The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke Review

Hi all! Today’s post is my review of quite possibly one of the most anticipated sapphic releases for this year!! Enjoy! – Amber ❤

Hannah Abigail Clarke’s THE SCAPEGRACERS is a magical book filled with witches, spells, magical books and an incredible cast of characters.

This book swept me off my feet! While witches aren’t usually a huge favourite in books personally, I adored this one and was itching to continue reading the whole time! This book is all about a newly-formed coven of witches who are determined to show the world that they’re not to be messed with; and you’re sure to absolutely fall in love with it.

Our main character, Sideways, made me fall in love with her from page 1. Sideways’ childhood stories were so refreshing and heart breaking to read about, yet they really propelled the plot along! Sideways coming to terms with having friends after being an outcast for so long was so sweet to watch, and the group she forms with Jing, Yates and Daisy is a group of strong, independent, badass, queer women – I obviously LOVED it!! These 4 girls have such a strong connection, and it was really sweet to see how they were so ride-or-die for one another after such a short amount of time knowing each other.

The book starts off very fast paced, and within the first chapter, we read about a gorgeous, unique magic system that is unlike one I’ve encountered before! I especially loved how Sideways had been trying magic for so long and when she finally meets her friends; it all just falls into place. While there were lots of unexpected twists and turns in this book that I loved, sadly I guessed the main one for this book very early on, but it was still enjoyable to read nonetheless and I think it has set up a great amount of different plot points for book 2, which I am very excited to read!

Another thing I loved was the range of diversity in this book – something that is not shown enough in YA!! This book has plenty of well-written representation, such as a plethora of sexualities; our main character is a lesbian, another MC is bi, one is queer and Sideways’ parents are gay, we also have a diverse cast that includes POC and non-binary people. I also loved how pronouns were spoken about in this book; on multiple occasions Sideways thinks to herself and makes sure she gets people’s pronouns correct. It’s such small things, yet I find they make the world of difference and mean so much to readers.

Overall, this book was enjoyable and entertaining. Every time I put the book down, I was itching to pick it back up again because there were so many good plot points. The ending was great and has intrigued me into wondering what is to come in book 2!

This story is perfect for anyone who loves queer casts, witches, high school cliques, found family, female friendships and some badass magic!