Spoiler-free
The majority of this book was read whilst cat sitting for a couple friends of mine. Their house is so damn cosy! All the plants, wood and fireplaces make for such a peaceful and content reading atmosphere so I blasted through this. Also Rocky was a pleasure to hang out with.
The Premise
White Trash Warlock follows the story of a white trash warlock.
The Review
LOL Okay, fine. I'll give you a little bit more than that...
The Premise (Reprise)
So we have our main guy, Adam, who (you guessed it) is a warlock, and self proclaimed white trash. He lives in a trailer park with his mystical great Aunt Sue and has little to no money. He has lost contact with his family, but I guess your brother committing you to a psych ward will do that to you. This was until, that very brother - Bobby - makes contact with Adam begging for his help. Something inexplicably strange is occurring with his wife - Annie. And so ensues the tomfoolery and shenanigans that unveil themselves around our resident gay trailer park witch Adam.
The Review (Reprise)
This was a blast. It very much gave me that easy reading cosy T.J.Klune vibes despite not being afraid to get a bit dark with it. Adam's character voice was very distinct and his sarcastic sense of humour really shines. It's also refreshing to have the perspective of a gay male witch. We need more of that. The Green Creek series by T.J.Klune comes to mind, as well as that book that got adapted into that weird limited series on Netflix.
White Trash Warlock falls into the category of LGBT fantasy that's just a huge safe space for me. As soon as I had read that first page, I knew exactly what I was in for and I got exactly that, including a vibrant cast of characters. Adam spends his time almost drifting in and out of the mortal world and the spirit world.
He imagined the planes like a sandwich. If the mortal was the meat, lying thick above the lower crust of the hell dimensions, the spirit was the condiment, the glue holding them together. Elves hailed from somewhere higher, the lettuce. Yeah, that made sense. They were hippies, all green and vegan.
However, when the lines begin to blur things get messy and life alternating decisions need to be made. Adam makes some pretty WACK decisions in this and honestly I respect his gall. He's also self aware confirmed, given the fact that he knew he'd been holding the breath he let out. xD
Adam let out the breath he'd been holding
There's quite an adorable love interest in this too for all you romance girlies out there. Knowing that there are a fair few more books in this series makes me very intrigued to see where this is heading. Adorable on the surface but complicated underneath. It's almost like the horror film Obsession but less concrete. In Obsession the main character breaks a wish bone to get the girl he fancies to love him and it gets outta control. In White Trash Warlock it's much more ambiguous whether some sort of magic is at play or if it is simply Adam's own insecurities, questioning the love he receives. This adds a layer of complexity and honestly makes me feel bad for Adam to have to have this constant niggling in this back of his mind.
Big themes of family trauma and acceptance present throughout. Adam's relationship with his family is rocky ;) to say the least, but his brother Bobby has no one else to turn to. His wife - Annie, is seemingly possessed and he's desperate to try anything to help her. Of course, this leads to some much awkward, but nevertheless necessary, family bonding time. YAY! Happy Families! Right...? Well, you'll have to read and see for yourself LOL.
The pacing in this is FAST. It's a fun ride. Things get going instantly and it doesn't let you go until you've read that last word. If I had the other books in my possession I have no doubt that I would just binge through this entire series without breaking a sweat. A digestible gay urban fantasy with just enough sprinklings of romance, mystery, whimsy and horror.
🌕🌕🌕🌖🌑- 3.75 Stars
Spoiler Chat
Vic is adorable. I really hope that his love isn't fabricated by Adam's magic bond. What an INSANE thing of Adam to do by the way? Yeah, he saved this guy's life, but he doesn't know him and also now he's forever connected to this person. That's a huge undertaking to take just because he's hot lol.
"Why?" it asked, the skull managing to express confusion and maybe a little anger. "What means he to you?"
"Maybe it's the uniform," Adam said, his heart racing, uneven, like he'd drunk too much coffee.
"Maybe I think he's hot."
Luckily for Adam Vic is such a gem. But then again, is that only because of the magic bond? Urgh so frustrating! As it stands I'm under the impression that this love is genuine, but that could change at the flick of the switch. I'm just choosing to believe in fairies right now, let me live!
Goodnight, the text read. But I want a kiss next time.
Vik becoming a Reaper was an unexpected turn and one in which I am all here for. What a fun thing to do to a character and plus now it levels out the playing field between Vic and Adam which will create a much healthier balance in their relationship moving forward. Havin Vic be the one to take Annie's body away at the end was a nice touch too.
She looked at Vic. "You're a Reaper, Vicente. You work for me now."
Bobby was obviously a bit of a knob the whole time. It's interesting though because we do learn that he was kinda forced into sectioning Adam, but also he really wasn't... And he was never forced into being a class A prick. But then it is also revealed that he 'saved' Adam's life by killing their father, even though I'm pretty sure Adam was just being spanked? So, I'm not entirely sure how Bobby is claiming that killing their father constitutes to saving Adam's life? Then again there's every chance that I have just missed something there because things aren't adding up. So yeah, not sure where I stand with Bobby but the water is tepid at best.
I understand why we get the duel perspective of Bobby and Adam but I did find myself not all that interested in the Bobby chapters. I kinda wish we got Adam's and only Adam's perspective, but the amount of information the reader would receive takes a dip this way so it's tit for tat.
Some final thoughts:
- Not too sure what the deal with the Elves is yet but I am intrigued. Also, there's this sorta love triangle with Silver. I'm not all that bothered about Silver yet though. #TeamVic.
- I guess now that Vic also has one foot across the other side we are going to spend more time in the mystical. There's still the case of who this warlock is that Adam is obsessed with. Since it can't be his dad anymore, perhaps his fascination with that particular warlock has died down. There's also every chance that it IS in fact his dad still and Bobby didn't actually kill him... I can see that happening. Honestly, anything goes with this series. Things can completely change at the flip of a coin and that's part of what makes it such an exciting read.
- Oh! Aunt Sue has died. Maybe? I'm assuming she has which is a shame because I feel like there is still so much mystery around her. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her yet though... Maybe Adam will develop some medium power to communicate with her? Oh, and his own dad too? I can't wait to see how this turns out...
- Adam makes me LOL.
"You don't want his soul or something?" Adam asked.
Sara's nose wrinkled, like she'd scented something unpleasant.
"I have no need for souls," she said, sounding offended. "They aren't trading cards."
"Huh," Adam said. That was twice he'd asked about souls and gotten a weird reaction from an immortal. He filed that mystery away for another day.
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