This book sounded absolutely amazing, with both historical context and a magical system that sounded really entrancing. However, I didn't end up loving it as much as I had hoped for- the magic system was a little patchy, and there was also an issue with the characterisation. I felt like the main character was really well developed and well-thought-out, but the other characters simply didn't have as much bolstering of their character. I wanted a lot more from this, and I would have appreciated a plot that didn't jump around as much either- there was a lot of plot jumping and I wish there was a bit more of a focus on the plot pieces that were stronger.

With that said, I think the concept of this book is incredibly solid. I really liked the ideas that this book had, it was just how they were written that there were issues. I really think this story has incredible potential, it just needs some more fleshing out and character development and it would be absolutely wonderful.

I couldn't get on with this book and I'm frustrated with myself. I like the concept behind it and I want to see where it goes but I'm finding the characters really frustrating. Only half a review as I can't finish this at the moment, this book and I are on "on a break" while I cheat on it with a different book. Hopefully when I come back Hetty and Benjy will be magicking at murderers and I won't be able to put it down.

I was first entranced by The Conductors because of the absolutely beautiful cover featuring Hetty, standing resolute and knowing, and then by the blurb, which promised an interesting setting and story. Hetty Rhodes was once a conductor on the Underground Railroad, using magic and her wits to ferry people to freedom, but several years after the end of the war, she and her husband, Benjy, solve mysteries in Reconstruction era Philadelphia. The Conductors feat. a marriage of convenience (or is it??), an intriguing astrological magic system, a rich tapestry of friends - all of whom appear to have secrets as a murder mystery strikes at their core.

Hetty uses Celestial magic, a beguiling system based on astrological symbols and merged from African, Native and other magic systems, which she uses in interesting ways throughout the novel. Black people are banned from using Sorcery, the colonising power, and based on wands - in most of America, it is a hanging offence, the lingering effects of slavery living on in new laws. I would have preferred seeing more about the different magic systems, but I do a weakness for worldbuilding.

The story had a slower start, as Glover established the setting and characters, before diving into the mystery. I was really moved by Hetty, a compelling story-teller, skilled seamstress, talented magic user, and legend amongst the Black Philadelphian community for her efforts. Interwoven throughout the novel are interludes to prior events and how Hetty and Benjy gained their skills and abilities under extremely trying circumstances, and forged a friendship built on trust. I really enjoyed how Glover depicted the strong bonds between Hetty and Benjy, even when it was tested by the circumstances of the story.

However, the year is 1871 and Glover deftly moves between how different characters have thrived and survived in different ways after the Proclamation and the end of the war. The tensions between the Freed and the born Free are explored, how the legacy of slavery lives on in the torn-apart families, including Hetty's own sister, Esther, who she has never given up on searching for. I did appreciate that Glover decided to center the story around the Black Philadelphian community, and while white characters appeared, they were fleeting and largely unnamed.

The Conductors also is themed heavily around the found family concept. Hetty has gathered together a diverse group of friends together, with Glover including LBGT+ representation, though that isn't the focus of the novel. Hetty and Benjy worked for years together, before agreeing to a marriage of convenience - with benefits. I enjoyed this rather forthright depiction and how after years, Benjy and Hetty fell in love, another central theme of The Conductors.

The Conductors was an engaging mystery-fantasy-romance-historical story.

“Brimming with celestial magic and an enduringly fierce heroine, The Conductors is a new vision of the Underground Railroad.” Cecelia Beckman Sheaf & Ink

My Review: The Conductors
The beginning of this harrowing tale is notably atmospheric— you can envision a white hand plastering up reward and wanted signs for runaway slaves, one after the other. Feel the tension rise like chills as the demand and stakes on those signs grows higher and higher. An acrid taste of disgust burning in the back of your throat like bile at the truth of the lengths slave owners would go through to keep slavery from ending.

Glover’s way in addressing and depicting a brutally dangerous time in just the opening three pages illustrates her mastery of her writing. Her prose painted with soul-filled magic even when the landscape is one of pain and suffering. It is thought proving and riveting as she depicts the Civil War along with the present. The Conductors has this fervent pace from the very beginning along with the driving force of the narrative: Hetty Rhodes.

Seeking freedom left many scars and Hetty has her share as she sought freedom at whatever cost. Long after Hetty’s journey to freedom and the Civil War, Glover weaves the present with the past seamlessly. This elegant dance between Hetty’s past and present, blends the story together like music. Adding new weighty notes with each turning page. Creating an unforgettable cadence for the overarching melody.

