I was so enthused by the synopsis of this book, and enchanted by the cover, and truly felt that this would be my kind of a read. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

I can see why it would be for many, but it wasn't for me.

I love the setting. I love the magic aspect of it. I love the mystery aspect. Combine mystery and magic and you have a very solid basis for a fantastic book. So if you like both, you might like this one.

From the very start I felt thrown back and forth between different past and present, between the characters who I knew nothing about, and I just couldn't possibly catch up.

I also find the dialogs quite confusing at times, and not in terms of the language or anything, but it just felt unnatural and disconnected. I was very confused. I felt like we jumped from one thing to the other, and I just didn't connect to any of the characters.

Sadly, I didn't like this one as much as I did, but once again, I can see that some people may enjoy it!

I've read quite a few historical fiction novels about slavery and the Underground Railroad, but "The Conductors" stands out from them all. Yes, being a fantasy does help, but it's more than that. I love Nicole Glover's writing, and her characters are incredibly real to me. The story could do with "fleshing out" a bit - mostly the magic use - but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

I really, desperately wanted to like this. At first glance, it had everything that I wanted in a book. I loved the cover, it was eye-catching and colourful and the idea of a magical murder-mystery involving freed slaves just sounded so unique that I couldn't wait to pick it up and see what it was all about. I realised very early on that this was not a book I was going to enjoy. From the off you are introduced to characters with little to no real development and are thrown into the magic systems with absolutely no explanation. Half the time I had no clue what was happening while I was reading this. The main characters are fairly dull and unrelatable but definitely had potential. There were so many side characters that I often found myself completely lost as to who was who. The book jumps between past and present in various chapters but then doesn't even pick up from where it left off which left me feeling even more confused. The reveal of the murderer was anticlimactic too as I felt like I didn't know enough about the murderer to really care that much and I found the motive to be very weak. I found it difficult to concentrate on the story for long periods of time and even found myself skimming just to try to finish it faster. My head just felt fuzzy and disconnected the entire time I was reading. As a debut novel the premise is a very interesting one and I think with a little more polishing it definitely has the potential to be a great read. Unfortunately as it is at the moment this one wasn't really for me.

I’m unfortunately not too sure about this book, the pace for me is pretty slow and I’m not feeling motivated to pick it up and read on.

3.5 stars

The Conductors follows Hetty and Benji, a married couple who rescue people from slavery in America via the underground railroad, during the civil war period and helping poeple escape into the north. At the same time one of their friends gets murdered and a murder mystery unfolds among their friend group, with alliances being tested and secrets coming to light.

I really enjoyed Hetty's character, she is a very self assured person and is not afraid to stand up for what is right, but at the same time the author allows her to explore the emotional toll this can take on her and maybe some of her more unhealthy coping mechancisms. Benji is also a great character and I loved their relationship dynamic, one of my favoruite tropes is the marriage of convience and so they are already in an established relationship at the start of he book but not "in love" but throughout the book we see them realise their feelings and confess and its so cute!!

I also really enjoyed the mystery aspect, I thought the set up and reveals were very intruging and I love the feel of historical murder mysteries. The first half of the book was a lot of set up but the second half really picked things up!!

I had a couple of criticisms which I think detracted from my enjoyment a litle, but given this is the authors debut book I think it sets up a really solid foundation to build from and I will definietly be picking up her books in the future! I would have liked the side characters to be fleshed out a little more, I feel like we got elements of their personalities but they were very one sided, this may have been intentional as they were filling sort of caricature murder mystery roles but I also feel like there was a lot of potential to explore!! I also didn't really feel one way or the other toward the magic in the book, I don't really think it added much and I would have liked to understand a bit more about it because I think it was a relaly interesting concept with only certain people being allowed to practice certain type of magic and this was a really nice allegory to systematic racism but I feel like it didn't quite explore it enough to be a fully fleshed out theme.

In conclusion a really fun murder mystery touching on some important historical themes! Also a great sense of found family and creating a community for yourself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cornerstone for this ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a great start to a series I will definitely be following to its end. Hetty and Benji are infamous amongst their community and beyond in Philadelphia after the civil war. As underground railroad conductors, they freed dozens of slaves and helped them escape to safety, earning them a reputation of helping people. Now, they are amateur detectives, solving mysteries and crimes for people who often have nowhere else to go for help. The big twist of the book is this; magic exists, and is used often.

