Choices

A review of Liselle Sambury’s Blood Like Magic (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2021)
By Derek Newman-Stille

Choices. They are something that beleaguer every teen. Teens are constantly having to think about the future, but also about how to acknowledge their past. Voya is known for being indecisive, but now she’s reached an age where she needs to make a decision that could have an impact not only for herself, but for her whole family. Voya is from a family of witches and their magic is passed down at puberty when they are given a challenge they have to complete in order to inherit their family’s magic powers. What makes things worse, her whole family could lose their magic if she makes the wrong choice.

Voya is suspended between obligation to her past and her future. She is finding out more about her family’s secrets and the things she didn’t want to believe about her family, but she also knows that her every decision could influence what happens to the people around her.

Liselle Sambury’s Blood Like Magic is a powerful near-future fiction book that blends science fiction with urban fantasy. With a smattering of genetic engineering and a lot of magic, Blood Like Magic defies easy genre definitions and creates something new, exciting, and compelling to read.

To discover more about Liselle Sambury, visit www.lisellesambury.ca

To find out more about Blood Like Magic, go to https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Blood-Like-Magic/Liselle-Sambury/Blood-Like-Magic/9781534465282

Review by Derek Newman-Stille, PhD ABD.