My one concern was the ending. Without giving too much away, there is a plot reveal that I felt would have been better placed earlier on in the novel. Had Glover presented this piece of the story sooner rather than at the very end, the aftermath and scope of the detective thread of the story would be portrayed as a catharsis of what Hetty ultimately finds in the end of the novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Conductors. Readers will appreciate the found family, the slow burn between Hetty and Benjy, and the astronomy magic flowing through this story making this debut one you don’t want to miss.

Happy Reading Cece

This is a very interesting historical fiction mystery with a twist of magic. Hetty and her husband Benjy are known as The Conductors, helping runaways escape to freedom in Philadelphia. Using their magical powers, drawing sigils and symbols against white wand beaters they’ve earned quite the reputation as saviours in their town. People come to them for help of all sorts, and when the body of their friend is found with a cursed sigil burned onto his body Benjy and Hetty take the case. What follows is a tangled web of social circles that leads to the pair investigating and questioning even their closest friends.

This was an interesting little mystery with a lot of moving parts, characters, and side plots. The unique aspect of this novel is the addition of magic in such a tumultuous historical era in the USA. The magic itself was explained in an easy to understand way. My only criticism would be that there were too many characters with not enough substance, they appear and disappear then reappear and become critical. But other than that this was an enjoyable and interesting read. Thank you!

Thoroughly enjoyable. The protagonist, Hetty, is a strong, three-dimensional character, the blend of history and fantasy is believable, and the central mystery plot was intriguing and suspenseful. Only lost some stars for a lot of proof-reading errors which hopefully will be eliminated in the full published copy. Highly recommended.

THIS WAS GOOD. THIS WAS REALLY GOOD!!

I enjoyed many things. I looooved the characters and the way that we were able to connect with them. I loved loved Hetty and Benjy and their group of friends. The found family trope here was so *chefs kiss.*

The magic system was not at all confusing. I thought it was so unique and fitting for this time era. Imagine being able to do magic with constellations SO FREAKING COOL!!

Overall I really liked it. Even when I wasn’t reading it, my mind would wander back to this. It was very heart warming and the mystery/who-did-it aspect of it was AMAZING. It was gripping and it played out perfectly.

Highly recommend!!

The Conductors is designed to be a murder mystery set in post-civil war Philadelphia with some magical elements. It follows the story of Hetty and Benjy, a couple that solves crimes, while they try to unravel why one of their friends was killed.

The premise of this book really intrigued me, I mean historical fantasy is awesome. However, I ended up not liking the book that much sadly. The pace was insanely slow and for some reason, I didn't feel the build-up of solving the murder. I had a really difficult time getting into the story because of its pace, which made me lose interest quite early on. I was very confused with the different subplots going on, to the point where I did not understand how they related to each other (if they did at all).

Furthermore, I love the concept of magic. However, I felt like it was not properly explained, which made it hard for me to understand what was going on whenever anyone was using it. The only thing that I got from the book is that Black people use celestial magic, whereas white people use sorcery, but that still leaves me with many questions.

What I did like about the story is the historical setting. I don't have a lot of knowledge about American history, so it was very refreshing to read fiction set in that the post-civil war time period. The focus on racism and slavery I found very interesting. It is great to see that these topics are handled with the utmost gravity, and aren't used just for shock value.

All in all, I think that my expectations simply did not line up with what the book actually was. If you enjoy slow-paced murder mysteries in a social circle where everyone is a suspect, rather than the thrill of a murder mystery, then this might be a book for you.

If you know me, you know there’s nothing I love more in fiction than found family. There’s almost nothing BUT found family in this book – the historical setting requires it. It’s a beautifully written, deeply explored immersive journey into post-Civil War life in the Black community. The magic woven throughout the story doesn’t make the setting seem fantastical or unlikely; it feels like a real picture of history, with an intriguing extra layer. When added to a setting that already contains multitudes – there are layers upon layers of nuance here, including colorism, class, education, experience, and more – the fantasy element of this historical fantasy seems wildly plausible. Even more intriguing is the way the magic system has been firmly set into the historical period; there are different magics for different people here, just like everything else in the world. And the glimpses into the overlap between the two, and the question of whether Sorcery is appropriation or something else entirely, is simply a quiet underlayment to the well-developed world – I loved the hints I saw that there is so much more to understand here, without taking away from what was needed to understand what was happening in the story itself. I want to read so much more in this world.