There are two types of magic in The Conductors. The celestial magic that our main characters use is rooted in African, West Indies and Native lore, passed down through generations and using sigils made from constellations. The other type is Sorcery, that requires a wand to practice and is heavily regulated in that only white people are allowed to carry, own or use a wand. I love the beautiful imagery that celestial magic created, and also liked that many constellations could be used in a variety of ways, giving the magic a more fluid feel than the rigidity that is normally credited to magic spells.

Glover does a fantastic job of highlighting the racism and classism of the era through the magical divide whilst never taking away from the real life experience of slavery and post-abolition life. The whole story is rooted in these rich events of black American history whilst giving it a magical twist which works so well.

I enjoyed the dynamic between Hetty and Benji, although I would have loved to have explored their characters on more depth. I feel like they have a lot more to offer so I’m excited to read the second book and I hope we delve into their bond further. My favourite duo was Hetty and Penelope - their friendship felt real and engaging and believable, and both are strong and independent.

The book was a little slow at the beginning, with lots of different threads - the murder case, Hetty’s search for her sister, her taking on Alice’s case to find HER sister, as well as the jump back in time were hard to keep straight at times, not to mention all of the side characters who all had different vague backstories. It really picked up around halfway through and I flew through the rest of the book as the stakes were raised, and I genuinely wasn’t sure on who the murderer was until just before it was revealed.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and am excited for the next. It’s a great debut by Glover and I can’t wait to see how she builds on this book into the next.

(Review will be posted on my Instagram @cunninghamreads on publication day)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House UK for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really, really wanted to love this book, but sadly it wasn't to be. I do think there is a huge amount of potential here, and as a debut, it has a lot of promise for future offerings, but this time this one just didn't work for me.

The premise is super intriguing (set in post-Civil War US, murder mystery, with a Black couple investigating, with magic) and it has plenty of elements to hold your interest, but I did think the set up was a little laboured, and the pacing felt a little all over the place.

Rounding up to 3 stars

What do you get if you mix an average crime novel with a decent fantasy? A pretty average book.

I was really looking forward to this novel as the premise had reeled me in. I began reading this enthusiastic and the enthusiasm carried me to read the novel throughout. At the heart of the book is a mystery as bodies turn up with marks of a curse on them. What this curse means or why it is so important I felt wasn’t explained enough. The magic system isn’t explained either. There just is magic around.
The crime investigation part I really enjoyed although it missed the pacing of a crime novel. Because after all it is not really a crime novel but a fantasy crime novel. Word building is done well but I still found at the end of the novel that I was craving for more.
All in all, The Conductors is a passable,average novel that could’ve been salvaged if it was either had a structure of a crime novel with fantastic elements clearly explained from the start.

Not for me, the premise seemed really interesting but I found it hard to get into so could not finish the book

This is a luscious, beautifully told magical story. It is a book that needs to be read slowly so you just sit back, take your time and enjoy the story telling. The two main characters are quite complex, flawed but likeable. There are also quite a few other characters in this story so it does take a while to get into the flow of the story and understand everyone’s place but once you get that it all starts to fall into place. The story is set in the 1800s in America after the civil war so it is in part a historical novel but it cleverly mixes in a magical mystery adventure, that reminded me why I enjoy this genre so much.

Rounding up to three stars.

I felt a bit lost with this book. Right at the beginning,there seemed to be a lot of characters to keep track of and the use of magic that I didnt feel was fully explained (did I miss this?)
Felt like being thrown head first into book 3 of a series.
Once I'd accepted everything for what it was ,things got better,and if there was a follow up book,I think I'd know somewhat was going on.
Such an interesting idea ,that this time just didnt work for me.

Nicole Glover crafts an interesting and compelling world. For a debut author she seems assured in her storytelling and is worth keeping an eye on.
That said I struggled a little with The Conductors. I felt as if I was dropping into a series that had already established it's lore which made it difficult to engage with the characters. A lot of my issues were resolved by the time I finished but I have to say that I was sorely tempted to stop reading part way through.
Hetty is a great protagonist and once the relationship with her husband Benjy is clear they are likeable enough, but the slow pace of the narrative and the way the author fills in back story make it an effort to get to liking them.
The post Civil War setting is certainly interesting though and I think this is a world I would consider returning to.