Book Review – Amari and the Night Brothers
Available in Waterstones Bon Accord
Title: Amari and the Night Brothers
Author: B.B. Alston
Published: 21st January
Publisher: Egmont UK
Genre: Middle-grade, Magic, Sci-fi
TWs: Bullying, racism,
Rating: 5/5 stars
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.
Amari must compete against some of the nation’s wealthiest kids—who’ve known about the supernatural world their whole lives and are able to easily answer questions like which two Great Beasts reside in the Atlantic Ocean and how old is Merlin? Just getting around the Bureau is a lesson alone for Amari with signs like ‘Department of Hidden Places this way, or is it?’ 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. -StoryGraph
Book review by A Cascade Of Books :
A huge thank you to Egmont UK for sending me a physical ARC of this book ahead of publication!
I have been so excited for this book since I first came across it last year, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, and luckily Egmont responded to my begging email by sending a copy!
This book is everything I love in a children’s book. An amazing main character, a wonderful magic system and world created by the author…..and aliens!!! What more could my sci-fi loving heart want!
Amari is a wonderful main character. She is cheeky and brave and her love for her brother is so sweet and lovely to read about. She is a black girl who has to deal with some mean racist bullying at school from the majority white school she attends, and this is dealt with deftly by Alston. When Amari joins the summer camp, she discovers she is an outsider there too, although for different reasons this time, and she has to used all her strength to rise above this bullying. The novel deals with both the themes of bullying and racism with a sensitive yet firm hand which is always appreciated.
I also loved the other characters we are introduced to in the novel, both the kids and the adults were well crafted and fun to read! The relationships and friendships that Amari makes are so fun, and I loved every single one!
This novel also rips along at top speed. From page one until you close the book that pace never lets up! There are twists and turns and new revelations every chapter, and there are some huge twists at the end which I certainly did not see coming!! It was so difficult to put this book down and I flew through it in short time!
I absolutely loved this book just as much as I hoped I would, and I cannot wait to get a hold of the next book in the series to see what is in store for Amari and friends!
