1/5 stars: This is Fell's 2SLGBTQIA+ Fantasy Historical Romance stand-alone that's set in 1989 and follows a man floundering after the loss of his boyfriend to the HIV/AIDS epidemic as he sets out to spend the summer working in the hedonistic gay paradise of Fire Island with his best friend. The two friends are quickly taken in by a pair of quirky, older house cleaners, who are members of a secret disco witch coven tasked with protecting the island from the relentless tragedies ravaging their community. The only problem, having lost too many of their fellow witches to the epidemic, the coven’s protective powers have been seriously damaged. Despite being unaware of all the mystical shenanigans going on, when the Great Darkness threatens life as they know it they team up with the Disco Witches to save the island and the community they've built. Written in multiple POVs, Fell's writing and character work are well done. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me; leading me to DNF it at 13%.

I received this eARC thanks to Alcove Press in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Disco Witches of Fire Island is such a fun and heartfelt read. The Fire Island setting is magical on its own, but add in a coven of fabulous witches and it becomes something really special. I loved how the characters were both hilarious and deeply human—Joe’s journey hit all the right emotional notes, and the witches totally stole the show. It’s the perfect mix of nostalgia, queer joy, and just the right touch of magic.

The setting of this story was very vibrant and interesting to me. The story is emotional and does not go easy regarding its narrative of love, loss, and belonging.

Where to begin? Disco Witches of Fire Island ... the title grabbed me straight away and the description followed up with big promises. And Blair Fell delivered on those promises.
There's a lot to this book. And I lot I couldn't always connect with straight away - not being a young gay man in the late 1980s myself. But the story telling wouldn't let me wander off confused to put the book down for good. That and the cast of characters. We have Joe who is an intriguing mix of vulnerability and wearily pragmatic. He's grieving his lover who has died of AIDS while heaping guilt on himself every day. He and his new friend Ronnie spend the summer on Fire Island. There was a lot of things going on that I didn't really understand: the man Joe spots from the boat on his first day, Ronnie's boss, what the story was about the stuff in the attic, a lot of Joe's behaviour and quite a bit of Fergal's.
It didn't matter to me that I couldn't figure out the whole disco witch thing - the whole thing was still great, picturing them all glammed up.
This book felt to me like a catharsis for the author to work out some of his past so when I figured that out, I let go of needing to understand every detail and just went with the flow of the tale. And there was plenty for me to flow with.

I should start with the obvious: if the words “disco witch coven” don’t immediately light up something deep and slightly damaged inside you, we might not be friends.

Blair Fell’s Disco Witches of Fire Island is an unholy communion of grief, glitter, desire, and 1989 gay drama. It’s a fantasy novel in the way that Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a road movie. The plot moves, yes, but it’s the costume changes, quiet elegies, and poppers-induced fog that make it sing.

We follow Joe Agabian, a twentysomething Armenian-American guy from Philly, who arrives on Fire Island to find himself broke, disoriented, and sexily haunted (literally, emotionally, and also by a man with possible gills). He’s grieving the loss of his boyfriend to AIDS, armed with only a mixtape, a lot of internalized guilt, and the kind of mopey-hot energy that make people want to feed him, fix him, or f...find him a nice rent-controlled apartment with a clawfoot tub and a breakfast nook.

Instead of a soft summer reset, Joe stumbles into a community held together by Tupperware casseroles, disco ball glue, and the rhinestoned rage of people determined not to die alone. The promised bartending job evaporates. So does the housing. Enter Howie and Lenny, a pair of elderqueer housekeepers with sequins in their bones and secrets in their broom closet. They run a deeply strange, deeply sacred household—equal parts gay sanctuary, makeshift hospice, and magical command center. (Think: Golden Girls meets Practical Magic but with more douching jokes.)

Turns out they’re witches. Actual ones. The disco kind. And they’re trying—desperately—to hold the fabric of the Pines together with sequin thread and ritual spells, in a community hollowed out by the epidemic. They’re understaffed, emotionally exhausted, and spiritually outgunned. Still, they dance.

The story blends romance, magic, and comedy in a way that makes you consider that those three words may actually be synonyms. Joe’s loathe-at-first-sight romance with Eldon, a dreamy bi deckhand with honest-to-god webbed toes, gives the book its soft heartbeat. But it's the chosen family—scrappy, aging, polyphonic—that makes it worth staying for. Especially Dory the Boozehound, a fabulously witchy eighty-year-old straight woman who runs a gay bar and lets dying men spend their last days on her oceanfront porch.

