Alph reviewed Disco Witches of Fire Island by Blair Fell
Good but not Great
3 stars
The AIDS pandemic is the bigger context in this book. It's a theme that makes me feel queasy and uncomfortable. I've seen people get sick, people die, but also people living with it and carrying on with their lives. I'm thankful that things have been improving over the years, but I can't help getting worried or scared sometimes, and reading related stories triggers the fear and makes me nostalgic and sad. As I kept making progress in the story I realized that the context made the life and personalities of the characters shine brighter, and a lot more interesting. How do Disco Witches keep on living with death always threatening? The story starts with Joe, the protagonist, having lost his boyfriend to the virus. He lives on and eventually meets Ronnie, a wishful thinker who becomes his best friend. Ronnie convinces Joe to leave his job and go with him …
The AIDS pandemic is the bigger context in this book. It's a theme that makes me feel queasy and uncomfortable. I've seen people get sick, people die, but also people living with it and carrying on with their lives. I'm thankful that things have been improving over the years, but I can't help getting worried or scared sometimes, and reading related stories triggers the fear and makes me nostalgic and sad. As I kept making progress in the story I realized that the context made the life and personalities of the characters shine brighter, and a lot more interesting. How do Disco Witches keep on living with death always threatening? The story starts with Joe, the protagonist, having lost his boyfriend to the virus. He lives on and eventually meets Ronnie, a wishful thinker who becomes his best friend. Ronnie convinces Joe to leave his job and go with him to work bartending in Fire Island for the summer. Things don't go according to plan and Joe gets involved with some peculiar characters. The book put me in a down mood, I felt sympathy for the characters and the hardships they had to face. It's a story that goes into that space in fiction where tragedies keep piling on until we arrive at a cathartic end. A journey with romance and some spicy scenes, which is what I enjoyed the most. I would really like for gay stories to divert from drama and tragedy, but at least this one doesn't dance around the ugly parts.