It’s so easy for some people to dismiss others’ experiences because they don’t have the same problems. The Great Game is both mysterious and deadly, but among the winner's magical rewards is Quinton's last hope--so how can Amari refuse?

stars - While I don't think this is quite as strong as the first book (the game element in particular I felt was a bit off and dragged at times), the connection to Amari as our protagonist is definitely still there and the ending is such a cliffhanger! But as things go from bad to worse she finds herself locked in a battle against Dylan to see who will be crowned the head magician. The breathtaking sequel to former Waterstones Children's Book of the Month Amari and the Night Brothers pitches our formidable heroine into a battle to decide the Night Brothers' successor and avert catastrophe for all magiciankind. 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. Although the author included some references to the events in the first book, he didn’t include enough of it.

Parents reach out to me asking for the title of these books because their kids won’t stop talking about it. Yesterday a parent came over to tell me how impressed she was by the book fair and that you did a fabulous job of selling the books to the children first.

I am continuously wowed by Alston's creativity, sensitivity and ability to create characters, relationships and situations I whole heartedly believe in and care for. But when the twins are whisked off to Jungledrop, a magical Unmapped Kingdom in charge of conjuring our world's weather, things get wildly out of hand. And her best friend Elsie is really great from the off, being just so appealing and likeable as a person. 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. While many parallels can be drawn between the protagonist and a certain boy wizard, readers will root for Amari's own unique determination and wit.

Praise for AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS: "This series debut is sure to be a hit with late elementary students and middle graders who are fans of "Harry Potter," "Percy Jackson," and the Men in Black movies. She's an absolute forced to be reckoned with and I know at the end of the day, she's going to make me, and her family, proud! Amari turns to the secret League of Magicians, hoping to get help and disprove popular opinion about magicians. But by the time I’d reached Chapter 5 in this second book, I had been having steady Harry Potter flashbacks.

I’ve been waiting for the next instalment of Amari for over a year, and this was even better than I’d hoped for! 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. I would also recommend that both the author and whoever is responsible for the publishing side work on keeping to a tight deadline for publication; for a series, no more than twelve (12) months should elapse before a series book is published. Luckily Amari has Elsie, her weredragon best friend, and other allies who help her save the world again.

This second book was published in August 2022—that’s a publishing difference of one year and seven months, for a total of nineteen (19) months.