Jessica Khoury

Humor and heart shine in this middle grade fantasy about a girl who attends a boarding school to learn how to use music to create magic, perfect for fans of Nevermoor and The School for Good and Evil series. Amelia Jones always dreamed of attending the Mystwick School of Musicraft, where the world’s most promising musicians learn to create magic. So when Amelia botches her audition, she thinks her dream has met an abrupt and humiliating end—until the school agrees to give her a trial period. Amelia is determined to prove herself, vowing to do whatever it takes to become the perfect musician. Even if it means pretending to be someone she isn’t. Meanwhile, a mysterious storm is brewing that no one, not even the maestros at Mystwick, is prepared to contain. Can Amelia find the courage to be true to herself in time to save her beloved school from certain destruction?

The Mystwick School of Musicraft

Twelve-year-old Amelia gets the opportunity to attend a boarding school and learn how to use music to create magic, hoping to become a Maestro like her deceased mother.

 is a delightful beginning to what promises to be a joyful middle-grade fantasy series. Here we are given a cozy academic setting, an interesting magic system based entirely upon music, a fun and loveably quirky cast of characters, and a well-paced story that wraps up happily at the end of the book. While I’m excited to read further in the series, this first installment could absolutely be treated as a standalone.

Amelia Jones wants one thing in life: to become a Maestro like her mother, who died when Amelia was very young. In order to make this happen, she has to attend a music academy and do well. But not just any music academy will do. Amelia’s mom graduated from the Mystwick School of Musicraft, one of the most prestigious academies in the world. And Amelia dreams of nothing but getting accepted. When a series of unusual events lands Amelia a place in her dream school, she has a short amount of time to prove to the faculty that she belongs there as much as the rest of her class. But it’s not only the school she must convince. Something — or someone — is doing their best to sabatoge Amelia. These mishaps, combined with Amelia’s lack of faith in herself, could undermine her natural talent and see her cast out of school if she can’t find a way to overcome them and believe that she is worthy of her place at Mystwick.

I loved Musicraft as a concept. In Amelia’s world, music is the one and only source of magic. Different instruments and compositions and genres create different types of spells, and a song only becomes a spell with the proper intent behind it. For instance, rock music produces illusion magic, and the language of trees seems to be Canon in D. Lone musicians can work small magic, but the most powerful spells call for a full orchestra. There are a handful of very sensible rules accompanying this magic system, and Khoury does a marvelous job demonstrating what happens when those rules are broken. One of the most important of these rules is “With all your soul do play your part, for magic rises from the heart.” In other words, a musician must feel what they play, and believe in their song’s ability to accomplish the spell they are casting. When I was a little girl, just starting to sing in front of audiences, my mom would always give me the same piece of advice before I took the stage: sing it like you mean it. And that seems to be the core tenet of Musicraft. You must play with feeling. The notes themselves don’t matter. The intent and the passion are what turn a song into something magical. 

, but possibly aimed at a slightly younger audience. The writing was a bit more simplistic, despite all of the musical terminology, and the story was fairly predictable outside of the musical element. However, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone, young or old, who loves middle grade fantasy series with a school setting. Specifically 

, as the magic is bright and colorful and paints the world of the story the same. I found Amelia’s story delightful. Even when she doubted herself, she never stopped trying her hardest. She’s probably one of the most dedicated protagonists in this type of series I’ve come across, and I loved her for that. I’ll most definitely be following her story as the series progresses.

Celeste Richardson

The Mystwick School of Musicraft is a delightful beginning to what promises to be a joyful middle-grade fantasy series. Here we are given a cozy academic setting, an interesting magic system based entirely upon music, a fun and loveably quirky cast of characters, and a well-paced story that wraps up happily at the end of the book. While I’m excited to read further in the series, this first installment could absolutely be treated as a standalone.

Amelia Jones wants one thing in life: to become a Maestro like her mother, who died when Amelia was very young. In order to make this happen, she has to attend a music academy and do well. But not just any music academy will do. Amelia’s mom graduated from the Mystwick School of Musicraft, one of the most prestigious academies in the world. And Amelia dreams of nothing but getting accepted. When a series of unusual events lands Amelia a place in her dream school, she has a short amount of time to prove to the faculty that she belongs there as much as the rest of her class. But it’s not only the school she must convince. Something — or someone — is doing their best to sabatoge Amelia. These mishaps, combined with Amelia’s lack of faith in herself, could undermine her natural talent and see her cast out of school if she can’t find a way to overcome them and believe that she is worthy of her place at Mystwick.

