“What do you think about the fuckups saving the day for once?”

What happens when a group of misfit teenagers unlock extraordinary powers? They unveil a world of strange and wondrous possibilities. But at what cost?

With hidden magic unlocked, a secret coven formed and the trials of love, friendship and loss to come, The Dissonance by Shaun Hamill delivers a superbly addictive read that makes the unbelievable, believable. 

As teenagers, Hal, Peter, Erin and Athena were always close but during one summer sleepover they became bonded for life. When the four accidentally stumble upon a strange book, they unwittingly discover the power of Dissonance, a source of energy that can be tapped into with negative emotions. Under the tutelage of Professor Marsh, the four hone their powers, learn their strengths and weaknesses and push themselves to their absolute limits. Yet in 1999 something happened, something monumental. Now in their mid thirties the group are estranged from one another, barely on speaking terms, and their lives are not as fruitful as they had once dreamed they could be. Yet some bonds can’t ever be truly broken. Through a series of strange events they are brought back together as their fate intermingles with that of Owen, a young teenager who caught up in a séance at a cemetery, is now at the beck and call of a murderous entity possessing the body of his crush. 

In the style of the 90’s cult classic, The Craft and the more modern Stranger Things (although it’s set in the 80’s) Hamill presents to us a group of outcast characters who in their subversion of social norms are able to see the world in a different light and uncover the myth and magic that lies underneath. Which in my opinion, is much cooler than being popular! Each of our main characters in The Dissonance come from either disadvantaged backgrounds, have faced trauma or had their own struggles. For Hal and Erin this meant living in poverty with parents who were volatile in their own ways. In contrast Athena came from a more wealthy household and her parents were much more supportive, yet being a Black young girl in a predominantly White community meant she faced other hardships. For Peter, well growing up an orphan and being taken care of by an unaffectionate and distant grandfather had taken its own toll. Though despite all their setbacks, this is actually what makes them perceptive to the Dissonance as Dissonant energy is more easily tapped into if the person has gone through strife and felt pain.

The magic system which Hamill depicts is something that is explored in detail and yet still contains its many mysteries. I very much liked the concept of Dissonance giving those with little power or agency in the world the means to create magic, to feel special, to feel like superheroes. Every user of Dissonance wields it in different ways and the stronger they become the harder it becomes to know when to stop, especially when the possibilities seem endless. You see not everything is known about this energy or where it comes from, there are many theories and literature on the subject, which Professor Marsh owns a substantial amount of, but ultimately there is so much of the unknown, so much to explore. I loved seeing the way the search for knowledge led our characters on some strange and pretty wildly dangerous adventures and the various ways this affected them. Having this power doesn’t instantly make their lives better, in fact things become even more complicated for them all, but it does open up new doorways—quite literally. Throughout The Dissonance Hamill really revels in blending sci-fi with elements of fantasy and horror which just add to the excitement of his story.

“She’d known the members of her coven shared a connection, but now, that truth manifested as a physical sensation. These weren’t her friends. They were the rest of her soul. That was why she only ever felt complete with these three people. It wasn’t sentimentality. Their connection was as real as gravity, or time.”

The novel’s structure was one of the aspects I felt Hamill executed really well. Throughout we go back and forth between the mid 90’s, where our group go through the normal trials and tribulations of teenagers and first discover the Dissonance, leading up to the catastrophic event, and the present timeline of 2019 which brings our estranged friends back together. The 2019 timeline is also where we meet poor Owen and discover his plight, which always left me wanting to know how he would fare. Some readers may find it jarring to switch timelines so often but I found it an effective and compelling way to shed light on the backstory of Hal, Erin, Athena and Peter, giving a detailed account of their growing friendship, their experiences of having a secret power and forming their own little coven whilst also creating great foreshadowing for what was to come. Both timelines held such tension and as a reader, knowing something bad is going to happen but not knowing exactly what, just makes the book unputdownable. 

The Dissonance has all the staples of a cult classic with Hamil’s own blend of compelling storytelling, true to life characters, heartfelt friendships and bizarre, wondrous worlds. If you like Stranger Things, you’ll definitely want to read this.

“We all have pain,” he said. “Just because mine is real doesn’t mean yours isn’t.”

ARC provided by Bahar at Titan Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the copy! All quotes used are taken from an ARC and are subject to change on publication.

The Dissonance is due for publication from Titan on 23rd July 2024. You can order your copy from:

Titan Books | Bookshop.org | Waterstones