This one is a must-read for any Percy Jackson fans. It’s the same vibes, but with African instead of Greek mythology, and the Orishas are fascinating!

What a fun cast of characters and a wonderful exposure to mythology I know nothing about. I would read it for that alone, but it offers a detailed and interesting story too.

My only complaint was that it was very long and a bit overly complex in the plot given the middle grade target demographic. But even though I think there was room to narrow the focus and make it a little easier to consume, I still really enjoyed it.

The audiobook was an awesome experience, filled with sound effects, music, and fantastic narration with really distinct voices for all the characters. Definitely worth listening to this one.

DNF @ 10 %
It was the narrator, I may be able to read this as a physical book but I could not bring myself to listen to hours of this narrator.

Loved this audio book. The narrators was very engaging and it felt like I was lessening to a movie. The book was fun and the characters were really relatable.

I have always wanted to try listening to an audiobook, but I noticed that I'm very picky when it comes to voices I imagine for my characters so I wasn't able to listen to the audiobook. But because I loved how the story went from the first minutes I listened to, I will definitely read the book in its digital format, and then review it!

Maybe you will said, " Oh.. another Percy Jackson type book." But in my opinion everyone should try this read book and learn about Nigerian Mythology. My son basically thrilled when I showed him this one.

The MC and mostly character are likeable. I appreciate the author choose give them familiar name and easy to pronounce. The pace is good with enough plot inside the storyline. I need check another book to enrich my knowledge about this background Mytholog.

Thank you Netgally to provide me with this fun adventure book.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for a copy of this audio.

As someone who has only recently dipped into audiobooks, this was fantastic. I found the story to be really well thought, the magic was interesting and I overall loved how immersive it was with the sound effects and different voices throughout. A lovely, action packed adventure and great for budding fantasy lovers,

I have always been hooked on magical school stories, even an an adult, and love that they have now branched out to own voices. I love learned about new cultures and having so much fun along the way. This book was great in that not only were we rooting for the main character but it had a great cast of side characters that were well developed and you love. I will definitely recommend this to patrons who love work by rick riordan and are looking for more!

I loved listening to this novel. It was adventurous and intriguing the entire read. The narrator was also such a great fit - I think the voices for each character felt honest and distinct to each character. It was also a pleasant pacing and the background music was a nice touch. I did have to go back a few times to listen again when the gods were being discussed to I could commit them to memory a bit better; but that's because I'm more of a visual reader when it comes to names. Beautiful - I was hooked at the first chapter, and held through to the end!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really awesome read and different from any other book ive read this year! would read more from the series

I really liked this story, I think the audiobook could use a little bit of work but the story is on point. I would rate this 4.5/5. The first couple of chapters really hooked me, exceptional. Thank you for the opportunity!

This book was amazing and I was really sad when it was over! I really don't know where to start with everything I loved about this book.

First off, I found the setting amazing and very immersive. This book is mainly set at a magical summer camp in the swamps outside New Orleans. I have been there once and really felt that the author captured the "swamp vibe" by including mysterious alligators, the sweltering heat and the swamp waters! I think the audiobook really helps with this also, as it has sound effects at the start of each chapter.

I found the characters to be very realistic for their age. The main character, TJ, has always struggled with his magic and therefore doesn't really think highly of himself. Throughout most of the book he thinks of himself as a failure and struggles to live up to his sister's legacy. After a while I did become slightly annoyed with TJ second guessing himself, but it really was realistic for him, so I wouldn't say that is a negative of the book, just something I personally did not enjoy.

The side characters were also amazing! I thought each of the side campers was unique and very easy to tell apart. I did get a bit confused with all the adults names but that could have been since I was listening to the audio and couldn't see the names.

The plot was definitely the best part! I just couldn't stop listening to it. I had to know what was going to happen. It really reminds me of a Rick Riordan Presents book or Amari and the Night Brothers. I did see the plot twist coming, but I think that is because it reminded me so much of Amari that I was looking very carefully at all the characters. Even though I saw the plot twist coming I still enjoyed how it happened and the consequences that the characters to deal with.

