Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having read some really strong female BIPOC fantasy lately, Tomi Adeyemi Cherie Dimaline Jael Richardson I was immediately skeptical about how much I would enjoy this, but I loved it. It was filled with diverse characters and real settings in Toronto without being heavy-handed or alienating. Author Liselle Sambury taught me what I needed to know about Trinidadian-Canadian culture along the way and I love her for that. I was completely enthralled by the connections of ancestors and family to magic use, and how Samsbury wasn’t afraid to put lots of moral dilemmas in so that the magic wasn’t used without cost. There was nothing too Disney-fied about this story which is part sci-fi, part fantasy and part mystery. I think there’s something here for every reader…the only part I felt trapped by was the young Voya’s spiralling emotions about making decisions in the first 150 words of the book. I think this could have been tightened even more to launch the reader into the adventure with Luc. I can’t wait to shake Samsbury’s hand and ask her when the next one is coming out.

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