Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

This was book was really great!! I enjoyed it a lot, loved the characters and the world building. The cover is also so lovely. It was such a cute story!

I also do want to state that I did get the audibook from audible and loved the set up so much. It was a great sudibooks with the music creating some atomsephic read. I also loved the focus on a magical competition. It was a super quick read. The twists and turns were hard to predict and follow. This story hd a nice balance of the magic elements and normal middle school topics. I really did love the audibook of the novel and i think i will enhance the experience!!

A magical read with some annoying flaws, namely the Amelias'

Mia (the real Amelia Jones) finally shows up wreaking havoc on Amelia (the main character) also Jones' life. Mia is just not likeable, and even after discovering why she returned and why she's acting the way she has been, still, nope.

Amelia is still wrestling with feelings of insecurity, learning about her unique magical skills, and getting the shock of her life over her parentage. She's still reckless, angry, impulsive, a bit selfish and some of that can be excused over her feelings of abandonment that she's still processing.

The book is a great read and deals with issues around parental abandonment, insecurities, parental disapproval and it's effects on their children, bullying, guilt, parental death, pain, etc.

Overalls satisfying sequel.

I received an electronic ARC from Clarion Books through NetGalley.
This sequel picks up shortly after the first book ends. Readers see the developing friendships among Amelia, Jai and Darby and see how their magic is growing. A twist happens early on when the other Amelia Jones arrives to take her place at Mystwick. This Mia adds a different dynamic at a time when Amelia is tense and starting to cope with her magical skills as a Composer. Everything culminates at the major competition when Amelia has to choose between possibly winning the cup and saving Jai from a magician who lost their way long ago.
I appreciate the tender way Khoury brings out Amelia's anger and other emotions about her dad abandoning her. Learning to face them and process them is pivotal to this story and the successful outcome at the end. It will be interesting to see where the author takes this story next.
Middle grade readers will enjoy the fantasy elements and relate to the characters coping with a variety of family situations.

The Midnight Orchestra by Jessica Khoury is the sequel to The Mystwick School of Musicraft. I do recommend reading in order.

Amelia must master the magic of Composing to help her school win a magic competition—and save her friends from a mysterious evil. Things are finally looking up for Amelia Jones: she's officially a Mystwick student, and she even has a teacher to help her learn how to use her rare Composing magic. When Mystwick enters an international magic competition, it’s Amelia's chance to Compose something that will help them win the day. The only problem is that she still doesn’t understand how her powers work. But then she hears about a super exclusive Midnight Orchestra—half performance, half magical black market—and Amelia is sure that’s where she’ll find the answer to her Composing problem. But the Midnight Orchestra is far more sinister than it initially appears and if Amelia can’t unlock her Composing powers, not only will Mystwick lose the musicraft competition, she won’t be able to rescue her friends from the danger unleashed in this thrilling adventure.

The Midnight Orchestra starts off right after the first book ended, and I will admit that it took me a bit to remember just where everyone and everything left off. However, once I got back into the swing of things I was again empathizing with Amelia and all her insecurities and feelings as she tried to work through so many things at once. Her struggles with friendship are something that many readers can relate to, and the complicated feelings about family and the trustworthiness and intelligence of the adults around here is equally understandable. I was engaged in her struggles quickly, and while some of the big reveals I had figured out much earlier, I think that is more because of the number of magic and mystery books that I have read rather than any flaw in the writing. I think that Amelia continues to grow as a character and that fans of the first book will definitely want to pick this one up as well.

The Midnight Orchestra is a charming continuation of the series, and will please fans of the series. As a side note- if you enjoy audiobooks, a version of this title (with music) is already available via Audible.

The Midnight Orchestra is a very fun follow up to the The Mystwick School of Musicraft. I had expected this second title to follow up with the characters in their second year at Mystwick, as that is how these stories typically follow, however The Midnight Orchestra picks up almost immediately after the first book ends. This makes for a very chaotic year for the protagonist. Fun new magic is explored and the world of Musicraft is broadened with knowledge of other schools (competition!) and more application of spells. I did miss the excitement of world building from the first book, as the second didn't have quite the same magical feel, but the new characters helped flesh out the world building and it was an all around good-time read.

