I loved this book. It was as if 'Dead Poets Society' was crossed with 'The Craft', and they were all queer teenagers.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a Dark Academia style story that takes place in the 1990's. This actually works well for the plot as cells phones aren't an easily accessible thing. Zooey starts at the school a year later than most. He is queer and doesn't fit in well at first. He is easy to pick on and the snobby boys at the school start in right away. Popular jock Daniel takes notice of Zooey and feels for him. Daniel is black and isn't straight which he hides. However secretly he is dating his roommate Leo who is out and proud. He invites Leo into a secret society at the school where those involved can be free to be themselves, at least while they are meeting. This alone could have made a compelling story especially as the hazing and bullying ramps up. These three characters were each very interesting and if anything I wanted to know more about each of them. The dynamic was intense as well as Leo and Daniel are seemingly happy together but Zooey has a little crush on Daniel. Then the book goes down a darker path. There is a book of spells and the boys begin playing around with it more and more until one spell has deadly results. The fallout from this was intense and now I'm at the point I have to fight back spoiling things. What I enjoyed: The book is a page turner. I never wanted to put it down. The three main boys and their personalities were interesting. The ending wasn't especially memorable but it also wasn't unsatisfying. What I didn't enjoy quite so much: The beginning chapter or so are a little difficult to get used to. Zooey really breaks the fourth wall and talked a bit in riddles instead of directly and I think that caused a bit of unnecessary confusion. I also didn't love the magical element to the story. That spell book plot was a huge part of the story's premise but it didn't need to be. There was enough here to have been a stronger realistic novel. Overall I did really enoy this book.

Andy Mientus is a wonderful and I was very excited to read his 'gay dark academia' novel.
While it wasn't for me I'm absolutely sure there will be many people who will appreciate it!

Fraternity is a queer, dark academia set in the ‘90s. There is magic involved and it was such a chilling and atmospheric read.

This story was very compelling. As soon as I started the audiobook, I couldn’t turn it off. The writing was great, it flowed really well. It was a quick and easy listen. The queer history that was included in the book was enlightening. It’s not often you read a book that brings up important social issues and queer politics from the ‘90s, while being blended with fiction (and being done so well).

I loved how it was multiple points of view. Each character has such a distinct narrative and it’s interesting to switch between them. The story follows Zooey, Daniel. and Leo. They are very well written and I loved their relationships with each other.

This book was quite the read…I most definitely will be rereading. Please check CW/TW before reading! :)

Set in the 90s, the story follows three boys as they attend a prestige boarding school, attend a secret society, and get involved in something they never could imagine.

From the start, I was completely enchanted by this book. Andy Mientus has a fantastic voice, his writing style is gripping and honest. Each character has a unique voice and story to tell, all intertwining with each other with ease. Fraternity quickly climbed up my favorite reads of this year within minutes of reading.

Fraternity takes on many hats; classism, occults, the AIDs crisis, sexuality, bullying, homophobia, and racism- I could go on but won't for the sake of remaining spoiler free. The point is as interesting as the plot is, what's going on in between really made me love this story. The first half of the novel is much lighter in comparison to the second. Mientus paints the picture of the anxiety and fear of that time period without dreading the reader, as much as he shows pain, he shows joy. There's an especially beautiful part in one of Daniel's chapters that really hits that feeling home.

There's some surprise body horror, touching moments, loads of mystery, and gorgeously frightening imagery. Mientus knew what kind of story he wanted to tell and he told that story perfectly. Zooey, Daniel, Leo, and Steven will stay with me for a long time. I cannot praise this book enough. Cannot praise Andy Mientus' writing enough. I will be first in line for whatever he plans next.

About the audiobook: I was so pleased to hear all three boys have different narrators. Each of them gave the characters life. If you're planning on reading this I really recommend the audiobook.

Queer horror is such an important genre, for so many reasons but mostly so stories like these can be told.

Thank you, NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A story of the past that needs telling with a splash of supernatural. A world facing AIDS and everyone wanting something different in life. What if you could feed the monster?

Fraternity was a fun read but also a bit of a mess. While I enjoyed the characters, the setting and the time period, it didn't seem to know what it was trying to be. The introduction of the supernatural element was great but sort of flopped by the end. I really enjoyed the audiobook performances though. Nonetheless, Fraternity tried something different and presented an LGBTQI+ story and characters with lots of different shades and nuances - which isn't always the case, and should be commended.

