The Bromancers by Tansy Rayner Roberts

The Bromancers by Tansy Rayner Roberts is a novella set in the Fake Geek Girl universe. I had previously read (or, well, listened to) the short story “Fake Geek Girl” on her Sheep Might Fly podcast and chose to read The Bromancers because I was in the mood for something light. I didn't realise that there was another short story chronologically before The Bromancers, "Unmagical Boy Story", but The Bromancers made perfect sense without it, albeit I was probably lacking some background on a few of the characters in The Bromancers.

Our favourite witchy rock band, Fake Geek Girl, are road-tripping to a magical music festival in a wi-fi free zone on the same weekend that the season finale of their favourite TV show drops. Can they avoid spoilers? Can Hebe, Holly, Juniper & Sage camp in tents for three days without murdering each other? Can coffee really fix EVERYTHING including missing band members, messy relationship drama and obsessive fan shenanigans?

Friendship is magic, but if you pile too much friendship on top of too much magic over one weekend, the results are bound to be explosive.

The Bromancers follows the band members of Fake Geek Girl and their friends as they go camping at a music festival. There are shenanigans, hijinks, a bit of danger and a portion of relationship drama. The title comes from a TV show the friends are highly invested in, the season finale of which just happens to coincide with the no-wifi music festival. There's a lot of cute fan-related bonding thrown into the mix.

Each chapter of The Bromancers follows a different character as they worry about the things important to them, allowing us to learn more about them. This method of storytelling also allows the reader to see various characters from the points of view of other characters, which makes for interesting juxtaposition. Overall, I would call this a cosy contemporary fantasy story.

I recommend The Bromancers to fans of Tansy Rayner Roberts’ work, especially her more light hearted fiction. I suggest reading the short story “Fake Geek Girl” (or listening to it for free on the Sheep Might Fly podcast) for a bit of context before The Bromancers, but it’s not essential. I am planning to read the short story I accidentally skipped, “Unmagical Boy Story”, soon.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: October 2017, Self-Published
Series: Belladonna U, story 3
Format read: ePub
Source: Tansy Rayner Roberts' Patreon
Disclaimer: Although Tansy is a friend, I have endeavoured to give an unbiased review
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge