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The Broom Closet Stories #2
The Boy Who Couldn’t Fly Home
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Prior to July 2017 "The Boy Who Couldn't FlyStraight" and "The Boy Who Could Fly Home" were one book and hasnow been separated into these two books to make them more accessible. If youpurchased "The Boy Who Couldn't Fly Straight" prior to July 2017 andare looking for the next book in this series then you'll want book 3, availableearly 2018.
What if you were the only one between an evil witch and everything you love?
Prior to July 2017 "The Boy Who Couldn't FlyStraight" and "The Boy Who Could Fly Home" were one book and hasnow been separated into these two books to make them more accessible. If youpurchased "The Boy Who Couldn't Fly Straight" prior to July 2017 andare looking for the next book in this series then you'll want book 3, availableearly 2018.
What if you were the only one between an evil witch and everything you love?
Newly initiated into witchcraft, high school sophomore Charlie Creevey's abilities are out of control. He can see things happening in people's homes on the other side of town, and inanimate objects fly across the room and smash into walls.
With the help of his aunt, he learns to control his new skills, and pours himself fully into the craft. However, his awakened abilities have been noticed by the murderous witch, Grace.
At the same time, he and Diego Ramirez finally admit their feelings for each other, leading to Charlie's first relationship and the challenges of gay teen love. Tiptoeing out of the closet, Charlie wants to pull Diego closer to him, but keeps him at arm's length to safeguard the secret that he is a witch.
Grace and her coven continue their kidnapping and killing sprees across the Pacific Northwest, terrorizing Charlie's witch community and drawing him deeper and deeper into the evil coven's plans.
Constantly outwitting Charlie, Grace eventually lures him into the full horror of her schemes. Can gay teen witch Charlie survive and save his loved ones or will he be pulled over to the dark side and lose everything dear to him?
246 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2017
25 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Jacobson
4 books18 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Jeff Jacobson (born 1968) took Asian Studies classes in college and learned Mandarin Chinese. During his senior year he studied in 10 different Asian countries, and after his graduation he went on to live in Taiwan for two years, broadening his knowledge of Mandarin Chinese.
From his website:
In 1994, Jeff moved to California to begin a master’s program in Chinese translation and interpretation, and also joined a men’s group. Three months later he realized two things: that he was much more interested in community-based coaching than he was in being an interpreter, and that it was finally time to come out of the closet.
Soon afterward he learned about the wider field of coaching as a profession, and became a certified coach, as well as a faculty member for the Coaches Training.
Jeff Jacobson (born 1968) took Asian Studies classes in college and learned Mandarin Chinese. During his senior year he studied in 10 different Asian countries, and after his graduation he went on to live in Taiwan for two years, broadening his knowledge of Mandarin Chinese.
From his website:
In 1994, Jeff moved to California to begin a master’s program in Chinese translation and interpretation, and also joined a men’s group. Three months later he realized two things: that he was much more interested in community-based coaching than he was in being an interpreter, and that it was finally time to come out of the closet.
Soon afterward he learned about the wider field of coaching as a profession, and became a certified coach, as well as a faculty member for the Coaches Training.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 25, 2024
4.5 stars ...
The first half ... meh 🤷♂️.
The second half ... OH, MY 😲!
The first half ... meh 🤷♂️.
The second half ... OH, MY 😲!
August 3, 2018
The Boy Who Couldn’t Fly Home (Broom Closet Stories #2)
By Jeff Jacobson
New Freedom Press, 2017
Four stars
I see that this book and its predecessor were originally one book and were divided in 2017 to "make them more accessible." I don't buy that for a minute. This is clearly something related to marketing and it doesn't help to have this story broken in two. But what's done is done. It also explains my comments below.
I’m loving this series by Jeff Jacobson, which is one of the more interesting offspring of the imaginative goldmine unleashed by J.K. Rowling and her boy Harry. This series, of which this is the second book, is set in the USA, and has a very different psychological feel to its teenaged protagonist, Charlie, and his emerging magical powers.
