Amari Peters is a 13-year-old girl that has never quite fit in with other kids due to her background. When her older brother Quinton goes missing, Amari feels like she has lost her only friend. A few months after his disappearance, Amari finds a briefcase meant for her eyes only. The briefcase contains a nomination for a summer tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, and instructions for her interview. If Amari manages to pass all tests, she will be promoted to a Junior Agent and have the chance to find out what happened to her brother, who apparently was a celebrity at the Bureau. Will she manage?
The book is excellent for both kids and adults. Amari is a strong character and could be a great example for other kids. She’s incredibly resilient and loyal to her friends and family. The friendships Amari builds are based on trust and understanding for each other. Elsie is Amari’s roommate and becomes a loyal friend. More importantly, she’s a weredragon! Dylan van Helsing is a legacy kid and an unexpected friend, who shares a secret with Amari.
The story is set in our world, but filled with other creatures. Regular people don’t know of their existence, even though the creatures live among them. The Bureau of Supernatural Affairs deals with, well, supernatural affairs. The Bureau contains several departments, for example the Department of Supernatural Investigations, the Department of Creature control and many, many more.
Of course, a contemporary fantasy isn’t that unique. However, the way the fantasy world works in Amari and the Night Brothers is. For example, the yetis are incredibly rich because they own a popular ice-cooling company. I don’t know how anyone can think of something like that but I love those tiny details.
The book is plot-driven and quick-paced. I flew through it! It was hard to put down because of all the twists that occurred. I’ll be honest, people can see the twists miles away (even though I didn’t expect quite a few!), but despite seeing the twists coming, I enjoyed them!
Amari and the Night Brothers is an excellent read for both middle grade and young adult readers. I highly recommend it. The story is filled with action and feels incredibly real as you get sucked into the story. I personally can’t wait for the sequel. The release of Amari and the Night Brothers is a great way to start off 2021!
Here’s the official blurb of the book:
Quinton Peters was the golden boy of the Rosewood low-income housing projects, receiving full scholarship offers to two different Ivy League schools. When he mysteriously goes missing, his little sister, 13-year-old Amari Peters, can’t understand why it’s not a bigger deal. Why isn’t his story all over the news? And why do the police automatically assume he was into something illegal?
Then Amari discovers a ticking briefcase in her brother’s old closet. A briefcase meant for her eyes only. There was far more to Quinton, it seems, than she ever knew. He’s left her a nomination for a summer tryout at the secretive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Amari is certain the answer to finding out what happened to him lies somewhere inside, if only she can get her head around the idea of mermaids, dwarves, yetis and magicians all being real things, something she has to instantly confront when she is given a weredragon as a roommate.
Amari must compete against some of the nation’s wealthiest kids—who’ve known about the supernatural world their whole lives and are able to easily answer questions like which two Great Beasts reside in the Atlantic Ocean and how old is Merlin? Just getting around the Bureau is a lesson alone for Amari with signs like ‘Department of Hidden Places this way, or is it?’ If that all wasn’t enough, every Bureau trainee has a talent enhanced to supernatural levels to help them do their jobs – but Amari is given an illegal ability. As if she needed something else to make her stand out.
With an evil magican threatening the whole supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she is an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t pass the three tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton.
Get Amari and the Night Brothers here!
