Liselle Sambury

In the spellbinding sequel to “breath of fresh air for the genre” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) Blood Like Magic, Voya fights to save her witch community from a terrible future, perfect for fans of Legendborn and Cemetery Boys. Voya Thomas may have passed her Calling to become a full-fledged witch, but the cost was higher than she’d ever imagined. Her grandmother is gone. Her cousin hates her. And her family doesn’t believe that she has what it takes to lead them. What’s more, Voya can’t let go of her feelings for Luc, sponsor son of the genius billionaire Justin Tremblay—the man that Luc believes Voya killed. Consequently, Luc wants nothing to do with her. Even her own ancestors seem to have lost faith in her. Every day Voya begs for their guidance, but her calls go unanswered. As Voya struggles to convince everyone—herself included—that she can be a good Matriarch, she has a vision of a terrifying, deadly future. A vision that would spell the end of the Toronto witches. With a newfound sense of purpose, Voya must do whatever it takes to bring her shattered community together and stop what's coming for them before it’s too late. Even if it means taking down the boy she loves—who might be the mastermind behind the coming devastation.

Blood Like Magic

Blood Like Fate

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and physical arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Diversity: Black MC, Black characters, Asian characters, Black demiromantic character, Black trans cousin (male to female), Hispanic love interest, gay Black characters mentioned

Recommended For...: young adult readers, urban fantasy, paranormal, witches, LGBT, Black witches, sci-fi, magic

Age Relevance: 15+ (death, grief, cursing, drug use, drug abuse, gore, blood magic, dieting, eating disorder, panic attack, sickness, slavery, racism, depression, therapy, gun violence, romance, homophobia)

Explanation of Above: There is death and grief talked about and shown. There is some cursing in this book. Drug use, drug abuse, and addiction are all mentioned. There is a lot of blood gore mentioned in the book and there is a use of blood magic. Dieting and an eating disorder are mentioned and slightly shown in the book. There is one instance of a panic attack mentioned. There is sickness mentioned off and on in the book and there is some sickness that is making viable sores on victims. Slavery and racism are mentioned in the book. Homophobia is mentioned in the book. There is some depression talked about in the book, as well as therapy. There is one scene with gun violence shown. There is a slight romance.

Synopsis: Voya Thomas may have passed her Calling to become a full-fledged witch, but the cost was higher than she’d ever imagined.

And her family doesn’t believe that she has what it takes to lead them.

What’s more, Voya can’t let go of her feelings for Luc, sponsor son of the genius billionaire Justin Tremblay—the man that Luc believes Voya killed. Consequently, Luc wants nothing to do with her. Even her own ancestors seem to have lost faith in her. Every day Voya begs for their guidance, but her calls go unanswered.

As Voya struggles to convince everyone—herself included—that she can be a good Matriarch, she has a vision of a terrifying, deadly future. A vision that would spell the end of the Toronto witches. With a newfound sense of purpose, Voya must do whatever it takes to bring her shattered community together and stop what's coming for them before it’s too late.

Even if it means taking down the boy she loves—who might be the mastermind behind the coming devastation.

Review: I really loved this book overall! I thought the book did well to keep the action level from the first book going and while I think both can be read in a bit of a standalone fashion, both do so well to complement each other. The writing is so well done and it’s hard to believe I had an arc when this was so well done. The character develop was also well done, as was the world building. I also love how the author ties in so much into her books. There’s a lot in this book and series about history, community, acceptance, and healing and I’m so impressed with how well the author was able to blend all of these together. I’m not normally an urban sci-fi fantasy reader, but this one should be held as the example of how they should be written! I also hope that one day we’ll return to this world, but regardless if we do or not Liselle Sambury has a fan in me now until forever.

The only issue I had with the book is that it immediately picked up where book 1 left off, so it was a bit confusing to get back into, but it wasn’t bad at all compared to other books I’ve read.

Verdict: Very well done! Highly recommend this series!

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and physical arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

 

Book: Blood Like Fate

 

Author: Liselle Sambury

 

Book Series: Blood Like Magic Book 2

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Diversity: Black MC, Black characters, Asian characters, Black demiromantic character, Black trans cousin (male to female), Hispanic love interest, gay Black characters mentioned

 

Recommended For...: young adult readers, urban fantasy, paranormal, witches, LGBT, Black witches, sci-fi, magic

 

Publication Date: August 9, 2022

 

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

 

Age Relevance: 15+ (death, grief, cursing, drug use, drug abuse, gore, blood magic, dieting, eating disorder, panic attack, sickness, slavery, racism, depression, therapy, gun violence, romance, homophobia)

 

Explanation of Above: There is death and grief talked about and shown. There is some cursing in this book. Drug use, drug abuse, and addiction are all mentioned. There is a lot of blood gore mentioned in the book and there is a use of blood magic. Dieting and an eating disorder are mentioned and slightly shown in the book. There is one instance of a panic attack mentioned. There is sickness mentioned off and on in the book and there is some sickness that is making viable sores on victims. Slavery and racism are mentioned in the book. Homophobia is mentioned in the book. There is some depression talked about in the book, as well as therapy. There is one scene with gun violence shown. There is a slight romance.

 

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

 

Pages: 480

 

Synopsis: Voya Thomas may have passed her Calling to become a full-fledged witch, but the cost was higher than she’d ever imagined.

Her grandmother is gone.
Her cousin hates her.
And her family doesn’t believe that she has what it takes to lead them.

What’s more, Voya can’t let go of her feelings for Luc, sponsor son of the genius billionaire Justin Tremblay—the man that Luc believes Voya killed. Consequently, Luc wants nothing to do with her. Even her own ancestors seem to have lost faith in her. Every day Voya begs for their guidance, but her calls go unanswered.

As Voya struggles to convince everyone—herself included—that she can be a good Matriarch, she has a vision of a terrifying, deadly future. A vision that would spell the end of the Toronto witches. With a newfound sense of purpose, Voya must do whatever it takes to bring her shattered community together and stop what's coming for them before it’s too late.

Even if it means taking down the boy she loves—who might be the mastermind behind the coming devastation.

 

Review: I really loved this book overall! I thought the book did well to keep the action level from the first book going and while I think both can be read in a bit of a standalone fashion, both do so well to complement each other. The writing is so well done and it’s hard to believe I had an arc when this was so well done. The character develop was also well done, as was the world building. I also love how the author ties in so much into her books. There’s a lot in this book and series about history, community, acceptance, and healing and I’m so impressed with how well the author was able to blend all of these together. I’m not normally an urban sci-fi fantasy reader, but this one should be held as the example of how they should be written! I also hope that one day we’ll return to this world, but regardless if we do or not Liselle Sambury has a fan in me now until forever.

 

The only issue I had with the book is that it immediately picked up where book 1 left off, so it was a bit confusing to get back into, but it wasn’t bad at all compared to other books I’ve read.

 

Verdict: Very well done! Highly recommend this series!

Blood Like Fate Blood Like Magic

Reviews