What Fell captures best is not the camp (though it’s delicious) or even the romance (though it's tender and more than a little horny). It’s the thick, ambient grief of the era. The way men were dying and boys kept dancing. The way loss became infrastructure. The way queer survival—then as now—relies on people showing up, not always clean or kind or sober, but with food and bad jokes and cassette tapes and a place to crash.

Also, it’s genuinely funny. Like, “is this character possessed by a demon or just from Queens?” funny. And there’s a running bit about gay ghosts needing poppers that I hope makes it to the screen, should this ever be adapted (and it should be).

If you missed the bleakest years of the plague, and god bless you if you did, this book might just be an incantation toward reclaiming a thread from that tapestry of souls you weren’t born soon enough to know. If you lived through it, Disco Witches might feel like a love (and dish) letter from someone you miss dearly. Either way, it’s a one hundred percent (emotionally) true story about facing what hurts, while still leaving room for the dance floor.

Which is the real magic, isn’t it?

This book has a super interesting premise and sets up a fun atmosphere with entertaining characters. There's a little bit of angst, a little bit of spice, and a little bit of witchcraft, but I found myself wishing for more of everything. Still, there were some poignant moments and commentary on the AIDS epidemic, along with humor and heart.

This book heard, oh is this "too much" "too extra"?? And answered with, well here's some more. The characters, ideas, fantasies, relationships, and history were insanely intricate and blown up. I am afraid that this book was at my limits for satire/humor/whimsy though- which I didn't even know existed. If you have similar tastes to mine, DNR

I am SOOO conflicted on this book. It has gutted me to a certain extent. I am a fantasy reader. Yes, I read other genres frequently, but fantasy is by far my go to genre. On the flip side, literary fiction is one of my least read genres because I really have a hard time immersing myself in it. This book...this book is a combination of the two. And my conflict comes in because...I enjoyed the literary fiction portions of the novel far more than the fantasy pieces. What is this dark magic?

The writing is incredibly atmospheric and the character work was lovely. I loved the detail about the location and the vibrant personalities of the supporting characters. The Fire Island descriptions were amazing. I felt like I could visualize it all and feel the vibes of the gatherings.

I did find Joe, the protagonist, a bit less likable. He was terribly insecure and fairly flighty. I understand the reasons for this, but it still caused me irritation. I just wanted him to grow up. Perhaps the fact that he got under my skin so well is another testament to the good character development.

Now the heavy conflict...the plot. The pacing was good, but I struggled with the transitions between reality and fantasy. I (oddly) loved the literary portions of the book so much that the fantasy parts seemed to take out the seriousness and felt a bit awkward to my reading. I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but I wish this book had been written without any fantasy components. I love the camaraderie of the Disco Witches, but I wanted them to be more real. There were so many ways that the plot could have still bloomed without the magical pieces.

Still...I did enjoy my read. Despite my inability to gel with the fantasy components, I appreciated the blunt and honest presentation of historical and political events, the exploration of gay culture, and the attention to the realities behind the AIDS epidemic. There was so much powerful discussion in the narrative and I was definitely affected by those portions. Blair Fell has stated that the story is based upon his own experiences as well as his summer spent bartending on Fire Island...this personal touch really shows in the final product. It's captivating and raw. My heart hurt through several sections.

I will be on the lookout for more from Fell. His writing is immensely rich and realistic (except for the fantastical pieces). He sets a scene with immense talent. I enjoyed his Fire Island depiction so much and could do with even more stories of the supporting characters.

** I will warn potential readers that they need to be prepared for the content. There is some definite adult material in the narrative and it is not a closed door situation. For those uncomfortable with spice, this may not be the read for you. **

I shouldn’t have sat on this one for so long and I’m kicking myself for it. This was a really great story that really felt like it took you back to the 80s and tossed in some magic along the way. The author did a good service to the heavy topics discussed and the pain of HIV/AIDS epidemic. I loved the community aspects of this book and really loved the characters in this book!

Due out May 6th

It's 1989, and Joe's boyfriend has recently died of HIV/AIDS. Needing an escape, he and his bestie Ronnie have planned a trip to Fire Island. While Joe needs healing from heartbreak, Ronnie is on the hunt for a rich husband. Though they've been promised bartending jobs and rooms, upon arrival things are not nearly as they'd been advertised.

Joe gets some lucky breaks, a room in the home of Howie and Lenny, and a job through their friend. We meet well described characters with their own hurts and secrets, and we learn that there's a gay coven working to protect their own.

While the witchcraft angle wasn't super compelling for me, everyone needs their people, and it touched my heart that these characters you fall in love with, in spite of their deep flaws, have a village to care for them.

