Blood Like Magic is a fantasy and sci-fi driven novel focusing on magic and technology and how these two may clash or work together in the future. It also concentrates on family dynamics and the lengths people will go to in order for their loved ones. This is definitely a must read for fantasy lovers looking for something new and binge-worthy, plus fact that this is part of a series makes me only more curious as you can read it as a standalone!

Blood Like Magic follows the story of Voya, who is meant to receive her Calling to become an official witch. Every witch must complete a task given to them from an ancestor and if successful, they’ll receive their gift that will or will not benefit the family. Voya has been dreaming of this moment and is prepared for whatever task will be given to her, that is, until Mama Jova shows up and says she has a month to destroy her first love.

The worldbuilding is fascinating to read and follow throughout the novel. Readers get a sense of the magic system and how gifts are given throughout the family. Gifts benefit the witches not only spiritually, but financially as well, so it’s imperative to receive a useful gift. Everyone is hanging on by a thread, wondering what gift Voya will receive since Mama Jova has drawn her task out so long. It might seem the novel is somewhat dragging given the deadline, but time surely goes fast.

Keis, Voya’s best friend and cousin, has the gift of reading minds but she doesn’t want to rely on it all the time and that’s why she wants to get an internship at NuGene, the biggest tech company citizens rely on nowadays, especially when they release a beta version of matching people up using genetics. Voya is one of the beta testers and is paired with Luc, a sponsored intern.

Voya’s task becomes one step easier as she has found a love interest, but the trouble is falling in love with him and then killing him. Luc isn’t your outgoing, arrogant guy, so it’s up to Voya to break down his walls and get close to him.

Voya is such a caring character who puts her family first. She’s known as the chef in the family and loves to spoil them with treats. It’s very contrasting to see the type of task she receives. According to her Granny, who’s the matriarch of the family, no one has received such a vivid task before. The longer Voya drags out the task, the less hope the rest of the family has in her. They also wonder how she’s actually going to complete the task and get away with murder. The stakes are high because if Voya fails then her baby sister will die and the magic will soon run out in the family.

Ha, no pressure Voya! When she goes to find help from distant relatives, she only finds out more of her family, including how a certain ancestor was wiped from memory and how the family fears the CEO of NuGene. Voya feels the tug at all the connections to her task, but can she achieve everything before time runs out?

This review remains spoiler free, that’s why it isn’t a thorough. Yet I gave enough information to persuade you to add this book to your TBR and read it when it comes out. Hopefully, it will receive the hype it deserves! I enjoyed this book so much. I can picture it as a miniseries or movie franchise one day!

to gain her powers, voya must complete an unusual task: find her first love and kill them. even though that’s already shocking, the stakes get higher and higher as family secrets are uncovered, and i LOVED it.

literally the plot was so exciting, i was never bored and was always on the edge of my seat waiting to see how this would end. there’s a perfect balance of seriousness, humor, and surprises!

also, the characters were so vibrant and realistic. a lot of this book centers around voya's love for her family, and i loved learning about each of them!

this entire book just felt so refreshing. it has tons of representation, diverse characters, a unique plot, doesn’t shy away from struggles many face, and constantly had positive ideals woven in.

this book has all the elements i wish other fantasies had and i HIGHLY recommend to everyone!!

thank you to netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the plot of this book was really original and interesting! Dystopian sci-fi mixed with fantasy?? Sign me up!

Voya has been waiting for her calling which means she will finally learn if she has witch powers or not. Every calling means an ancestor comes to visit and gives the witch a task which will determine whether she will be given a gift. As a pure family, meaning no blood sacrificing, Voya's ancestor gives her an impossible task: kill her first love within a month.

I really enjoyed the first portion of this book, the plot was super interesting, and it had a lot of diverse characters including a trans character. The last half of the book began to feel a little dragged out as I kept reading and there was a lot going on with the characters. I would still recommend this to my students though. It does have a lot of violence towards the end so I would keep it for Mature students.

Magic born or magic earned? Well how about both?

First things first, I absolutely loved this book. I was hooked from page one and was hard pressed to put it down. It's fast paced and full of twists and turns.

