Member Reviews

The Conductors by Nicole Glover is a delightful murder mystery where the Underground Railroad meets magic. From the blurb: “As an escaped slave, Hetty Rhodes helped dozens of people find their own freedom north using her wits and her magic. Now that the Civil War is over, Hetty and her husband, Benjy, still fight for their people by solving the murders and mysteries that the white authorities won’t touch.” I really enjoyed my reading experience, though this is not a perfect book. I felt like the plot was a bit thin, and the mystery itself not very compelling in itself. What I struggled most with is that the book reads as if it was from the middle of a series rather than the start of a new one. But The Conductors makes up for that with superb character work. Hetty and Benjy have a wonderful rapport and the way their relationship grows – chef’s kiss. They are interesting and multi-dimensional characters, along with the side-players in this story. The characters in this are so strong that I did not mind the plot as much, and I am looking forward to spending more time with them in the next installment.

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The Conductors, by Nicole Glover is fantasy mystery set in post-slavery America. The setting is so unusual that I immediately wanted to see where it was going and everything about this novel was a very welcome breath of fresh air, from the magic system to the take on the side romance.

We follow the couple: Hetty and Benji, supposedly retired conductors, meaning people who risked their lives to lead slaves who wanted to run from their masters to states where they could live as free people. You would think that once freedom came all over America their trouble would be over, but that would be too simple.

Hetty is a complex character, the type that is really intriguing, full of contradictions, real emotions and a drive that you can only envy. I really enjoyed viewing this very different world through her and loved discovering about her past even if I didn’t always see how it was linked to the present. Oddly enough, most of the tension of this murder mystery didn’t come from the case itself, but actually from the relationships between characters.

Another thing I greatly enjoyed is the relationship between Hetty and her husband. A lot of the beginning mystery seemed to be what kind of relationship they truly had. They are great friends, we immediately see that they are utterly dependable and essential partners in their past freedom fighting days… but are they really a couple or is it all convenience?

I will add that I loved the magical system. There is many amazing ideas in this book and I certainly do want to follow the author and intend to continue that series because it is absolutely unique and fascinating.

That said there is some bad points. The Conductors does feel like a first novel in that some of the plot was a little murky. It all makes sense, but what I mean is that the pace can be a little strange, the flash backs don’t always seem to serve a purpose, there is too many people introduced all over the place, they add flavour but we didn’t really need all of those extras that come in for one line here and disappear forever after. The world is so dense and full of things some of the main ideas get a little lost.

I highly recommend this novel to people who liked the time traveling classic Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, and the beautiful graphic novel White All Around by Wilfrid Lupano and Stéphane Fert. Anyone who wants insights into the post slavery world with a dash of marvelous will love this book.

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Nicole Glover draws you into her story, revealing dashes of magic here and there, until the story has you in its beautiful grip. She heightens the drama of this story of injustices and race by redistributing where power can lie in society, and in turn delivers a compelling and thoughtful tale. I'm loath to give too much of the plot away because so much fun is had in realising what her characters can do, little by little, as the drama unfolds. This type of magical realism deserves to be savoured so tuck in and enjoy!

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DNF
It just didn't pull me in. The beginning with the wanted posters was interesting enough but the promise didn't held up. It quickly became something languid. It felt like the book tried to tell too much and didn't know the meaning of precision.

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This book is a really easy read magical mystery, with just a touch of romance and I loved it. The blend of historic, fantasy and mystery fiction made for a fantastic read, which was so difficult to put down. To start I was a little confused, but you fall into the story easily and I was enveloped in it.

The story successfully intertwines constellation-based magical systems and the real life struggles of being Black in post–Civil War America together in an interesting story with compelling characters that keeps you guessing until the end. I did find it frustrating that the magic was quite literally thrown at you with little explanation to start with, which did get explained in a little more detail later on, but not enough. Glover could have built a whole magical world with some historic descriptions and definitions of the magic, and what tied you to one form and not the other, but either way it was interesting.

The characters, specifically former Underground Railroad conductors Hetty and Benjy Rhodes (the protagonists), are as fascinating as the mystery. Hetty and Benjy are contrasting characters who were completely accepting of themselves, each other and their friends and I loved how their relationship developed as a result of that. The mystery behind this story was compelling and the addition of magic was enchanting. There was some really interesting social commentary and the blossoming of a love story had me hooked.

