Creative and interesting. Introduces you to a slice of history you may not know much about. I found the plot to be more murder mystery and less historical adventure and that was great for me. Main characters are adults. I would probably shelve in a high school collection.

Incredibly creative plot bogs down a bit in execution as everyday magic swirls around former Conductors of the Underground Railroad. The Conductors set out to solve a few mysteries that float about, using their magical skills to smoothly find answers where others cannot. Author Nicole Glover has brought imagination and great characters to life in this tale. THE CONDUCTORS may well be the start of a new series. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Embarrassingly, it took me a little while to really sink into THE CONDUCTORS -- which was mostly on me. Based off a half-remembered description, I was expecting more of the Underground Railroad and less of the Dresden Files magical procedural.
Once I did get into the plot though? I stayed up WAY too late to finish THE CONDUCTORS! I really loved Hattie, and reading her interacting with different characters in post-Civil War Philadelphia. She's brash and smart, and learning more and more about her and Benjy through occasional flashbacks throughout is an absolute delight. I really enjoyed the weaving of historical fact throughout the book - it makes the world feel grounded and offers structure to the magical system that is divided between Sorcery and Celestial Magic. Storytelling plays such a huge part in Hattie's life, and in the narrative at large, and ties in to beautiful (and complicated, bittersweet) traditions of work songs, of song and art paving the way to escape from slavery.
I will say that the pacing felt a bit uneven - the first third of the book is laying so much groundwork for character and world-building that it was a bit difficult to stay engaged. On the other hand, the last bit of the book feels like it moves at a breakneck speed to tie together all its loose ends!
Once I finished the book I thought... okay. Maybe I can get back into magical murder mysteries! I was delighted to see that Glover has another book in this series planned. If you're a fan of murder mysteries but are often dissatisfied with how white, male-centered, and straight they are, I think you'll be delighted with Glover's work!

Hetty and Benjy Rhodes a couple, who are verse in magic, solving puzzles, and freeing the enslaved, have settled in Philadelphia, PA. They help solve mysteries, because of the color of their skin, most of these murders and kidnappings go unnoticed by the police. They're friend mysteriously dies and he is found in their own tight-knit black community. Hetty and Benjy have to solve this mystery before more deaths occur!

This was such an adventurous book. I absolutely loved the magical system, black people practice with sigils based on star constellations and white people practice Sorcery with wands. The way the magic is performed in Glover's descriptions, it was just so beautiful and unique. This book heavily focuses on the murder mystery with some flash backs to the time the couple were working on the Underground Railroad. I loved the main characters they’re dynamic was adorable.

The only critiques I have on this book is that I wanted more in-depth character building, I loved the main characters and just never felt like their full stories were explored. I also didn’t enjoy the friend drama that unfolds throughout the book, it just didn’t seem to add anything to the book. But otherwise I found this book enjoyable!

Highly recommend this book, check it out when it publishes on March 2, 2021!

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing my with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Visit nicole-glover.com online to see the author's break down of the characters in the book, which include their star signs and character drawings!

GOODREADS REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3643624416
STORYGRAPH REVIEW: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/fd0e4793-7dd9-49f1-b018-c5c7ef4d9ef1

OK, I'm disappointed. In myself, mostly, but also in the story - because I simply cannot find my way into this one, and I REALLY wanted to...

First off, huge kudos to Nicole Glover for a brilliant concept. It's highly original and a take on magic that has never been done before to my knowledge. There is a tremendous amount of possibility that she has opened up for herself here - but therein lies the rub for me... While her concept is spot-on and is so original in a genre (magical detective stories, as a broad-brush description) that is quite saturated, her world-building left me floundering.

Unfortunately, it's precisely because of the wonderful originality that I found this one so difficult to follow. There is very little actual world-building here - and when you set up a unique world, I think you simply have to spend a decent amount of time establishing it's rules and rationales if you want people to feel connected to it. The magical system of sigils based on the Zodiac was present from the opening pages, but never really explained - and that, paired with my non-existent knowledge about the signs and their component stars and meanings, left me confused and uncertain about why things were being done and what their impact was/should be.

In an opener for a series, I would have expected (and appreciated) a lot more stage setting - without it, I struggled to feel a connection to this magical world. The characters also felt a little under-developed for a first-in-series. There were a LOT of them, and with so many characters introduced throughout the course of the story, with overlapping relationships that I never felt like I fully appreciated, this made it tough for me to connect.

This is a truly cool idea, but I just couldn't find my way into it like I wanted to...

