Monday, March 11, 2024

Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston

 Amari Peters is back for her second summer at the Bureau of Supernatural Investigations, this time as a Junior Agent.  Her hopes for a fun summer with friends is soon dashed when a Merlin and other Bureau leaders are caught in a time bubble, and a magician hating wraith takes his place. Soon Amari is suspected of causing the time freeze, and turns to the illegal League of Magicians for help. She is dismayed when they divulge their plans to go to war with the Bureau and want her to be their leader. When she refuses, they choose someone much more dangerous, and to prevent all out war, she must compete against him in the Great Game. Meanwhile time is running out for her brother who is still under a curse, and for all the "unwanted" magical beings being targeted under the new Bureau leadership.  What is a 13 year old magician to do?

I enjoyed the first book in this series, but was a little disappointed that this one was so much like that one.  The plot was almost the same.  She is still trying to save her brother. She is still fighting against prejudice from above and below, and she still has to try to pass a series of magical tests in order to get what she wants.  It is an interesting magic system and the characters are drawn well enough that I finished the book.  Now I am trying to decide if I will read the next in the series when it comes out.  I am in the same place with this series as with the Spoken Mage series by Melanie Cellier.  Actually, they are very similar books, both about a girl with unusual powers overcoming prejudice to save the world. I don't feel super compelled to finish either series, but I probably will. (432 p. 2022)

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