop. The homophobia and racism were appropriate for the setting and time period, but they were very jarring at times. The characters were well-developed for the most part, which I loved. They weren't always likeable but they were complex enough. The supernatural aspect of the story could've been introduced sooner or more strongly earlier on, but I enjoyed what was there. The narration was good. Not a new favorite but I don't regret reading it.

Yeah.,, I’m full blown speechless with this one guys. I took a few days to gather my thoughts because what the HELL did I just read?? We get three narrators in this: Zooey, Daniel, and Leo. Usually multiple narrators irritates me, but each of these boys were phenomenal, developed beautifully, and intense in their own right. And really that’s the best word to describe this book: intense. So much happens I almost have whiplash, but it’s not overpowering. The magical part of this is some of the most interesting and dark magical components I’ve ever read. These boys do some pretty messed up stuff. All of this is happening in the backdrop of the early 90s and the AIDS pandemic, and Zoe in particular really struggles with his identity and what that means. I don’t even have space to type about all the triggers in this because like ALL of the triggers exist in this book. This is dark, heavy, and at moments makes the reader quite uncomfortable….but also very well done and thoughtful at the same time. The events are natural progressions of the storylines (though Zooeys deterred a little wildly for me but that’s just my personal taste)

Broadway and television star Andy Mientus evokes the spirits of 1991 for his queer supernatural novel, Fraternity, set in a… fraternity. This is dark academia with 90s nostalgia, filled with the demons young men face.

Zachariah “Zooey” Orson transfers to the elite Blackfriars School for Boys after leaving his old school under a cloud of scandal. The new kid in class, he tries to fly under the radar until he attracts the attention of a homophobic bully. He also attracts the attention of the Vicious Circle, a secret society of queer students who create a safe space in the school for him. Among them are the handsome African-American jock Daniel, his camp “roommate” Leo and the bookish Steven.

With the help of this group of gay rebels in the school, Zooey begins to find his feet in the world of 1991 (Mientus serves a gay history primer between the academic soap-opera beats). As he starts to find himself around guys like him, Zooey starts to notice strange things around the Vicious Circle. Yes, these gay students are finding their power, literally, with the help of the dark arts. It starts small, helping them get into a screening of ‘My Own Private Idaho’, convincing people to help them out.

The way power corrupts and reveals our flaws is the bedrock of Mientus’ story. At first this is a positive thing. Young gay men, used to hiding in plain sight, find strength and room to grow in their secret club. But as their power increases, and tragic circumstances fuel their rage, things start to spiral… and people start dying.

What starts off as a queer version of The Craft or The Covenant… sorry let me rephrase that… what starts off as an overtly queer version of The Craft or The Coverant moves into more complex territory (touchs of films like Chronicle or a dozen horror stories creep in).

Fraternity is at its best when its being a fun, frothy, supernatural story with touches of 90s gay history woven throughout. I liked the wrinkles in the narrative. Each chapter is a first-person narrative cycling between Zooey, Daniel and Leo - not all of whom are completely reliable. Mientus uses each to touch on wider issues like racism, AIDs and politics. One of the best storylines sees one of the boys use his newfound power to recreate his life - making himself more of a ‘man’, embodying a toxic form of strength and heteronormative life - his internalised homophobia comes to the surface.

The pacing feels a little off at times, and some of the historical exposition can feel a bit forced, but there is a juicy, thrilling story to carry you through and some honest observations that ground the supernatural antics in real emotions.

Thank you to RB Media through Netgalley for the audio arc!
All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars-
I LOVED the narration! Having each MC have their own narrator enhanced the story.
This was a great book and very true to the times in terms of how queer people were treated. And that the author didn't shy away from the language. I loved that it was set in 1991 as it was able to include more queer historical elements, as the author said than 2001 would have had.

The main characters were great. Very lovable, I think Leo was my favorite. They were very well fleshed out. I just wish that some of the other characters besides the primary 4 were more full characters. Like maybe if the bully had a more extensive backstory. Or more from Lucas would have been great!

I'm a sucker for dark academia which is probably one reason why I really enjoyed it. It was a great setting, but I also enjoyed the parts outside of it. I like that this tackled hard topics as well as being funny.

Overall a great book!

Story: B-
Prose: C+
Characters: B
World: B-
Theme(s): B
Enjoyment: B

What requires human sacrifices, but is worse than an ancient, eldritch god? Republicans.

Fraternity by Andy Mientus is a Young Adult Historical Horror set in the early 90s. For context: this is at the tail end of the AIDS crisis, there's been a decade of Republican presidents, and we're part way into Bush One's term. It sucks to be queer

After a scandal at his old school, Zoeey has transferred to a fancy all-boys school. The poor boy is clocked as queer immediately by both a) bullies and b) other queer kids. They invite him–the queer boys not the bullies–to join an underground club for other students like him. Within the club he meets Leo, who might as well wear a name tag saying Hi I'm gay. Jock Daniel, who passed for straight and just wants to keep his head down.

Zooey's new friends are so supportive they call upon and use the power of an ancient demon god thing to inconvenience his bullies. The problem (besides the obvious and that the demons power makes them smell like actual garbage) is that Leo stole the book of rituals from their headmaster, and their headmaster is part of an old evil Republican society.

There's a central theme of brotherhood and what communities you're a part of or could be a part of, and how they can conflict. All three boys are queer, but that doesn't mean they'll all the same experience. Zooey is deeply repressed because he comes from an old money Republican family. Leo's mother has always loved and encouraged him, and he finds special connections back to the AIDS crisis. For Daniel it means learning more about queer black history.

Fraternity is written in first person, past tense with alternating POVs between Zooey, Leo, and Daniel. Honestly, the first few chapters in Zooey's POV are a bit much: Mientus comes in waaay too strong with Zoeey's withdrawn quirkiness and unsuccessfully toys with the fourth wall. But it gets better after that.

This is specifically a review of the audiobook. Fraternity is narrated by the author, Mientus, along with Kyle Beltran, Daniel K. Isaac. Something that bothers me about a lot of guy narrators is how they'll voice the women as almost an exaggerated stereotype. They all did a great job with their characters. Zooey's character shifts are clear, Leo always has a perfect sort of eager foxiness, and Daniel is grounded and thoughtful. These guys didn't, and I really appreciate that. If you're interested in Fraternity, the audiobook is a great way to go.

Dark magic meets a secret queer society at an exclusive all-boys boarding school. What could possibly go wrong? This book reminded me a bit of The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. It is told from rotating points of view from three of the main characters.

This story follows a group of queer teenagers attending a boarding school in 90s Massachusetts. It’s a dark academia style story with supernatural elements, which is perfect for this time of year. I really enjoyed the plot of the story - it was very engaging and took several turns which I never expected, definitely a wild ride, which is also why I don’t want to tell too much about it. What I also loved was the characters. They were diverse, each showing a different side of what the queer experience in a school in the 90s could be like, and quite lovable while also being flawed teenagers who make bad decisions.

What I enjoyed most, however, was learning more about queer history through this book. Andy Mientus incorporates his own experience together with larger-scale parts of queer history, such as the AIDS crisis and conversion therapy, but the story also includes small references to queer historical figures and cultures. This is also where I would place my only point of criticism: I feel like this book tries to tackle too many important issues, too many plot points, to go into them in depth.

Overall, I would really recommend this if you are looking for a queer YA dark academia-style story.