Member Reviews
Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.
5/5
This series remains one of my favorites and I am not ready to say goodbye to it. Part of me wanted to read this as fast as possible, so I could know what happened, but I also wanted to read it slowly so it wouldn’t end!
You do need to have read both of the previous books. There’s very minimal recap, so make sure those are fresh before reading this one!
I loved watching the characters continue to grow into themselves and the growth that they experience individually and together as a group. I wish that the end of this book didn’t feel quite so rushed, and I wish that this series wasn’t ending. But I’ve loved the time I’ve gotten to spend with the Scapegracers! What a beautiful trilogy about self discovery, trusting your intuition, building a badass coven to rely on, and so much more! 🥰
Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
In this, the final installment of the Scapegracers series, my beloved butch Sideways Pike finally faces the big bad world in all it's messed-up glory and gore.
I loved everything about this book. I loved its gritty commentary. I loved its romance and queer-as-in-eff-you attitude. I loved its friendship and found family and keeping each other safe no matter what.
Even though the pacing was off - the first half of the book takes place over the course of one night, the second half over the rest of a week - I didn't want to leave. I love this world so much. I can't wait to re-read the whole series when the final version is released.
If you love queer witches, if you love magic, if you love protagonists with too many sharp edges, I implore you to give this series a go before this fantastic finale releases in March 2024.
One ofthe best lesbian trilogies out there. Unapologetically queer with a sharp and raw writing style.
Sink your teeth into H.A. Clarke's eccentric novel, "The Feastmakers." This trilogy is an indie work of art that immerses readers in a gory, grimy, gay world full of outcasts, witches, and helpful (if not overly opinionated) book devils. I promise you, you will fall in love with Sideways, Jing, Daisy, and Yates-they are the feminist, ass-kicking coven you have been waiting for. I will miss my Scapegracers dearly, but I just know they are up to no good doing the vigilante work they were born to do (hexing douches, killing witch hunters, and helping fellow witches). The narration in this last installment comes off as stream-of-consciousness that full immerses us in the chaotic mind of Sideways and the love she feels for her girls.
The Feast Makers is the incredible conclusion to The Scapegracers trilogy. Sideways and their coven are back!! As the Scapegracers prepare for high school to come to an end, an important witch trial looms. Madeline must pay for her crimes against other witches, including Sideways. But Sideways has plenty to keep themselves occupied, including college admissions and untangling complicated romantic feelings. The Feast Makers is a triumphant conclusion to this action-packed and creative trilogy.
I devoured The Feast Makers!! This book is filled with queer found family, excellent LGBTQ+ rep, and queer romance. I loved who Sideways ends up with and how they connected. There is so much to love about this series- Clarke’s writing is witty, uplighting, and delightfully sarcastic. Above all, one of my favorite things is that the Scapegracers is a coven who will always be there for each other. The Scapegracers trilogy feels like a hug, a promise of found family, and the belief that magic happens in community.
I love each of the characters so much and will miss them! (Especially Sideways, Jing, and Mr. Scratch!) I can’t wait to see what H.A. Clarke writes next. I would highly recommend The Scapegracers to anyone! Readers who seek queer found family, fantastic LGBTQ+ characters, and gritty magic that comes with a price will love this trilogy.
Thank you so much to H.A. Clarke, Erewhon Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc
I devoured these books and I’m delighted by the ending. The sheer volume of female and queer solidarity in this trilogy is balm for the soul and I will deeply miss these feral witches. Please write more books, Mx. Clarke.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review*
Reading any books in this series feels like returning to your teenage years except everything is way more glamorous and a bit more violent than you remember - and also, you have magic. And the last book in the trilogies does not disappoint !
It’s a delight to return to Sideways and their very distinct voice : not only are they a great character in terms of depth and motivations, they’re also a perfect narrator for this wonderful lesbian and queer chaos I so loved in the first two books.
