Tag Archives: magician

Review: Amari and the Great Game by B. B. Alston

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,
Amari and the Great Game by B. B. Alston

Amari and the Great Game (Supernatural Investigations #2)
B. B. Alston
Balzer + Bray
Published August 30, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Amari and the Great Game

Artemis Fowl meets Men in Black in this magical second book in the New York Times and Indie bestselling Supernatural Investigations trilogy—perfect for fans of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, the Percy Jackson series, and Nevermoor.

After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze.

But between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. So when the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. She’s got enough to worry about!

But her refusal allows someone else to step forward, a magician with dangerous plans for the League. This challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will become the Night Brothers’ successor and determine the future of magiciankind.

The Great Game is both mysterious and deadly, but among the winner’s magical rewards is Quinton’s last hope—so how can Amari refuse?

My Review

I loved the first book in this series, so I knew I would continue reading with AMARI AND THE GREAT GAME. Amari and Elsie are my favorite characters. I love their friendship and the way they challenge each other and back each other up.

Amari feels both very believably thirteen and mature for her age. Her reactions to things make a lot of sense, and honestly, her response to some of the adults in her life has made me think back on some things from my own childhood and my reactions to things even now.

I was really fortunate in that I had a lot of trustworthy adults around me as a child. So often, even if an adult did or said something I didn’t like, I trusted that they had a good reason because my experience taught me that was probably true. But Amari doesn’t really have that experience. She does have some trustworthy adults in her mom, her mentor Magnus, and instructor Fiona. But she also has a lot of awful experiences in which her needs or her experience are denied or silenced. I guess reading the book made me stop and think about how that experience would change your reaction to adults. Anyway, just food for thought, I guess.

There were a couple of moments where I thought others’ reactions to Amari didn’t make a lot of sense and were stretched to support a plot point. For example, Amari physically can’t talk about an event because she’s taken a vow of secrecy on it. When Elsie asks her about it, Amari clams up and can’t speak. Elsie assumes that Amari is willfully keeping secrets or playing some kind of joke on her. Elsie can see auras, so I kept wondering why she couldn’t see Amari’s distress from keeping a secret from her.

There were only a few moments like that, though, and often I was able to skip past them pretty easily to focus on the next step in the plan to save her world.

Conclusion

All in all, I think fans of the first book will love getting more of the story and the relationships we loved in the first book. The story ends in an intense place, so I’m already eager for book three.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Amari and her family are Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. Some characters have been created by magicians.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Magic battles.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

Review: Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

Amari and the Night Brothers (Supernatural Investigations #1)
B. B. Alston
Balzer + Bray
Published January 19, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Amari and the Night Brothers

Quinton Peters was the golden boy of the Rosewood low-income housing projects, receiving full scholarship offers to two different Ivy League schools. When he mysteriously goes missing, his little sister, 13-year-old Amari Peters, can’t understand why it’s not a bigger deal. Why isn’t his story all over the news? And why do the police automatically assume he was into something illegal?

Then Amari discovers a ticking briefcase in her brother’s old closet. A briefcase meant for her eyes only. There was far more to Quinton, it seems, than she ever knew. He’s left her a nomination for a summer tryout at the secretive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Amari is certain the answer to finding out what happened to him lies somewhere inside, if only she can get her head around the idea of mermaids, dwarves, yetis and magicians all being real things, something she has to instantly confront when she is given a weredragon as a roommate.

If that all wasn’t enough, every Bureau trainee has a talent enhanced to supernatural levels to help them do their jobs – but Amari is given an illegal ability. As if she needed something else to make her stand out.

With an evil magician threatening the whole supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she is an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t pass the three tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton.

My Review

I remember hearing about this book before it came out, and my calendar was too full to fit in a release date review– which I have since regretted! Finally, I was able to read it, though.

From the very beginning, this book hooked me right in. I felt Amari’s pain at her brother’s disappearance. And her wonder at discovering the supernatural world. I loved the exploration of human rights and equality through the way that people saw her as a magician. As soon as people learned she was a magician, they made assumptions about her values and character. Being a magician wasn’t something she could control, but it also did not dictate her beliefs or her behavior.

There were a few moments in this book that reminded me so much of the movie MEN IN BLACK. When Amari did her training session where she had to identify which monsters/situations were a threat, that reminded me so much of Will Smith’s character’s similar experience in the movie, and I definitely grinned at that.

I really enjoyed the cast of characters, especially Amari’s roommate Elsie and Agents Fiona and Magnus. All in all, this was a really fun book to read, and a great start to the series.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Amari is Black and a born magician. In the supernatural world, being a magician, meaning someone has a high percentage of magic in their blood, is illegal.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
An Irish character says a British swear word a couple times.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Amari has the ability to create illusions. A friend has the ability to manipulate technology with magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief battle scenes. Some descriptions of injuries from monsters called hybrids, which are part animal and part human.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

Review: Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards #1)
Janella Angeles
Wednesday Books
Published August 25, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Where Dreams Descend

In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes.

