The Prestige meets What If It’s Us in Before We Disappear, a queer ahistorical fantasy set during the 1909 Seattle Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, where the two assistants of two ambitious magicians find themselves falling in love amidst a bitter rivalry designed to tear them apart.
I was granted eARC access to Before We Disappear via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to whoever approved me! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
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About the Book
Before We Disappear
by Shaun David Hutchinson
Published 21 September 2021
HarperTeen
Genre: LGBTQIA+ YA Historical Fantasy
Page Count: 512
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The Prestige meets What If It’s Us in Before We Disappear, a queer ahistorical fantasy set during the 1909 Seattle Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, where the two assistants of two ambitious magicians find themselves falling in love amidst a bitter rivalry designed to tear them apart.
Jack Nevin’s clever trickery and moral flexibility have served him well his entire life—making him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in early-twentieth-century Europe. Without Jack’s steady supply of stolen tricks and copycat sleight-of-hand illusions, the Enchantress’s fame would have burned out long ago—not that she would ever admit it.
But when they’re forced to flee the continent for America, the Enchantress finds a new audience in Seattle at the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific World’s Fair Exposition. She and Jack are set to make a fortune until a new magician arrives on the scene. Performing tricks that defy the imagination, Laszlo’s act threatens to overshadow the Enchantress and co-opt her audience. Jack has no choice but to hunt for the secrets behind Laszlo’s otherworldly illusions—but what he uncovers isn’t at all what he expected.
What makes Laszlo’s tricks possible is, unbelievably, a boy that can seemingly perform real magic. Wilhelm’s abilities defy all the laws of physics. His talents are no clever sleights-of-hand. But even though Laszlo and Wilhelm’s act threatens to destroy the life Jack and the Enchantress have built, Jack and Wilhelm have near-instant connection. As the rivalry between the Enchantress and Laszlo grows increasingly dangerous and dire, Jack finds he has to choose between the woman who gave him a life and the boy who is offering him love. It’s a new star-crossed romance about the magic of first love from acclaimed author Shaun David Hutchinson.
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My Review
My Rating: 5 Stars
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Before We Disappear is a historical fantasy set during the 1909 Seattle Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition in Seattle, Washington and presents a magical mystery/thriller combined with an LGBTQIA+ YA romance that will not disappoint. Jack is assistant to The Enchantress, the local big name in magic, and a willing and eager participant in this whole lifestyle. Wilhelm is the source of the very real magic behind Laszlo’s illusions… and his captive. Can these two star-crossed lovers break free and forge a life together, or will the wishes of their masters for them apart forever, possibly even into the grave?
This book has been billed as The Prestige meets What If It’s Us, and I absolutely see it. It definitely has the draw and the magical mystery of The Prestige, but I would also compare it to The Illusionist. (Yes, I know The Prestige is a book too; Eisenheim the Illusionist is also a short story.) I feel like the forbidden love element there is closer to what we get in Before We Disappear.
I’ll admit this book actually didn’t have me in the beginning. It wasn’t a bad start, but it wasn’t great. It didn’t suck me in. By 10% I was wondering if I’d even finish. Then I picked it back up and bam! It got good, and then it got great. The real magic (think Night Crawler), the stage magic, the suspense and mystery elements, and the romance in this book are all excellent, and I definitely need to go back and read this author’s backlist.
Hutchinson writes broken characters so well. Just about every character in this book has a whole lot of baggage, with the exception of Laszlo who’s a narcisist incapable of empathy, and the psychological elements at play are just so well done. Every character’s mind is a puzzle, and most of them invoke deep sympathy in the reader. We jump back and forth between Jack and Will as point of view characters, never into any of the rest of the cast, but Hutchinson still manages to give us enough insight into those minds to see how they think, what makes them tick, and learn to love them as well. In terms of our two POV boys, I’d say I liked Wilhelm a little more than Jack, but that’s probably because I usually relate to traumatized characters best. Jack is very sweet, strong, brave, willing to do anything for love, but he’s not as broken as Will, and he doesn’t necessarily understand Wilhelm’s views on everything. I do, I get Wilhelm, so I jive with him a little better.
I appreciate how much careful effort was put into keeping the setting as historically accurate as possible while still tossing out early 20th century views on minority groups and allowing for not one but two LGBTQIA+ romances to blossom on the page without anyone questioning or condemning it. (Well, without anyone condemning it for social reasons, at least.) As Hutchinson says in the acknowledgements, we were there back then too, even if history wasn’t able to record us honestly. (“They were roommates! Lifelong bachelors!”) Thank you for letting these wonderful characters be more than roommates.
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Looking for more YA Fantasy with LGBTQIA themes? Check out my review of This Golden Flame.
Oh wow, this sounds like a book I need to read!