A queer dark academia paranormal YA taking place during the 90s, Fraternity addresses race, sexuality, and class for a group of queer boys a part of a secret club for gay students at an elite all boys boarding school.

The representation in Fraternity is amazing. The characters are well-written and the story itself is incredibly original. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in dark academia and/or found family.

Fraternity is a book that will keep your surprised. The plot is dark and hits home as a queer person, but the characters are lovable and engaging. By the end of the book you'll be rooting for the boys to succeed. As I listened, I found myself fairly consistently surprised by where the plot went. It's well narrated and engaging to listen to. If you're looking for a good piece of 80's focused queer fiction that will haunt you, this is the book for you.

Andy Mientus’s debut into YA,<i>Fraternity</i>, explores themes of queer joy as three boys progress through their sophomore year at an all-boys academy during a particularly unforgiving time to be queer.

Mientus writes well. His prose is unpretentious but intelligent and the narrative was, for the most part, engaging. What’s more: Mientus does not pull any punches regarding the reality of growing up queer. Yes, queerness can be a bright, resplendent thing, but growing up, it is often a thing of terror, of waiting for the other shoe to drop, of having adults fail you.

While the bones of the story are good, I think it suffers from an overly-ambitious plot that the author did not develop well enough. The “eldritch secret” the boys unleash was less <i>cosmic horror</i> and more <i>sleep paralysis demon</i>. The magical element is introduced to the narrative at around 30% of the way into the story and was barely foreshadowed. At this point in the story, it felt like something of a hat on a hat. I would have been less blindsided by Leo suddenly having a magic potion in his pocket if there had been a little bit of a build-up to it.

One of my favourite books not only of the year but of all time. 💙
+ the audiobook is simply stunning! adore every narrator and how they drew me into this story.

If a book works for me often times depends on the character dynamics. Either a group of characters works for me and I am sucked into their lives are they fall flat for me - there isn't really much of an inbetween and holy hell did I fall in love with these characters.

A book as dark and meaningful as this should not have any right to also be this hopeful and stunning. To make me swoon and then cry my soul out of my body within a couple of sentences - but alas here we are.

Fraternity is a book about friendship, power dynamics, queerness, being ones true self and demonic rituals. How could anyone possibly say no to that? I certainly couldn't. This book was written with such care and attentiveness and yet it broke my heart several times.
The author doesn't shy away from drawing from personal experience and writing about the true experience of what it was like to be queer back in the day. With a loving note at the front of the book letting you know what kind of language to expect and I truly repect that decision and the amount of honesty that I felt reading this book.
The characters are not perfect, which makes them more than perfect - it make them real.

This book gave me several vibes depending on how far you went into it. There were moments that felt very coming of age romantic novel themed, there were moments that were very teens are dropped into a world of witchcraft and demons and there were "holy shit what the hell is going on and where are we going with this" vibes. Light moments? yes. Dark moments? yes. This book simply delivered everything I could've hoped for. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me think. And I would like to thank it for that.

All three POVs were near and dear to my heart and I loved every dynamic within the four friends. My favourite being Zooey and Leos relationship - which I wouldn't have guessed within the first third of the book. Zooey, Daniel, Leo and Steven have become a group of characters I will carry with me for a long time. All four of them have made me utterly emotional and taught me something - which is not something that I say lightly.

We are touching on AIDS, bullying, homophobia, racism, segregation, illness, grooming, rape, murder and how characters deal with these topics, run from these topics and how far some would go to not have anything to do with these topics in the first place. Wouldn't life be so much easier if you were "normal" or if you had "power"? This book deals with so many important topics and touches on a lot of issues that our society is still dealing with and it does so graciously. On top of all of that we are getting a story about witchery, secret societies and the (more or less simple) struggles of teenage life. When I tell you that I am still wondering what Stevens POV of this would've looked like... But the fact that we didn't get it - is what made this book even more of a masterpiece to me.

This started slowly but little by little it picked up steam until I was on the edge of my seat. It hits hard, blending magic and all-too-real topics in a way that feels wholly natural and right. This wouldn't be the same book if you removed the witchcraft and black magic, and it wouldn't be the same book if you removed the talk of AIDS and conversion therapy and queerness and race. It's queer and it's unapologetic and it's set so specifically in time. I was too young in 1991 to pay attention to the news, but even growing up later in the 90s I felt a sense of kinship with these characters and a sense of recognition.