I would say the first 10-15% was really setting the scene so it did start a little slow but, even still, it was interesting and once it started I literally couldn't put it down. I read the last 80% in 2 days. I adored the characters of Hetty and Benjy and loved the majority of their friend groups. The characters in this were so endearing and their relationships as individuals and a group had me thinking of my own friends.

This book is mesmerising and will have you hooked. So, congratulations to Nicole Glover, because seriously that was such a brilliant read, it almost hard to believe that it was a debut. I would recommend it to anyone that is a fan of mystery and partial to fantasy (namely, magic, in a variety of forms). I also got to the end and found out there was a sequel and I CANNOT WAIT.

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I so wanted to love this - I thought the premise sounded brilliant and I am always looking for more real world based fantasy that is a bit different to what I have read before. However, the pacing was off and I am just not in a good enough reading space to be able to power through. Told in dual timelines, I was not invested enough in the past timeline to keep reading - the present timeline was more interesting but felt disjointed in a way that made it difficult for me to keep all the moving parts straight in my head. I am very interested in the sister angle of this, so changes are high I come back at another point but for now I decided to put it down.

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Dead bodies keep turning up with a cursed sigil carved into them so Hetty and Benjy Rhodes, legendary Underground Railroad Conductors investigate. The first body is that of their flash frenemy and one of their first passengers Charlie. He’s got his fingers in all sorts of pies and a snotty wife who used to be Hetty’s bff until they fell out so as they are Good People Hetty and Benjy fell duty bound to do something about it.
The pace of The Conductors is fairly slow, there’s A LOT of back story and history to lay down as well as a magic system to sort out which I’m not sure is fully realised. I have no idea how the magic works other than it’s bound to the earth (?). I did not like that there were two sets of magic pitted against each other. The bad guys and white people using high faluten sorcery and wands and the good guys and black people using good clean celestial magic.
There’s also a lot about the Benjy and Hetty relationship. They are married but it’s a marriage of convenience or is it? Cause apparently it’s been consummated which must have had all the passion of a dentist appointment because they don’t have special feelings for each other until years down the line. It’s an odd one especially since we only get it from Hetty’s point of view and Hetty’s not exactly warm and fuzzy.
However I did enjoy The Conductors, it reads well and the characters are interesting if a bit stiff. As a series there’s a lot of places it can go and I do want to know more.

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Huge fan of this author and this is another absolutely superb read. I have nothing negative I can say about this book. It has been a great read filled with interesting characters and a unique plot.

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It's hard for me to review this book as it was by no means bad, but it just wasn't really what I expected. There was magic in this, for sure, and maybe it's because I listened to the audio rather than read physically, but it just felt like there wasn't quite the whimsy I had anticipated.

That said, it was enjoyable and I do think it was a me issue more than anything.

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3.5 Stars

This was an excellent book that had a few flaws but not enough to spoil my enjoyment. I loved the idea, 'Underground Railroad with magic', and the setting was really well done. The plot was intriguing and unfolded nicely with enough red herrings to keep you wondering. The backstory of the main characters was engaging and the flashbacks were well placed so that they didn't confuse but added an extra dimension to the relationship of Hetty and Bengy. I found the magical systems really interesting but sadly the explanations of them were very thin on the ground which left me frustrated. I also found some of the secondary characters a little one dimensional and occasional got them confused with each other which deadened some of the storytelling. Overall though this was a book well worth reading if the synopsis appeals and I sincerely hope that the author will be returning to this world and characters.

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DRC provided by Random House UK, Cornerstone via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: Black protagonist, Black secondary and tertiary characters, Black queer secondary and tertiary characters, Black trans tertiary character.

Content Warning: death, racism, sexism, violence, slavery, desecration of a cadaver, classism.

The Conductors by Nicole Glover is a compelling historical and mystery novel that will keep your eyes glued to the page.

Henrietta and Benjamin Rhodes are conductors, members of the Vigilance Society and magic practitioners who helped people escape slavery or find missing loved ones, whilst keeping on looking for her lost sister. They start living a quieter life in Philadelphia, working as a dressmaker and a blacksmith, and occasionally helping out the people who seek them out. Their somewhat peaceful life is upset when one of their friends is mysteriously murdered and his body is left in an alley with a disturbing carving on his chest.