To be honest, the worldbuilding is what kept me reading this book at first; like many first books (uh, my own included), this one has a teeny issue with pacing – it starts slow. It wasn’t until chapter four or five that I finally found myself diving into the plot breathlessly, and the pacing completely redeemed itself after that – I drove straight through to the end. But even in the slower early chapters, the sense of this immense underlying world was enough to keep me intrigued. I REALLY hope that there’s more to come.

Let’s talk about the characters! I posted on Twitter that Hetty and Benjy are MY LIFE, and I stand by it. I absolutely adore them both. Their love story is profound and sweet at the same time, and weaves its way through the mystery plot with satisfying grace. We discover a significant chunk of their backstory through flashbacks, and it works unexpectedly well – every scene is full of action, and works so much better to show us the lives that led them to Philadelphia and community than any kind of infodump or dialogue-based explanation would have. And because every flashback gives us another key to the story – both the love story and the mystery – they don’t jar the reader out of the narrative at all, simply enhance it. Hetty is a delightful, complex character who also serves as a deft reminder that even exceptional people are still people, with inner worries, insecurities, and sometimes the urge to choose to run away. And Benjy is her perfect complement; like Hetty, we don’t know much about him at the beginning of the book, but by the end of the book he’s absolutely perfect. The way that these two people discover each other even though they’ve known each other all along is beautifully written.

The secondary characters here are all incredible as well. I want to make sure that I call out the extremely well-done gay and trans characters here – a perfectly-served reminder that LGBTQ+ people have been here all along. They fit into this historical setting like they belong, because they do. There are reminders that their road isn’t an easy one, but none of their stories are specifically about their queer natures. The friendships and relationships between all of the characters are explored with a great deal of care and also a deeply appreciated swath of realism. People aren’t perfect. But there’s such a strong community here, and the way all of the characters come together in service to each other is gorgeously done.

I won’t spoil anything, but the ending of this book is perhaps the best part, at least for me. It gave me some BIG emotions. It’s by turns joyous and heartbreaking, and captures the sense of bittersweet inevitability that is frequently missing from our whitewashed schoolroom histories and Duke-heavy historical romances. I sincerely hope I get to read more in this world.

The Conductors is set in a version of the Philadelphia just after the U.S. Civil War. In this version of the United States, though, magic lives.

Hetty Rhodes and her husband, Benjamin, had been Conductors on the Underground Railroad, battling with cunning and magic for the freedom and lives of their passengers. Now, in post-War America, they live in freedom and pursue their trades with their chosen family amidst a strong, supportive community of formerly-enslaved neighbours and businesses.

Told in the narrative present of about the 1870s, flashbacks to events in the pre-Civil War period explain the social and personal motivations for actions taken in the present.

This is compelling storytelling. Once the stage is set and the way the magic works is explained, the reader’s interest is caught by the mysterious death of a friend. Glover skillfully describes the interactions of a community dealing with grief and fear, a community of established friendships and enmity, a world where appearances can be deceptive.

The closer the mystery is to resolution, the faster the action moves and the more exciting the story becomes. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable story that also grapples with the legacy of slavery and the possibilities of different types and uses of magic.

The Conductors is an imaginative plot that asks, What if magic existed during the Civil War? Slaves with the ability to conjure spells quickly found themselves as brutal targets and their magical abilities clamped and silenced through the use of magic-stopping collars. After the War, Black men and women were allowed to use magic, but only under the strict guidelines within the law. White members of society were allowed to possess wands, and yield magic as they saw fit.

At the heart of this dramatic historical fantasy world lies Hetty, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and her loyal husband Benjy. During the war Hetty and Benjy, both wielders of magic, use their abilities to bravely free numerous slaves. But the one person Hetty couldn’t save was her sister, who remained in captivity while Hetty found freedom. Hetty is haunted by this moment, and it acts like a thorn in her side as she devotes her life to a new calling as a detective within the Black community post-Civil War.

She and Benjy are the “go-to” crime solvers in their community. When an injustice occurs, they are the ones who solve the case and restore justice. Now a sting of murders has left them confused and their community scared. But Hetty refuses to give up. Her resolve and Benjy’s strength compliment each other from the start. Their relationship blooms throughout the pages, and their delicate love story woven into the backdrop acts to anchor the plot against the violence standing center stage.

While the plot slows from time-to-time, there are interludes peppered throughout that pick up the tension and quickly recapture the reader’s attention. Within the plot lies threads addressing racism, discrimination, “white passing” Black members of society, the horrors of slavery, and reconstructing a life when starting with nothing. This compelling read is perfect for those looking for a fresh genre bending mystery with a strong female lead.

