320 pages
English language
Published Feb. 9, 2021 by HarperCollins Publishers.
The Prestige meets What If It’s Us in Before We Disappear, a queer ahistorical fantasy set during the 1909 Seattle Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, where the two assistants of two ambitious magicians find themselves falling in love amidst a bitter rivalry designed to tear them apart.
Jack Nevin’s clever trickery and moral flexibility have served him well his entire life—making him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in early-twentieth-century Europe. Without Jack’s steady supply of stolen tricks and copycat sleight-of-hand illusions, the Enchantress’s fame would have burned out long ago—not that she would ever admit it.
But when they’re forced to flee the continent for America, the Enchantress finds a new audience in Seattle at the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific World’s Fair Exposition. She and Jack are set to make a fortune until a new magician arrives on the scene. Performing tricks that defy the imagination, Laszlo’s …
The Prestige meets What If It’s Us in Before We Disappear, a queer ahistorical fantasy set during the 1909 Seattle Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, where the two assistants of two ambitious magicians find themselves falling in love amidst a bitter rivalry designed to tear them apart.
Jack Nevin’s clever trickery and moral flexibility have served him well his entire life—making him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in early-twentieth-century Europe. Without Jack’s steady supply of stolen tricks and copycat sleight-of-hand illusions, the Enchantress’s fame would have burned out long ago—not that she would ever admit it.
But when they’re forced to flee the continent for America, the Enchantress finds a new audience in Seattle at the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific World’s Fair Exposition. She and Jack are set to make a fortune until a new magician arrives on the scene. Performing tricks that defy the imagination, Laszlo’s act threatens to overshadow the Enchantress and co-opt her audience. Jack has no choice but to hunt for the secrets behind Laszlo’s otherworldly illusions—but what he uncovers isn’t at all what he expected.
What makes Laszlo’s tricks possible is, unbelievably, a boy that can seemingly perform real magic. Wilhelm’s abilities defy all the laws of physics. His talents are no clever sleights-of-hand. But even though Laszlo and Wilhelm’s act threatens to destroy the life Jack and the Enchantress have built, Jack and Wilhelm have near-instant connection. As the rivalry between the Enchantress and Laszlo grows increasingly dangerous and dire, Jack finds he has to choose between the woman who gave him a life and the boy who is offering him love. It's a new star-crossed romance about the magic of first love from acclaimed author Shaun David Hutchinson.
Before we Disappear is a lovely book. I have read the last half of the book within a single day, I couldn't let it go. There are amazing plot twists too! I really recommend reading Before we Disappear.
I received an ARC from Edelweiss
TW: physical abuse & imprisonment, kidnapping, arson & graphic injuries from fire, historic racism & misogyny, claustrophobic situations, manipulation & violent threats, bloodletting as a punishment, gun violence
4.4
For Jack, life as a magician's assistant is almost all he knows. Of course The Enchantress is not always the easiest to work with, and they pad their pockets with cons and the occasional pickpocketing and break ins, but it's a life Jack is comfortable in. For Wilhelm, working as a magician's assistant is not something he chose nor something he is used to- in fact, up until recently he has been used by his captor, Teddy, as an unwilling accomplice in heists, something his secret power makes easy. For reasons unknown to Wilhelm, Teddy has set his sights not on a vault to crack, but on the World's Fair, gaining attention through magic tricks …
I received an ARC from Edelweiss
TW: physical abuse & imprisonment, kidnapping, arson & graphic injuries from fire, historic racism & misogyny, claustrophobic situations, manipulation & violent threats, bloodletting as a punishment, gun violence
4.4
For Jack, life as a magician's assistant is almost all he knows. Of course The Enchantress is not always the easiest to work with, and they pad their pockets with cons and the occasional pickpocketing and break ins, but it's a life Jack is comfortable in. For Wilhelm, working as a magician's assistant is not something he chose nor something he is used to- in fact, up until recently he has been used by his captor, Teddy, as an unwilling accomplice in heists, something his secret power makes easy. For reasons unknown to Wilhelm, Teddy has set his sights not on a vault to crack, but on the World's Fair, gaining attention through magic tricks fueled by Wilhelm's power to Travel. It's a nice reprieve from being forced to steal, and it helps him meet Jack, who's also working at the Fair, but he knows it's only a matter of time before Teddy reveals what they're really there for.
As a concept, this book is really fun. The blurb compares it to The Prestige, and as one of my favorite movies, I was hooked from that alone. It does carry the seedy yet elegant, sophisticated yet irreverent feelings of that movie, and the choice to remove homophobia from the time period also gives the feeling of safe perimeters to let loose in.
The combination of magicians, unexplained magical powers, semi-forbidden love, and heists makes this book impossible not to get absorbed into.
Hutchinson plays with tension well in this book, which also keeps it hard to disengage from for long. Whether it's the precarious situation Jack's adoptive family is in, Wilhelm's imprisonment, bootlegging, stage magic, or any number of other situations, there's always something begging you to keep your eyes on it.
And, of course, there's the romance. I'm never quite sure what I'm getting into with Hutchinson's books because I've had very mixed experiences both overall and with his romances in general, but this one is solid and very cute. Both these characters are interesting and different from each other while fitting together in ways that make perfect sense. The build up of their relationship has good pacing and is very nice to watch, and by the time things settle into an official romance you are absolutely sold and rooting for them.
For me, there were just a few spots where things felt thin or overstuffed, like they were meant to be rounded out but it never quite got there. I also am not a fan of the ending in general, just because it felt a little simple and I'd been hoping for more explanation- though that's 100% my own personal expectations and preferences.
Mostly, I had a lot of fun with this book! It balances the trauma of Wilhelm's situation with the glitz and seediness of the magicians and the sweet, tenderness of the growing relationship incredibly well, and definitely sticks with you far past the last page.