Without spoiling anything, it focuses on community, a very feral and very cool one, and how much it matters to protect your own (especially when everyone is queer, lol). The raw and brutal honesty in which the Scapegracers love each other made the dramatic moments all the more terrifying, and I loved seeing more of how witches organize and interact, and more of the dads too (I love them!!!).
Honestly, the only problem I have with this book is the ending : I would’ve liked one or two more chapters to spread out a bit of the battle and more importantly its aftermath. It even felt a bit rushed, and when I got to the end I thought to myself « wait, that’s it? ».
Still, a very good book and a nice finale for a great trilogy about queer girlhood, never shying away from the brutality of it. Thank you for the ARC!
Thank you to Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for my honest review
@logarithmicpanda and I have been screaming about this series since the beginning and I love that it has hit hard in every installment
Characters: Sideways is a fantastic main character, full of big and messy emotions, unapologetically queer, full of mistakes and compassion and I love them so much. ofc our other scapegracers are a delight as always, vicious Daisy, compassionate Yates, and fierce Jing. Any scene with any combination of them had me giggling, kicking my feet in the air cause I need this coven so bad. Shiloh was a delight, and I liked these new characters, just never as much as my main coven
Writing: the PROSE!!! I love unique and descriptive prose and Clarke’s style won’t be for everyone but it IS for me. It overflows with vivid descriptions and unsettling metaphors and I soaked it all up like a sponge!! I wanted to put these words in my mouth and devour them whole
Relationships: I straight up cried at one point. but again, I live for the coven dynamics, I need this fandom to expand, these witches deserve the world. We love a ride or die friendship
Plot: The pacing was definitely a little bit off, especially with the ending going from 100 to 0 in no time. I really was craving more falling action from the end. I did love the domestic scenes of friendship in the beginning and middle and the plot had me at the edge of my seat many many times. I felt the end was very sudden.
Themes: It's very “queer as in fuck you up” and also punk hope??? Like there's anger but so much hope!!
a memorable quote: “I felt the worms underneath us rejoice.” (All my other favorites had spoilers!!)
One of my most awaited books of the year! Even though it actually comes out in 2024 (Thank you to Netgalley for the arc!)
I adored the first two books, and this conclusion to the series truly delivers
The prose is incredibly distinctive, being in Sideways' head is always exhilarating
The characters have varied motivations, and the web of relationships between them really echoes the themes of found family, and belonging, and sets the stage for the importance of fighting for your community
This series never shies away from violence and ugliness yet still manages to avoid pointless drama
The magic has an organic and gritty feel that I adore
Truly my only negative comment is that the very end felt a bit rushed, I think it could have used an extra chapter or two to have a bit more falling action
I just want to reread the whole series from the start now xD
I guess I was kind of a latecomer to The Scapegracers, given I only read the first book a little over a week ago. Before I was even halfway through, I'd already checked The Scratch Daughters out from the library, and before I finished THAT, I'd requested The Feast Makers ARC and squealed when I saw that I'd been approved.
I just...I love these witches so fucking much and will never not wish that this series (or something like it) had been around when I was in HS.
Anyway, The Feast Makers. I spent a lot of the book yelling at Sideways for not. fucking. talking. to. anyone. <spoiler>"Hey guys, I may have mugged a witchfinder and he's probably going to be p pissed." "Hey, hundreds of witches I've never met before? Maybe hanging out in town when there are also hundreds of witchfinders in town for a witchfinder kid we accidentally killed is a bad idea, you could all be in danger." "Even if I didn't lose Jing's mimic, we may have left her obviously hexed car crashed on the side of the road next to said hex with all of our identifying shit in it." (I really expected that last one to come bite them in their collective asses) "Jing, I know it's really obvious to everyone in the whole world and you've been dropping every possible hint, but I like you."</spoiler> The pacing in general was a little wonky, but that was not surprising given the pacing of the previous two books and I'm choosing to see it as a feature, not a bug.
Holy shit, when the meaning of the title hits? Goddamn.