The Conductors takes an idea...what if slaves had magic...and builds something unique around it. If enslaved people had magic, there'd have to be a way to suppress it. If enslaved people had magic, maybe their oppressors had something similar. Also, if enslaved people had magic and got free, there'd be hell to pay once they could tap into that magic.
Hetty Rhodes is one such woman. After getting free but losing track of her sister in the process, Hetty makes several trips back to the south to look for her. Each time, she picks up other souls longing for freedom. She and her partner become the best in the underground business.
The story is a lot of things. At its core it's a whodunnit. There's a murder and Hetty and Benji are on the case. It's a journey to find out whatever happened to Hetty's sister. Despite Hetty being married, there's also an unexpected love story wrapped up in it.
My advise is to keep reading it despite the slow start. The character development is there, and it is good.

A nice historical mystery, with magic added in. Hattie and Benjy are former enslaved people who have worked as Conductors on the Underground Railroad--guides with magical powers who helped other enslaver people escape to the North. Now settled in Philadelphia in the aftermath of the Civil War, they are called on to help newly arrived freed people and solve mysteries. In this novel the couple is faced with a killer who marks their victims with magic commonly thought of as "cursed," and find their own friends and relatives targeted for violence. An interesting concept, and the characters--who are initially somewhat unlikeable--develop and become more interesting and sympathetic as the story progresses.

It was quite an adventure to be able to have the honor of reading this book and without a doubt the fact that it kept me entertained was very unexpected, it is also full of characters that enrich the story that fit together and make the story more exciting, it is a book that It will give you an emotional moment and a story that will stay in your mind for a long time.

This is such a fun historical fantasy adventure, with a fantastically real-feeling cast of characters full of rich personal histories, a beautiful magical system, and a husband-and-wife crime-solving team that is only too horrified to realize they're actually falling in love (several years after their very practical marriage)! I hope there are lots more books to come in this series.

There's a fantastic blend of reality and fiction here and it's glorious!

What if the Civil War wasn't a matter of slavery versus abolition? What is there were added depths that continued well after the war?

What if none of this mattered and it was just how it was and the African Americans moving forward with their lives?

There isn't a white person in this and I love it. It's POC moving on, finding their long lost relatives and moving forward...with celestial magic or sorcery or herbal magic or a dream of the future. It's a magical blend of what could have been, highlighting the fears of irrational folks that still exist today.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3462418812

A great read, with a lot of excitement and tension.
Well written characters , a great storyline and a hole lot of magic in a very interesting setting.

I liked this book a lot and looking forward to share my reading experience with my readers in the library.

Thanks for letting me read this book.

The conductors was a riveting and fun mystery. The characters and setting really helped create a world that anyone could be immersed in. I really suggest this if you love historical fiction and murder mysteries!

Hetty and Benjy Rhodes used to be conductors, helping slaves escape the south using magic, and now have settled in Philadelphia. The opening scene sets the stage with Benjy and Hetty helping release multiple people who had been kidnapped and gives us an insight into the magic of this world. It then slowly transitioned to their current life with everyday jobs and not so everyday missions. I really enjoyed the mystery aspect as the book constantly kept you thinking with multiple suspects, it wasn't the type of YA mystery where someone immediately figures out the real killer. My favorite parts were actually the interludes where we went back to the adventures that Benjy and Hetty got into helping others and trying to get away. I do feel the plot slows down quite a bit during the center, but this is simply because of how much information Glover is carefully weaving in. It all makes sense, yet it does become quite dense. My notebook really helped here! The quips and interactions always keep the book moving. The ending was one I loved but also didn't. I loved the acceptance and family that Hetty and Benjy finally found plus all the extra aspects of the murder were well tied off. I did feel that the murder's reasoning to connect it to Hetty and Benjy felt a bit stretched.

The characters really drove this book, specifically Hetty and Benjy's relationship. It was absolutely adorable!!! Their original reason for marrying was out of necessity so that they could continue their missions without being looked down upon. Both of them couldn't seem to realize the other was in love with them until they actually talked about it. Hetty herself had a specific mission to find her sister Esther which drives her actions of wishes. She feels incredible guilt about what happens but had plenty of obligations that kept her there. Hetty is a strong but gentle character, I loved her hobbies of storytelling(I wish we had more) and her sewing. It's really interesting because you want to like her as a character but the others constantly point out that she has heavy biases for or against others so you can't totally trust her. She's constantly running into trouble for others without a second thought. Even when running away as a former slave, she risked her life to help others as well. Benjy was a strong but silent support to Hetty every step of the way. He worked as a blacksmith and while he did help Hetty look for Esther, he also hindered her search by making her wait for certain telegrams. Benjy seems like a very simple character until you learn he has a secret past time which combined with his flashbacks really show he's just as interesting as Hetty. Even more than Hetty, I trusted Benjy. These two were skillfully combined to be a wonderful pair.

