Tag: B.B. Alston

Marshmallow had already reviewed Amari and the Night Brothers and Amari and the Great Game, the first two books of the Supernatural Investigations series by B.B. Alston. Today she reviews the third book, Amari and the Despicable Wonders, which was published in 2024.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about family, friends, and magic with a strong, smart female protagonist, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): The supernatural world is on the brink of war with their risk of being revealed to the human world increasing by the minute. The Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, which functions as this world’s government and has been responsible for keeping the supernatural unseen by humans, has recently been taken over by Elaine Harlowe. Harlowe is a faun who has the ability to control others with her voice and now is the Director of the Bureau. The previous head of the Bureau was the one and only Merlin; unfortunately, he had to freeze himself along with all of the other leaders of the magical world in order to protect them from an unseen attack. Amari Peters, a Junior Agent training to work in the Bureau who is our protagonist, discovered this in the last book. However, the world’s leaders are still stuck in this time freeze, leaving Harlowe in charge. Unfortunately, Harlowe is very biased against magicians, which is not a great perspective to have during a time of great tension between the Bureau and the League of Magicians. The Bureau is the government of the supernatural world, but in this world, magicians and all their creations are viewed as UnWanteds. Unlike in the world of Harry Potter, being told “You’re a wizard, Harry” is something that would cause different reactions: first, self-loathing and fear of being discovered, and second, confusion at being called Harry.

Amari is a magician, but so far, she’s been sort of viewed as a good one, in comparison to the evil Night Brothers or Dylan Van Helsing. Unfortunately, the League of Magicians has been corrupted by Dylan, who wants to use foul magic to make magicians respected through fear and intimidation. Amari and her friends (Elsie, Jayden, and Lara) have been fighting against Dylan’s magician movement, but they also need to worry about what the Bureau is doing too. Magician-hating Harlowe fears that Amari will reveal to the public how she rose to power so quickly (with her mind-controlling powers), so Harlowe declares Amari an enemy of the Bureau which many believe because she is a magician.

In this book, Amari, Elsie (who is extraordinarily smart and can transform partly into a dragon), Jayden (a boy who can talk to animals, though I predict he will be talking to Amari a lot more soon 😉), Lara (Dylan’s non-magician sister who has recently allied herself with Amari), and Quinton (Amari’s famous Bureau Agent brother) are now working against the clock to prevent the Bureau and the League from going to full-on war—especially since the stakes have never been higher.

Amari learns that Dylan plans to use anti-magick to fight the Bureau and all those who oppose magicians. Just like anti-matter, anti-magick destroys all things with magic, which includes just about everything and everyone in the supernatural world. In order to utilize and then control this power, Dylan must find the Despicable Wonders: eight ancient items made long ago by the first magician. The only thing that can save the supernatural world from complete ruin is if Amari, her family, and friends can find the Wonders first and stop Dylan. The clock is ticking though, and he has a head start.

Can Amari catch up and should she? Perhaps this is all according to his plan… dun dun dun!!!

Marshmallow’s Review: This was a very good book. I will say there are a lot of parallels to be drawn between Amari’s world and that of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Throughout this series, I definitely felt a lot of nostalgia because of the similarities to previous fantasy books for young adults and children. However, I would like to focus on what makes this series unique.

The world is definitely Alston’s own and it is not in any means identical. The premise starts off similarly, with a young child being told they are part of a magical world, and that they are exceptional even there. But this story evolves in a different direction. It focuses a lot more on equality, and fighting bias and hate. Amari is a magician, a group of supernaturals who are looked down upon. There is a lot of mistrust towards all magicians, and most live in hiding their whole lives. Amari’s perspective sheds light on the inequities in both the supernatural and natural world. This is clearly a statement, shown by the not-so-stark contrast between our world and theirs. This makes the story of Amari a lot more compelling and connects the reader more to her magical world.

That said, the characters are also very compelling. They develop in very human ways, even though not all of them are human. Even the enemy is clearly a thinking, breathing, feeling person and doesn’t start off as the embodiment of evil. The progression of the plot is both calculated and unexpected. It never feels slow though it is always very thoughtful. B.B. Alston is definitely, undoubtedly a very good author.

I really enjoyed reading Amari and the Despicable Wonders, and I am waiting excitedly for the fourth book to come out. The ending was bittersweet (because all the characters were so well-developed!), and while there was not really a defined cliffhanger, there are still unanswered questions. 

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Last year, Marshmallow reviewed Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston. Today she reviews the second book in the series: Amari and the Great Game, first published in 2022. Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, you have just finished this second book in the series. Was it what you were expecting?

Marshmallow: Well, yes and no. I liked the book very much, and I thought the plot was really good, but I was not expecting a cliffhanger for the end!

S: Hmm, so maybe that means we will have to get a hold of the third book when it comes out.

M: Yes.

S: Okay, let us go back to the beginning. Tell us a bit about this book.

M: Well, this is the second book of the Supernatural Investigations series, so readers need to have read the first book or at least my review of it. But the main character is still Amari Peters, but in this book she has some new enemies.

S: Okay, so maybe tell us a bit about the plot.

M: Amari is excited to continue her summer program in the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, which specializes in hiding and protecting the supernatural world from the rest of the human world. Kind of like the Ministry of Magic from the world of Harry Potter.