The Midnight Orchestra was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 after I read and adored the first book in the fall of 2020. I wasn't aware there was going to be a sequel after finishing it, though, so I was so thrilled when I learned of this one! The Mystwick world is beautifully developed with such a unique magic system, and there's so much that can be done with this series. I can't wait to see what's in store for Amelia and her friends after the closing of this amazing book!

Usually, I try to reread books if I'm reading sequels so I can have the first one fresh in my mind. I unfortunately didn't have enough time to reread at the moment, so I decided to try The Midnight Orchestra, and if I was completely lost, I'd set it aside. This is because I've found that having no recollection of previous novels in a series can really ruin the enjoyment of the sequels, and I did not want to do that with this one. Surprisingly though, I remembered a lot more than I thought I would, and what I couldn't quite recall, the book did a little rehash on, which was extremely helpful.

The Midnight Orchestra picks up almost immediately after the events of the first book, so Amelia still hasn’t learned how to control her Composing power, which is a lot of what this story focuses on. Composing is directly correlated to the emotions the caster is feeling, so a big part of the story is Amelia working through her emotions and examining how past events have affected her. She has a lot of unexamined trauma surrounding her father’s abandonment, and watching her emotional journey as she channeled those feelings into her music, while also being scared of them, was really well done. It brought a more somber feel to the book, while still keeping plenty of light-hearted and exciting moments.

Just as in the first book, the friendships in this one were lovely! Jai is such a good and supportive friend, who’s also really hilarious. I just love his humor. Several times he had me laughing out loud! The relationship between Darby and Amelia was also further explored, and while rocky at times because of a certain surprise, it really showed the strong bond these two share.

Mia was an interesting addition. If there were any indications in the last book that she’d be making an appearance here, I either missed it or didn’t pick up on it. It added a fascinating twist the story and a little bit of drama, while never taking away from Amelia’s journey. Mia definitely got on my nerves from time to time, and while I understand her motives now because of the ending, I still think she took it too far. Still, I can sympathize with her and see where she was coming from, so I’m not too annoyed about it.

Throughout the Midnight Orchestra, there were several plot twists and reveals, and I was so excited when I figured almost all of them out. I know most people like being surprised and are unsatisfied when they guess the big reveal. However, I always feel so accomplished that I was able to follow the clues that lead me there, so I didn’t mind the predictability of it. Even with the more apparent parts, there were still a lot of complexities that were added and explored. I think the unfolding of the events was done excellently. Even though I’d figured out what was going on, the way it was uncovered was done so well that I was too focused on being excited I guessed it right and impressed with the way it all unfolded to worry about predictability.

The only thing about this story that really bothered me was Amelia’s aversion to adult help. It’s one thing to be worried about involving the adults because of repercussions, but Amelia would instead harp on the fact that adults would just take over the situation and would always insist on knowing more. I worry about this portrayal because younger people should never be afraid to go to the adults in their life for help, or reluctant to for that matter. Reading books like this and hearing the main character complain about how adults will warp any situation could impress upon children in the wrong way. I feel we should always encourage younger people to seek help when they need it, and the way it was depicted here didn’t bring that across at all.

All that aside though, I absolutely loved this sequel. The adventures and mishaps Amelia and her crew find themselves in were delightful to witness! I also cannot get over how amazing the magic system in this world is. It would have never occurred to me to create a magic system that relies on musical instruments to cast spells, but I adore this concept! It’s explored so well, and the entire school is skillfully developed. Mystwick is a world I would love to visit and explore.

Overall, The Midnight Orchestra did not disappoint! It had all the same characters and adventures from book one, while still being its own unique story. I’m always worried about sequels when I loved the first one as much as I loved the Mystwick School of Musicraft, but The Midnight Orchestra was just as strong and wonderful. If you haven’t tried out this magically delightful middle grade series, I highly recommend it!

What a good sequel. This stands up well and continues the story strongly. Looking forward to the third book.