Like much of the magic-based fiction I’ve read, magic is presented as something integrated into society—but in this case, still secret. So, there’s no secret school or cozy houses that non-magical people can’t see. This is all about surviving and keeping out of sight and being as normal as possible while one develops one magical prowess and carries on the legacy of one’s family.
But, of course, Jeff Jacobson also makes a huge leap in making Charlie, at 15, newly aware of his feelings for other boys, and pairs the struggle to accept his gay identity with his struggle to embrace and develop his magical power. This is the richest and most moving aspect of the story, to me. As Charlie—virtually abandoned at his aunt’s home in Seattle by his mother in the last book—makes friends with Diego at his new school, he also sees the double-edge problem of hiding his gayness from his family as he hides his magic from the boy he cares about. Jacobson resolves this in a truly touching way—and in a way that is critical to the roll-out of the rather dark and sinister magic-based plot.
Magic is presented as a rather benign thing, at least as Charlie’s expanding world understands it. It is only as the power-obsessed witch Grace becomes a clear and present danger that Charlie and his friends begin to understand the true potential and danger of magic in the hands of selfish, heartless people. The story gets very dark, testing Charlie’s mettle to the extreme, and forcing him to push into adulthood faster than he wants to.
My only hesitation over this book is that it is just plopped down, feeling as if it is floating alone…while we do get references to the first book, and the story ends with suggestions about what will come next, it feels oddly disengaged. It doesn’t feel like a stand-alone story in the way it’s presented, and when a series has such long gaps between episodes, this is helpful to make the story feel whole and coherent by itself. Once the series is done (and I hope there are plenty more books to come!) it can be seen as a whole, I found it a struggle to find my way back into the overall narrative after a long time since I’d read the first one.
I note that in my review of “The Boy Who Couldn’t Fly Straight” I groused a lot about the cliffhanger. The end of this book is not a cliffhanger—but it does end clearly with a strange, disturbing detail that sets up all sorts of possibilities for what might come next. It is a much better way to end. I’m hooked, but not frustrated.
By Jeff Jacobson
New Freedom Press, 2017
Four stars
I see that this book and its predecessor were originally one book and were divided in 2017 to "make them more accessible." I don't buy that for a minute. This is clearly something related to marketing and it doesn't help to have this story broken in two. But what's done is done. It also explains my comments below.
I’m loving this series by Jeff Jacobson, which is one of the more interesting offspring of the imaginative goldmine unleashed by J.K. Rowling and her boy Harry. This series, of which this is the second book, is set in the USA, and has a very different psychological feel to its teenaged protagonist, Charlie, and his emerging magical powers.
Like much of the magic-based fiction I’ve read, magic is presented as something integrated into society—but in this case, still secret. So, there’s no secret school or cozy houses that non-magical people can’t see. This is all about surviving and keeping out of sight and being as normal as possible while one develops one magical prowess and carries on the legacy of one’s family.
But, of course, Jeff Jacobson also makes a huge leap in making Charlie, at 15, newly aware of his feelings for other boys, and pairs the struggle to accept his gay identity with his struggle to embrace and develop his magical power. This is the richest and most moving aspect of the story, to me. As Charlie—virtually abandoned at his aunt’s home in Seattle by his mother in the last book—makes friends with Diego at his new school, he also sees the double-edge problem of hiding his gayness from his family as he hides his magic from the boy he cares about. Jacobson resolves this in a truly touching way—and in a way that is critical to the roll-out of the rather dark and sinister magic-based plot.
Magic is presented as a rather benign thing, at least as Charlie’s expanding world understands it. It is only as the power-obsessed witch Grace becomes a clear and present danger that Charlie and his friends begin to understand the true potential and danger of magic in the hands of selfish, heartless people. The story gets very dark, testing Charlie’s mettle to the extreme, and forcing him to push into adulthood faster than he wants to.