The Conductors weaved an enveloping mystery, but ultimately disappointed me in the grand revelation. As much as I loved all characters, among which Penelope was my favourite; and the story with its twists and the way every question answered resulted in new and more complicated questions, I was a tad bored by whom the mystery person behind everything was revealed to be. I, though, really loved the way the author exquisitely and effortlessly introduced queer characters in a historical setting and the way the story flowed.

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This one grabbed me from the first page and wouldn’t let go. This is told in the viewpoint of Hetty, an escaped slave, who helped free others using her magic. As a slave with magical abilities, she’d been forced to wear a collar that not only repressed her magical abilities, but also was used as a means of punishment. I liked the dual timeline; one where we have Hetty and Benjy living in Philadelphia and making a life together within the community of freed slaves; the other timeline in the form of flashbacks to when they were both either escaping, or guiding others to freedom. It worked well, as it gave us vivid scenes of how the pair of them worked together, using magic and their own fighting skills, to save themselves and others, so cut down the amount of explanation that would have otherwise been necessary.

Hetty is a cagey, sharp-edged character who doesn’t quite trust anyone, with the exception of Benjy, who became her companion in desperate situations almost by accident. Once they settle in Philadelphia, they get married to stop any scandal about the fact that their friendship and teamwork means they end up living together. She is also a gifted seamstress and highly talented magical user, using Celestial magic as opposed to Sorcery, which is reserved for whites only. I liked the magic system and didn’t particularly need to have it further explained, as Hetty’s use of the various Celestial symbols when she needed it gave us a ringside seat into the main rules she needed to consider.

I enjoyed the characterisation of Hetty and her relationships with those around her. It becomes apparent during the investigation that while everyone around them is busy moving on with their lives since the war, both Hetty and Benjy are finding it difficult to adapt to their daily routines. The fact that difference is causing rifts in their relationships with their friends and each other is poignant and significant to the plot. Overall, I thought the murder mystery is well handled, with plenty of suspects and a strong sub-plot. However, there is a fair bit of repetition, which slows the pace and slightly silts up the narrative tension.

This is an ambitious book in dealing with the number of plotlines around the themes of of loss and trauma – and how people differ in their handling of it. The storyline around Hetty’s sister felt a bit rushed at the end, and given that this is a series and how much this issue chafes at Hetty, I think the overall pacing would be improved if this plotline was dealt with more thoroughly in the sequel. It seems a bit tacked on at the end – and is why this book didn’t get five stars. Overall, this is an impressive debut and I look forward to reading more about Hetty and Benjy in due course. Recommended for fans of historical fantasy, who enjoy reading about settings other than the usual medieval/early modern European era. While I obtained an arc of The Conductors from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

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Adding magic to Underground Railroad (a system of secret routes and helpers to help slaves to escape to free states) conductors sounds like an awesome idea.

Main protagonist Henrietta wields powerful celestial magic, the zodiacal signs like Ursa Minor, the Swan, the Peacock, and others coming to live and causing magical functions. Back in the days, she and her pro forma husband Benjy jumped time after time into the South to help slaves on their flights. One other central motive of Henrietta is that she wants to find her sister like she found many other missing relatives from friends.

All that could have been a colorful, adventurous great story. Which is kind of included in the novel, because we get a glimpse at it in several short interludes telling the background story of Hetty and Ben. Sadly, the novel lost its way into a mystery story – which might be delightful for other readers but not for me.

Since a couple of years, Hetty and Ben weren’t involved in the rescuing business anymore. Instead, they investigate criminal cases in their community, because the police isn’t much interested in all the trouble of PoC areas.

Multiple times, it is said about the protagonists that they are such genius investigators. Which is hardly believable, given that they don’t know the essentials of their society, those big secret clubs. Add to that their complicated relationship where they simply don’t talk honestly and openly to each other, and you have an eight ball juggle that the author simply couldn’t win: find relatives, solve a murder mystery, win an illegal boxing championship, stay in daytime job, fall in love, sort out old friendships, discuss social commentary, and wield several forms of magic.

