I really enjoyed listening to this.
I was held from the off, I really enjoyed the characters and the story

Kölsch’s debut novel is a compelling and addictive read, steeped in ’90s nostalgia. The story blends queer, witchy, and creepy elements into a fascinating narrative that explores toxic relationships, grief, identity, and the importance of friendship, all within a found family dynamic. The characters are deeply flawed, making them relatable, and the writing is dark, pacy, and vividly descriptive. I do think the story overall would’ve been better with multiple pov characters, nevertheless an enjoyable read.

It was both fun and interesting to read and I can see how it would be a favourite for those into cult horror classics.

3.5 stars

First a big thanks to NetGalley, The Author, The Publisher and The Narrator for this ARC.

First a big thanks to NetGalley, The Author and The Publisher for this ARC.

I have mixed feelings about this one.
It sounded AMAZING. And you can feel the potential.
But I loathed the main character "Nesbit". First of; Nesbit breaks the fourth wall A LOT with "Remember this" or "It will be important later". He complains, nags, repeats himself to often and is overly emotional most of the time. I did expected it to be more fast paced though and more horror or mystery and gore. By the time I was 90% in I figured there would be a second book because I felt like there was still a lot of ground to cover. So the ending felt rushed.
The Narrator sounded like he was pushing himself and his voice through the book, which made my dislike for Nesbit even more apparent.
I did enjoy the references to "The Craft" and "The Neverending story".

Overall conclusion, This was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ALC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a strong debut novel for Kölsch. This was an unusual and strange story that was oh so addictive and full of 90s nostalgia. It reminded me verry much of the cult classic horror films like The Craft. It was equal parts queer, witchy and creepy, which made for a fascinating read.

Not only does this story have a gripping mysterious plot, it explores themes of toxic relationships, grief, identity and the importance of friendship. All while in a found family setting with characters that are relatable due to how flawed they are. I really enjoyed Kölsch's writing style. It was pacy, dark, deliciously frightening and so incredible descriptive, which was further amplified by the narrator. The depth and nuance that is explored amongst the young characters alone made this a compelling and worthwhile read.

The only downside for me is that the story was told from a single POV. I think having multiple POVs would have added to the depth of this story, having a POV from the sinister supernatural figure would have built on the creepiness already in the story.

If you are a fan of things like The Craft, Goosebumps and The Neverending Story then this could be right up your street.

This one sounded like so much fun and I have to say, the setting was such a throwback for me as a 90's baby and I so vaguely remember all the millennium bug stuff from when I was a kid!

Now, Conjurers is so delightfully queer and had such major Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes for me which I really appreciated. I really did enjoy the characters and the setting, as well as the mystery of it all and I'm not usually a horror fan but I feel like the horror element wasn't such a major part of this. It was more of a dark fantasy/mystery than anything else!

Said mystery did intrigue me as it unfolded and there were some great twists, however I will admit that my attention kind of fluctuated with this one. I started out curious and intrigued, then my attention kind of wandered a little and I wasn't too eager to pick it back up again, and then I got hooked once again by the mystery of it all. I think a large part of that is down to me personally because while I loved the audiobook version I do feel like I found it a little hard to keep track of everything, especially as the timeline kept jumping around, as I was listening. Which is a me specific kind of problem! I liked the narrator well enough, he did a good job, but he seems to narrate a lot of things I listen to and I kind of feel like his voice doesn't always work for me as he can be a little OTT.

All in all, this was a strong debut! The premise was brilliant and so were the characters, while the plot turned out to be a lot deeper and more layered than I'd been expecting with so many different elements to it. I think the writing was great, and I really enjoyed the 90's, nostalgic setting with the Buffy vibes when it came to the horror and supernatural elements. I feel like I perhaps might have enjoyed this better if I'd physically read it instead of listening to the audiobook because as I said, the narrator kind of threw me off a few times and I found it a little hard to keep everything straight in my head!

4.5⭐
Do you like The Craft? I have just the book for you!
This book was <b>amazing</b>. I went in because I love found family, queer rep and, of course, magic. So a story about a coven of queer kids finding each other and doing their thing?? I was all for it, now add a murder mystery and I was absolutely in.
The story itself was great, even of you can see where the plot goes and maybe the reveals are not a shock, still the storytelling is compelling and you just need to read what happens to all of them in this particular week where disasters strikes taking the life of Bastion, the will of the coven.
The characters are absolutely the biggest part of the story, no doubt, they feel real and you will fall in love with them, I'm sure.
I liked very much the narrator, I could really feel along Nesbit everything, and in the action scenes? That really was magic!

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of Now Conjuries. I was fortunate to receive an audio version of this book, and I really enjoyed the narrator's style and how he conveyed emotions throughout the book.
This novel evokes a strong sense of nostalgia for the 90s and draws parallels with "The Craft," a popular film from that era. It is rich with pop culture references and kept me on edge at times. What I particularly enjoyed was the coming-of-age theme and the exploration of each character's individual struggles. The story revolves around a group of queer, witchy teenagers who reunite their secret coven to uncover the truth behind the murder of their leader and protagonist Nesbit's boyfriend, Bastion. Overall, it is a delightful and fast-paced young adult horror novel that beautifully encompasses themes of found family, witchcraft, and grief.

#NowConjuries #90snostalgia #witches #youngadult #horrorstory #booklovers #audiobook #comingofage #mystery #bookish #readingcommunity #bookreview

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

Now, Conjurers
Freddie Kölsch

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Oh my word! I actually don't know where to begin with this review!
I actually finished this last week and have been struggling / putting off writing this because there was literally just so much going on here.
So let's break it down.