The story is set in the near future in Canada, with tons of diversity. I loved the blend of science fiction and fantasy. Robots and magic! There is a huge emphasis on family and how a big loving family, doesn't equal to a big happy functioning family. Every family has fissures and cracks, but ultimately family can be there for you.

There are tons of different cultural food mentioned that will make your mouth drool so warning, don't read on an empty stomach. You will get hungry. However, do not mistake all the food mentioning that this is a light happy read. There is plenty of bloody imagery through-out the book.

Voya is a very lovable and frustrating protagonist that you never know if you want to hug or smack up side the head. I saw myself in many parts of her, so even in the frustrating parts, I still wanted to hug her.

I highly recommend this book and cannot wait for the next book to be released!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-arc to read and review.

Disclaimer : I got this copy in exchange for media coverage on pop-culturalist.com.

If you liked Wings of Ebony you’ll love Blood Like Magic!! I adored this book and can’t wait to share my thoughts in my article which will be released on the publication date so July 28th.

This was such an exhilarating ride full of magic, deception and gripping relationships.

I really loved the world-within-a-world created here. I found it captivating and full of realized magic and even more realized places.

Pick this up!

This is my favorite book so far this year. This book was such a gem. It was futuristic, Witches, black girl magic. The while story just flowed gracefully. I loved all the characters, everyone in Voya's family, the ancestry and family ties throughout the book and the characters were totally relatable even if you don't identify with what they're going through. It was just such a good book. Hope there will be a sequel ♡

All I have to start this review is: Wow. This book is absolutely fantastic, and I want to shout it from the rooftops! Liselle Sambury not only created a beautiful urban fantasy but mixed it in with that dash of sci-fi that makes it seem like it COULD be real. Really, the only thing that isn't realistic about it is the magic. Sambury not only goes into a tale about a black family, their ancestors, their past, and their connections with one another but she delves deeper into the problems with the future. With poor and minority communities struggling to keep up with the technological advancements. With the ideas that big companies could afford to allow its citizens to go through transitions as transgender folk but wouldn't remove that little X or Y next to their name. And with the idea of making decisions that put so many at risk during a time that should be a celebration. It's not the ending you expect, but it's certainly the ending that will keep me reading this series (or duology, whichever it becomes!!) as well as make me recommend this to everyone that I can. As someone who is very much not a minority, I love reading books like these. Not only because everyone deserves to have their stories told, and deserves to see themselves in fantasy and sci-fi especially, but because it gives me perspective on things that I would never have otherwise. And I believe this book will be an extremely important part of the book world, especially for YA. I look forward to seeing it on the shelves in my store and having the ability to recommend it to readers. The connections these characters have to one another are so real, and so deep, even if sometimes they make the hardest decisions it's always selfless. Because magic must have a pure purpose.
My only gist would be the pacing in the beginning, although it's not awful it had me wondering where the action and events would start to come in but it was a necessary buildup to a fantastic middle and end. Besides, I'm a very fast paced kind of person, for others it may be very different.
I absolutely loved it! And I cannot wait to see what's in store next!

This is a great fantasy novel with a dash of romance, sci-fi, multi-generational family drama and mystery thrown in. There are some very memorable characters! Voya’s family is complex, messy, diverse and amazingly entertaining. It did take me a bit to keep them all straight, but they are all very well developed. A myriad of issues are discussed from gender identity to economic divide to racial issues. I felt like the racial issues were some of the strongest parts of the novel, from the micro aggressions Voya deals with to the heart wrenching past of some of her ancestors. I really appreciate that the author included content warnings in the front of the book - there are some heavy subjects addressed and I love that she took time to make sure the reader was aware of them.

There were some pacing issues for me - the first 25% of the book got a bit bogged down in worldbuilding. It also had a lot of repetitiveness in trying to make us all aware of Voya’s decision making problems. It felt unnecessary to focus on it in the beginning that many times as it is addressed frequently throughout the book as well. As things began to progress, I enjoyed the plot and it surprised me and took a much different route than I had expected. This is book 1 in a new series and I absolutely will keep reading to see where the author takes us next!

Thank you to Margaret K. McElderry Books for providing me with an electronic advanced copy of this book. Blood Like Magic will be available on June 15th.