As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next.

The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost

The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told

The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide.

My Review

This might be the best book I’ve read all year. I feel like I keep saying that, but honestly, there have been so many great books this year! WHERE DREAMS DESCEND is definitely near if not at the top of my list.

I loved Kallia. She’s a take no prisoners, driven, smart, savvy lady who never gives up. I loved her relationship with Aaros, the thief she takes under her wing to be her magician’s assistant in the competition. And of course, I loved DeMarco, too. (Fun fact– DeMarco was my great-grandmother’s name.)

This story hit so many perfect notes for me. The moral dilemmas. The mysterious dangers lurking throughout the competition and some characters’ pasts. The forbidden romance. The angsty magicians. The strong sisterhood of performers coming together to support one another.

The beginning started out a little bit slow for me, but once the competition began, I was completely hooked. I couldn’t wait to read every page, and I dreaded reaching the final chapter, too, because then it would be over.

WHERE DREAMS DESCEND is one of those books I’m going to want to read again like next week just to savor it all over again. I feel like I can’t even say enough how much I loved it. Seriously, if you can only buy one more book this year, pick this one!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Representation
Kallia has brown skin and curly hair.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Profanity used somewhat frequently. (Approximately 35 times.)

Romance/Sexual Content
Intense kissing and desire between a man and woman. Some sensual dancing.

Spiritual Content
Some characters possess magic. At least one character is not human/mortal. Shadowy shapes seem to pursue some characters, possibly intending harm.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. One scene shows a monster. In another scene, characters are showered with broken glass.

Drug Content
Some scenes show characters drinking alcohol at social dinners and a bar.

Note: I received a free copy of WHERE DREAMS DESCEND in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.

About Janella Angeles

Twitter | Instagram | Website

JANELLA ANGELES is a Filipino-American author who got her start in writing through consuming glorious amounts of fanfiction at a young age—which eventually led to penning a few of her own, and later on, creating original stories from her imagination. A lifelong lover of books, she’s lucky enough to be working in the business of publishing them on top of writing them. She currently resides in Massachusetts, where she’s most likely to be found listening to musicals on repeat and daydreaming too much for her own good. Where Dreams Descend is her first book.

Review: Girl in the Shadows by Gwenda Bond

Book Review and Content, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Girl in the Shadows
Gwenda Bond
Skyscape / Amazon

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Moira longs to prove to her father, a famous magician, that she has what it takes to carry on in the family tradition. The real problem? Moira’s dad doesn’t want her anywhere near magic. An invitation to audition for the Cirque American falls into Moira’s hands, and she leaps at the chance to make her own destiny. During her audition, Moira’s routine goes awry when she accidentally performs real magic. Suddenly Moira finds herself surrounded with questions about her impossible abilities and a secret society of similarly the similarly talented. Her absent mother seems to be the only one who can answer them, but finding her mother opens Moira to more danger than she could ever imagine. Her newfound Cirque family may be filled with as many enemies as allies.

My one regret in reading this book is that I didn’t read Girl on a Wire first, as the stories are pretty closely linked and feature some of the same characters. Also, Girl in the Shadows includes a bit of plot recap which reveals some key moments in Girl on a Wire. Honestly, I’d still read Girl on a Wire anyway, even though some of the surprises are spoiled.

I liked Moira. She’s fun and silly and has a lot of heart. It’s her heart which often makes her vulnerable to others, and I spent many pages biting my nails hoping for the characters in whom she places her trust to turn out deserving of it.

The descriptions of Moira’s performances make for cool elements. Often Moira connects her illusions to great female magicians. It made an interesting way to include some real historical information in an organic, unusual way. Her use of Dez as her assistant was another fun twist – sort of a feminist spin on the typical gender roles of magician and assistant.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. If you haven’t read Girl on a Wire, I do recommend you read that one first because Girl in the Shadows has some spoilers. See below for additional content information.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Moira and Dez become romantically involved, and they engage in quite a bit of kissing. They spend several nights together, but other than a hint from Moira that the two did enough, though not everything, those moments remain private. At one point Moira makes it clear she’d like to have sex with him and it appears they do. Again, no description, but rather suggested that kissing moves to touching and on from there.

Spiritual Content
Moira learns of a missing coin that promises luck and power to its bearer. A secret society of people with magical abilities desperately want the coin for its power. Moira describes her power as a cup filled with magic. As she expends energy to perform magic, the volume in the cup lowers. She’s told that if she empties her cup, she’ll die.

Violent Content
Moira meets a creepy guy hanging around playing poker with some of the circus members. At one point he beats up one of the performers. In another instance, she witnesses him smash a boy’s hand with a hammer as punishment when he fails to complete a task on time.

Drug Content
Eighteen year-old Moira drinks champagne to celebrate her success.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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