This was an excellent middle grade/middle school fantasy book! It had everything a fantasy reader could want. A magical train, a dragon, heroes and villains, battles, twists and turns, a group of friends, and more! The main character and her relationship between her friends and family were well done. The big twist I saw coming but was also eager for, and some of the smaller twists did surprise me. I am very eager to see what happens next in the series and think readers will love this book.

So engaging! I love this and Nic is a fantastic protagonist. I'm definitely excited to see where this story goes and to learn more. I couldn't put it down.

Definitely gives off Percy Jackson vibes. I love the three main characters and the incorporation of Black history. I would've loved a book like this when I was a kid. It's a book that should be used as a class read because it's fun and informative about Black history and would inspire kids and their imagination. I'm a fan of the Percy Jackson series, and while that series is also great and informative on Greek and Roman mythology, Nic Blake and the Remarkables allows Black kids (though the book is a great read for anyone) to see themselves in a fantasy series.

4.5/5

Angie Thomas sure can write! I didn’t want to put this down! I can’t wait to see what happens next! Please tell me there are more books in this series…

This was a great book! I very much enjoyed it and I look forward to reading the author’s next work! Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

Meh. This is a fine story, but it’s been done before. There were so many tropes in this book that I just couldn’t get invested. It took me so long to get into zone every time I picked it up to continue reading. The characters, while fun, were one dimensional. They didn’t seem to have the complexity found in Riordan or Rowling books. I really admire Angie Thomas and have enjoyed all her works, but this one felt flat.

Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy is one of the the best middle grade novels to have come out of 2023 thus far. The characters and friendships are charming and the story itself is brimming with action, adventure, magic and fun, as well as being deeply moving and delivering some fantastic historical insight into the Underground Railroad and civil rights movement in the US.

It’s a story that feels familiar (we’ve got the chosen one, missing parents, kids saving the day etc.) whilst feeling wholly unique and exciting in its own right. It’s the perfect story for fans of HP, Percy Jackson and Amari and the Night Brothers looking for their next thrilling and magical adventure. I had so much fun with this book and I’ve found myself once again utterly in awe of Angie Thomas’s talent. I can’t wait to recommend this to readers young and old as I eagerly await book two.

This book was so fun to read!
Nic Blake and the Remarkable is captivating with its thrilling plot twists and dynamic characters, keeping readers wondering about the family secrets until the end.

Brilliant start to an exciting middle grade series! Angie Thomas does it again with this amazing, exciting, and heartfelt series starter. I can’t wait to pick up the sequel.

Angie Thomas does it again! Love seeing this author venture into MG and fantasy. Can't wait to continue the series as it develops.

Angie Thoma's MG debut is a wonderful ode to young black girls and shows them the magic inside themselves.

Can Angie Thomas do everything right?! WOW. This book was spectacular. Major Amari and the Night Brothers vibes yet different enough that it stands on its own. I was completely captivated with this book from the first chapter and its hold on me didn't let up at any point during my read (listen) of this book. Nic Blake is an incredible main character: one who is driven, intelligent, and unwavering in the face of danger. There are so many new characters and reworkings of major historical events, like the Underground Railroad.

This book? Just, yes. I am eagerly anticipating the next two books in this trilogy. In the meantime, I'll be recommending this book to those who may like high fantasy but get overwhelmed with fantasy easily. This one is perfect for those (like me) who fit that description.

Hello Again!

I am very excited to finally have read and get the chance to talk about Nic Blake and the Remarkables. I am a huge Angie Thomas fan and when I heard she was writing a middle-grade novel, I was incredibly excited to see what she would do with it. Then when I was able to read a summary of what the novel would be like my excitement went up! A magical middle-grade novel, count me so in!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Nic lives a pretty normal life with her dad. They move around a lot but she doesn’t think much of it. Recently they have gotten to stay in the same place for a long while and Nic has had the opportunity to make a good friend. They spend a lot of their time together and something they do is read their favorite book series together! It’s a magical series and the newest book is about to come out. Outside of that, Nic knows she is part of the remarkable community and possesses magic but she does not know too much about the other remarkables outside of what her dad has taught her. But she does know that she wants a hellhound for her birthday and her dad delivers. However, he also forbids her from going to an author signing with her best friend to meet her favorite author. Nic is super upset about this turn of events but she makes the choice to sneak out and when she meets the author, she learns that her father had several reasons for trying to keep her from going. Now Nic is off on a magical journey to try to save her dad and learn about herself.

I absolutely adored this book. Nic’s journey to learn more about herself (which leads her to meeting her mother, a long-lost twin brother and so many other people). I loved learning more about the remarkables and the magic system within this book. I also really liked Nic’s best friend. He was supportive and caring even in the toughest of times and really just wanted to make sure his friend was going to be okay. I also wanted to mention that I love the cover. It fits the story that it holds so perfectly. I am really excited to read book two in this series whenever it comes out! I highly recommend giving book one a try in the meantime.

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

I had a mixed reaction to this book. Angie Thomas is great at crafting characters, and this book is evidence of her talent. Nic was a fun main character who is scrappy and brave. It was fun to follow her on this adventure. Also, I enjoyed the mythology entwined with the story. Thomas used African American history and mythology to bring her fantasy world to life. The part of this book I didn’t enjoy was how the magical elements were integrated. Magic became a convenient plot device that would pop up whenever the main characters needed it. I felt this issue weakened the book.

