Any book that includes high school field hockey and witches will do it for me. Quan Barry is hilarious and so very real.

I absolutely loved this book. I have already been talking it up to everyone I know.

The author's writing style is pitch perfect. While she tackles some serious topics, it is perfectly balanced with dark humor and 80's pop culture references.

...Dearest Darkness...

Every now and then I read the synopsis for a book and I get a feeling that I will like it. In the case of " We Ride Upon Sticks" how can you not? The 1989 Danvers High School Falcons Field Hockey Team will do anything to make it to and win the state championship, including enlisting the aid of Dark Powers. Since Danville, Massachusetts is the spot where the 1692 witch trials began it seems that there is a lot to tap into. Before you know it the girls, ( and one boy), start winning. Unfortunately, if they want to keep winning they have to be more bad, which is great for us, the reader.

There are eleven starters on a field hockey team, so there are eleven main characters and Ms. Berry attempts and succeeds in doing the nigh impossible by bringing each and every one of them to life in glorious 1980's neon splendor, from Jen, Julie and Sue, to my favorite, the pint-sized terror Little Smitty. The power, promise, and pain of being a teenaged girl,( sorry, Boy Cory), along with the joys and trials of being part of a team are all covered with wit, wisdom, and a ton of humor.

One of the unusual tricks up Ms. Barry's sleeve is her choice of narrative voice, the rather rare first-person plural. It takes a few pages to get used to but works wonderfully, and gives us a rare glimpse of all the characters from both the inside and the outside. And what wonderful characters they are! This novel would be a technical triumph for that alone, but it is so full of heart and wit that the technique fades into the background. In case I didn't mention it, this book is as funny as any I have read lately, with a laugh or two per page. The humor does more than provide laughs, though, as the author uses it to great effect to make several sharp points without resorting to lectures.

Let me put it this way. This book is a goddamn triumph, and when I finished I almost wanted to listen to " Look Out For Number One."

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

I could not get into this book, unfortunately.

This was such a fun book to read. When I first started reading it, I thought it would be like a Grady Hendrix novel, like funny and nostalgic but also gross and creepy. It wasn't actually creepy at all. Rather, it turned out to be warmer and more uplifting than I expected.
I'm not going to recap the plot for you... just know that it is super unique and really fun.

The concept of this book is so delightful, but it dragged on for too long. I was ready for the conclusion a while before it came. Plus, the setting of the scene as 1989 was heavy-handed at times.

This is a joyous book filled with young women discovering themselves together as they navigate their way to the field hockey state championship in 1989 Massachusetts. Every character was fun to spend time with and I enjoyed all of the occult elements. This book is funny and full of the best kind of teen angst. Recommended for fans of Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens.

This funny novel follows a girl’s field hockey team as they strive to reach the state finals. Set in the outskirts of Salem, with the one of the team leaders being a relative of the famous Salem accuser Ann Putnam, you know there’s going to be a little witchcraft. Set in the 1980’s, it is filled with lots of memories, from hair to the description of the team members, including Boy Cory who thought joining a woman’s sport would help him get into college. Funny you bet. I graduated way before the 1980’s but high school humor and friendships remain the same.

DNF at 7%

There might be a great story here, but first person plural is a very hard sell for me and a story with 90% circular exposition doubly more so. The writing style is definitely not for me, as much as I wanted to like the story and keep going.

This book was so interesting, from the narration style to the plot to the details.... It was rich and complex and so very satisfying to read. It was like reading a mash up of favorite movies under the umbrella of rich text, thoughtful prose, and witchcraft and women's field hockey. It wasn't a quick read. It required time and concentration. So good.

Loved this one.

Took things I'm fairly familiar with (witchcraft, Boston's North Shore 'burbs) and things I have zero interest in (field hockey) and put them together in a tidy package. Desperate to not have another losing season, the Lady Falcons make a "dark pledge" in an Emilio Estavez notebook (henceforth referred to simply as "Emilio"). They start winning, and winning big. But the girls soon feel Emilio demanding more from his initiates, and the girls began to tap into dark sides they didn't know they had.

Where'd they get this idea anyways? Well, Danvers Mass. used to be known as Salem Village. The same Salem in which the infamous Witch Trials took place. Turns out the school library has a rather extensive local history collection. Anyone who knows their Colonial-era history might be able to figure out the dangerous path these girls are headed down.

I've never read anything else Quan Barry has written but she is a seriously talented writer. Like another supernatural GHW Bush-era jaunt Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero, there were some excellent similes (along with personified hairdos and other body parts). There was also the brilliant decision to make the narrator a first person plural. I spent the first couple chapters trying to figure out which of the eleven players was narrating, then I figured out that it didn't matter. They were a group functioning as an individual. All the characters come into their own and we get a sense of each of the players, plus some of the other people in their lives.

This book is a delight. It's 1989 in Danvers MA, 300 years after the Salem Witch Trials that took place where Danvers now sits. After a terrible game at field hockey camp, the seniors on the Danvers High team make a "dark pledge" in a notebook with Emilio Estevez's face on the cover (the book is just called Emilio for the rest of the story), tie on a Falcon blue armband, and start winning games. Like really winning. And Emilio keeps compelling the girls to be bad and cause all sorts of mischief, which only seems to make them more powerful on the field and in life. The story gets the 1989 details perfect, including Jen's bangs, "The Claw," which seems to be its own character with magical abilities.

I love the way Barry wrote the book. The story is told in plural first person, and the chapters each focus on one team member and one field hockey match. For the first few chapters, I kept wondering which member was narrating, but then realized they were ALL narrating as a "we." This makes perfect sense, as the team is bonded so closely that they hear one another' voices in their heads and can telepathically communicate. Every member of Emilio's coven is interesting and dealing with real issues. Some are people of color surrounded by clueless white people, others have difficult family lives, some are figuring out their sexuality and gender identity, and some are religious and conflicted with the witchcraft they're practicing and their beliefs. They all have different personalities and I loved every one of them.

The concept is awesome. Set in the 80s, the book tell the story of a field hockey team that form a coven of witches.

The description makes it sound escapist, but it reads more like literary fiction. Although, the 80s details are a lot of fun. The teens join the coven by signing their name in a Emilio Estevez notebook. (Although I might I picked someone more nefarious, like Johnny Depp, as their dark lord.) One of the characters wears a "claw hairstyle, which has a mind of its own.

Still I had trouble staying engaged with the story. There are a lot of characters, who are all diverse and well drawn, but they all receive equal attention. Narratively, it makes sense. They are a coven, after all. But left me wanting more.

The thing that kept this book from being amazing was how the author shows conflict being resolved. She builds up to a big event, then describes it later like it's background. Big details are dropped, then never brought up again.

I feel like this book was one edit away from being great. That being said, I think there are readers out there who will love it. And if Netflix or HBO got a hold of it, it would make an amazing TV series.