The thing about me is I am an absolute sucker for a good book title. How could anyone resist the title Disco Witches of Fire Island? It’s so evocative. You know there’s going to be some glam, some drama, and of course it’s going to be super freakin’ gay.
Disco Witches of Fire Island by Blair Fell takes place in the summer of 1989. If you’re thinking “Now come on, disco wasn’t really a thing anymore by ’89,” you’d be correct. Our young main character Joe is not one of the titular disco witches — no, the disco witches are a coven of older gays and allies who take Joe under their fabulous wing. Their magic is rooted in the disco music and dance that was popular when they were young adults, and they know how to bring the party even if their musical taste may seem dated.
The title may make you think this is going to be a fun novel of pure camp, but I’d like to remind you that this takes place in 1989, which means it is squarely in the midst of the AIDS crisis. Joe has lost his beloved boyfriend to AIDS, and is paranoid that anyone else he falls in love with might also have or get the disease. The ranks of the disco witches have been absolutely devastated by AIDS as well, with some friends long gone and others struggling to hang on. Everyone in this book is trying to enjoy their summer, whether they’re residents or workers on the island, but pretty much everyone is dealing with their own struggles.
Periodically, the disco witches find themselves protecting a “chosen one” who is targeted by evil forces, and they at first suspect that Joe could be the latest chosen one, but a lie he’s been telling everyone causes confusion for most of the book. Joe lies and leaves out the truth a lot. In fact, he’s not the nicest character to spend time with. He’s dishonest and he’s pretty cruel when he gets into a fight with his friends.
But there’s also a goodness to Joe. While he’s a youngish guy hoping to hook up on the island, he has a sweet dedication towards his new found elder gay friends, calling out his peer Ronnie when he makes fun of them. Joe seems to be a bit of a peacemaker, trying to smooth things over between Ronnie and the witches, Ronnie and his manager at the bar, his manager and himself.
There is a love story for Joe in Disco Witches of Fire Island, and a couple of side couples as well, but I’d call it more romance-adjacent than a capital R Romance. The focus is much more on Joe’s character growth, and to a lesser extent, that of Howie, the witch we see the most of on the page.
When it comes to the fantasy element, the magic seems to line up mostly with how real-life people practice magic, with a little dramatic OOMPH when the story calls for it. The disco witches aren’t going around throwing fire balls, teleporting, or raising the dead, but there may be a bit of levitation. There are even a couple of suggested concoctions/rituals in the back.
A quick note on drag — there are references to drag and queens, but keep in mind this is a pre-Drag Race era. Drag is not really the focus of the book and there aren’t any fabulous on-page transformations (you can look at Murder in the Dressing Room for that).
I’ve talked about what the book isn’t, but let’s talk about what it is. Ultimately, this is a book about community — not just the gay community, but their friends and allies, and also the places where a community spends its time. One of the disco witches is a straight woman of Black and Jewish ancestry, who owns the bar Joe works at, and her granddaughter, a beautiful young model, is spending the summer on the island to recover from her own heartbreak. The book does touch briefly on the overwhelming whiteness of Fire Island, though it’s much more focused on the AIDS crisis and disco magic than on bigotry in the LGBTQIA+ community (as a reminder, you can read The Rainbow Ain’t Never Been Enuf for more on bigotry).
This is also an Own Voices book, by a gay man who bartended on Fire Island during the height of the AIDS crisis, and the magical and spiritual elements are also apparently based on people he knew and conversations he had. So it all feels very authentic and heartfelt.
Above all, this is a book full of love — romantic, friendship, community, and culture, so many layers of love.
CWs and TWs: Homophobia, chronic illness and death from such, explicit sex, some strong language, lots of drinking and a fair amount of drug use.
Source and Format: I borrowed the ebook from King County Library System.
Reading Challenge Prompts
Nook & Cranny (Card 2): On Love & Heartbreak. This book is full of both love and heartbreak, on so many levels.
World of Whimm: Historical Fiction. Look, as someone born in the 80s, I hate to call something set in the 80s or 90s historical. But there is no denying that this portrays an important period in recent history. And Fell does such a good job of weaving in details, from how people dressed to the music they listened to, the cologne they wore, and the cocaine they snorted. It’s also a nice reminder that historical fiction doesn’t have to be a huge, sweeping epic. It can be a very personal story told in a reasonable 300-400 pages.
SAL/SPL/KCLS: Intergenerational Friendship. I keep changing my mind on what square books should go in as I read them. This was going to be Found Family (but it would also fit in Hope, Resistance, and Grief!), but I just loved the friendship between Joe and his older roommates Howie and Lenny. I love how Joe defends them from the start, how even when he doubts them he doubts his own doubt, and how he grows to understand and respect them even more as the story develops. In an era when young gays were playing with respectability and assimilation, Joe looked at camp Howie and leather daddy Lenny and said “These guys are alright” and I think that’s beautiful.
Reading Challenge Progress
Nook & Cranny (Card 1): 10 of 25, no bingos.
Nook & Cranny (Card 2): 14 of 25, 1 bingo.
Book Riot: 12 of 25.
Physical TBR: 6 of 12.
World of Whimm: 16 of 24, 1 bingo.
SAL/SPL/KCLS: 5 of 23, no bingos.