I loved Musicraft as a concept. In Amelia’s world, music is the one and only source of magic. Different instruments and compositions and genres create different types of spells, and a song only becomes a spell with the proper intent behind it. For instance, rock music produces illusion magic, and the language of trees seems to be Canon in D. Lone musicians can work small magic, but the most powerful spells call for a full orchestra. There are a handful of very sensible rules accompanying this magic system, and Khoury does a marvelous job demonstrating what happens when those rules are broken. One of the most important of these rules is “With all your soul do play your part, for magic rises from the heart.” In other words, a musician must feel what they play, and believe in their song’s ability to accomplish the spell they are casting. When I was a little girl, just starting to sing in front of audiences, my mom would always give me the same piece of advice before I took the stage: sing it like you mean it. And that seems to be the core tenet of Musicraft. You must play with feeling. The notes themselves don’t matter. The intent and the passion are what turn a song into something magical. 

This book scratched the same itch as Harry Potter and Nevermoor, but possibly aimed at a slightly younger audience. The writing was a bit more simplistic, despite all of the musical terminology, and the story was fairly predictable outside of the musical element. However, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone, young or old, who loves middle grade fantasy series with a school setting. Specifically Nevermoor, as the magic is bright and colorful and paints the world of the story the same. I found Amelia’s story delightful. Even when she doubted herself, she never stopped trying her hardest. She’s probably one of the most dedicated protagonists in this type of series I’ve come across, and I loved her for that. I’ll most definitely be following her story as the series progresses.

Elizabeth Garza

"Hogwarts meets Julliard" - Russ 

"A band kids dream book" (or something like that; I don't remember exactly what she said) - Russ 

This is great book for those kids that want a Harry Potter read-a-like. There's an 11-year old that feels out of place at her magical school, but finds out that hey! she can do some pretty awesome and unique magic. There are dead parents that come back, in a way, to help said child. There is the goofy friend, the kinda mean person/friend (?) that you want to smack then immediately hug because "poor baby." 

All that being said, this book was loads of fun. The Audible original had music played by a kids orchestra from New Jersey (don't quote me on that) and the placement of the musical pieces was done in such a way that it didn't mess with the flow of the reading but enhanced it. 

If you can read the audible original with the music definitely go that route otherwise reading the book with your eyes will be just as enjoyable.

Tânia Borges

Actual Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
Such a heartwarming, fluffy, magical story. Being a flutist myself for around 11 or so years, this book felt lovely and warm and familiar. I don't think I've read anything like this, ever, and I say that in the best way possible. The representation is also a plus. Definitely recommend.

laura

I really did enjoy this audiobook so much. I loved how the music was actually included. This book had such a fun magic system that I really loved it. I found it to be such a fast pace read the kept my on my toes. I really did like the whole magic school setting and also the large cast of characters as well. The highlight of this book was the world building and the cast of characters. I really did like the trio of characters that we had. This book was such a charming read and I really hope we get another book in this series!

Jeni Enjaian

Ugh. I wanted so much to like this book. I love the idea of magic - the Harry Potter books rank among my all-time favorites - and I have a strong affinity for music. I grew up playing piano and violin and loved the fact that I got to start each day in high school with an hour of orchestra. I never became a virtuoso but also never lost my love of music and getting lost in the magic that all musicians know that it has. With that set up, how could I not like this book?
Poor execution. Abysmally poor execution for the following reasons.
1. Clearly Khoury also appreciates Harry Potter. The copycat nature of so many events in this book felt like fingernails on a chalkboard.
2. The execution of musicraft (see point 3) as the spells really bothered me. So many times characters told Amelia about the dangers of playing a note wrong or not finishing a spell aka a song. As someone with musical training, someone who took plenty of lessons, those rules really bothered me. Even the best musician will make mistakes as they play. Perfect musicians do not exist. This unrealistic burden placed on the performers made this world-building fall flat for me.
3. Speaking of world-building, Khoury did a terrible job. All she did was take our modern world and add spells to the music that we already know. She had unimaginative names for things in the magical world...musicraft, really?

So...this book gets a big, fat no from me.

Janne Janssens

To be honest, I didn't expect to enjoy The Mystwick School of Musicraft so much. It has been years since I read a book for such a young audience. However, this was a fun and light read!
The story was full of magic and I loved hearing the music the Mystwick students playing in the background. 
Suzy Jackson is easily the best narrator I have ever listened to. She gave every character each their own voice and accent without sounding weird.

The Mystwick School of Musicraft

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