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Review: Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans
Rating: 5/5             #LoveOzYA 

“The three of us walk into the room together, and I stay.”

Iris is made of plants. Babs is made of fire. And the boy, well, he’s not sure what he’s made of yet. Three new friends, each with a love of all things magical, come together in a sleepy, mystical town where things are never as they seem. When a witch arrives, Iris, Babs and the boy know they have to track her down to lift their curses and figure out where they’re headed next. But there is danger around every corner and they will have to keep their wits about them.

Alison Evans has somehow managed to reach into the recesses of my mind and pluck out the perfect story. This is all I’ve ever wanted in a book! Dryads, witches, queer folk, fair folk - this book has them all. Euphoria Kids is so full of quiet magic and has the perfect meandering pace for reading late at night before going to bed. I felt from the first few pages this would be a new favourite and I was absolutely right!

All of the characters were wonderful, major and minor alike. Iris is a lovely, gentle nonbinary character with two mums, an affinity for plants and a fairy best friend and oh that I had her life, to be honest. Babs is a fiery trans girl who can disappear in the blink of an eye and I just loved her. The boy is another trans kid who’s trying to figure out how he fits into the world and I enjoyed watching him slowly come out of his shell as he searched for his new name. There are so many wonderful supporting characters too, many of them queer, and they just made everything feel so comforting.

I loved the magic in this book as well. I’m always searching for books that feature fairies and magic and witches and they’re here in spades. Saltkin was an adorable wee fairy who helped things along throughout the story but I think I loved the dryads most. They’re definitely one of my favourite kinds of magical beings and I wish more fantasy writers used them. I loved all the different kinds of witches Evans wrote about too. It’s making me want to get out my cards and crystals again!

The best part about this was the abundance of queer rep that Evans included. They always write with such care and sensitivity and it was beautiful seeing how they wrote about being nonbinary, especially. They did an excellent job of explaining terminology and concepts relating to the identity that would make this a great book to share with someone just learning about this particular identity. Always love #OwnVoices rep!

Another wonderful novel from my favourite Australian YA writer. If you love the subtle magic and the witchy women of The Raven Cycle but want something a bit more queer, definitely track down Euphoria Kids!

[image description: a photo of Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans with a “Autographed edition” sticker on the cover. A stack of books is in the background.]

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    [image description: a photo of Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans with a “Autographed edition” sticker on the cover. A stack...

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