The Fascinators

By: Andrew Eliopulos

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

A magic-infused YA novel about friendship, first love, and feeling out of place that will bewitch fans of Rainbow Rowell and Maggie Stiefvater. 

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. 

©2020 Andrew Eliopulos (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

So so

As a magical teen lgbt fantasy romance this had so much potential. Unfortunately, I found most of the characters thoroughly unlikable or difficult to empathize with or understand. So many disappointing twists and underwhelming scenarios. Probably wouldn't recommend it.

A little Frustrating

Suspense shouldn't come from delaying action through expositional fluff. It's clear the author was trying to write for teens as there was hardly any room for nuance. People really should give teenagers more credit. As for the story flow, it felt off. Maybe more character developement could help too. Overall, I think the concept is interesting, but the delivery needs a bit of work.

A different kind of story about magic

Beautifully written story of love, friendship, acceptance, and magic. Eliopulos handles familiar themes adeptly and makes them feel fresh and brand new. He's created a "fascinating" world of magic that I wanted to linger in well past the story's conclusion. Comparisons to another series of books dealing with magic are inevitable, any story that deals with magic these days will be compared to the HP world, but I think what Eliopulos did here is quite remarkable: he made us care more about the characters and their plights than the magic itself. Because, really, underneath it all, that's what it's always been about—friendship.

Also, Michael Crouch proves, yet again, that he is one of the best audiobook narrators working today. Spot on, as always.

Mostly wonderful, BUT...

BEWARE, POSSIBLE (VAGUE) SPOILERS: I always love anything Michael Crouch narrates. He is without a doubt one of my top five audiobook narrators. The story of this book was wonderful. It was rich and atmospheric, though sometimes heartbreaking and depressing as so many good books are. My only problem was the ending. In many ways, it was very satisfying. The main plot was resolved, and it seems like many people got what they deserved, for good or bad. But there was one subplot, the relationship between two characters, that felt unresolved. And that relationship was actually what I personally most cared about in this book. I wanted to know how things worked out between these characters. There was a conversation they needed to have, and that conversation was not inconsequential to the plot. The relationship between these two characters was a driving force of everything that happened. These two characters needed and deserved a resolution to their storyline, and it feels like that conversation and resolution may have happened in between chapters, and that left me slightly confused, dissatisfied, and disappointed. I will read/listen to this book again. No question. But I believe that when I do, I will always be left wondering what happened between these two characters.

I need more!

3.5*

As soon as I finished listening to this audiobook I went off to search out the author on social media, to see if there were plans for a sequel. Sadly, the author doesn't appear to utilize social media much, and even though the last update on Instagram was pretty recent, it was a post about him leaving his job and making some changes, and it didn't sound too promising for a follow-up novel, which makes me sad.
Because, while I really enjoyed this story, there are a couple of things left unresolved, or at least left me wanting more! I feel like a whole series could come from this book, and I would be more than happy about it.

The Fascinators kept me entertained and intrigued from the start. I enjoyed the mystery and the magic, but towards the end things seemed a little rushed, and wrapped up a little too quickly for my liking. As I mentioned before, there are a couple of plot points that I would have liked to have seen brought to a better resolution, especially if this is a standalone. I can kind of accept one of the points being left open-ended, but there was an important relationship that definitely deserved more than what it got at the end. I may have to go back and read the ending again, in case I missed something while listening to it.
But overall, I really liked this book. It's a coming of age story with a little magic and mystery woven in.

Michael Crouch is my favorite narrators for YA. He does a wonderful job with all the different voices and characters. And there were a lot of them in this book!

Good Story, oddly written

The story is a little oddly written, almost a little lack luster, but I enjoyed it none the less. The audio was amazing as the voices he made fit will with the characters. It definitely had me rooting for Denver, who was the cutest thing I had ever met.

Michael Crouch brings this story to life

To be up front in the beginning, I absolutely loved listening to this story. Michael Crouch did a stellar job immersing me in the middle of Podunk, Georgia in a world where magic is just another thing about person, like their dreams, wants, and desires. Eliopulos has three-fifths of the way there. Spoiler Warning going forward! At the start, I immediately related to Sam, I enjoyed the dynamics of the Fascinators, and was intrigued by the mess James had unwittingly got the group in. The further dynamics created with Denver and Amber are even more interesting with how the trio navigates friendships, personal agendas, and high school hormones. About midway through, I feel like the world and the plot really start to unravel. The big bang seems to come out of nowhere and eventually has an unsatisfying ending. The tangled and unyielding connection between James and Sam is never really resolved, which to me is the biggest flaw of the story. Time and time again we get a glimpse into their shared experiences as best friends and how it's shaped their current relationship, but we never get the payoff of Sam getting to talk to James. So much of Sam's character revolves around his internal thoughts and struggles on how to interpret his relationship with James, and it is something that needs closure. At the very least, provide the reader more of James' point of view, as we get to experience Deliah's during her troubles. Overall, because the story has strong parts that Michael Crouch really brings to life, I gave it 4 Stars.

Okay

This was good book but the love plot has a lot of loose ends they need to tie and the thing that brought most people to this book didn’t actually happen and the author tried to hard to make it unpredictable.

The Fascinators

The narrator did an amazing job embodying the characters and their feelings. The storyline was really well written. I really like that even though Sam was the protagonist, the side characters had stories themselves. The part I liked most must have been, when Dam realized where James hid the book, where he felt safe.

Now one of my favorite books of all time

I don't know what to say besides that I love the story line and that the romance wasn't like the main focal point until the end.

outstanding

love this take on a magic system along with genuinely enjoyable characters that have a nice depth to them and great interactios, enjoyed the twist with certain characters (no spoilers)

Also Michael Crouch is a delight to listen to as always 10/10 proformace

Brilliant

This book was suggested to me by a friend and I don’t regret it at all