Magical School

Blood at the Root / LaDarrion Williams

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
Blood at the Root
By: LaDarrion Williams, Jalyn Hall (Narrator)
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 432
Published: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Labyrinth Road
Dates Read: November 14, 2024 - November 17, 2024
Format: Library Book / Audiobook / Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Family death, foster care system, mentions of assault

Ten years ago, Malik’s life changed forever when his mother mysteriously vanished into green smoke and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. Now at seventeen, Malik’s kept his powers hidden, focusing on looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. However, after a daring act to rescue Taye, Malik’s found an unexpected connection to his magical ties and to a hidden magical university his mother attended.

At Caiman University, a door opens for a future Malik never could have envisioned for himself – one with magic, and one that includes Alexis, his first love. His search for answers about his heritage, his powers, and what really happened to his mother exposes cracks in the magical community – feuding covens, magical politics, forbidden knowledge, and buried mysteries. While digging, Malik also discovers the reawakened evil dating back to the Haitian Revolution. 

I actually found this book through LaDarrion Willam’s TikTok, right as he was getting ready to publish it – I’ve only just now been able to read and review it. I knew I was going to like this novel, but I didn’t think I would love it as much as I did. This book is action packed and will keep readers turning page after page with anticipation as to what’s to come.

Overall, a wonderful POC magical YA novel written in a world that Malik is still learning about (so readers can too). I’m definitely keeping my eyes out for the second book in the series.

*Thank you Labyrinth Road and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Memory Thieves (The Conjureverse #2) / Dhonielle Clayton

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The Memory Thieves (The Conjureverse #2)
By: Dhonielle Clayton
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 416
Published: September 26, 2023
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Dates Read: January 4, 2024 - January 8, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Ella is ready to go back to the Arcanum Training Institute with her friends Brigit and Jason. But her celebrity status for saving the Marvellian world from the Ace of Anarchy is making it hard for Ella to focus on her school world. And, on top of all that, a mysterious magical illness has begun to sweep through the halls of the Institute, causing nose bleeds, headaches, and messing with people’s marvels! Can Ella and her friends save themselves and the Marvellian world before the Ace of Anarchy’s next big plan is put into place?

If you’d like another series that’s focused on a magical school (with an unproblematic author) and with much diversity, this is for you. Right now its focus is a middle grade audience, but I feel like it could move onward to more maturity as the characters also grow – especially if we keep following the line of each book is a new school year.

The world building in this is fantastic and wonderful. There’s so many layers of the Marvellian World we haven’t discovered yet and I can’t wait to see it.

Lately I’ve been a bit of a stickler when it comes to reading series – I don’t want to read them until it’s mostly all published because I hate waiting. But, waiting sometimes is the fun part and I read the first of this series before I really realized it was going to be a series.

Now, I’m glad I’ve always got something to look forward to.

Overall, I think anyone who enjoys magical schools and kids using their skills to outsmart adults – I believe you’ll like this book!

Gone Wolf / Amber McBride

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Gone Wolf
By: Amber McBride
Genre: Middle Grade, Dystopia
Number of Pages: 352
Published: October 3, 2023
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Dates Read: October 11, 2023 - October 12, 2023
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

In the future, 2111, a girl known only as Inmate Eleven is kept confined in a small room with her dog, Ida. Inmate Eleven is also known as a Blue, a biological match for the president’s son, Larkin, should he fall ill. When Larkin begins taking her out of her confinement, Inmate Eleven begins to see the world that’s been hidden outside her small room’s walls and it’s a great shock.

In 2022, Imogen lives in Charlottesville, VA. The pandemic has fractured and distanced Imogen from everyone but her mom and therapist, also causing her nightmares and intense phobias. Her brothers used to help her out, but now she’s on her own. Until a college student, Toni, helps her see differently.

I absolutely loved Me (Moth) when I read it, so I was excited to pick up this novel when I saw that it was coming out. That one punched me in the gut while reading it, so I was kind of expecting this one to as well – it sure didn’t disappoint. This book is a lot – it’s about race, diversity, equality, oppression, loss and grief, and most of all, trauma.

Gone Wolf is aimed at Middle Grade readers, but in all honesty, I can see all ages beyond that enjoying this as well. This isn’t an easy read, as mentioned above, this handles a lot of topics. This story invites readers to face heartbreaking realities that parallel events people of color have gone through (and are still going through), as well as those affected by a loss(es) caused by COVID-19.

*Thank you Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Marvellers / Dhonielle Clayton

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The Marvellers
By: Dhonielle Clayton, Khadijah Khatib (Illustrator)
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 432
Published: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Square Fish
Dates Read: September 15, 2023 - September 18, 2023
Format: Audiobook, Paperback

Ella Durand is the first (and right now only) Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute for Marvelous and Uncanny Endeavors – a magical school up in the clouds where Marvellers from all around the world come to practice and learn their craft. 

Despite her eagerness to both learn and make friends, Ella soon finds out it’s not going to be easy. A lot of Marvellers mistrust her Conjuroring – they say it’s “bad and unnatural” and some aren’t in support of the new student entry into their school. But soon, Ella makes friends; a boy named Jason, a boy with a fondness for magical animals, Brigit, her new roommate who wants nothing to do with this world, and her mentor, Masterji Thakur.

When a dangerous criminal escapes prison, rumored with the help of a Conjuror, tensions grow extra tight in the Marvellian world and Ella gets a lot of extra attention. Worse, Masterji Thaku mysteriously disappears and Ella’s teachers are lying about it. With the help of her friends and the powers growing every day, Ella must find a way to clear her family’s name and save her teacher before it’s too late.

I had such a fun time listening and reading this novel this past weekend. I can definitely see this being a new favorite in Middle Grade (and even YA when it gets up there as the kids get older) readers who love reading about adventures in a magical school.

I love that it took us so long to find out which house the students get sorted into – it gives us so much to look forward to in the second book. I’m pretty stoked about the fact that by the time I read this, it’s right before the second book comes out. And you can bet I’m going to be going out and getting the second one on publication day

*Thank you Square Fish and BookishFirst for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review