TL;DR Review: Stranger Things meets The Magicians, as written by Stephen King. A dark, brooding, mysterious urban fantasy story of fate-defying friendships.
Synopsis:
From the acclaimed author of A Cosmology of Monsters comes an epic contemporary fantasy: a story of dark magic, terrible mistakes, and second chances.
“You can never go home again,” the saying goes—but Hal, Athena, and Erin have to. In high school, the three were students of the eccentric Professor Marsh, trained in a secret system of magic known as the Dissonance, which is built around harnessing negative emotions: alienation, anger, pain. Then, twenty years ago, something happened that shattered their coven, scattering them across the country, stuck in mundane lives, alone.
But now, terrifying signs and portents (not to mention a pointed Facebook invite) have summoned them back to Clegg, Texas. There, their paths will collide with that of Owen, a closeted teenager from Alabama whose aborted cemetery seance with his crush summoned something far worse: a murderous entity whose desperate, driving purpose includes kidnapping Owen to serve as its Renfield. As Owen tries to outwit his new master, and Hal, Athena, and Erin reckon with how the choices they made as teens might connect to the apocalyptic event unfurling over the Lone Star State, shocking alliances form, old and new romances brew, and three unsuccessful adults and one frightened teen are all that stand between reality and oblivion.
From one of the boldest, most brilliant voices in modern fantastical horror, The Dissonance is a thrilling and beautifully written story of magic and monsters, forgiveness and friendship.
Full Review:
The Dissonance introduces us to a whole new way of seeing the world, a world where pain = magic. Intrigued? I know I was.
The explanation given was quite fascinating:
“Dissonance theory is based on the hypothesis that something is broken in the foundation of creation: a gap between how things should be and how they are. A disharmony. Most people feel this disharmony. It’s why they aren’t happy, why we’re all preoccupied with visions of could or should. It’s why so many world religions have a “fall” or “original sin” narrative. They want to make the brokenness make sense. What these religions don’t know—or allow themselves to admit—is this broken foundation creates a friction, a sort of energy users call Dissonance.”
How dark is that?
That alone should give you a very clear picture of the story you can expect in the pages of this novel.
The Dissonance follows four young adult characters—Erin, Peter, Athena, and Hal—each of whom is damaged in some way (abusive or neglectful parents, turbulent home life, physical trauma, etc.). The pain in their lives opens them up to this “Dissonance” magic, and their shared fascination by and exploration of this magic brings them together to form a coven.
But at the beginning, we see that the coven is broken. All the friends have gone their separate ways and dread seeing each other. So how did it happen? How did the inseparable friendships that kept them together through impossible events and life-threatening dangers eventually crumble?
That mystery—along with the mystery of the Dissonance itself—is teased out slowly. We’re drawn deeper and deeper into their four stories, and layer by layer, the truth is revealed, secrets are teased out.
The focus on the strong core friendship evoked Stranger Things to my mind, but with the darker, grittier understones of The Magicians and the works of Stephen King. There’s a bit of horror woven into the dark, urban fantasy adventure, and this heady cocktail makes it a story that you just can’t scape. All the while, a growing sense of foreboding looms in the background and builds in you a feeling of dread for what is to come. And when all is revealed…well, you’ll just have to read the book and find out for yourself.
The Dissonance was definitely one of the most unique books I’ve read this year, and one that kept me burning through the pages to find out what comes next. Not a light-hearted or upbeat read, but a powerful look at friendship and love that can outlast death and defeat impossible odds.
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