The storyline was amazing!
It was cute, it was creepy, it was exciting.
It was witchy, it was scary, it was queer!
I absolutely loved the whole concept of this.
It kind of gave me Stephen King vibes due to the whole strangeness of the situation.

Bastion is found dead right at the start and we see as Nesbitt, his boyfriend, and his friends, the coven, come together to solve the mystery of what really happened to him.
But as they dig and delve further into the case, spells and the history of the town, they uncover the terrifying Mr Nous (damn if this wasn't Mr Noose!! (Audio listeners will relate))

The characters were so well drawn and developed over the course of the book.
I loved that we got to meet Bastion through the memories of Nesbitt - and that we followed a lot of the events running up to his death as this then helped explain many things that followed after too.
Nesbitt narrates throughout and so we feel a little insulated by the singular narrative - but this actually plays out perfectly as the story progresses and the events become ever stranger.

The writing style and presentation was done to perfection.
This was fast-paced and exciting and I loved how the information was drip fed to us in layers or waves that just built up and up until the revelation of Mr Nous - and then it kept on going and getting even more creepy! Just brilliant.

This was such an unexpected read because you know I always go in blind and therefore had no clue what was coming.
At one point I'd thought this was a kids book (don't ask me why!? Definitely can't see that in the cover now 🤷🏻‍♀️) and believe me, it's as far from that as you could get!

My only complaint - which now, definitely seems negligent - but at the time really did get to me (and I feel the need to apologise in advance!) is the narration of this on the audio book.
He had the most expressive voice ever, if you want to convey huge excitement!
So this worked wonderfully for those sections of the book that demanded it ....but really, for the whole book!? Even when things were serious or sad or going wrong - this kind of sheer excitement was just too much - I definitely needed some variation!

So, for the first half of the book I was super distracted by this tone - but I tried to really focus in and now it's been a while , I can see the book for what it actually is.
I think I'd definitely have got into this much much quicker had I been reading the physical words myself - but either way - a great read and I can't wait for book 2 .....




💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

This could be the book of spooky season this year. I was hooked from the first chapter. The narration was excellent and kept me interested for the whole story.

This story of friendship, queerness and found family was a great debut and a really unique story.

This story mixes horror with magic as a coven of teens set about defeating a sinister presence in their town following a grizzly murder. Im not much of a horror reader so I’m glad to say this book didn’t edge into the category of terrifying and delved more into the disturbing. That being said it is a little gory in places so do brace yourself for that if you need to! It was great to see such a strong friend group and so much love between this coven, with the story told from the perspective of Nes, their most recent arrival and boyfriend of Bastian, coven member and murder victim. I didn’t feel like we got much into the grief of the friendship group and so it felt quite emotion lite (except at the very end!) but I enjoyed the casual narrative with Nes’s references to parts of his story being important later on, or saying he’d come back to something.
Overall it’s an interesting read and I liked the narrator, though didn’t love them for this. It passed a long car journey for me and managed to give me the heebie jeebies!

This story is interesting. I love how it created a picture in the mind of the reader or listener in my case as I was listening to the audiobook. The characters all had different personalities and it felt like I knew them. This story is quite tragic at most parts. I feel like I didn't really like that the ending was a little rushed and I felt like there needed to be a bit more to it. I also didn't like that the chapter lengths were a bit too varied from either really long or really short. I liked that their magic and everything was quite creative. The narrator made the story interesting too. I liked that the story was mysterious and kept you wanting more.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my opinions on it.

This was such a fun book. In a horror story kind of way. Perfect 90s vibes. I would say this is a definite hit for Halloween this year. Really solid debut novel, would recommend to anyone who’s a 90s fan, looking for that bit of nostalgia kick or a fan of The Craft

This is a spooky 90's inspired ya debut novel. One of my fav films is the craft, which was released in 1996 and is referenced in the book. 100% my type of book.
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I adored that this was set in the 1990s, Freddie's characters are written so well. You can feel the love for each other and how the lose of one of them effects the group. There is also a horror/creepy aspect that was brilliantly done.
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The story is told from Nesbit's perspective, and the narrator for the audio book is perfect.
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Witchcraft, action-packed, and an ancient evil. Perfection!

First up, the narration: I didn’t care for it at first, but it really grew on me. Also, this is a debut novel, and wow—I think this is what everyone hopes to achieve when they publish their first book.

Although this book isn’t my typical style—I don’t read a lot of horror or mystery—But I’m a sucker for queer found family stories. If any of you are fans of the All for the Game series by Nora Sakavic, I would highly recommend this book. They are not similar in terms of writing or story, but they share the same queer found family vibes.

Some have complained about the story being a bit confusing due to frequent shifts between the past and present, but I didn’t have any issues with that. The writing—or listening, in my case—was well done.

Bastian was by far my favorite character. This book really makes you love him, which makes it feel almost evil that it starts by explaining his gruesome death. I also think the author handled dealing with grief very well. Minor spoiler: There was this one scene where Nesbit is working out and talking about his grief with a shadow looming in the corner—wow, what great writing.

This book has everything you would want in a YA queer horror novel, and I absolutely devoured it in just a day and a half. The characters really come to life, and I even found myself loving the name ‘Nesbit North Nuñez’. If you’re intrigued by the synopsis, just read it—the author delivers in every way.

Hail Coven

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review~

*Blog post scheduled for June 23rd*