Overall, I really enjoyed learning more about a new mythology and joining TJ and his friends on an adventure. I can't wait for the second book!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for giving me this book to review.

This was a really enjoyable middle grade.
It's a fresh take to the usual magical school/magical camp setting.
The story is really interesting.
The audiobook is good, though some sounds the narrator chose made me a bit uncomfortable listening to them.
I'm interested in the sequel and 2022 can not come soon enough.

Format: audiobook
Author: Antoine Bandele ~ Title: The Gatekeeper's Staff ~ Narrator: Nekia Renee
Content: 2.5 stars ~ Narration: 4 stars

First. This was too long.

The Gatekeeper’s Staff sounded like a middle-grade, even though TJ is a bit older than the typical main character in this genre. This is my second audiobook by Antoine Bandele. I had trouble with the first one, so this was a second chance for this author.

While this is a somewhat interesting middle-grade fantasy full of West African myths, I’m not sure if this was a good read for me. I liked some aspects of it, especially magic, myths, orishas, etc. And I would love to know more about that. But I hated some details so much that I had trouble listening and I lost interest at some point. I listened to the whole audiobook, anyway.

First, it is strange how a middle-grade novel starts. With a funeral of the main character’s sister? Hm.

Second, there were also some details that I couldn’t bear. For example: how can you learn Spanish in school, and then you mistake Portuguese for Spanish? I guess TJ didn’t pass his Spanish subject. Was he even there to follow what Spanish sounds like? There were also a few others. That kind of slip-offs ruined it for me.

The third one is a personal preference, I know. I just hate when there are unnecessary mentions of phones, computers, and the internet in middle-grade novels. I know we now live in that kind of world, but it could be different. Book characters also set an example for children.

Another thing that I should mention is that I had a feeling this tried to be Harry Potter too much.

At first, I didn’t like the narration, and I needed some time to get used to it. But later on, I discovered it is actually very good. Nekia Renee did so many different voices. It was amazing. I also liked extra sounds added to the narration.

Actually 2.5, but I will round it to 3 because of the interesting and unique world.

Thanks to Bandele Books the for the ARC and the opportunity to listen to this! All opinions are my own.

This was very good not a 5 star but it was still very good and I want to read it again but in physical form. Cause I have a feeling it will turn to a 5 star book. I still highly recommend this to anyone that want to read it.

My first time trying a audiobook.

🐝It was enjoyable , I think the narrator did great work, I enjoyed the story and felt the environment rising around me. The camp alossa and it's magical being were seen and experienced.

🐝It took me a very long to finish it and I think it was due to
- first, it is targeted for middle graders, not for adult me so it make sense do not find it as engaging .
- second, the starting was slow, with not much happening in middle too.

🐝But there are things that are done beautifully and correctly such as
- grief of family members at loss of their loved one.
- characterization, including the side ones.
- plot is slow at start but at the end a lot of twist and turn made up for it.
- I would like to read the next book in this series

I loved this book. TJ is a great character he tries hard to get his magic to work and he is a good friend to Manny and Joshua. I really enjoyed the story though I have come to some conclusions about what is really going on, I won't know till I read the second book if I'm proven right the book winds up being predictable. But, that doesn't detract from enjoying the story.

This was a great audiobook! Nekia Renee did a fantastic job of narrating the different voices and was fantastic at expressing the various emotions that come up in the book. I also loved the added sound effects at various points that made the book come alive for me.

*This review is based on an audiobook from NetGalley in return for an honest and fair review.

This book had me eager to Rabe to the end. I throughly enjoyed the narrator of this audiobook and thought she did a fantastic job. I loved the feeling of immersion the sounds at the begging of each chapter and chapter break gave to me. There was some Harry Potter vibes that had me reminiscing my youth. I look forward to consuming the rest of this series in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the audiobook and the story. TJ was a great character and the audiobook helped bring the story alive. Highly recommend.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get on with the narrator and therefore couldn’t get into the story.

Might try physical at some point!