The characters are distinct and well-rounded. They can be summed up in a few descriptors, or so it seems, though they are revealed over the course of the book to be more than they first appear. I enjoyed the multiple POVs, which helped me feel closer to each boy.

The villains are monstrous (in more ways than one) and the monstrous future they were pushing toward felt all-too-real, especially in light of recent events. We may be a far cry from shadowy political cults and the AIDS epidemic... but in many ways we aren't.

This is not a happy book, and it's not an easy one to read. There is bullying and intolerance and bigotry and evil. But there is also friendship and queer joy and community and love.

I took a while to warm up to the characters and story, and I even questioned whether I wanted to continue a few times. But by about 40% in I was thoroughly hooked and for the last several hours of the audiobook I couldn't tear myself away from the story.

The audiobook narrators were really excellent and delivered a gripping and emotional performance. The voices they used for each character were believable and felt right, and I was more invested in the story than I would have been if I were reading it to myself.

I'm not often a fan of an author narrating their own book because they so rarely deliver a riveting performance -- it's a different skillset, narrating a book rather than writing it. But in this case Andy Mientus did a fabulous job and I highly recommend getting the audiobook version.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for providing an audiobook arc for review.

Thank you Net Galley for an audio ARC of Fraternity by Andy Mientus. This is a queer dark academia novel. It really was just OK. And the narrator was just OK. I love the concept but it was not a hit with me.

It took a pivot at the 50% mark that I wasn't expecting which decreased my enjoyment. All in all it's a good story following a very flawed group of gay boys who build a community for each other becoming a family despite all the chaos of this time. It does have a magical aspect that I think most readers will devour.

Historical, magical, and gay with an isolated and elite academic setting. What's not to love here?

With a synopsis that featured so many of my personal buzz words, I had my expectations very highly placed before beginning this book. Whilst it did not veer into the more gothic areas of the dark academic genre, nor did it deliver the increased focus on the characters' studies there that I so longed for, it did deliver me everything else. Namely, a focus on interpersonal relationships and social hierarchies, the discovery of secret societies and a hidden underbelly of this privileged world, and a character who accesses it all with fresh eyes to unwittingly tear it apart.

This novel was set in the early 90's. It did not feature a large focus on pop culture references of the time, which I personally appreciated, although it still did manage to feel very authentic for that period. Sadly, a notable aspect of this was the accepted systemic homophobia and racism the characters experienced. Casually made yet completely demeaning remarks were constantly flung about, with the boys at school often mindlessly voicing what had been overheard and accepted from their peers, authority figures, and the media.

Without hard-headedly confronting it, the author made the reader aware of the exhaustion and anxiety experienced by the individuals whose existence is a cause for ridicule, fear, or, anger on a daily basis. Their need to protect the person they are led them all to enact a role in large social settings and to only remove these masks when completely comfortable, which takes, for some, the entire course of the novel.

I did not expect this novel to take such a serious focus, during the latter part of it. The magic that featured here was subtly interwoven with the political focus and I enjoyed seeing the interplay of the two, in this real-world setting. It proved itself a very clever and thought-provoking novel.

Fraternity is an amazing dark academia book, set in the early nineties and full of queerness, current affairs (which for the nineties meant the AIDS crisis for the queer community), and dark magic - and it instantly became a favourite of mine!

In this story we follow Zooey, a new student at the Blackfriars School for Boys, who quickly finds his people in a Vicious Circle club - club for queer boys. There he meets the other two protagonists, Daniel, a black boy fitting in perfectly fine by being a jock and straight passing, and Leo his very loud and very outwardly queer roomate (and boyfriend). The three become fast friends (I am forgetting Steven, their fourth, silent friend without a POV) and spend time together in the Circle meetings and behind closed doors.

But this is still an all-boys school in the 90s and when rumors of Zooey's past start trickling in, he becomes a victim of horrific hazing and bullying. Daniel, Leo and Steven, despite being hesitant at first, reveal their helper after Zooey gets brutally beaten - a little book of dark spells that work wonders. They perform a ritual with dire consequences for them all - and as truths start spilling out, the four boys are faced with realities of their situations.

