#the fascinators

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

Have you read The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulos (2020)?

YES

NO

Voting ended onJun 6, 2025

[starrlikesbooks]

Sorry if anyone has already asked this, but do you have any recs for books that have similar vibes to the Simon Snow trilogy? I just finished awtwb and I feel like I need something to fill the hole in my chest. I know nothing will be exactly like it (or as good) but do you have anything that has the same intense human connection / yearning gays / fantasy / offbeat kind of feel? Or just books that feel similar to you personally for whatever reasons. The thing I’m mostly craving is the overwhelming connection between characters and how they navigate it, fantasy is also a plus. Does ANY of this make sense lmao

Good question! I also feel that vibe

Okay, so what I always rec for fans of Carry On/Simon Snow, is In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan.

It's the same concept of turning the tried and true fantasy tropes on their heads and knocking everything off kilter, it has great characters and character dynamics, and the endgame romance is somehow very complimentary to Snowbaz (I actually made a venn diagram of this once I can link if you don't mind spoilers haha). It's a standalone, it's very funny while also occasionally punching you right in the chest, and it remains my own personal cure for a Simon Snow hang over.

Otherwise:

The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopolus is a queer fantasy with a cult mystery at its core that's reminiscent of both The Mage in CO & the cult of AWTWB. It's also very much about changing friendships, identity, and how you deal with the future

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novak is the first of a series, and if you like a good magic school trope being played with and remade, you'll find something to like here. Plus, the main character deals a lot with destiny and her own power, and her interactions with the people who skirt the line between friend and ally are really interesting and fun to watch.

Once & Future by AR Capetta & Cory McCarthy definitely hits both "off beat" and "yearning gays", with some magic to boot. There's also a lot of talk of destiny, analyzation of relationships, and a bit of emotional yearning as well.

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune is a bit of a stretch when it comes to vibes, but if you're looking for another weird story of a dumbass in a kind of magical world who rushes headfirst into everything he does and somehow doesn't realize he's been in love with someone for many years, this is a very fun, queer story you might like.

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon is more secret magical lands, destiny, and something that's not quite enemies to lovers and which requires quite a bit of complicated yearning. Bonus: this is mlm with a trans protagonist!

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey has magical friendship, very intense queer feelings/crushes, and starts with an accidental murder. It's probably the heaviest book on this list, because it deals a lot with sacrifice and connection and grief/depression, but, hey, so does Simon Snow.

A Complicated Love Story Set in Space by Shaun David Hutchinson is a weirder one to rec, but! It is off beat, funny, surprising, surprisingly heavy, and very gay. I will say- don't judge it by the first 100 pages alone.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, if you want something a bit more adult and grounded. We've got a magical world, a queer main character with an on page romance (which is actually very, very cute), a whole bunch of character studies to give us some interesting people and interactions with each other and with the world, and god just so much yearning. This is a strange book, but the least "off beat".

[thumbedpages]

Andrew Eliopulos - The Fascinators

[aroaessidhe]

2022 reads // twitter thread

The Fascinators

YA contemporary fantasy in an alternate world with magic, set in a small town where it's less accepted

a boy's last year of school is thrown off course when his friends - the only ones in their school's magic club - get tied up with a dark magic cult

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: The Fascinators

Author: Andrew Eliopulos

Genre: YA Fiction | Romance | Friendship | Drama | (Mid) Fantasy | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Homophobia | Child Abuse | Child Neglect

Overall Rating: 6.3/10

Personal Opinion: In a world where magic is mundane, Sam Fisher is just an ordinary guy. Who does magic. And happens to be in love with his best friend. And is also being hit on by the new guy. And his other best friend might have joined a cult. There’s a lot happening in this book but if you like reading about a romance set in a fantastical world, then this may be the book for you.

Do I Own This Book? Nope.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- The magic elements were cool. I like how this was set in a modern world, a normal-like Earth, the one difference being that everyone has magic and is capable of doing magic. The world-building overall was very interesting, seeing how people view magic and how mundane magic technically is.

- I appreciate Denver so much. He got caught up in the drama of Sam’s friend group and took it all in stride. He didn’t leave them because he felt Sam was lonely and deserved better. He also didn’t really choose sides, he wanted them all to be good with each other even though it wasn’t his business. Basically, I like that he stayed in his lane but also did his best to make sure the group was happy.

- It is such a relief to me that Sam ended up with Denver and not James. Look, over the course of this book, it was near impossible for me to tell who Sam would end up with. He and Denver had much more on-screen chemistry but it felt like the story was going hard for James. His perceived jealousy at Sam and Denver’s date, their amount of history, the romanticism of their night on the soccer field, the fact that Sam saved James’s life in the end. But the fact is, with Denver, there was none of the confusion. Denver’s intentions and interests were always clear. He’s had a boyfriend so he’s MLM, he’s obviously been flirting with Sam, he invited Sam out multiple times. Like, he didn’t make Sam confused and tug him in all directions. Not to mention, like Delia had said, James presents a lot of red flags with his drinking and smoking and overall over-the-top recklessness. For a first boyfriend, thoughtful Denver is definitely the best choice. He bought Frosties for Sam when he said he was feeling sick!

