TL;DR: Amari and the Great Game was just as action-packed, if not even more so, as the first book in this series but this time, there are a lot more players involved and everyone’s actions felt a lot more sinister than ever before. I loved those who rallied around Amari through all the hate she once again faces and her friendship with Elsie is still my absolute favourite! While I didn’t necessarily recognise who the ultimate villain would become by the end of this book, it does have me excited to see how Amari will deal with probably the most diabolical and powerful of baddies in the next one.

I’ve been meaning to pick this up ever since it came out because Amari and the Night Brothers is probably one of my favourite MG fantasies. Although this second book was great, I find that I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much though I have no doubt that plenty of young readers will continue to love Amari’s story with themes of friendship, fighting for justice and finding where you belong.

It was great to reunite with Amari and Elsie and I loved seeing the small glimpses of their life outside of the Bureau and in the real world until, of course, everything kind of blows up in the Supernatural world when summer rolls around. Sadly, although Amari has got a lot more love and support ever since the events of book one, there are still tons of bigoted stinkers in the supernatural world who believe magicians are the root of all evil and the bullying not only continues but also escalates! That said, I loved the surprising group of individuals who rally around Amari, especially one very unexpected new friend, and it was great fun to see this motley crew sneak around to try and learn the truth behind the mysterious happening that sent the whole supernatural world in a tizzy.

Through all this, Amari is discovering new aspects of her magical powers and it was great to see her explore that with a new teacher as well as on her own. I was really excited to learn more about the League in this book and while we do see that there are plenty more magicians than previously known, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that this part of the story didn’t have a bigger role, which is odd considering the book is named after the Great Game. Sadly, it felt like everything with the magicians and the Game took a backseat to what was happening in the Bureau and with the wider supernatural world. Perhaps it’s just me but while the stakes of the Game should have been high enough for me to care about what happened, it fell flat and ‘unurgent’ in comparison to the mystery. However, I did like how the Game addressed the PTSD that Amari has to acknowledge and deal with following the events of the first book. Again, it only touches on it briefly but at least it gets addressed.

Overall, I’m excited to see what happens in the next book as the new villain has shown themselves to be more powerful than any supernatural who has come before and they have plenty of people on their side!

Have you read Amari and the Great Game or is it on your TBR?

• Follow me on Goodreads!
• Follow me on Bluesky
• Follow me on Instagram!
• Follow me on Twitter!