Welcome Back, Booklovers! So Jan of 2024 I read Blood at the Root ahead of it's release. It was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 promising a Black magic school. You can check out my review here. I received an arc from Random House which is how I started out reading the book and I ended up switching to the audiobook around the halfway mark so I could read on commute.
It's fall semester and Malik is doing his best to experience normal college life while still looking over his shoulder waiting for his mother or the Bokers to strike. Malik and his friends are instructed to keep the true events of the summer a secret. Malik is fast becoming friends with a girl named Dominique and together they are invited to join The Divine Elam, a secret society that Malik's mother was apart of before she went full on evil.
William's expands on the world here introducing more information about some of the societies present at Caiman and delving further into the backstory of Malik's mother. There's more details about the magic and even an introduction to a well-known figure from African-American lore.
The sentiment of letting Black boys be children was strongly echoed in this book, being brought up in the narrative multiple times. Malik is reckoning with grief while struggling to connect with new families and feelings of abandonment. During a time when there's a push for YA characters to be seemingly perfect it's refreshing to see a messy one who still has some learning to do.
There are some uncomfortable conversations being had about how the Black community treats queer people. Further diving into the conversation it addresses what images of queer identity are most acceptable. The Homecoming celebration allows readers to get to know the side characters more and makes them feel more fully realized.
Evenly paced and action packed this is a fitting follow up to Blood at the Root building upon the foundation that was laid.
As far as the audiobook experience Jalen Hall brings it again and the audiobook features different sound effects at certain points with aid in bringing the text to life.