S: What you are saying reminds me a bit of The Menagerie, too.

M: Yes, a bit.

S: Alright. Tell me more.

M: So Amari is training to become an agent for the Department of Supernatural Investigations. And she is a junior in her second year, in this book. The book starts with her cracking open a fortune cookie which tells her to look out for unseen dangers. Then there is a time freeze, all of Georgia is frozen in time for a short period of time, everyone except Amari is affected. But then most but not all of Georgia unfreeze, and of course that is a problem.

S: Is that the main problem of the book?

M: Yes, the congress is stuck and the prime minister and the major leaders are all stuck in time. So of course in this power vacuum, some bad people take the lead. And then Amari gets kicked out of the Bureau.

S: So a lot happens all at once.

M: Yes. And so Amari and her friends will have to solve the mystery of who froze the congress in time and also try to avoid getting punished by the evil people who take over.

S: Sounds like a lot.

M: Yes, but Amari is smart and she is also a magician. She is the most magical person known in the history of the Bureau, so she has all that going for her.

S: So again, kind of like Harry Potter again, no?

M: Yes, but here being a magician is bad, and everyone blames the magicians for the time freeze.

S: So she has to hide her magic a bit?

M: Yes, and that is not the only issue. Her brother is still under a curse and is in a coma. And Amari wants to save him especially because his condition is worsening.

S: So tell me what the great game is in the title.

M: There is a hidden organization of magicians called the League of Magicians, and they are trying to use their powers for good despite the animosity that they face from others. The League wants Amari to be their leader and she declines because she is young and she does not want power of that sort, but then when the League makes the same proposal to a bad magician, Amari has to compete against him to make sure he does not get that power. That is the Great Game. The two magicians competing.

S: Kind of like the games in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?

M: Yes, but this is not just a game between schoolchildren competing for a championship trophy. The winner gets more than just bragging rights. They get to lead the League of Magicians to war or to peace.

S: I see. So a lot more is at stake.

M: Yes. And Amari is not quite like Harry. Harry is impulsive and does not take advice really well. Amari does not have many adults to trust, so she does what she thinks is necessary.

S: So do you like her as a character?

M: Yes. She is smart and strong-willed. But I have to say this world is kind of limiting. I mean, your skills and your future are more or less determined from birth, and the moment you touch the crystal ball which determines your superpower. And if you have too much magic, then you are a magician, and that is viewed as bad by many people. People label the magicians the UnWanteds, along with some other people whose ancestors were on the wrong side in a long-ago war. Essentially the book world is mirroring our world, where some people are othered based on things they cannot control.

S: So even though this magical world is quite different from ours, it is also similar?

M: Yes.

S: That sounds like a good book to me.

M: Yes. I have to say though that I am disappointed that it ends in a cliffhanger. The next book is not coming out till the end of the summer!

S: Well, maybe you will just have to read other books till then.

M: Probably.

S: Okay, if you were to rate this book…

M: I’d rate it 100%.

S: Great! So let us wrap up this review then. What would you like to tell our readers?

M: Stay tuned for more amazing reviews from the book bunnies!

Today Marshmallow reviews Amari and the Night Brothers, the first book in B. B. Alston’s Supernatural Investigations series, first published in 2021.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about magic, family, and friendship, then this might be the book for you. 

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Amari Peters’s brother, Quinton, disappeared six months ago, and since then, everything seems to be going downhill. People at her private school bully her. She’s Black, of low-income, and is attending private school on a scholarship. Her peers, who are mostly rich and white, view her as a good target. Eventually, after a particularly vile joke about her brother’s disappearance, Amari pushes one of the girls bullying her. She immediately loses her scholarship as a result.

Later at home, Amari receives a mysterious delivery, which according to the delivery person is supposed to appear in her brother’s closet. There, she finds a ticking briefcase, which holds a nomination for a summer tryout for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Amari’s brother Quinton was a genius who disappeared soon after graduating high school and finding a promising job. The family did not know what this job was, but now Amari has her suspicions, that it had something to do with this Bureau. So she figures this invitation is the best chance she might have of finding her brother.

 Eventually Amari figures out that the Bureau manages the humans’ interactions with the supernatural world. There are different departments handling different types of magic, and there is apparently a whole world that regular folks like us do not know about. Now that Amari is initiated to this world, she learns that she does not quite fit in here, either. At the beginning of her training, she learns that her specific supernatural ability is deemed illegal.

Still Amari is determined, against all odds, natural and supernatural, to find out what happened to her brother. But she has many enemies, like the Night Brother and his devious assistant, who will fight to stop her.

Marshmallow’s Review: Amari and the Night Brothers is a great book for fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. An unlikely hero, who finds her strength against all odds, in a world of magic that was unknown to her from the start, Amari is really a likeable character. What is more, the world B. B. Alston builds around her is very interesting. Even though some readers may indeed find parallels between this book and other popular series, the plot of this particular book is unique and most intriguing. I read it breathlessly and I was in the dark about the real explanations of some things until the very end. I kept having these “a-ha!” moments that kept turning out to be “oops!” moments. B. B. Alston seems to really know how to play with the reader’s mind.

I really enjoyed reading Amari and the Night Brothers, and I can’t wait to read the second book.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.