I can't wait to re-read all three when this one is officially published. Will be buying them all for my youngest, and am going to be talking to our local Teen Librarian about ordering a set for the library. Genuinely sad this is the last of this series, but can't wait to see what August Clarke writes next.
I’m obsessed with this trilogy. I absolutely devoured The Scapegracers and The Scratch Daughters, and The Feast Makers is no exception. The stakes are as high as ever, but Sideways Pike is just as much a chaotic, unpredictable mess as they’ve ever been.
H. A. Clarke’s writing style is incredible. It’s viscerally descriptive, feral, you can almost sink your teeth into it. Sideways’ voice is so dry, their observations by turns hilarious, dark and unexpected. They’re one of my favourite characters ever.
The Feast Makers definitely keeps up the momentum from the first two books. I adored getting a more in-depth look into the witching community, the descriptions of magic are enchanting, and despite the whirlwind (but excellent) plot, Clarke takes the time to explore dynamics between the Scapegracers themselves which is a delight.
I’m slightly heartbroken that this is the end, because I could live in this little world with Sideways, Jing, Yates and Daisy forever. The Feast Makers is a wild ride - a brilliant, laugh-out-loud, quietly cry, scream at Sideways, utterly magical ending to a game-changing queer trilogy and I can’t wait to buy the finished book when it comes out.
I think The Scapegracers Trilogy might be the best lesbian YA fantasy series out there. Sideways Pike is such a complex and flawed and real protagonist, and I feel like a proud parent watching them grow into their identity and find their place in the world. These books are so feral and queer and the writing style is so crunchy and poetic and I love it so much.
The plot here picks up some of the conflicts and consequences of the previous books, and introduces us a little to the wider witching world. I do feel like the pacing was a little weird, and the end wrapped up so fast compared to the build up - but also it’s so much from Sideways’ POV and feels like the kind of messy real way that the end of high school happens so fast. There’s definitely some open ends that I’m intrigued about. I LOVE the plan they came up with to fight in the end, though!
The tension and development of the romantic relationship had me losing my mind - and I was highly anticipating it after the hints from the last book. Not to mention all the friendships and platonic relationships - one of my favourite things about this series is how every relationship is developed in its own complexity, without being put in boxes of ‘friends’ or ‘love interest’ or ‘sibling’. Nor does it ignore those elements to make things simpler. Friends can kiss sometimes.
One thing I missed was 24/7 Mr Scratch - his and Sideways’ dynamic in the previous book was SO GOOD. But he’s definitely still here and still my fav!!
I can't wait to reread this trilogy tbh.
I did notice a couple of points where it used she and he pronouns for Sideways and Shiloh - assuming probably typos, hopefully that’ll be fixed in the final version.
Attached links are of my fanart, there will probably be more coming (which you will be able to find at the tumblr link)
God do I love this trilogy with my whole heart and I am going to miss my feral children so much now that it is over.
The third book in The Scapegracers trilogy is set about three months after the last one ended (which kind of threw me off hence the necessary mention in my review) and our children are nearly all grown up and are preparing to move on with life. But alas, there are still dangers to be faced and fates to be determined in this final book.
I will start, as per usual, with the things that weren’t for me. Firstly the pacing of this book is a bit weird. The first 50% of the book takes place over one 24 hour period and then time flows freely in the back portion of the book. From the blurb this wasn’t what I was expecting, I was picturing that the plot of this book would takes months to complete rather than a week at most and this makes it feel less like a trilogy closer and more like a trilogy opener. This makes the first half of the book a rather long chunk of story to get through and in certain places it stagnates. The other thing that let me down a bit with this book was that the thing that I love the most about the first two in the series is the friendship and the atmosphere that everyone has when they’re together and the first two books are filled with everyone all together, whereas this one moves away from the friendship approach and goes more towards romance and therefore, certain characters get more page time than others. The other tinsy tiny thing (that doesn’t detract from the story and is purely selfish) is that I was desperate for Sideways to end up with a certain character and they end up with someone else so I was devastated. I am happy with who they end up with but my poor shipper heart breaks for my lost endgame.
