The Scapegracers is so electrifying and original. Its narrative voice - that of the protagonist, Sideways - is unusual, and it took me a second to get into it, but once I got into the rhythm, it was insanely vivid and brain-sparking. I love the messy teenaged witchery, the unexpected clique, the unbridled queerness. The underlying conflict with the witchfinders was a great metaphor for the conflict between Christianity and queers. And, of course, I ADORE Mr. Scratch. What a silly and fascinating creature.

I had some mixed feelings about the way genderqueer characters were presented in this book - there wasn't anything against them because of their genders, but the nature of the clique is to be intensely against people outside of them, and that manifested in some strange ways. (It's not a vibe to read a trans man call a popular girl a 'breeder' in your pro-queer witch novel.) But I've heard that more gender expansion happens later on, so I'm thinking that'll balance out over the series as a whole.