Amari and the Despicable Wonders
B.B. Alston
Farshore

In the previous story, Amari and the Great Game, Amari had to concede defeat in a contest with Dylan Van Helsing and was left without her magical powers. Now with the League of Magicians and the rival organisation, the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs heading for a decisive showdown, the powerless Amari faces her greatest ever challenge.

As the war intensifies, Quinton, Amari’s elder brother and superstar agent now back on the scene and others from the Bureau are intent on keeping her out of harms way, leaving him to undertake missions. Meanwhile her erstwhile friend and former partner, now her nemesis, Dylan Van Helsing has become head of the League and seems able to outsmart her no matter what she tries. However, Amari is one determined girl and even with the odds against her, she and her loyal group of friends set out to locate their only hope of preventing Dylan from unleashing a new destructive power that would render him invincible. What they need to find is the only source of anti-majik, ancient inventions called Wonders.

The tale twists and turns this way and that to its denouement, which is both poignant and uplifting. And for Amari, it affirms her place in the community she loves. For me as a reader, one of her thoughts near the end particularly resonated: ‘And it makes me hopeful that people might start giving others a chance before judging who they are.’

If you’ve not met Amari et al before, then start with Amari and the Night Brothers and move on to Amari and the Great Game before reading this one.