Now Conjurers is an absolute ride of a spooky, gothic-esque adventure, that gives off so many The Craft and Practical Magic vibes (for those of us of a certain age - ha ha!). More of a tense, edge of your seat thriller than scary, this is a great overall read!

It’s difficult to know what to say about this as it’s one of those books I feel like you should go in not knowing much about it as the reading experience was great not knowing too much at the start.

It was a little slow to pick up but, once it did, I could not put it down! I was gripped. Those who are a fan of 90’s horror movies, especially, will love this.

I went into this book completely blind except for the The Craft comparison and I am so glad that I did. This was Incredibly enjoyable, and ticked all of the nostalgia boxes - am I nostalgic for dial-up and landines?? - as well as The Never-ending Story references :') I loved the idea of Mr. Nous and their creepy overly long arms.
Instantly pre-ordered for an equally Craft obsessed friend of mine!

1.5* rounded up.

Now, Conjurers is a YA horror follows Nesbit and his queer coven. We open to find the body of his boyfriend and fellow witch, Bastion, in a cemetery covered in bite marks and signs of a vicious attack. The coven are soon on the hunt for his killer, and discover the legend of wish-granting Mr. Nous. We also learn the history of the coven, their relationships, and the spells and sacrifices they've made.

I appear to be in the minority unfortunately, as I did not enjoy this book. It started off well, but soon began to drag. I felt that not a lot was happening, and it was overall quite tedious to me. It's set in the 90s but I didn't feel immersed in the time period, if anything the lines about 'having nothing to do' or similar took me out of the time period all together - the 90s weren't the dark ages?! Additionally, Nesbit breaks the fourth wall A LOT eg 'Remember this. It will be important later', and I didn't like the tone/voice shifts. I found it difficult to connect to anyone, and was at best irritated if not bored. The 'horror' was also lacking, and it is overall really juvenile. I wanted to like this, and on paper I should have, but this one just wasn't for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

Now, Conjurers is a grungy, Gothic nightmare of a book. This is a fantastic example of YA horror that has continued to haunt my dreams since reading.

The beating heart of this book is the stellar characterisation Kölsch has crafted. You just fall in love with this coven, all of whom are somewhat outsiders to their Americana dream of a small suburb town. Instantly, you get the classic 90s horror film atmosphere and the way this will all inevitably explode. They’re all misfits in some way and their friendship is what binds them together and gives them a spark of light amongst the darkness. I connected with them all so quickly, rooting for them to succeed. Kölsch creates some fascinating character arcs across the timelines, allowing for growth and development, as well as exploring different parts of them across the narratives.

Mr Nous is one of the most interesting and horrifying monsters I’ve had the displeasure of reading about recently. It embodies the extremity of the wish granting conundrum, asking what you would sacrifice to protect your loved ones. Kölsch takes this to some bizarre and spine-tingling places as the true horror of the reality warping inherent in this is exposed. For me, it symbolises the stasis of being caught in a small town and the way traumatic experiences can shape and control your life. It is a predatory beast, manipulating people and gorging on their fears. Make no mistake, it is pure nightmare fuel and some of those scenes really got under my skin.

There is such a poignant and beautiful exploration of grief that permeates the book and provides some incredibly moving scenes. It is nuanced, exploring different reactions to and facets of grief. Kölsch keeps us flipping between the start of Nesbit and Bastion’s story to the present and the awful aftermath of a horrific death. You know it is fated to end in tragedy and yet you root for these two to work it out and live out their lives together. The writing is just so captivating and tinged with that melancholic hope for a better future.

Now, Conjurers is a blazing beacon of YA horror brilliance and an incredibly strong debut. I will definitely be picking up more of Kölsch’s work in the future.

Thank You to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Now, Conjurers' by Freddie Kölsch.

'Now, Conjurers' is one of those books you read the blurb of and go "Wow that's gonna be a belter" and I wish I could say the book held up to this. The start and middle of this book felt boring to me and I just felt like it was dragging and slumping me even though the premise was beautiful. Luckily for me I kept on with it and by the end of the book I did enjoy that ending part but it just sucks I didn't like the first 2/3rds.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It wasn't scary, but it was thrilling. As somebody who typically finds it very difficult to get a mental picture of anything, I was excited to find that for once my mind played a video of what was happening as I read!

NetGalley friends, I will have to start every sentence in my review with an "N" for reasons that will be explained in this book.

"Neverending Story" is one of my all-time favourites, and this book borrows from it, which I do like.

Nesbit and his coven were nicely fleshed-out characters, whilst most of the others blended into the background. Now, that worked for this story.

Not in the mood for YA lately, but this book was an easy, riveting read. "Now, Conjurers" is a go-to if you're looking for paranormal horror, and queer witchcraft in a 90s setting.

Naturally, I will be interested in reading other books by Freddie Kölsch, and I am pleased to have received an ARC for this one.

This book was so cool, it had everything I could want in a book. There was magic, diverse romance and characters, a dark supernatural mystery and a found family element within the core characters.

The revelations once the mystery unfolds are heartbreaking, Bastian went through alot. Nesbit and oddly cameron were favourite characters of mine and I’d love a book 2 so I can get more of them and the other 3 characters. North coven are the best.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farshore for approving my request to read an arc of this book

I requested this book so fast once I read the description and once I started the first page, I was hooked! This story was such an eerie delight! It was full of horror, mystery and love. The characters were incredible and felt so real to me. This story was absolutely phenomenal and I highly recommend it. This is the first book of Freddie Kölsch’s that I have read but I will definitely be reading more.
CW: murder, death, grief, gore, drug addiction mentioned, child abuse mentioned.

This book covered so many of my favourite things: magic, dark romance and queerness. Overall it was a exciting read.