Now onto the positives. This book has a really strong storyline and plot to it. It’s not as strong as the second book in the series, but this book is a solid trilogy ender and leaves the potential for spin-offs and the opportunity to revisit this world. One of the things that Clarke does best is really dives into the characters and their psyches and feelings and this book is no different. Sideways’ internal monologue is as strong as ever and their feelings are so crisp and divine that it’s impossible not to empathise with them and root for whatever it is they’re doing. This is the same for the secondary and tertiary characters in this book also; characterisation was strong, has stayed strong, and will forever be strong with these characters. I will forever be in love with the core four because god they are just divine.
Clarke has composed another stellar book with this third book, and creates a well rounded trilogy in which readers will be left satisfied but also desperate for more (me, I am said readers). I will always love these characters and I cannot wait to reread the trilogy once all three books have been released into the world.
Big thank yous to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an arc of this wonderful wonderful book!
I requested this book without knowing this was the 3rd book of the series, so I immediately got myself a copy of The Scapegracers right away. And I am always hook on any Witchy coven anyways and always like to try new authors I am not familiar with.
Reading The Scapegracers was a bit of a let down. I realize the series was not for me as it tends to be more in a YA genre and the plot just fell flat for me. I wasn't drawn to any characters at all, which was a bit disappointing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington books for providing me an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to receive this ARC. It prompted the necessary reread of book 1 and 2.
I was an instant fan when The Scapegracers was released and have only grown as a fan with each story advancement.
This trilogy encompasses a great balance between LGBTIQA+ representation and a beautifully crafted story.
This final instalment balanced the introduction of new covens and characters, with wrapping up the story.
I’m a sucker for a happy ending, especially when you get so emotionally invested in the characters. So, I was happy reading the ending to The Feast Makers as it felt harmonious and not rushed. Without giving too much away, the ending was also a great full circle back to where this story first began.
And a shout out to the chapter titles, they were great.
Despite the weird pacing and multiple instances of someone talking into Sideways' neck, this was the finale the series deserved. The writing was so captivating and the characters were standouts. The romance was great, though with all the setup in both this book and the previous one, I really thought it was going somewhere different and was a little disappointed that it didn't. Still a great end to a great series.
Oh Scapegracers, how do I love thee, let me count the ways etc etc. August’s writing is so bitey and bloody and visceral but also deeply deeply comforting to me. I loved this book and I’m going to miss these horrible wonderful witches
The Feast Makers is a rallying cry for queer, magical youth and all the messiness it brings. I continue to love how unabashedly spiky Sideways and the other witches are, and the series has honed its style as this sensual, visceral, chaotic (sometimes a bit obtuse) experience. There is certainly a plot, although this is still better viewed as a distilled snapshot of teenage witchy life, which I'm happy with. However, even with that in mind, the ending is just too rushed for my liking and I felt a bit bereft when the book just tied itself up and finished. This trilogy is a glorious queer read that I think deserves five stars as a whole, even if no individual book quite managed to nail that rating as a separate entity.
I enjoyed reading it. I haven't read the first two books in the trilogy but feel like the author did a good enough job providing background that I wasn't handicapped by that, I knew the basic background. I loved the character development and felt the plot line was well-done, most of the time. At times there were problems with pacing and it felt like nothing happened and then everything happened and that could have been paced better. But all in all a great book. Edgy and raw. Does a good job of capturing the raw feelings that I remember from being a teenage girl.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this early copy. I was ecstatic to be approved for this title. I was so excited that I reread the first two books before picking up this conclusion. I loved being back with the coven. I absolutely adored all of the way things played out in the end. I think the author did a great job of letting the characters grow but also still keeping them as the edge 'mean girls' that they appear to be. We got to see their soft underbellies but that doesn't mean that each one of them wouldn't rip your spine out. I love them.