This book starts off slow and easy, with whimsical and sassy narration before moving towards harder topics and realities seamlessly. I adored the three audiobook narrators and they encapsulated the characters perfectly - from how their perspectives shifted to the actual changes to their personalities and lives. It was at times hard to listen to, but I fell completely in love with Mientus's writing and at times lyrical and at times very hard-hitting narration.

Fraternity deals with the realities of growing up queer in the early 90s, when the world was an even more unaccepting place than it is today, when being gay or bi or trans meant being shunned, treated as something was deeply wrong with you. Add to that the height of the AIDS crisis (that comes into play pretty heavily in the second part of the story), dark and destructive magic, and truly evil men in power for a compelling story that won't hold its punches but will also fill you with hope (after you are done drying your tears, that is).

I absolutely adored our main trio, from Zooey who went through different stages of understanding his sexuality (the way Mientus described being bisexual in the 90s absolutely hit hard and I need to write that quote down) and who, despite second thoughts, would never leave his friends stranded. Daniel was faced with completely different set of obstacles by being Black and gay and I loved how the author approached the subject of his fitting in as the only form of survival there was for him. You might feel for Leo and him being a secret, but you also understand and 100% empathize with Daniel - sometimes there simply are no better answers. Leo was possibly my favourite with his sunshine, dramatic exterior, but also a heart-shattering story - he was the most "noticibly" gay of the three which led him to having to find different measures to defend himself, which steered a big part of the story. I loved how dedicated he was to his friends, how he always tried harder and never stayed mad or distant just for the sake of appeasing his ego.

Fraternity instantly became one of my new favourites and a DA book I will gladly recommend. You need to pick this one up if you are looking for a great queer dark academia/historical fiction read that also deals with heavier topics (AIDS crisis, conversion therapy, homophobia, bullying, sexual and physical abuse)!

Trigger Warnings: Bullying, physical abuse, sexual abuse, death of a teenager, blood and detailed depictions of violence, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, homophobia, transphobia, deadnaming (off-page), biphobia, conversion therapy, queerphobic slurs

MY RATING 4,25/5 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for an audio arc of this book in exchange of an honest review.

As the book is set in the 90’s during the AIDS crisis the language and the views from some of the characters also reflect that. This is also clearly stated in the author’s note at the beginning of the book as these things might be triggering.

I really love when an audiobook has multiple narrators and this one had three (one for each main character), and I really loved that! I enjoyed all the individual narrators, and how it made it easier to always know which POV you were reading about.

At first the writing of the book took some getting used to, but I quickly started to love how the story was written and how we got to see more of the characters own thoughts as they were going through all the different events.

The book was super interesting, and I kept wanting to read on to know what was going to happen next! I loved the dark academia setting and everything it added to the story.

The story clearly deals with queer identity and figuring out who you are in an environment where people mostly have negative views on queer people. However, we slowly get introduced to one of the secret clubs, the Vicious Circle, which is the hidden club for the gay students at the school. Here we get to see the characters being able to be more open about their identities without having to fear.

As the story progresses, we are able to see glimpses of the magic and the hidden secrets about what is going on at the school. The more the characters get involved with the magic, the harder it becomes to put the book down. You just *know* that shit is about to go down, which made me even more invested in the story and made me want to know what was going to happen next!

If you like or would want to try reading a queer dark academia book I definitely recommend checking this one out!

Oof. That got some tears out of me! But don't be afraid of this book. Only the human monsters within.

The early 90s, and the depths of the AIDs epidemic. Blackfriars School for Boys, an enclave for the sons of America's wealthiest. Both settings pose a danger to the bows of the Vicious Circle, a small group of queer teens who meet late at night for music, underaged drinking, and revelry. And, for a small sect within the fraternity, for literal magic.

The author does a good job reminding us that this is a supernatural book and spooky things are going to go down. The change of tone is abrupt, but forewarned. We go from 1/3rd of a book that's relatively upbeat (for being a gay kid in the 90s), and a final 2/3rds that get more and more unsettling. The only reason I couldn't finish this in a single sitting was literal exhaustion. So two sittings it was!

This book does a great job of highlighting the multifaceted nature of the queer experience. Our 3 narrators have different backgrounds and reasons for hiding their queerness (as well as one that couldn't hide if he tried...), and there's lots of background characters who cover more identities. I really like that Daniel, a gay Black boy, gets an education from his queer elders about the intersectionality of his identity, and also of queer history as a whole.