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 but I just couldn’t get into the story at all. The first 10% of the book just felt like endless names were being rapid fired at me (Hetty, Benjy, Penelope, Darlene, Marianne, Charles and more) and I’m not sure if it was the third person narration or what, but I had just trouble connecting with them so the story just felt flat and I lost interest in continuing. The magic system also just felt vague and under developed. I’m disappointed because I fully expected to love everything about this book based on its unique premise.

Fantasy meets historical fiction with a flair of magic!

This was a difficult review to write. Based off of the early ARC I received in October, I assumed the storyline still had some pending edits, so I didn’t know how to publicly rate the book. The premise sounded very promising, but I felt the story was cluttered and because of this, I had difficulty finishing the book.

I loved Hetty Rhodes and her husband Benjy—two former runaway slaves, who harness their powers from within, to become underground railroad conductors and crime solving community leaders. I thought their relationship was strong, but the world around them was confusing and messy. I had a hard time understanding the magic system with the witchcraft mixed in. I was also confused when the hunt for Hetty’s sister was sidelined by an unconnected murder mystery. I was expecting her sister’s disappearance to somehow be connected, so it was a disappointment when I found out it wasn’t.

The cover is absolutely GORGEOUS!! As a consumer, I would buy this book from a bookstore display in a heartbeat.

I’ll keep my public reviews of The Conductors as positive as I can, while still remaining honest.
I’ve rounded up my rating to 4 stars on Goodreads, but my true rating is around 3.7 stars.

Good Luck and congrats on the new publication! My public reviews will go up within 3 days (before or after) March 2nd 2021.

Oh my god, the bar is now high for historical fiction.

The Conductors is many things: how societies work with magic being out in the open, the complexities of healing from trauma, a murder mystery set in the post-Civil War era, and most of all, confronting who you are.

Hetty and her husband of convenience Benjy are known for solving problems. Back in the war, they used to ferry people to freedom, fighting slave-catchers with wits and magic. Now they live in Philadelphia, solving crimes that the white authorities ignore. But when one of their own is found murdered with a cursed mark branded on his skin, the past, they will learn, has a way of coming back. With several other mysteries surrounding them – the search for Hetty's sister, clients withholding truths, and body count growing, it's going to take every bit of Hetty's magic to survive.

This is incredible, a show-stopper, wonderful, amazing debut from Nicole Glover. From side characters with fascinating backstories, the enriched world-building, the heartwrenching murders, the growing romance between Hetty and Benjy, there is something for everyone! Even better, it's the first book in a series!

An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very engaging historical fantasy-mystery, and the characterization was, for the most part, peerless. I loved main character Hetty and felt like I knew a lot of the other characters by the end of the novel, they were so well drawn. However, I did have a bit of an issue with the pacing--this book sporadically dragged a bit, and I wanted a higher sense of urgency slightly earlier on with regard to the central murder mystery. The frequently-interspersed flashbacks didn't fully help this situation, and I'd've preferred longer flashbacks to decrease the total number of interruptions of the 'current' timeline. However, I LOVED the magic system developed here, and I would be eager to read more novels with this detective/detective couple.

I really enjoyed the premise of the book. Having two different magic systems with racial prejudices and discrimination attached was interesting. I enjoyed the descriptions of celestial magic, although I do think it was kept a bit too vague. I have no idea if certain constellations always have the same magic effect or if they do different things. Sorcery isn't fleshed out much at all, and all we get told is that they use wands to cast and that's pretty much it. Apparently sorcery is way stronger, but why that's the case remains unclear.

Hetty and Benjy were a delightful pair. I loved their snarky interactions and the blossoming romance. Marriage of convenience is one of my favourite tropes and I really enjoyed watching it play out.

Unfortunately, the plot feels a bit slow and unwieldy. It takes a while before anything starts to happen, and only the last 15% or so were actually exciting. I also had a hard time connecting to the story and the characters, mostly because of the dialogue. It felt very disjointed; a character's response often felt completely disconnected from the line before it. This constantly pulled me out of the flow of the story, and since there's a lot of dialogue in the book, it sometimes became confusing to follow.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book so incredibly much, it's going to be hard for me to break it down into a cohesive review without rambling. So first, the premise: a Black woman and her husband, former conductors on the Underground Railroad, live in Philadelphia and solve crimes within their community. With magic. It's AWESOME.

I make no secret of the fact that I love a good murder mystery, and this book definitely gave me that. When Hetty and her husband Benjy find the dead body of one of their friends, they immediately know they need to find out who did it. Their relationship is so great (especially at the end!) and adds such a great element to their crime-solving team. The mystery has a lot of twists and turns and, while it wasn't entirely unpredictable, it was still entertaining.

