Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow
Blurb:
Two scholars of magical veterinary science must put aside their lust and loathing to save the world in the first installment of this whimsical, romantic, dark academia duology.
All Gwendolynne Chan needs is to get through final year at Seamere College, where she is on track to graduate as number one —as long as the pretentious prat Harrisford Briggs doesn’t beat her to it.
Harrisford Briggs’s father, the chief financial officer of Magecorp, a major global distributor of magic, expects him to come top of the class. Harrisford, though, can’t help but notice that his father has been acting odd. And there are strange whisperings, too, of uncontrollable surges of excess magic.
When these magical surges begin to rock London, causing chaos and explosions and animal familiars going feral, Gwen and Harrisford find themselves reluctantly involved, putting both of their veterinary careers at risk.
Along with Gwen’s snarky cat familiar, Gwen and Harrisford must team up to diagnose the problem. But as the two academic rivals fight their burgeoning feelings, they quickly realize that magic is not the only thing surging.
Review:
Gwendolynne Chan will let nothing come between herself and finishing her last year of education at Seamere college, the magical veterinary science college where she’s determined to graduate as the highest ranked student. That is, so long as her academic rival and infuriatingly charming fellow student, Harrisford Briggs, doesn’t rip the opportunity from her.
Harrisford’s father, a chief financial officer of Magecorp, which is a massive glocal distributor of worldwide magic, is a cruel and apathetic man who expects him to become the best to ever graduate the school. Put off from the expectations weighing down his every move and decision, Harrisford can’t help finding reprieve by way of his fellow student as well as his enigmatic and unserious opposite: Gwendolynne. Worse, his father is acting stranger than usual, and uncontrolled magical spurts are being whispered about in the college’s halls.
As the magical surges shift from rumors into harsh realities that threaten to destroy the foundation of London (where the school is based), causing catastrophic explosions and the ferality of animal familiars belonging to existing mages, Gwendolynne and Harrisford get involved. With their veterinary careers put at risk, they must work together—though reluctantly—to save themselves and help each other.
Companions by necessity, Gwendolynne and Harrisford team up in order to diagnose the problem causing the explosions and uncontrolled familiars threatening their futures. As they battle each other and forces that would rather their investigation be shut down, they realize that the only way they might be able to work out a solution to their mounting problems is by working willingly with the one they like the least: each other.
Set in a magical veterinary science college and following two rival characters who are forced to put aside their romantic feelings, angry rivalry, and mutual animosity in order to save their world, Strange Familiars is an unforgettably entertaining read. I’ve never read a book by or heard anything about Keshe Chow before picking up this ARC via NetGalley, but I’m so glad I was accepted for an opportunity to read her work.
Chow has a unique talent for writing witty banter that feels completely unique and separate from what exists on the current market for romantic fantasy and fiction. Her characters are sharp, engaging, and interesting in a way that doesn’t discount or devalue the characterization of anybody else in the narrative. Their romance was one I couldn’t help rooting for, and I loved every single one of their interactions.
Something else I adored about Strange Familiars was how unique and niche the main characters’ careers were. I’m an absolute monster for characters who work within careers that aren’t the “norm” for fantasy narratives, and reading about the veterinary professions of Gwendolynne and Harrisford (though obviously some parts leaned more fantasy than authentic) helped whisk me through an already phenomenally paced story.
Strange Familiars encompassed everything I love about my favorite authors: ingenuity, creativity, originality, and a profound skill over the craft of writing. The romance was strong without being overbearing, the setting was visceral and tangible in the ways I love for environments to be in both secondary and first worlds in fiction, and the dialogue kept me laughing and kicking my feet with every chapter I read.
Chow is an uprising talent in a world brimming with stories that feel like they replicate each other. Strange Familiars may be an adult debut, but I know it absolutely won’t be the last novel the author publishes for this audience.
I’m being converted to academia-based fantasy stories, and Keshe Chow solidified my interest in the budding genre. I’m excited to see where she goes next!
