Started Off Strong, Ended Confusingly
I had hoped upon receiving this book that it would be in the same vein as P. Djeli Clark's "Abeni's Song" that I reviewed earlier this year, a mixture of uniquely Black fantasy with a middle grade tone and message. And for the first third of "Keynan and the Peerless Magic Crew" that was exactly what I got, Afrofantasy with a unique scifi twist. Unfortunately, it did not stay that way.
Keynan's world and his hometown of Bizzy Block is interesting. In the first few chapters, you get an idea of how much his parents love him, and his community supports him. Even though there's a constant threat of mysterious storms around, there's a real sense of nurture and it makes sense why Keynan is reluctant to leave for someplace as distant as Peerless Academy. The use of drones and the hint that his world used to be the same as ours made me think this would be a post-apocalyptic story with some magic thrown in. It was interesting, engrossing, and I wanted to see how it turned out.
Unfortunately, with the introduction of Peerless, the rot set in with inconsistent and confusing world-building. The magic system is poorly explained to the point where it seemed that the characters could do anything and it would be a toss-up as to whether it worked or not or if there would be a reason why. There is a cliffhanger ending that may hint at further explanations (this is supposed to be part one of a series), but I feel that there would need to be a whole lot more explanation of what's going on than could be conceivable in just one other book. If I, as an adult reader, cannot comprehend the magic system, then I feel the middle-grade audience is going to be even more perplexed.
The characterization was also a bit flat with our supporting characters, and a bit inconsistent with relation to our protagonist. There is a point where he extends an act of friendship to a character, only to turn around and make them an enemy for no good reason. Even Keynan is confused as to why he does this, and I feel that the entire episode was shoehorned in to move the plot forward.
In short, "Keynan and the Peerless Magic Crew" started off strong, but quickly devolved into a bit of a mess. This honestly would be a bit of a one star review, but the initial premise and promise of the genre was strong enough that I gave it 1.5 stars, rounded up to two.
Thanks to BookishFirst for allowing me to receive a free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Keynan's world and his hometown of Bizzy Block is interesting. In the first few chapters, you get an idea of how much his parents love him, and his community supports him. Even though there's a constant threat of mysterious storms around, there's a real sense of nurture and it makes sense why Keynan is reluctant to leave for someplace as distant as Peerless Academy. The use of drones and the hint that his world used to be the same as ours made me think this would be a post-apocalyptic story with some magic thrown in. It was interesting, engrossing, and I wanted to see how it turned out.
Unfortunately, with the introduction of Peerless, the rot set in with inconsistent and confusing world-building. The magic system is poorly explained to the point where it seemed that the characters could do anything and it would be a toss-up as to whether it worked or not or if there would be a reason why. There is a cliffhanger ending that may hint at further explanations (this is supposed to be part one of a series), but I feel that there would need to be a whole lot more explanation of what's going on than could be conceivable in just one other book. If I, as an adult reader, cannot comprehend the magic system, then I feel the middle-grade audience is going to be even more perplexed.
The characterization was also a bit flat with our supporting characters, and a bit inconsistent with relation to our protagonist. There is a point where he extends an act of friendship to a character, only to turn around and make them an enemy for no good reason. Even Keynan is confused as to why he does this, and I feel that the entire episode was shoehorned in to move the plot forward.
In short, "Keynan and the Peerless Magic Crew" started off strong, but quickly devolved into a bit of a mess. This honestly would be a bit of a one star review, but the initial premise and promise of the genre was strong enough that I gave it 1.5 stars, rounded up to two.
Thanks to BookishFirst for allowing me to receive a free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.