- The choice of a third person omniscient POV is something I’m a bit unsure about. I do like how it was utilized to give us Liv’s perspective so we can feel the danger of True Light but also having the impact of Sam and Liv meeting at Q-Atl be stronger. It felt like two very different worlds had collided as soon as we realized it was Liv. It was also useful in helping us learn more about Delia and the thoughts that run through her head. The way Delia had been raised with neglectful parents and James with an abusive dad, it makes sense why they acted out the way they did. It was a result of that horrible upbringing. So the way Sam was there for James but not quite for Delia makes sense why Delia felt neglected and alone even though Sam calls himself her best friend.

- The scene in Findias where Sam and Delia ran through the rain and into her car and then burst out laughing was just so wholesome. Like, you really got the sense that they were best friends that other scenes didn’t show.

- I appreciate Amber too. She is such a good friend and I appreciate that she was just a nice person and that’s it.

Dislikes:

- For all the world-building that happened, this story feels super incomplete. Like, True Light’s still at large out there, hello! Not to mention, Sam felt so passive. It felt like this book was meant to be a love story but there were all these other elements that made it feel cluttered and confusing. He was just pulled along due to James’s and Delia’s bad choices and honestly, that doesn’t make for a good protagonist. Even when he used the divination spell he didn’t really do anything about it. He just waited until True Light showed up and then James was the one who stopped them. 

- James. Made a lot of stupid choices. I don’t even know what else to say about it. But the worst of it is that I don’t know at all how he feels about Sam. He might be super repressed because of his mega conservative dad but also, I want to know! We spent so long in this book with Sam hopelessly pining after this emotionally and physically unavailable dude for what? No payoff! How the fuck does James feel??? He’s out here getting jealous over Denver and also kissing Sam outside of bowling alleys and for what! Just to fuck with Sam and make it that much harder for Sam and Denver to get together???

- Denver feels like a question mark too honestly. He really did jump from one guy to the next a bit too fast for my taste. I don’t even know what he liked about Sam. I feel like it would’ve been good to enter his perspective for a bit just to see the why and how he ended up falling for Sam so quickly.

[netflixaddictedd]

10 gay books you should read (I'm making a lesbian version soon!)

Red, white & royal blue: When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations.

Running with lions: Bloomington High School Lions star goalie Sebastian Hughes should be excited about his senior year: His teammates are amazing, and hes got a coach who doesnt ask anyone to hide their sexuality. But when his estranged childhood-best-friend Emir Shah shows up at summer training camp, Sebastian realizes the teams success may end up in the hands of the one guy who hates him. Determined to reconnect with Emir for the sake of the Lions, he sets out to regain Emirs trust. But to Sebastians surprise, sweaty days on the pitch, wandering the towns streets, and bonding on the weekends spark more than just friendship between them.

The fascinators: Living in a small town where magic is frowned upon, Sam needs his friends James and Delia - and their time together in their school's magic club - to see him through to graduation. But as soon as senior year starts, little cracks in their group begin to show. Sam may or may not be in love with James. Delia is growing more frustrated with their amateur magic club. And James reveals that he got mixed up with some sketchy magickers over the summer, putting a target on all their backs. With so many fault lines threatening to derail his hopes for the year, Sam is forced to face the fact that the very love of magic that brought his group together is now tearing them apart - and there are some problems that no amount of magic can fix. 

Infinity son: Growing up in New York, brothers Emil and Brighton always idolized the Spell Walkers—a vigilante group sworn to rid the world of specters. While the Spell Walkers and other celestials are born with powers, specters take them, violently stealing the essence of endangered magical creatures. Brighton wishes he had a power so he could join the fray. Emil just wants the fighting to stop. The cycle of violence has taken a toll, making it harder for anyone with a power to live peacefully and openly. In this climate of fear, a gang of specters has been growing bolder by the day. Then, in a brawl after a protest, Emil manifests a power of his own—one that puts him right at the heart of the conflict and sets him up to be the heroic Spell Walker Brighton always wanted to be. Brotherhood, love, and loyalty will be put to the test, and no one will escape the fight unscathed.

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe: Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Simon vs the homosapiens agenda: Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's never met.

Him: Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died. Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever. Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions— can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend...and a big one to learn about himself.

Date me, Bryson Keller: Everyone at Fairvale Academy knows Bryson Keller, the super-hot soccer captain who doesn't believe in high-school relationships. They also know about the dare Bryson accepted - each week he has to date the first person who asks him out. A single school week is all anyone gets. There have been no exceptions to this. None. Until me, that is. Because brilliant Bryson Keller forgot one thing. He never said it could only be girls...

The infinite noise: Caleb Michaels is a sixteen-year-old champion running back. Other than that his life is pretty normal. But when Caleb starts experiencing mood swings that are out of the ordinary for even a teenager, his life moves beyond “typical.” Caleb is an Atypical, an individual with enhanced abilities. Which sounds pretty cool except Caleb's ability is extreme empathy—he feels the emotions of everyone around him. Being an empath in high school would be hard enough, but Caleb's life becomes even more complicated when he keeps getting pulled into the emotional orbit of one of his classmates, Adam. Adam's feelings are big and all-consuming, but they fit together with Caleb's feelings in a way that he can't quite understand. Caleb's therapist, Dr. Bright, encourages Caleb to explore this connection by befriending Adam. As he and Adam grow closer, Caleb learns more about his ability, himself, his therapist—who seems to know a lot more than she lets on—and just how dangerous being an Atypical can be.

They both die at the end: On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They're going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they're both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There's an app for that. It's called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure to live a lifetime in a single day.

[bookcentral101]

And now it's said.