Add to this all the names jumping into the story, multiplied by missing relatives and ever more foreigners, and you’ll get a highly confused reviewer who often enough fell asleep in the dragging middle part, and wasn’t invested in solving the riddle anymore.

It was fun times whenever there was magic in the place, starting with protection spells weaved into suits, warming fourteen bucks of water for a hot bath, catching fleeing interviewees, plus some magic fights. Contrast that with boring discussions who could-have-done-it, and you can see that I’d really have loved the story of their adventurous past.

Recommended for readers of mystery romances in a historical setting, peppered with a strong female protagonist using magic.

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This is one of the best debut novels I've ever read, hands down. At first, I was a bit unsure about the mixing of magic with the historical aspect of the book and it took a couple of chapters for me to understand how the magic worked, but once I started reading, it just fit so beautifully together and I wish that it was a real element in life!

Hetty and Benjy are a married pair of ex-slaves known as the Conductors- they spent years before the abolishment of slavery ferrying runaways to their new lives. Now, they use their time helping those in need: murders, missing peoples, any case or anybody who knows they won't find the answers they seek by going to the authorities. I loved these two characters, from the flashbacks that explore their pasts, to the way they skirt around each other because they're too afraid to just admit they are in love and have it ruin the flow they've gotten into. They support each other, even when they're butting heads, and their unwavering faith in one another had me blinking back tears more than once.

This is what relationship goals look like. Benjy doesn't treat Hetty like she is a woman that knows no better and should be dressed in pretty things. He instead encourages her wit and will be the first to admit she's better than him in certain things. Hetty doesn't hold jealousy and even when the odds are against him, never gives up on her husband. They protect each other, and even on a couple of occasions they were in peril, it was always an even balance of who was rescuing who, something so refreshing after so many books that build up strong women only to turn them into a damsel at the crucial moment.

The magic in the story was written in a way that we didn't get a lot of backstory and unnecessary information about the workings of it. It's built into the story in a way that informed me without making me wish I was reading anything but an info dump. Different people have access to different magics, and Hetty and Benjy's celestial magic created vivid images that danced across my mind and made me wish I was able to watch this on a screen because of how beautifully the enchantments were described. I don't want to go into too much detail about it as it will take away the experience, but all I can say is that I will never think of Taurus in the same way again!

As this was an ARC, there were quite a few errors here and there with missed words in a sentence, a couple of typos and a few times where the wrong word was used (he instead of his, etc), but I'm expecting these will have been cleaned up by the time the book prints. There were also a couple of times I felt there were too many characters with too little to add to the plot, and could have done with either removing one or two or merging them to create one character. I don't know if it was just me or not, but I would have rather had slightly more development of some characters over brief glimpses of others that didn't add much. The final thing is the plot. Similarly to the characters, some elements of the plot felt like they could have been cut out or condensed and one plotline in particular with a hocus potion seller didn't feel like it was completely resolved and blended into the rest of the story as a result.

Even with a couple of niggles, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story and I would most certainly read this again in the future. It is a book that gave me a strong emotional attachment to the characters and if this became a series, I would happily read on to hear more of Hetty and Benjy and their group of fascinating friends. This is a debut everyone should read, especially if you want a read that talks about slavery and the after-effects once it has been abolished but doesn't have a heavy feel to it. It's also a great read if you like tales of magic but aren't a huge fan of fantasy heavy books. Honestly, I think it will be hard to find someone this book wouldn't be a recommended read for.

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Thank you to Random House U.K. and NetGalley for the E- Arc of The Conductors by Nicole Glove, the first book in the Murder and Magic series.

Nicole Glover’s debut novel starts with the introduction of Hetty Rhodes, who was once a conductor for the Underground Railroad.

Hetty previously used her magic to bring many to safety and freedom during the American Civil War and after its end she continues to use it to solve crimes and murders that the white officials have no interest in.

The world building for this book is entrenched in history, with a mix of fantasy and mystery to create the perfect cocktail. The magic system, in particular the celestial aspect is intriguing, but neither over played, nor over-explained...definitely a system Id love to learn more about.

One day Hetty and her husband Benjy discover that a friend of theirs has been found dead in an alley, with cursed marks carved into his body, and become entwined in an investigation that pulls them into a labyrinth of secrets.

