 | Blood like magic (Blood Like Magic) Author: Sambury, Liselle | |
| Price: $11.47 | ||
Summary:
After failing to come into her powers, sixteen-year-old Voya--a Black witch living in near-future Toronto--is forced to choose between losing her family's magic forever, a heritage steeped in centuries of blood and survival, or murdering her first love, a boy who is supposedly her genetic match.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: UG Reading Level: 5.10 Points: 22.0 Quiz: 514553 |
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 06/01/2021 *Starred Review* In Sambury’s downright dazzling debut, Voya has finally started menstruating, which means she’s ready to come into her family’s magic and receive her gift from her ancestors. To receive this gift, each witch needs to complete a task given to them by an ancestor, and failing is not an option. To Voya’s misfortune, Mama Jova, who suffered at the hands of slavers, imparts her task: to echo the family’s mantra of “suffer and survive,” Voya is instructed to destroy her first love or risk losing her family forever. This engrossing novel features a world both familiar and unfamiliar, in a near-future Toronto. Sambury vividly captures the vibrancy of Toronto as well as the diversity within the witch community, and her dedication to world building lends authenticity to her characters. Family and heritage are two important themes here, demonstrated powerfully in the novel’s descriptions of history keeping, food, and daily family life. While this urban fantasy takes place in the near future, Sambury does not turn a blind eye to the persistent history of systemic racism against Black people, the evils of slavery, or the ways in which police brutality targets Black people, nor how those impact the Black community on a daily basis, all while keeping magic compellingly at the forefront. This impressive debut will wow readers and leave them eager for more from this writer to watch. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.