I really enjoyed all of the side characters that were part of Hetty's family. Penelope, Darlene, Oliver, George, even Thomas whose appearance was short. Penelope, totally badass(just get out of the way of her pistol) and Darlene, totally sweet, were my favorite but I quickly added Eunice, a combination of the two, to that list as Hetty got to know her more. Each of these characters had their specific role, purpose and past. My biggest problem was a lot of side characters, many who were barely mentioned after their scene. Specifically because many were at the beginning of the book. I didn't know who was important and who wasn't(again thank you notebook). Overall, the important side characters were great but the smaller ones felt too numberous.

In terms of villains, Glover gives plenty of shady characters each with their own reason to be trouble. There was no obvious person to take all the fall or an obvious killer. They were all well rounded.

The found family of this book is what I loved more than anything along with Hetty and Benjy's relationship as I constantly rooted for them.

The magic system of this book is what originally attracted me, I mean who doesn't want magic fighting combined with the underground railroad. The setting of Philadelphia is well set. We see a world of black elite where the Rhodes are in the mix, yet are still reminded of the times when Hetty visits a certain shop or Benjy talks to certain people. Even with these elites, there are a variety of classes, backgrounds, it's realistic. Racism is addressed properly but isn't sensationalized even when we go back to the horrific things Hetty experienced due to her collar(for magic). The magic is a love hate thing for me. I loved the concept and mostly understood how it worked but it definitely could have been explored more. Blacks can cast celestial magic, through drawings in the air or amplified by being put onto something solid(ex Hetty sews them into clothing). The sigils kind of confused me just because I searched them up and couldn't find the specific ones that were described through the book in concrete images. I wish there was a bit more of a background how it originated, but overall, it still made enough sense it didn't hinder my reading. The magic and setting combined were realistic and fascinating of the time period making the reading that much better.

Check out my blog for my book journal in which I wrote thoughts/drew in as I went along!

I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An own voices magical surrealism story set in post–Civil War Philadelphia really appealed to me. Unfortunately it was mostly all very one note, the interlude chapters that were dotted throughout were actually more the pace that I had expected from the entire story. They held the most interest and had the sense of urgency and magic that I had wanted going into this story and had expected from a magical murder mystery.

Debut's are hard, and I see so much potential in this book, but there was so much more that I wanted from the main characters, and I really wish that the intensity, magic and dedication in the interlude chapters had been carried through to the main story. I often found myself putting the book down, losing interest and becoming distracted.

I found the constellation based magic such an intriguing concept, and I wish there had been more history behind it to really ground the reader into the world.

Overall those who enjoy a lot more of fictional history and a lot less magic, might enjoy this book.

DNF at 30%

A big thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with an uncorrected proof of this book.

Unfortunately, I didn’t like this book. I can’t say I hated it because there might be a slight hope for this book. I just hope that it gets polished a bit before the release date.

Reasons why I didn’t like this book:

The magic system. When you start reading it, it becomes clear that only POC can access magic and because of that they were punished and enslaved.
They use constellations, and each constellation has a different use.
Besides that you get nothing. And through reading reviews did I discover that they draw constellations in order to use magic; it wasn’t clearly explained in the book.

I tried so hard to like it and told myself constantly that if I only get through 100 pages then getting through the rest would be easy. However, I couldn’t even get through 100 pages.

I didn’t understand what was going on most of the time and my brain got fuzzy when I was reading this book. I couldn’t concentrate on the story and I wanted to start another book because this one wasn’t able to hold my attention for more than five minutes.
The timeline certainly didn’t help either. It jumped through decades and it didn’t continue from where it had left of.

The characters were bland and one dimensional.
I think the author wanted to make this book more exciting for the reader and therefore decided to forgo a character development. Yet in my opinion the book wasn’t even exciting; yes there is a murder mystery but it was done very poorly.

I understand that it is her debut novel and I think if she were to write another book, I would read it, because I think her story did have some potential. But unfortunately for this book, it’s a big no from me.