Dhonielle Clayton has done it once again with this new addition to her Marvellers series. I love following Ella and friends as they learn to navigate their magical world. It gives hope to the underdog!

You have no idea how impatiently I’ve waited for this book. This series has quickly skyrocketed to the top of my list. Family secrets, dystopian reality, new conjuring powers. For adults or super aware children this hits home for a sign of the times. How do these just keep getting better?! I love so many books from Dhonielle Clayton, but these are by far my favorite. Please tell me there will be more?

The friend drama, trying to understand each other’s cultures, family histories, and now some teenage/preteen angst! Poor Brigit…

Yes the plot, setting, and timing are all perfection, but where Clayton really excels is character work. Masterji Thakur is my favorite! Best character in all three books thus far. He is welcoming, warm, and funny, like a cup of hot tea and cozy sweater. Clayton has truly mastered the art of developing side characters that have so much personality and depth. This series is fast paced and action packed with mystery and intrigue to boot. I think people of all ages will enjoy this series.

Check out the series website and take the fun quizzes!

https://www.theconjureverseseries.com/quizzes/paragons

Real Time Notes:

25%
“Conjure Ban” 😂 …contraband

50%
“Depending on our new president and his agenda, who will get to live there? Some are positioning for it to have no conjure businesses and not to allow conjures to work or even visit.”
(Wow, the timing of this book.)


SPOILERS!


70%
Finally Ella got her companion!
(Laheem? I couldn’t find the spelling online and I only received the audio file for this arc.)

“Conjure Companions arrive to you in your greatest time of need. Or at least that’s what my mom said.”-Jason


91%
I’m heartbroken! 💔 😭
“She just took off running.” Me too, Ella, me too…

“I don’t want you to spend your time chasing a ghost.” If only we could implement the wisdom in this lesson from the age of childhood. I’m not crying. Nope, those aren’t tears.

Grand Finale:
“Sometimes the only way to make real change requires destroying the old and making space for the new.” -Gia (Brigit’s mom)

And here I thought there might not be another book. Dear MacMillan, if you feel so inclined to send me the next installment or even the entire series I would not turn them down nor will I stop gushing about Dhonielle Clayton. Flawless!

*4.5 Stars*

This series keeps being great. I loved getting back into this universe and seeing the conflicts and story unfold even more. I fell right back into it and I had the best time. However, it felt a little bit like not much was happening, until the very end, when it truly pickled up. And it ended.
Still, a great third book and I can't wait for the next one!

Another solid entry in the Conjureverse series. I loved the addition of Abina, Miguel, and Regan to Ella's investigative group, and the mysteries around Ella's family and the Arcanum Founders kept me glued to my audiobook.

This is definitely the heaviest entry in the series yet, with Ella and her friends struggling emotionally to deal with how their lives have changed and the toll of the many dark secrets of the Marvellers. Hopefully this is the "darkest before the dawn" entry in the series, though it does end on a *huge* cliffhanger, and I wonder how everything will wrap up in the last book.

Stellar narration, as always, by Joniece Abbott-Pratt.

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio review copy of this book. This is the third volume in the Conjureverse series with the same great characters, nonstop action, a mystery, and magic. In this book we find out who the enigmatic architect is while there is more to discover in the next volume. Can’t wait for the next book and looking forward to sharing this one with my students!