This is a great Halloween read!

3.75 stars, rounded down.

A YA, paranormal, gay, dark academia story that takes place amid the AIDS crisis, told from multiple POVs (Zooey, Daniel, and Leo).

Please mind the trigger warnings (listed below) and take care of your mental health while reading this story and review.

Zooey is a gay teen who transfers to an elite all-boys boarding school following bullying and abuse at his previous school. He finds himself experiencing similar bullying at the new school. He also finds himself making new friends who share in his queer identity and have a secret society of for queer students. Daniel is a Black, gay teen who is living a bit of a double life: the popular jock and the romantic gay kid, secretly in love, and wrapped up in dark magic. Leo is an openly gay, effeminate, and quirky, also wrapped up in dark magic and doesn't initially want to disentangle himself from the dark magic that has previously helped him get by in the rather hostile environment of the boarding school. The boys find themselves in over their heads both with dark magic and in managing their emotions and finding acceptance in their identities.

I felt conflicted while reading this story and had to give myself some time to process my thoughts on the story afterwards. The author depicted difficulties of living during the AIDS crisis well, really pulling those awful emotions from the reader. It was clear that the author was able to pull some of the content regarding the difficulties of being queer in the 90s from his own experience.

However, what I had to reflect on was the authors writing of a Black main character and this character's experience of racism. Daniel experiences near constant overt racism, racial slurs, and harmful racial stereotypes by his peers throughout the story. The author's portrayal of this racism was not necessary for the story or development and, in my opinion, was poorly handled.

The author does say the following in his author's note at the beginning of the book where he also listed TWs regarding racism and homophobia: "To not include these details would be to white wash history and deny the characters the reality of their intersectional experiences as they would have lived them."

While, I understand the idea of not wanting to "white wash history," I also want authors to understand that if they cannot depict these experiences in a respectful manner, they are doing more harm than good. It is clear that this author did not have enough sensitivity readers for this book or simply didn't care. What purpose did those slurs serve? What purpose did those harmful stereotypes serve? They surely didn't add to character or story development. The author also uses his unique writing style to not include other difficult to discuss details (e.g., the death of a parent) by having the narrator state "I'm not going to go into detail here" or "You'll understand why I don't want to repeat XX." So, why couldn't the author have done the same by referencing that the character experienced slurs without writing such harmful words into the story...onto the page for readers to experience. The author should reflect on this.

Overall, I did enjoy this paranormal dark academia story and I enjoyed seeing the characters grow to accept their queerness. However, for the poorly handled inclusion of racist experiences noted above, I will not be recommending this story to anyone.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Andy Mientus, Kyle Beltran, and Daniel K. Isaac, via NetGalley. An advanced reader's copy of this audiobook was provided to me via NetGalley by RB Media in exchange for an honest review.

TWs: racism, racial slurs, homophobia, internalized biphobia, homophobic slurs, a conversion camp, discrimination on the bases of races and sexual orientation, bullying and assault, death, death of a parent, grief, child abuse, references to a sexual relationship between an adult and a minor, medical content, suicidal thoughts

This book tried to be many different things and in my opinion it mostly succeeded. 'Fraternity' is a ya dark academia set in the early 90s at an elite all boys boarding school in Massachusetts where the protagonist Zooey joins a queer secret society known by its members as the Vicious Circle.
'Fraternity' addresses queerness and homophobia, race and class, secret societies and occultism, power structures, the aids crisis and politics, conversion therapy and queer history. If that seems like a lot, that’s because it was and I still feel like I’m missing some of the topics. I think this book and its pacing would have benefitted from a couple more chapters. While it never got boring, at times the story almost felt a bit all over the place. This wasn’t a book without its flaws but I enjoyed my time listening to the audiobook and the truly great performances. I particularly liked how the story was told from three narrators (Zooey, Daniel and Leo) and the moments when the fourth wall was broken.
Ngl in most cases I only need to read 'queer dark academia' and I’m in but I’m truly glad I stumbled upon this audiobook on netgalley, especially since I already knew of the author from tv and stage.

I can’t really speak on any of the representation in this book as I’m neither a queer boy nor a person of colour, so I’d be interested in reading own voices reviews on the portrayal of these particular characters.