All middle grade magic school books are inevitably going to be compared to Harry Potter because a lot of authors have read that series and were inspired and influenced by it. And all the Black ones are currently being compared to Amari and the Night Brothers because it's the first one many readers have read. Keynan Masters and the Peerless Magic Crew does a good job in that it feels like neither book and really stands on it's own.
I liked the idea of a magic school with a focus on the importance of the arts and recruiting creative children. I liked that Keynan was passionate about his raps even if I found his rhymes kind of corny.
For me this book was just missing that extra oomph! I didn't connect to the setting or the side characters strong enough to really be enthralled by the plot. And I thought some stuff was repetitive and went on much longer than it needed to. I think if it would've been shorter and tighter it would've held my focus more.
I liked the idea of a magic school with a focus on the importance of the arts and recruiting creative children. I liked that Keynan was passionate about his raps even if I found his rhymes kind of corny.
For me this book was just missing that extra oomph! I didn't connect to the setting or the side characters strong enough to really be enthralled by the plot. And I thought some stuff was repetitive and went on much longer than it needed to. I think if it would've been shorter and tighter it would've held my focus more.