My only hesitation over this book is that it is just plopped down, feeling as if it is floating alone…while we do get references to the first book, and the story ends with suggestions about what will come next, it feels oddly disengaged. It doesn’t feel like a stand-alone story in the way it’s presented, and when a series has such long gaps between episodes, this is helpful to make the story feel whole and coherent by itself. Once the series is done (and I hope there are plenty more books to come!) it can be seen as a whole, I found it a struggle to find my way back into the overall narrative after a long time since I’d read the first one.
I note that in my review of “The Boy Who Couldn’t Fly Straight” I groused a lot about the cliffhanger. The end of this book is not a cliffhanger—but it does end clearly with a strange, disturbing detail that sets up all sorts of possibilities for what might come next. It is a much better way to end. I’m hooked, but not frustrated.
December 2, 2017
Oh my god....
I just...I'm sorta angry about this book.
Look, before I get into the reasons why I'm so pissed at this book, let me tell you, I understand what it feels like to be different and vulnerable, and overwhelmed and not wanting to say anything about the shit that's bothering you.
And on that note:
Fuck Charlie.
Usually I can take a weak main character that learns and grows into himself. Charlie does none of that. Everytime I feels like he is going to take a step forward, He actually takes five steps back. I am shy and have a bad case of social anxiety...but this kid has magic man.
HE HAS MAGIC!!!!
Listen, this kid is overwhelmed, I understand that, but this kid is fascinated by the magic he can do. Yet, when it really comes down to it and its time to use what you got or die...he just doesn't do anything. He lays down at takes it. Bullies at school, the bitch Grace, even being pressured by the magical community he is a part of.
Constantly, HE PUTS HIMSELF IN BAD POSITIONS AND THEN DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO GET HIMSELF OUT.
And what he does with Diego is disgusting. He is constantly stringing that poor boy along, only to pull back and almost sort of resent Diego for making him feel these terrible feelings. His brand of depression is misleading. "I'm going to do this...but I probably deserve to die." Fuck, it leave me so frustrated...AND I HAVE DEPRESSION TO DUDE.
I am seriously not sure if this book has any saving grace. The magical system is weirdly inaccurate, the people are hard to connect with (Even Diego, who I tried so hard to love, was too much of a trope to actually see him as a normal person.), the situations and problems going on are so convoluted, so long winded and honestly not as interesting as the author would like to think.
This book is just so so so very bad...I don't know why I wasted the money on it.
I just...I'm sorta angry about this book.
Look, before I get into the reasons why I'm so pissed at this book, let me tell you, I understand what it feels like to be different and vulnerable, and overwhelmed and not wanting to say anything about the shit that's bothering you.
And on that note:
Fuck Charlie.
Usually I can take a weak main character that learns and grows into himself. Charlie does none of that. Everytime I feels like he is going to take a step forward, He actually takes five steps back. I am shy and have a bad case of social anxiety...but this kid has magic man.
HE HAS MAGIC!!!!
Listen, this kid is overwhelmed, I understand that, but this kid is fascinated by the magic he can do. Yet, when it really comes down to it and its time to use what you got or die...he just doesn't do anything. He lays down at takes it. Bullies at school, the bitch Grace, even being pressured by the magical community he is a part of.
Constantly, HE PUTS HIMSELF IN BAD POSITIONS AND THEN DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO GET HIMSELF OUT.
And what he does with Diego is disgusting. He is constantly stringing that poor boy along, only to pull back and almost sort of resent Diego for making him feel these terrible feelings. His brand of depression is misleading. "I'm going to do this...but I probably deserve to die." Fuck, it leave me so frustrated...AND I HAVE DEPRESSION TO DUDE.
I am seriously not sure if this book has any saving grace. The magical system is weirdly inaccurate, the people are hard to connect with (Even Diego, who I tried so hard to love, was too much of a trope to actually see him as a normal person.), the situations and problems going on are so convoluted, so long winded and honestly not as interesting as the author would like to think.
This book is just so so so very bad...I don't know why I wasted the money on it.
August 19, 2018
Just as bad as the first. Good ideas in theory, but just overall bad execution. The concept of 'Words' was never actually explicitly explained and all the world-building was just... meh.
Don't know if there'll be more in the series but I'm not going to read them.