I could not put this book down! This book may have actually been better than the first in the series - which is quite an accomplishment as the first is really good! This sequel is full of so much heart and musical magic, even the flowing lyrical writing draws you in and really helps you visualize what’s happening in the story. I absolutely loved the imagery of the piano keys portal in the forest and the classroom where Amelia attends her composition classes. There’s quite a bit of mystery in this book as well and I love how Amelia - with the help of her friends - put the pieces together. As a musical person, I also really appreciate the witty and creative titles of each chapter. Every detail of this book is so well thought out and presented - I can’t wait to see what is next for Amelia Jones! This book is a lot of fun and I will highly recommend it when it lands in the bookstore!

Thank you NetGalley and Clarion Books for the advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an electronic ARC.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series, and this follow-up does not disappoint. Amelia's unique ability to compose new musical spells means that The Mystwick School of Musicraft can enter an international music/magic competition. The setup for this competition reminded me of Glee and Pitch Perfect (in a good way). At times, the balance between the competition and the mysterious Midnight Orchestra was lopsided. The one sour note in the story was the inclusion of Mia Jones. She tries to control Amelia's life and her bullying did not feel justified.

Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for this ARC

Music based fiction, with twisty plots (albeit easy ones) ctesy cover aside its full of adventure and danger!

A nice second installment. Although ok as a standalone, it would be tougher to follow. This is an interesting world where magic is created by music. This one is much darker than the first with less focus on the magic and more on Amelia.

I was excited to see a second book in the Mystwick series, as I thoroughly enjoyed the first one!

Amelia is back at Mystwick and has a lot to work through after what happened in book one and finding out she can compose music!

I think we all can relate to Amelia when you do one amazing thing and then everyone expects more from you, and then you begin wondering if you can do more or if it was just a one time fluke.

I had a great time reading this book! I enjoyed it more than I thought I would! I definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy lovable characters and magic~ hahaha thanks for the copy!!

This book was so cool! I really enjoyed the plot and the characters. The plot twists were surprising and I didn't expect them. This was such a great book.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advance e copy in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely adored the first Mystwick book, so when I saw the sequel on its way, I KNEW I had to read it. Sequels to darling stories can be hit or miss but Jessica Khoury absolutely smashed this continuation of Amelia Jones’ story!

We pick up just about where the first story left off, and that’s my one minor complaint- the pacing of the beginning feels clunky, as Amelia speaks about her relationship with Darby as if they are now longtime friends. But the story settles after that with twist after twist! I guessed the primary conflict/reveal pretty early, but the journey to that was absolutely worth it!

I once likened Mystwick to Harry Potter, and this story felt a lot like Goblet of Fire. Khoury managed to write a villain who serves Voldemort but more sympathetic. The story is much less good vs evil, but an incredible example of how love and grief impact our decisions.

Overall, an absolutely stellar sequel that I cannot wait to share with my students!

A slice of pure compelling music based fiction which comes to life so effortlessly as every page is turned. Stunning.

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not affected by the free copy.

Amelia Jones is back again! She saved Mystwick from her composition gone wrong, became an official student, and is ready to learn to use her powers with her very own teacher to help her. With their first Composer in 20 years, Mystwick can finally enter the international magic competition. However, the Midnight Orchestra, half performance, half black magic, is interested in her, and she wonders if they can help her Compose. But they aren't all they appear, and everything goes superbly wrong. Can Amelia Compose them out of trouble this time?

I was thrilled when the first book came out. Music creates magic? Yes, please! This book did not disappoint. Our old characters continue to develop and new characters fill some voids (evil villains! Muh ha ha). Amelia does slightly better in this book, trusting her friends and asking for help, but there wouldn't be much of a plot line if she hid nothing.

The pictures in the book were absolutely stunning; my favorite is from the battle of the rock bands-so pretty! I wish there were a few more, but I always looked forward to the next one and enjoyed them a lot. They actually even worked on a Kindle. I was concerned they wouldn't convert well, but they looked great.

The only "downside" in this book were that the plot twists were fairly obvious. However, this is a middle grade book, so to some extent, that is to me expected. I cannot wait for book 3 to come out and will absolutely keep reading. This book is perfect for anyone that enjoys magic and/or music.