If you’re looking for a book full of action and adventure, this is not it! This is a book that layers tension upon mystery upon suspense and maintains a pace suited to that. Add to this the focus on the characters - Hetty is amazing, strong, and seriously fierce! She and Benjy make an amazing team and their romance is both fascinating and endearing.

I gave this book 4 stars, and will definitely be reading the next one in the series. And finally please be assured that the provision E-ARC in no way influenced my review.

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3.75 stars

The premise of this was so fantastic, but the execution was just... clunky? I think the main problem is just a lack of development: I almost felt like this should be the second book in a series, after we'd already got to know the characters and the world. I loved Hetty's resourcefulness and impulsiveness (I saw one reviewer compare her to Lizzy Bennet, and I never would have made that connection but I totally see it!) but I wanted so much more of her backstory than what we got in the few flashbacks. I also found the magic system quite confusing - I loved the concept of the two different magic systems and how they were practiced differently by Black and white people, but the rules of Celestial magic were never really explained and I couldn't quite get a grasp of how the different sigils worked and who could do what with them.

I did really appreciate the discussions around racial tensions and the dynamics of the Black community. This is set immediately post-slavery so that pretty much all the characters were slaves at least in childhood, if not longer, and I thought the exploration of the different ways people navigate life after this was so interesting. I also loved the way Hetty and Benjy's marriage of convenience/friends to lovers relationship developed, and I loved the little found family they'd built around them, but I did think there were a few too many side characters, whom I found tricky to keep track of.

I will mention that there were a LOT of typos and grammar errors - which I'm usually willing to ignore, especially in an arc, but this was particularly bad: there were mistakes every few pages, so much so that in some cases I had to really work to figure out what the sentences were meant to say. I'm hoping this will be cleared up in the final version, but I bring it up only because it did impact my enjoyment.

But for all this, and despite the fact that the first ~40% was a slog, the mystery did pick up as it went along: I was eventually engrossed enough to read the last 75% all in one sitting, with several moments towards the end where I could feel the tension in my body! So even though it wasn't the most well-crafted story, I did enjoy it overall and am keen to see where the story goes next!

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The Conductors is an intriguing historical fantasy murder mystery. It centres around escaped slaves Hetty Rhodes and her husband Benjy as they fight to help others in their community find freedom and solve a series of suspicious murders.

This is a really strong debut novel from Nicole Glover, it is original and has potential for further stories from this world. Set in post-Civil War America, it was particularly good to read that, although magic has been added, the brutal history of America hasn't been changed or altered to match the fantasy world. A great job has been done to highlight the realities of racism and the lasting effects of slavery. For instance, in the different ways that the characters are able to use magic, Hetty and Benjy use celestial magic that is made by drawing constellations and rooted in African heritage. Sorcery magic on the other hand, is seen as a superior form of magic and requires a wand to practice, which is forbidden by law for Black people to carry.

It all made for an interesting blend between history and fantasy and that became my favourite aspects of the book. Then to add in the murder investigations that the couple take on and the story gets more complex. The mystery became the main vocal point of the book and it was definitely one that kept the reader wondering who could be behind these murders.

Although the story has so many positives, at times the pacing felt slow and as though too many things were going on, so it could get difficult to keep track of it all. Overall, I enjoyed the book and I would be interested to read the next instalment. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery, yet also loves a bit of magic.

Thank you Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for providing me with a copy to review.

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The Conductors is the first instalment in the Magic and Murder historical fantasy series, set in post-Civil War Philadelphia. It introduces married couple Henrietta “Hetty” and Benjamin “Benjy” Rhodes, former conductors for the Vigilance Society, a group ferrying dozens of Black slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Settling in Reconstruction-era Pennsylvania, both Hetty and Benjy are famed for their daring and cunning chaperoning of the enslaved from the South to the freedom and relative liberty of the North and the stories of their exploits still circulate today, almost a decade after the end of the war. But the pair are also skilled celestial magic-users, a type of magic involving the use of sigils and that draws its power from the constellations. Now Hetty and Benjy transfer these magic and analytical skills to a new purpose, as the war is now over, as detectives as they solve mysteries, missing persons cases and murders of Black individuals that the discriminatory white authorities would otherwise ignore. In the heart of Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward, everyone knows that when there’s a strange death or magical curses causing trouble, Hetty and Benjy are the only ones that can solve the case. But when an old friend is murdered, their investigation stirs up a wasp nest of intrigue, lies, and long-buried secrets- and a mystery, unlike anything they handled before. Their suspicions fall close to home so the couple will have to thoroughly investigate in order to ascertain exactly who in their community can not be trusted and is not who they claim to be.