The next big thing I wanted to mention was the magic system. Or, I guess, systems. The first and most prevalent is the sigil magic that Hetty, and all of the Black magic-users, use. It's SO COOL. The sigils are based on constellations, and when they are drawn can be directed by the user to do so many different things. The other is Sorcery, which is forbidden to the Black community, and involves the use of a wand. It's not explored very much because our main characters can't and don't use it, but I do wonder if it is something Nicole Glover will explore more in the next book.

The friendships and relationships in this story are incredible, and I love all of the connections between everyone that was explored. I'm fairly sure there is a Trans character (it wasn't explicitly stated but definitely implied) and a gay relationship as well, that seemed to be widely accepted in this world, which was great.

All in all, I definitely enjoyed this book, and I look forward to reading the next to see what is in store for Hetty and Benjy in the future.

The Conductors
by Nicole Glover

Meeting Hetty and Benjy was one of the best things that has happened to me lately! The idea of magic in the hands of conductors of the underground railroad in the days of the slavery, pre-Civil War, creates a beckoning path my mind can’t resist traveling. Even better, mysteries abound, lost people are found, found people are. . .well, I’m not going to spoil it for you. Magic abounds, drawn from the stars and the fingers of those who have the magic. (Beware of the wrong kind of magic!)

As a reader of this debut novel, it was the overall tale, believable characters who pulled me into the story, and the final resolve that had me finished with the book before I realized I was done! It was over.

Longing settled in, and close on its heels, my next thought: will there be a next one? I’m hoping so.

3.5 stars, rounded up as a vote for more Hetty!

A Sincere Thanks to Nicole Glover, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

#TheConductors #NetGalley

Hetty and Benjy Rhodes used to be conductors on the Underground Railroad; after the end of the Civil War, they settled down in Philadelphia and sort of fell into solving crimes and other mysteries brought to them by their local community. Oh, and did I mention that they utilize magic? Yeah, this book has a little bit of everything. The latest mystery that falls into their laps involves the death of a close friend, which appears to be murder.

I loved the premise of this book. Despite some minor flaws (mostly related to editing, which makes sense given that this was an ARC), I felt that the book delivered. I loved watching Hetty grow and develop, especially in terms of her relationship with her husband Benjy. I appreciated her strong, independent nature that took no shit from the people around her - she makes a pretty bad ass heroine. The book kept me reading and truly pulled me into the historical and magical world built by the author, and I look forward to reading additional books starring Hetty and Benjy.

This was a difficult one to get through. The writing and the repetitiveness gave way to being a debut novel. I was really interested in the story, but had a difficult time enjoying the book because of how the story gave too much explanation for things a reader should sometimes be assumed to know.

**Please see content/trigger warnings at the end of this review**

This book is a murder mystery set in an alternate history post-Civil war era (1871, Philadelphia) that includes magic used in the everyday. The two leads are Hetty and Benjy, a married couple who used to be Conductors on the Underground Railroad, and now help their community by investigating problems that the local police won't touch.

The premise is amazing and I was all in for this alternate history, but I was disappointed in the execution of the plot. The pacing was very slow (especially for a murder mystery), Hetty and Benjy seem to spend the majority of the book spinning their wheels (when they're supposed to be extremely smart and accomplished investigators) and suspecting all their friends of the murders because they're "acting weird." There was also a lot of flashbacks into Hetty's (and sometimes Benjy's) past which was interesting but seems more appropriate for a historical fiction rather that contributing anything to the actual mystery.

All in all, I felt the book failed to live up to the extremely cool plot outline and could have benefited from different editing. I really hope the author continues her story and some of the irregularities in the book are worked out in the next.

Content/trigger warnings: descriptions of enslavement and torture, loss of parents, racism, microaggressions, domestic violence, shaming for not having children.

The Conductors had a really interesting premise, but overall I think that this book could do with a bit more polishing in order for the book to reach its full potential.

The magic system that was based off constellations was very creative, and not something that I had seen before. Additionally, the idea of a historical fantasy set in the Reconstruction era and based around the Underground Railroad is really exciting. I also enjoyed the murder mystery premise of the novel.

However, I found it hard to connect to the characters and the plot of this book was slightly rushed. I think maybe this was because of the pacing or the writing style, but things seemed to happen very quickly, and I think that there was maybe a little too much telling (rather than showing).

While there were definitely elements of the book that I think could be improved upon, overall, The Conductors has a lot of promise, and I think that with a bit more time, this book could really shine.

