I fell in love with Laini Taylor’s writing when I first read Daughter of Smoke And Bone in high school, so when I saw she was doing a rerelease of her debut middle grade novel, of course I jumped on it. However, I will admit that there are parts of this that really didn’t age well and perhaps should have been edited out… the use of the g-slur as a mere descriptor without any true nods to or particular care given to Romani culture was a major nope for me.

I’ve tried this author several times and unfortunately she just isn’t for me. While this premise was really cool and unique, I had trouble with the writing style. It’s very flowery and almost purple prose, which a lot of people really enjoy and appreciate, but this one just didn’t hit for me. Fans of her writing will likely enjoy the repromote of this book though and the collectors edition is beautiful!

The cover and concept sounded so intriguing that I thought this would be a fun read.
Unfortunately, the writing feels clumsy/clunky and made following story hard to stay engaged.
The magic of the story has all the elements I’d want in a book: fairies, animal familiars, big elemental baddies; and the story has all of these in plethora. However, I never really felt connected to Mags the FMC. I did like that the book broke the Disney myth of Djinns being “wish fulfilling” and more “I’m going to release Pandora’s Box, and eat everyone”. I liked the NPC’s (animals, fairies, and devils oh my!) that popped up, but there are so many of them, it was difficult to remember who was who. If you/your students like to read books with budding romances included, they may enjoy this, but the “romance” is very ‘lite’ with the typical lifesaving scenarios and <spoiler> character physical change at the end</spoiler>.
Like the authors note says at the end of the book, the characters have a heavy on the Scottish voice.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an Arc of this book!

This book took me longer than I would've liked to finish reading it. I think the beginning felt slow to me, but mostly because of the usual learning curve I experience when starting a new book with such a rich, detailed fictional world.
Once I got to about the halfway point, things definitely picked up, and I was excited to read more in my free time.

A quick summary of the story:
Magpie Windwitch discovers that the ancient Blackbringer (a thing of fairy tales used to scared misbehaving children) has escaped from his bottle and is terrorizing the world again. She travels to Dreamdark, makes new friends, awakens the Djinn King, and saves the souls ensnared by the Blackbringer before trapping him in a new bottle forever (hopefully).

I loved this book so much. Magpie Windwitch is such a fun, fierce heroine who was smart, a little reckless, and totally unforgettable. The world of Dreamdark is magical, and just the kind of place you want to get lost in. Laini Taylor’s writing is beautiful as always, and the crows? Hilarious. I laughed, I gasped, I immediately wanted more. This collector’s edition is gorgeous too! Definitely one I’ll be keeping on display when it comes out. If you’re into faeries, epic quests, and characters with big hearts and bigger courage, don’t skip this one.

This is such a fun one to revisit! Beautiful edition for a beautiful story. So glad to be a part of this!

This book soars. If you love rich, magical worlds and fierce, unforgettable heroines, Dreamdark: Blackbringer is absolutely your next obsession. Magpie Windwitch is a total legend—smart, brave, a little reckless, and backed up by a hilarious murder of crows. She’s basically a faerie with the energy of a rockstar and the job of hunting escaped devils. Yes, it’s as cool as it sounds.