About this deal
It's more character action than plot building to begin with, so it may seem initially not much is going on also.
Amari and the Great Game immerses you back into the vibrant supernatural world living hidden within our own. From page one i was gripped with the mystery of the time freeze and wanted to follow along on the adventure with Amari and her friends. B. Alston remains a national treasure, and this series is still something incredibly special and one of the best out there! Wirklich nett von den Bösewicht*Innen, dass sie immer auf die Sommerferien warten, um Unfug zu treiben. It was one of the most engaging Middle Grade stories I had read in a while and I was excited for more!I was equally excited and terrified to read it because of how incredible The Night Brothers was but I can say with a huge amount of relief and joy that The Great Game did not disappoint. You guys are such a force for good and I am a passionate supporter of Indie booksellers, so I'm so happy this worked out well (I'd love to know how many books were sold if you have it to hand - it felt like quite a lot! Before Amari can even get to another summer session, she must deal with blame being placed on her for a time freeze that has left the Supernatural Congress frozen.
I had just finished Empire of Storms, was suffering a MAJOR book hangover and just was in more of a YA mood. But between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. This challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will become the Night Brothers’ successor and determine the future of magician-kind. I also just think I read it at the wrong time- at the moment, I have to be in a very specific mood to enjoy middle grade. She's still dealing with the fallout of Dylan's betrayal and trying to figure out how to break the curse on Quinton.
This challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will become the Night Brothers’ successor and determine the future of magiciankind. And what it does with one character from the first book is really good, as they get some great development.
B. Alston’s writing- it’s smooth and easy enough to read- and the characters were also pretty sweet, if a little underdeveloped. Yourself and Bob are much cherished in our booky world and I personally really appreciate everything that you do. After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze.Just because we are dealing with a supernatural world/problems doesn’t mean that the themes in it aren’t relatable! So the how this ends, I’m very curious to continue and learn how the characters decide to go on from here! And as I read, I remembered that Magnus wore a cowboy hat and was ‘western’ even though the author really didn’t remind us of who he was. When I read the first book, it seemed okay, but after having read the sequel, I think the author should use a *different* term because Riordan already used ‘glamour’ in his books. Nearly a year after Amari proved that magicians can be good, the state experiences a momentary time freeze, leaving the Supernatural World Congress trapped in time.
For example, Alston’s reintroduction to Jayden and Quinton in the book needed more references to the previous story. Mafalda is a nine-year-old girl who knows one thing: some time in the next six months her sight will fail completely. However, this is before she encounters the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda. Can Mafalda find a way through a seemingly dark future and still go to school, play football and look after her beloved cat?It would have been nice to see Alston using alternate descriptions rather than playing along with stereotypes. The Great Game is both mysterious and deadly, but among the winner's magical rewards is Quinton's last hope . The game portion and the investigation both ended up being wrapped up (for now) really quickly, while I found the lead up to both confrontations a bit dragged out for what we got. I hope Harlowe goes to the Sightless Depths and get's her vocal chords permanently removed, and Dylan gets better.