This book is about a couple Hetty and Benjy who solve murder cases that are not taken by the police.
I am usually a huge fan of magical books. But I did not really connect with the magic system in this story. The plot was unique and interesting but character descriptions were not the best. As a debut novel, it is not that bad but could have done better.
The pace also didn't seem very consistent.
Overall an okay read

The Conductors is a historical fantasy/murder mystery, set in post-Civil War Philadelphia. A husband and wife team (Benjy and Hetty Rhoades) were previous Underground railroad conductors, and now that slavery has been abolished, they help people find missing relatives, solve mysteries and even murder.

However, there is an undercurrent of magic running through everything, where both Black and white people have access to certain magical abilities, but even the magic using is only allowed in certain circumstances, and white and Black people use the magic system differently. There are periodic flashbacks that allow the reader to see some of the backstory, but the glances are brief, but it gives you some insight on what’s currently going on in the story.

This first installment is about murder and magic, and you find out that someone has died, and Benjy and Hetty are put into a position to investigate. While they are investigating a murder, all sorts of secrets, and mysteries materialize and they realize there may be danger lurking out there for them as well.

To be honest, I’ve come to realize that magical realism doesn’t work well for me in the historical slave setting. I don’t like the idea of anyone putting enslaved Black people into situations where they have to use magic in order to be safe. Black people have done some miraculous things during slavery, and even til this day, but it’s not magic. It’s real! I feel like when Black people have to be magical, the ability for other non-Black people to see them as human is diminished. But that’s just my opinion. I felt like this book was a retelling of a kind of spin off of the magical realism of Harriet Tubman in The Water Dancer. (Don’t ask how I went there, but I did, and that magical realism with Harriet Tubman in The Water Dancer still irritates my soul) The pacing of the book was slow, and confusing, and all over the place. The magic system isn’t really explained well in the book. About 19% in, you get some sort of explanation, but it doesn’t really explain the how/why/where/what questions a reader may have about how the system works, especially for fantasy books. Who is allowed to use it? Where did it come from? Why is it being used? Why do Black people have different magic than whites? What are all the different kinds of magic that work in this world? What’s the significance of the magic that is used via wands, hand-drawn, chanted, brewed, etc.? So many questions that go unanswered about the magic system that it really put a hinderance on how I processed/comprehended what I was reading.

Hetty and Benjy, who are the main characters, also have this awkward marriage situationship going on. The way the author writes about their relationship is really aggravating to me personally; although I can see how maybe this could happen in real life, but I think it could have been done better.

As far as the mystery and murder and investigations start to happen, the book picks up from there, but it’s more than half way through at that point. There are quite a few excessive explanations, that have nothing to do with the magic system or advancing the plot forward, and there is unnecessary scenes and so many characters, that made this book a lot longer than needed.

The author does attempt to discuss quite a few topics in this story, but it’s only done to the detriment of the plot, in my opinion.
- Micro/macroaggressions with white people
- Friendships with women
- Class/elitism among Blacks
- Social standing

The story just doesn’t come together for me, and I’m left feeling like it’s disjointed or disorganized or dis-something. It’s just not cohesive enough. The magic system not being explained, is a big downfall to this book. For fantasy genres, this is “where the money resides.” World building, plot development, character development, magic systems, and problem solving are the major areas that should be done with exceptional care, and I don’t think this book hit the mark for me on those areas. I really wanted to love this book, as the plot is a bit unique, but I don’t see myself looking toward the next installment, as the ending doesn’t really feel like a part 2 is around the corner. I am disappointed, and probably gave this more expectation than needed in this debut novel because historical fantasy with Black protagonists is one of my up and coming favorite genres, but this was a 3/3.5 for me.

Thank you to Net Galley, Nicole Glover and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What a wonderful idea-intertwine magic with Underground Railroad conductors! Nicole Glover has written a great mystery with historical elements and completely believable magic that simply carries you along and invites you to care for the characters. #theconductors is well researched, well plotted and a thoroughly enjoyable read. I thank #netgalley, the publisher and author for this ARC to read and review.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC. DNF at 20%...I feel bad about it.

First off, this is a murder mystery-style book blended with historical fiction and fantasy. Even better, it follows recently freed slaves during the Reconstruction era where promises were made and rarely kept. Fascinating, right?

You'd think so...but the writing doesn't really quite deliver. A lot of things are thrown in here, which would be fine if it was spaced out evenly, but it felt like being hit in the face with dodgeballs several times in a row. How are we supposed to keep track of all these infodumps & character introductions? It felt like it was going so fast!

The magic system isn't clearly explained either...it's a cool concept but not really fleshed out.

Despite my issues, I think if it gets refined and polished more it can really shine, especially since the concept & location is an AWESOME idea.