With a clever, cold-blooded killer on the prowl testing their magic and placing their lives at risk, Hetty and Benjy will discover how little they really know about their neighbours and themselves. This a captivating, compulsive and original mix of vibrant alternate history, magical fantasy, thrilling mystery and an unexpected examination of slavery all tied up in an inventive, imaginative and thoroughly engrossing tale. I was caught up in the story early on and found that the different elements had been so well woven and plotted that they complemented each other exceptionally well; it's a testament to Glover's talents that she manages to craft these diverging aspects into a cohesive and compelling yarn. She also does an incredible job of world-building in this supernatural mystery. Her cast is almost exclusively Black, and the characters are rich, with Hetty and Benjy’s relationship showcased as a lovely progression of romantic ideals. The pace is slow-burn in order to build up the setting and the characters and lay the foundations for the sophomore instalment but Glover ratchets up the tension as it progresses weaving in details that bring the story to life. It's richly-imagined, beautifully written and, at times, a palpably tense read and it had no problem keeping my attention right from the start. This is a satisfying mystery exploring the prejudice against coloured people at the time when white supremacy was rampant. Finally, the conclusion is a deeply gratifying one that highlights just how our past actions can inform the present in unforeseen ways. Highly recommended.

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I was swept away with this book. Nicole Glover brought something special to this book, a mixture of historical fiction and fantasy. A strong debut novel from Nicole Glover that I am interested to see what comes next in the series. The magic system was complex, with it being about Celestial and sorcery. One was being used for good (celestial) and one for evil (sorcery), I found it however well thought out and easy to grasp and found the imagery from how the celestial magic was used enough that I could picture it if I closed my eyes.

The book is set after the Emancipation Proclamation, and we follow Hetty and Benjy, two freed slaves who were part of the Underground Railroad. They are a married couple still helping those in need. Things take a turn for the worst when they find one of their friends dead in an alley. Not all is as it seems as they find traces of Sorcery Magic. They then start to investigate who would want them murdered and the more they investigate the more they uncover.

I love that the book was kind of a murder mystery with Hetty and Benjy investigating, but also the added extra of the Magic. I did feel that we needed a bit more explanation of the magic and why only White Americans can use a certain type of magic and only Black Americans can use Celestial magic. I do feel that this might be explained more in the next book. I know this might be more towards the reference of slavery and how the black community suffers from racism to this day.

The characters were likeable, I really liked Hetty and Benjy as well as all the secondary characters. Hetty definitely takes the main character role in my opinion, you get more of what she is thinking and feeling than Benjy and he I felt was more of a secondary character. I want to see more from him as I felt that he was just following Hetty around. I know there is more to him than we have glimpsed in this book and I am interested to see what else he brings to the book.

The secondary characters all had a part in the book, they made it more in my opinion. All the characters are interlinked with one another and they all new Hetty and Benjy through their times as Conductors. I liked that they were a community and supported one another even through hardships.

I liked that the book had flashbacks to when Hetty and Benjy were Conductors and you got to know more about their relationship and that you got to see how they had developed into the characters we have read. It showed them working together under hard circumstances where they were saving other Slaves when they escaped and how they became a married couple.

I definitely want to see more of Hetty and Benjy and am hoping in the next book we get more of a background of Benjy and more interactions between him and the other characters.

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I appreciated the historic setting and the pitch of the kind of magic used in the world, but overall felt that the book could have benefitted from more polishing. The idea of constellations-themed magic wielded by black Americans, daring rescue missions in Civil War America and cozier mysteries in post-abolishment world: they were all very cool ideas that made the book stand out, but as a whole, the novel didn't come together tightly. The magic system could have done with more elaboration, and characters felt like they could be fleshed out more: they were sketched just enough to follow the happenings on the page, but not enough for me to be emotionally invested.

Thanks to #NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of #TheConductors.

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