Make no mistake, this isn't all sunshine and rainbows. There are PLENTY of people sick and dying of the virus throughout the book.
There's also LOTS and LOTS of sex, including one near rape, in case this is triggering.

All in all, there were some plotlines that didn't follow through for me, but this was a strong story of learning to forgive yourself and be open to transformation.

Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted so badly to love this book. From the title and the description, it was right up my alley. But I was almost immediately confronted with amateurish writing, dialog, plotting, and pacing. It felt like something a high schooler would write...if they were an old gay man. Every single thing in this book is predictiable, the author always makes the easiest, most obvious choice with dialogue, settings, characters, plot. I kept waiting to be pleasantly surprised but the disappointment just continued.
I'm sad to say that you should look elsewhere for a great book that combines 80s queer life and the supernatural.

Disco Witches is a great historical fiction/ fantasy about the community on Fire Island during the height of the AIDS crisis. When Joe, a young gay man, joins his friend Ronnie for a first-time trip to summer on Fire Island he soon finds it's not just fun and games as he was led to believe. He is already reeling from the loss of a loved one and afraid to commit to anyone else who might soon be taken by the rampant virus. I loved this book for its sense of humor, the immersion into a culture I've never experienced and the hopefulness the characters all maintained through the very darkest times.

This book definitely will want you grab your dancing shoes> I loved all the magical bits, I just wish there was more of them! Also I wish there was more world building to help with the understanding of it. Love the 80's setting and made fire island just feel cozy in a way.

Fire Island Pines is a hedonistic gay paradise in 1989. Joe & Ronnie can't wait to spend the summer working on the island. As the summer goes on, they begin to notice odd things, supernatural things. As the summer goes on and they begin to discover things that are happening, they get pulled into the supernatural things that are going on and the Disco Witches of the island.

This was an interesting read. And, to be honest, I still don't quite know if I mean that in a good or bad way. I will say, I loved how this book brought to life the uncertainties and the struggles that the LGBTQ+ community was facing back at the beginning of the AIDs crisis. I think that topic is so important to be discussed and I appreciated the way that this book discussed that time. However, I really struggled with this book. I didn't find myself invested in this until maybe over halfway through the book when I found things finally got interesting. I found it, overall, to just be a very weird book but I did not hate it. It was definitely enjoyable at some parts and the inclusion of "disco magic" was fun and made it easier to get through. I also did enjoy how the book was told from multiple POVs so I got a wider perspective of the goings on.

Oh my GOD this was such a treat! I always love a well crafted story, but the supernatural elements woven into the perfectly realistic plot? Goodbyeeeeee it was perfect!

Spoiler free review is that this book was absolutely wonderful. I love stories that are mostly based in realism with a touch of the supernatural and this one definitely delivered! I loved the entire cast of colorful characters (although Ronnie did take quite a bit to grow on me) and the stories and relationships interwoven throughout the book. I especially loved Howie! This book put me THROUGH it with emotions. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me have all sorts of feelings and I felt a lot of gratitude for those in the LGBTQ community who came before me.
The magical elements in the book were so interesting! I've never seen magic used in the way that the author chose to use it here. I especially loved the dancing and Disco music part of it and even found an instrumental disco playlist to listen to while I read! Adored this story and can't wait for the rest of the world to read it!

If historical romantasy isn't a thing yet, bet you it's about to be. Disco Witches of Fire Island is set on an island off of Long Island in NYC that's a gay vacation haven at the height of AIDS in the 80s, and you have a young man who comes to try and deal with a bad breakup (his partner got AIDS and slowly isolated himself and passed suddenly) and move forward, and the group of gay men who use the magic of disco music to try and help him move forward. The focus is mostly on Elliott's hangups and personal journey, and it's a pretty solid read.

2.5 ⭐️. these characters were so pure and melted your heart. I did find a lot lacking in the execution of this novel -- it felt like the characters would make decisions that didn't feel true to who they were and the commentary read like a cheesy rom com to me. this gave CAMP to the highest degree.

thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read it.

This book definitely has an audience and I am not a part of it.

There is nothing really wrong with this book, besides it being a bit predictable and a tad too long. But I just didn't connect to any of the characters. I have a lot of other books to read (both with a deadline on NetGalley and random books I own), so I did consider DNFing it a few times. As a "compromise" I skipped a part of the midsection and read the last few chapters. I could fill in any missed information pretty easily and was satisfied with the end.

If I were to rate the book on my personal experience alone I would give it a 2,5*, but since many people seem to be enjoying it and it was well-written I think a three star suffices.

I you love anything witch related you should read it.