The Marvellers is the middle grad fantasy series we've been waiting for to satisfy our taste for a school of magic. The story has wonderful world building scenes, a mystery surrounding the ACEs, and a group of friends that help one another. I can't wait to keep reading the others in this series. I would recommend this to any reader that enjoyed Harry Potter and the Upside-Down Magic series.

I loved this book and so did both of my tweens! The fantasy world-building was fantastic and I loved every minute of it!

I already can’t wait for book 2!!! Such a whimsical setting, very Harry Potter-esque, but a more refreshing take on magical schools. Ella Durand is such a wonderful main character, and the side characters are super lovable. We love a grumpy gal bestie. There are enough questions that make you want the second book in your hands ASAP, but also enough answers that made the ending of this one pretty satisfying. The perfect concoction!

This book says it is a middle grade but I felt like it fell somewhere closer to young adult (although the main characters are middle grade age). The story moves slowly and took me a while to really get into it and be invested. I did love how diverse the characters in this book are.

Loved this title, and what I will say is that we need more children's lit like this! Fun, exciting, full of adventure...it felt like a modern-day Harry Potter but with so much more depth. Have been recommending to so many!

Wonderful middle grade story! If you love fantasy and want to see some representation this is the story for you! I love a good magic school setting and The Marvellers definitely delivered. Highly recommend.

Highly recommend if you loved Nevermoor and Amari and the Night Brothers, this is such a whimsical story, and I loved the magic school setting!

MacKids Book Club September 2023 pick. A school where children can grow into their own surrounded by magical beings, wonderful treats, and incomparable knowledge, all while finding out the special, in this case literal, light within themselves. The similarities with the other, older magical school are there, but A.T.I., like the Conjureverse itself, looks past the traditional and brings a world already built to include all readers. Borrowing heavily on a wealth of Creole traditions, Ella Durand is mostly ready to be a trailblazer within the Marvelling world, not completely ready to accept its Conjuring cousins. Dhonielle Clayton’s latest series is a fun filled adventure inside another magical society filled with fun and secrets. I’m hoping this series goes for a while. #mackids #squarefishpublishing #bookclubreads

If you like fantasy books, you’ll love this story about a girl named Ella whose conjuror magic is finally allowed at the prestigious Arcanum Training Institute. But the prejudice in the world against her magic continues at the school. Despite the many enemies at her school, she persists and makes two friends who help her when she’s falsely accused of a crime and when her favorite professor vanishes. At the same time, the dangerous Ace of Anarchy escapes prison and seems to be searching for her long-lost daughter who might be Ella’s best friend. Interesting and exciting.

I really loved how vibrant and full of imagination this world was! It rippled with life and creativity, and I'm so excited to see how the story continues in the next book!

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

MAGIC WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

So fun and delightfully fresh. I really enjoyed the depiction of various cultures and think this book is perfect for young readers of all backgrounds.

Really enjoyed this book filled with Black Girl Magic. Though the field is filling up with magical-school related books, this one is also a good addition to a library. Ella is heading off to a magical academy, but the reader soon learns that she is a bit of an outcast--her form of magic is not accepted by the magical world at large. She is teased and bullied, but ends up finding help from one of her professors, and a couple of new friends. But in the background, there lurks the threat of evil, once defeated, now returning. There were some twists at the end of this book that made me very curious for a sequel. Definitely one I will be recommending to my students.

Middle grade readers are always asking for more fantasy series and The Marvellers will be at the top of my recommendation list!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful book of fantasy, family and friends. The Marvellers is fantastic novel (and series starter) for fans of magical and mystical characters and settings. I love that the young characters in this book lean on each other and share how they are learning to support friends, defeat enemies and stand up for themselves in the face of many different adversities.

magic school a la Harry Potter but with a Creole twist

This one reminded me a lot of several other books including the Nevermoor series and the Amari and the Night Brothers series. Ella comes from a family of Conjurers and is one of the first Conjurers to be allowed entry into the Arcanum Training Institute, a school previously founded for Marvellers.

Themes of us vs. them continue throughout the book as Ella fights to prove her worth and solve mysteries that pop up. The worldbuilding is well done, although there many familiar tropes like being sorted into houses based on a magical specialty, an evil villain that is revealed with a twist at the end, students solving a mystery when the adults become corrupt or don't believe them. This book was good, but it felt like bits and pieces of things I had read before. The major conflict was introduced about 70% of the way through the book which also made the pacing of the story feel a bit unbalanced.

Overall this will be a fun read for fantasy lovers who can't get enough of the previously mentioned series. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy!

The setting for this book was so whimsical and magical. It put a twist on the same old chosen one trope we are all of sick of and made it so much more compelling. Such a good, fast middle grade book!

Rating: 2.75 I think there is definitely an audience that would love this but sadly that was not me. There was just not enough world-building or explanation for me to completely engage in this world or story. I appreciate the diversity but sadly that was one of the only plus points for me. The pacing was also weird. It seemed to take forever to actually get into the meat of the story. Overall, I do think some will love this but I was just not one of them.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

this book was exactly what i wanted it to be. it was a fun, middle grade, magic school book with some important social commentary. i really enjoyed our main character and her little crew, and i think the book set up a series that i’m excited to continue.

Highly recommend if you loved Nevermoor and Amari and the Night Brothers, this is such a whimsical story, and I loved the magic school setting!