I thought this was a great follow up to the first book. I loved the comfort of having some of the same characters. It was nice to see Amari’s friendships develop. The first book, Amari and the Nightbrothers was one of my favorite reads. This sequel did not disappoint. Fast paced and full of magic. Amari is once again having to prove herself and fight evil with the help of her friends.

Sequels are tough, and hard to live up to such great expectations after a phenomenal start with the first book.

What I liked:
- Emphasis on friendship and empowerment and not on romantic relationships
- tweens will enjoy the continued worldbuilding of this universe

What I didn't like
- First and foremost, this ends on a cliffhanger, so readers who don't like endings that aren't completely satisfying
should wait until the third in the series comes out before reading
- The tone fell a little flat. The first book was a very easy to get into and engaging read, but this one, much less so.

This is the sequel to Amari and the Night Brothers and.... WHOA! It's so intense. And I will tell you right off the start of this review that it has one of the biggest cliffhangers I have ever read!

Amari is all set to leave for the summer of her dreams with her neighbor, but without any warning finds herself banned from the Bureau.

Someone or something has frozen the council, leaving a vacancy for the head of the Bureau. The new acting leader is a wrath and he's made it clear that he is not about magicians and anything magician adjacent. He puts out an all call to hunt down all unwanteds. Amari is allowed to go back to eventually, but she's back to being the outcast, abate, a celebrity outcast.

Enter the League of Magicians. Cozmo forces Amari's hand after she declines the crown (of power) and she has to enter the Great Games.

That's a lot for any kid to deal with, but her brother still hasn't woken up yet and there's some drama with her best friend Elsie and... Laura is back...

Can Amari solve the time freeze, save her friends and brother, and learn some magic? Read this one to find out!
Be warned though... that ending... gah!!!!

What I loved:
Amari isn't perfect and she makes mistakes. But she learns from her mistakes.
Elsie is the best friend I would want.
Jayden is able to get out of the life he was stuck in and join the bureau. His magical ability is epic!
The Harry Potter vibes.
Merlin.
The time freeze mystery paired with the Great Game.
Shadow - if you know, you know.

The world that BB Alston is building for Amari and her friends has been nothing short of magical! I read the first book and just couldn’t wait until the release of book two! So thankful to @netgalley to be able to read Amari and The Great Game! New gadgets, new problems and new adventure await as Amari finds herself trying to prove that good magicians exist! Elsie, Jayden, and some surprising new friends are on her side. But this time, the threat comes from inside the Bureau! As they try to figure out who caused the time freeze, the Great Game will crown the Leader of the League of Magicians! Will it be Amari? If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, Amari is your next read!

4.5 stars rounding up to 5!

I loved this next installment of Amari's story! The action and pacing was great, the plot was interesting and kept me guessing, and I am so impressed with how Alston infuses his world with so much interesting detail. This really is my go-to series to recommend to Harry Potter fans. After that ending, I'm SO curious to see what direction book three takes. I hope we'll get more than just three books in this series!!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

B.B. Alston does it again this second installment of the Amari Peters books! Amari is fighting for her rights as a born magician once again. It is an action packed, fast paced, perfect read for anyone who believes in making the right choices even when it’s not the easy road!

The first thing I have to say is ….

THE BOOK ENDED THERE?!?!

Ahem. I am VERY EAGERLY awaiting book 3!

I love this series. Amari is such a great character. She has hard choices to make and faces more betrayal and prejudice in this second installment. However, she recognizes (due to wise words from mentors as well as her own internal voice) that it is her choices that make her who she is. And our hero tends to choose well! She has such supportive friends who really help her deal with everything and are all very smart in different ways! I highly recommend this book.

I only read the first two chapters but it jumps right into the action and I can definitely see kids getting into the story. Wi likely go over well for our middle grade readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

A thrilling sequel, Amari and the Great Game, is sure to entice readers. Amari is ready for a second summer of Agent training but must first overcome several obstacles, including a new director and prime minister, a frozen magical congress, and beating her nemesis in the Great Game. If Amari doesn’t solve the mystery and win the game, a devastating war will change all of their futures. Amari and the Great Game is a must read this fall!

Our family loved the first book in this series, Amari and the Night Brothers. When my kids heard that there was another book coming out, and that we didn’t have to wait for the release date, they were all in. I won’t try to describe the volume, but understand there was high-pitched squealing. Now, as an adult reading the books with my kids, I have to say the first book was absolutely fantastic. Enjoy reading different voices? The book has it. Want action and adventure? It’s there. Magic and fantasy? Galore. I will admit to feeling a bit of trepidation about the second book.

My kids loved the first book so much, how was the sequel going to stand up to it? And then B.B. Alston did it again. Not only was Amari and the Great Game as good as the first book, it surpassed it. There were giggles and gasps. The shift in main characters made me love them, and the book, even more.

I look forward to even more character development in the third book, which my children are now anxiously awaiting.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was provided by HarperCollin’s Children’s Books.

The second book in this middle-grade fantasy series will capture readers’ imagination. The author has a gifted way of crafting a story about the innate nature of humanity in this magical world that will leave you spellbound and craving more.

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of Amari and the Great Game in exchange for an honest review!*

B. B. Alston's Amari is back and better than ever! The 2nd installment of the Amari series grabs you and doesn't let you go until the very last page. There are so many twists and turns in this story that keep you guessing and wondering throughout. The ending is both heartwarming and crushing in equal parts. All I can say without giving too much away is that a lot of kids and adults alike are going to be crying out for book 3 after finishing this one!

This has a lottt of elements that are similar to Harry Potter in a way that I think some readers might call out as derivative but like JKR didn't invent them either and also it's great to have those tropes/elements in a book about a cool Black girl that wasn't written by a TERF so hell yeah Amari keep on keepin on

Readers of middle grade fantasy have been watching for the released of the second installment after 1) the series opened left us all reeling from the plot twist at the end, and 2) Amari and the Night Brothers won awards and made so many state reading lists! B.B. Alston doesn’t waste any time with a lot of background information, instead, Amari, Elsie and now Jayden are making plans to begin their summer session at the Bureau and within the first little bit, disaster strikes! As the new conflicts and those that began in book 1 evolve, those who read Night Brothers way back when will have the key bits refreshed with dialogue between new and old characters so don’t feel you have to reread the 1st one (unless you just want to). There are two new enemies who become critical to the plot and several old are still a plague to Amari, Maria, and Elsie as they seek to free Quinton from Moreau’s curse and root out the new evil that seeks to banish the so-called UnWanteds from the supernatural community. A few Junior agents who were not significant factors in the first book have larger roles in the second and all the quirky characters, like Bertha and various elevator operators, bring those important touches of humor that allow readers a breathe or two between character clashes.

The conclusion to book 2 is abrupt and leaves fans of the series wondering when the 3rd book will be on shelves. As with book 1, the text is free of profanity, sexual content and the magical violence is bloodless and not overdone. Representation: Characters represent many ethnicities and while the attempt to discriminate against certain supernatural beings comes straight from pages of world history (both past and present), it does not come across as preachy or political, but will hopefully cause young readers to think about how they treat others.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did NOT disappoint. Alston masterfully crafted a sequel that is both compelling and important. I'm excited to see where the series goes from here.
I cannot wait to put this in the hands of so many of our young patrons, because I cannot stop recommending this series to them.

Wow! The first book was awesome, but I loved this one even more. The story continues to develop as do the characters. I can’t wait to recommend this to my students when it comes out!

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.

After Amari finds her brother and saves the world from her former partner, she's ready for a calm summer as a Junior Agent. But between a new Head Minister with an anti-magician agenda, her brother's curse worsening, and an offer to lead the League of Magicians, Amari is in for a rough ride.

I was a bit split on this book. In the blurb, so much emphasis was put on the Great Game, but so little of the book actually focuses on it; in reality, the blurb completely ignores that the book circles around the Head Minister and a impossible phenomenon being blamed on magicians, with a few breaks for glimpse of the Game. This wasn't a huge detractor for me, but I did feel a little let down.

I really enjoy this series; it's perfect for those that like books like Percy Jackson, Wings of Fire, and Spy School. In fact, I originally picked this series up because my nephew didn't want to read any books that weren't fantasy, so I wanted a bridge to introduce him to other genres-in this case, a little bit of mystery. The second book added an extra dose of mystery, which I really enjoyed.

The only issue I had with this book is that I personally prefer for my middle grade books to have a firmer ending, especially since I often recommend these kinds of books to reluctant readers. This ends in a very abrupt manner with a giant cliffhanger. But this is just a personal preference, so I'm not holding it against them.

All in all, I cannot wait for book 3 to come out. I will definitely be reading it.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for an ARC of this book.

Was this super predictable? Yes. Did I care? No, I still loved it and finished it in two sittings and I can't believe I have to wait another year for the next one. This is an excellent follow-up to Night Brothers, filled with relevant social commentary and enough action to keep you reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC of Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston.

I love Amari and the Night Brothers more than I could possibly out into words so I have been anxiously awaiting it's sequel. This book did not disappoint. In so many series, the second book will often times fall flat, but I am so happy that is not the case with this one.

Amari returns from her heroic rescue of the supernatural world to find herself faced with a new crisis. The supernatural world is caught in a tube freeze and she finds herself mistrusted one again, but this time with friends and allies she can lean on

I could not put this book down! It is just as fast paced and action packed as the first one, the storytelling is amazing, and so far it may be one of my favorite books that I've read this year. I cannot wait for Amari and the Great Game's book birthday so that I can relentlessly talk this book up to every person I come across, juvenile and adult alike!

This book was a great second in the Amari series. It continued on in the saga of Dylan and Amari and all those who oppose magicians. I can't wait until in comes out so I can share it with the kids at our school. I am sad that I don't know how long I will have to wait to read the next book and find out if good will triumph evil and if the magicians will be accepted by all!