"Nic Blake and the Remarkables" unfolds as a captivating fantasy adventure that grabs the reader's attention from the very first chapter. As a middle school principal, I'm impressed by its seamless integration of African American history and folklore, enriching the narrative with cultural depth. The strong, diverse cast of characters adds layers to the story, offering relatability for our students. This page-turner not only excites young readers with its thrilling plot but also educates them about heritage and resilience. Anticipating a series for the ages, "Nic Blake and the unremarkables” are anything but unremarkable. This is a literary gem that combines entertainment and cultural exploration, making it a valuable addition to our school library.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the fact that Angie Thomas never once talked "down" to her audience. I think middle schoolers will recognize that and feel it is a more sophisticated story. I loved the adventures, and I think fans of Percy Jackson and Amari will be huge fans.

While this has nothing to do with the quality of the story, I wish the cover was more appealing to older MG readers, because I'm having a harder time getting those kids to give it a chance.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s for this DRC.
I enjoyed this fun book about Nic Blake, a homeschooled girl who has been waiting to learn about her supernatural ability. Her father has been putting it off, to keep them secret, but an unplanned meeting with her favorite middle grade author set them off on a wild adventure to find the truth about her family.


#NicBlakeandtheRemarkablesTheManifestorProphecy #NetGalley

Angie Thomas' series starter is action packed, funny, and compelling. I couldn't put the book down, and I really loved the characters and the Remarkable world she has created. Not only did she craft a fantasy world with diverse characters, but the magical powers are traced back to the times when African people were enslaved. She even creates a magical underground railroad, not to be confused with the historic underground railroad.

I was swept away with this adventure and can't wait to hear more of Nic, Alex, and JP's adventures!

*Given an advanced reading copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy by Angie Thomas is an imaginative, well-developed middle grade novel from the famous young adult author who gave us The Hate U Give.

Nichole Blake, who goes by Nic, is turning 12 years old, and for her birthday, she is looking forward to being trained by her dad on how to use the Gift as a real Manifestor. The Gift is a supernatural ability, which Nic’s dad has and therefore Nic has inherited. They are known as Remarkables. The human beings without the Gift are called Unremarkables. Though Nic wants a dragon badly, her dad gives her the safer option of a hellhound for her birthday. The hellhound, who is named Cocoa, has horns and is the size of a tiger. When Nic’s best friend JP comes over, he only sees a regular dog as an Unremarkable. Well, Nic has a feeling that JP may have seen more of Cocoa as a hellhound, but she lets that feeling go.

Since Nic and her dad have moved around the U.S. a lot, Nic feels settled in Jackson, Mississippi. It's a city built on an inactive volcano, but they made a home with finding Remarkable friends at Ms. Lena's juke joint where Rougarous, Vampires, Giants, and Fairies frequent. Bags with mojos, which control the elements with good intentions, and jujus, which control the elements with bad intentions, are sold and bought there. The juke joint is a safe haven for their community. Her dad works as a handyman, who collects haints, demons, ghouls, and other Remarkable creatures that are destroying Unremarkables' homes without their knowledge. He sells these creatures to Ms. Lena to find a place for the evil spirits.

In Jackson, homeschooled Nic also has JP, the only other Black kid on the block, as they obsess over middle grade author TJ Retro’s fantasy series. It reminds Nic of Remarkables, except the characters in the series use Magic, which is considered a corrupt form of the Gift. When they go to a book signing to meet TJ Retro, they learn that he is an old friend of Nic’s dad. Since her dad refuses to teach her how to fully use her Gift, Nic receives a piece of Giftech, or Gift-infused technology, from her favorite author that ignites an unintentional adventure between the Unremarkable world and the Remarkable world. On this adventure, she pulls in JP and Cocoa to help her discover the truth about her family and find the Msaidizi, one of the most powerful tools in the universe, in order to save her dad who is accused of stealing it and kidnapping her.

Black folklore is interwoven into the storyline to heighten the differences between Remarkables and Unremarkables and give the tale a touch of familiarity. In the story, John Henry is the half-Giant who won a rock-drilling contest while building a railroad with a sledgehammer, which was the Msaidizi. High John the Conqueror, the shapeshifter who fell in love with the Devil’s daughter in one story, used the Msaidizi through a plow and an ax to plant and reap acres of corn, one of the impossible tasks given to him by the Devil. Annie Christmas is the half-Giant who used the Msaidizi as a pole for her keelboat to save hundreds of people. All figures are considered to be fictional but believed to be based on real people who overworked themselves to death by proving their superior strength. But in this novel, they all were Remarkables who knew how to use the Msaidizi.

Along with folklore, racial elements are also connected to the Gift. The Blakes’ Gift is believed to have originated in Africa and passed down by their ancestors. Through the pain and trauma amid the trans-Atlantic slave trade, it is believed many people who had the Gift forgot their power and were unable to pass it down. During their adventure, Nic and her friends are kidnapped by a wizard who brings them to the Grand Wizard, as in the KKK, though the terrorist organization is not mentioned. Wizards are considered dangerous because they know about the Gift and use a wand to conjure up what they think is close to the Gift. The wizards claim to not be associated with the KKK, but they still want to capture Nic and her friends for their Manifestor connections.

Overall, the book is fast-paced with fantasy that seems more authentic to the Southern landscape with the mentions of haints and folkloric legends. A key to the author’s success in previous novels is getting into a young character’s mind and speaking in their voice, and this novel gives us another relatable character finding her true identity amid tough circumstances. This book review is a dose of the unputdownable story to avoid spoilers, but, of course, the ending opens to the potential second book in the series.

Ok so no bad things to say about this one. It was magical it was fun it was lovely and I want to give anyone 12 and up a copy of this book!


Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book.