Fast paced middle grade fantasy with female protagonist Amari looking forward to summer Bureau camp, when suddenly there is a time freeze. Friends, foes, students against adults, curses, and a dangerous Game to determine the next leader of the League of Magicians give this a very HP feel. If you missed the first one, AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS, “Great Game” easily alludes to the backstory from “Night Brothers” so the reader is not at a loss. While we wait for Amari 3 to drop, which will Sept.-Oct. 2023, one could go back and read it.
Thank you to Balzer&Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Children's Books ,and Netgalley for the digital arc.

Amari and the Great Game is a fantastic follow-up to 2020’s Amari and the Night Brothers. The first book was a magical story emphasizing friendship, perseverance and self-confidence combined with literal Black Girl Magic and B.B. Alston doesn’t disappoint us with the sequel. He deftly balances playful magic, high-stakes adventure and real-world issues like discrimination and misinformation.

I loved returning to Alston’s incredibly-built world. The Bureau itself was fully realized and I wish I could see it for real. I especially appreciated the addition of The Department of Half-Truths and Full Cover-Ups, which felt incredibly and uncomfortably real in this magical setting. Every time Harlowe, the department’s director, appeared on the page my frustration at the realism grew exponentially. It takes a lot of talent to create such a despicable character and Alston’s work there impressed me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Amari and the Great Game by B. B. Alston is the follow up to Amari and the Night Brothers. Amari’s got 99 problems and she doesn’t need one more. Following her finding her brother alive but cursed at the end of the first book Amari, the increase of anti-magician sentiment since the explosive ending of the last book, and now a secret League of Magicians offering her the chance to be their leader Amari has more than enough to deal with and declines. Unfortunately her declining allows another to step up and take the League on a dangerous path so she has no choice but to throw her never even entered hat back into the ring, setting off the dangerous Great Game. The Great Game is deadly and mysterious but it promises the chance to finding a cure for her brother if she wins so really, what else was she going to do?
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I loved, loved, loved Amari and the Night Brothers so I was so excited for this book and it will come as no surprise that not only did the stakes raise in this book but I loved it even more than book 1. Amari has her friends from the first book but also she pushes outside her comfort zone and finds that she has even more allies than she first thought so long as she keeps herself open to it. I love that the stakes are raising and Amari is rising to the challenge, she has her stumbles but she is an incredible character with incredible friends, she just needs to remember she doesn’t have to do this all alone and can lean on them more. With the way this book ended I am so excited for the next book in the series because we’re not done yet.

I quite enjoyed this book. It is a good sequel and I sure hope the next book is not so nerve wracking.

Great addition to the series! I can’t wait for the next installment! (Because there has to be another one!). This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time! I was totally caught up in Amari’s struggles. And I love her dragon friend! This series is a really cool addition to the magical world! More please!!!

My elementary age children and I all found this to be much harder to stick with than the first. It felt unfocused and there weren't enough scenes from "the great game." We are all still interested in the third book, but this one was a bit of a let down after the first book, which was spectacular.

I absolutely loved this book. Maybe more than the first. We read it with my young daughters and it kept their attention and then some! They could not wait to hear about Amari. Great for lovers of magic and girl power. I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley, thank you to them. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one but not quiet as much as the first one, the beginning was a tad slow. Can't wait for another one though!!

I think I loved this book even more that the first in the series! We continue to follow Amari, the girl with powers who lives to find out more about what happened to her brother. Amari and her friends encounter more danger and adventure in this installment, and readers will not be able to put the book down.

Recommended for ages 10 and up. Reading Amari and the Night Brothers first helps with character development, but it's not necessary to enjoy Amari and the Great Game.

Amari – even more amazing! Amari is ready for her second summer as Junior Agent. But the new Head Minister and his anti-magician rules, resistance is building. The League of Magicians wants her to lead the fight. When she refuses, she is forced into the secret and dangerous Great Game, competing to lead the League – because her loss will lead to a future she can’t even imagine. Magic, adventure, family, friendship, and a strong, courageous character! Can’t wait for the next!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

This is one of the best new middle grade fantasy series! I just love the ride we go on with Amari! She’s navigating a giant power that the world has been taught to hate and fear along with friendships, trust, doubt, family, and everything else a human goes through. Oh and the nemesis list has grown. In Book 2 we have a lot of themes that feel like Harry Potter (including our very own Umbridge) but as a big HP fan I could notice the similarities and cheer Amari and friends on. Reading about these powerful adults trying to take down a child gets under your skin just enough to hate those adults, I have to say. And the roller coaster with Dylan still has me holding out hope. The end is a big “oh my gosh!” and I cannot wait for Book 3!

I finally got around to reading Amari and the Great Game in December and I'm so glad I did! This series is so much fun. If you have a middle grade reader in your life or if you're just looking for a really creative contemporary fantasy read, I'd highly recommend this series!

These books are all about friendship, the love between siblings, and dealing with being different from your peers. There's impressive and creative world-building, flamboyant outfits, and magical trials to overcome. These books are great for fans of Percy Jackson! It's kind of like going to school to become a Men in Black-style agent for magical beings rather than aliens. I can't possibly do these books justice. Just go check them out if you haven't yet!

Amari is quickly becoming my favorite middle-grade magician. This book was packed full of action, and I can't wait for the next installment. I've been recommending this to my readers and patrons left and right.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Amari Peters returns to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs in this fast-paced sequel to Amari and the Night Brothers. Amari has been in the supernatural world for a full year, and is looking forward to returning to the Bureau’s summer camp to continue her training to become a special agent. When a mysterious time freeze that only a magician could pull off traps the supernatural congress, Amari finds herself - and her powers - under suspicion once again. Magicians are not to be trusted in the supernatural world, and a war fed by prejudice is brewing. A shadowy group of magicians calls Amari to compete in the Great Game to gain immeasurable powers and lead the magicians in the impending war.

I still really enjoyed this, but it was missing just a bit of the spark that made book 1 so special. The book was frantic - there was so much going on! We are constantly transported (literally!) from event to event and didn’t get to slow down to explore and appreciate the wonders of the supernatural world like we did in the first book. I thought the magical competition would be a bigger part of this book, but every event felt like it was over before it began. I wanted more competition! Give me build up, give me stakes, give me an audience of wizards with dubious morals watching two teens fight for power! There is a competition/challenge element to the first book that felt much better paced and plotted than this; while the stakes of this new challenge are objectively higher, I didn’t feel that on the page.

The adults also felt like caricatures - almost all of them are mustache twirling villains, while the rest are entirely incompetent. This drove me absolutely bonkers, but I doubt it would bother a kid as much as me.

I continued to really love the friendship in this - I think it’s something Alston writes exceedingly well. Amari’s relationships with her friends and family are probably my favorite part of this series! I really liked how Elsie’s acceptance to Oxford and impending move was explored and how Amari had to juggle a variety of conflicting emotions about her leaving.

Overall this is still an excellent middle grade series and I still had a really fun time with this book - it’s just a bummer that it didn’t *quite* live up to the magic of the first.

Amari is back and her challenges are tougher than ever. A familiar enemy and a game she wasn't expecting. This is such a great continuation of a now beloved series. I purchased the first for my classroom, and I will do the same with this one. Gorgeous writing and Amari at her best providing a mirror to those kids that don't usually see a mirror in a class library.

This was one of my anticipated reads of 2022, and I'm actually sad because I didn't love it the way I fell in love with book one. Don't get me wrong, I love the world that's created and the way that it was built up. The dynamic between the characters is amazing, but I think this book was more serious and had that "realism" aspect, I wasn't expecting that. This book didn't have the fun, upbeat, adventurous subplot of book one; and seeing how book one ended on a happy-go-lucky note, you don't expect the other shoe to drop as quickly as it did at the beginning of this story. The somber tone continued throughout the story with a few hints of that charm from book one that I'm hoping we will see more of in book 3.

Just hoping book three will come in and save the day.

Thanks to NetGalley & HarperCollins for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Amari and her friend Elsie struggle against rising tensions and prejudice against magicians like her. On top of it all, Amari has to make serious decisions that could save or doom humanity.

Fantastic sequel! It's definitely more action-packed than the previous one and very fast paced which I found entertaining. I like the magic system being explored more and the morally grey characters, both villains and unlikely allies. Can't wait to read the next book!

I love Amari and the world that Alston has built. I love the people surrounding Amari and find myself rooting for them to overcome the evils of their world.
This one didn't keep me as hooked as the first book, but I still enjoyed reading it and seeing what was happening next in Amari's world.

I love love love this series!! I feel like the writing of this book is even better than the last. Can't wait for the next one!

As a bookseller, I recommend Amari and the Great Game to fans of Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and Tristan Strong, and it's been a great handsell this holiday season.