Don't know if there'll be more in the series but I'm not going to read them.
July 26, 2021
RD Version of Book One
Book two is literally a condenced version of book one. Full chapters are reproduced from book one. The story is exactly the same, just fewer chapters and details. Read book one, skip book two and go straight to book three.
Book two is literally a condenced version of book one. Full chapters are reproduced from book one. The story is exactly the same, just fewer chapters and details. Read book one, skip book two and go straight to book three.
March 29, 2018
This is a really good coming of age novel, with a bit of gay romance, witchcraft and some adventure.
It’s the second part of a series, that starts directly after the events of the first book. You should have read the first book in order to understand this one.
Like the first book, it focuses on Charlie and his introduction in the world of witchcraft. Charlie is a 15 yer old boy how stuggles with growing up, becomimg a witch and his sexuality. He acts and feels really plausible for a teenage boy. I like that he does not become a “hero” from one minute to another, bit that you can follow him growing up.
The story is catching and I read both books in less than a week. It’s a really good coming of age, urban fantasy book for teenagers and adults how like those stories.
It’s the second part of a series, that starts directly after the events of the first book. You should have read the first book in order to understand this one.
Like the first book, it focuses on Charlie and his introduction in the world of witchcraft. Charlie is a 15 yer old boy how stuggles with growing up, becomimg a witch and his sexuality. He acts and feels really plausible for a teenage boy. I like that he does not become a “hero” from one minute to another, bit that you can follow him growing up.
The story is catching and I read both books in less than a week. It’s a really good coming of age, urban fantasy book for teenagers and adults how like those stories.
December 12, 2018
Loved this to pieces!! Great story about a very brave young man, who is also a witch!!!
What a great book, it was a fun read and very entertaining! I would recommend this to anyone. Jeff gave me insight into what it's like for a young man coming out, a perspective I could not imagine. It is heartwarming and amazing!
What a great book, it was a fun read and very entertaining! I would recommend this to anyone. Jeff gave me insight into what it's like for a young man coming out, a perspective I could not imagine. It is heartwarming and amazing!
January 7, 2019
It was really nice! If there was a bad side, it is the speed, sometimes you read and read and read without arriving in any effective point. Love the characters, though, really well done. Wished to know something more about magic setting but my hope is in future books. Read it, and if you didn't read the first book, start with that!
January 26, 2023
An awful lot happens in this book-Charlies story continues. The anxiety and fear that many teenagers feel when confronted with new situations was well told; even if they have magical powers.
I'm looking forward to the next book. I'm not happy with the seed that Charlie is carrying (my
anxiety) Let's make him whole- come on Jeff Jacobson.
I'm looking forward to the next book. I'm not happy with the seed that Charlie is carrying (my
anxiety) Let's make him whole- come on Jeff Jacobson.
April 23, 2020
Good sequel.
As a whole I enjoyed this sequel to Charlie’s world. The book stayed true to what would be expected from a nubie witch. A few times a scene felt overly long and I started losing interest.
As a whole I enjoyed this sequel to Charlie’s world. The book stayed true to what would be expected from a nubie witch. A few times a scene felt overly long and I started losing interest.
October 4, 2017
Not Bad
Was pretty good. A fun read with a good guy, bad guy and action. I would probably read the next one if there is another.
Was pretty good. A fun read with a good guy, bad guy and action. I would probably read the next one if there is another.
December 8, 2017
Wow
I finished the two books in one week; I can't wait for the next book. I think I have a new favorite author. But what about Diego?
I finished the two books in one week; I can't wait for the next book. I think I have a new favorite author. But what about Diego?
December 12, 2017
3.75... much much better than the 1st book but still a bit confusing especially at the end... I hope book 3 is the last book I can't deal with this as a more than a trilogy
March 22, 2018
Listened to the audiobook version. Thought the narrator did a decent job. The action increased in this book and I enjoyed that very much.
August 14, 2019
This feels like it was supposed to be a trilogy. The last half of the book felt like rambling, and just felt empty, and stuff felt to unexplained
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews