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) 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 Galesburg Public Library will have a print copy.
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