The magic in this book was awesome! I made the mistake of listening to the audiobook my first time 'round so of course I didn’t catch every little detail. What I enjoyed the most was how much love poured out of the characters for each other, especially when it came to family (including found family). There was so much personality and character to these people, this book truly felt like home. It was heartwarming following Malik on his journey and seeing him find his people and make his way in the world.

 On the other hand, the language at times made me cringe endlessly and I might've DNFed if I'd physically read it. I can do references, but they were constant, it was almost unbearable. I wasn’t a fan of the pacing. Several things could've been cut, condensed, or thrown in as backstory. Over half of it felt like worldbuilding, but there wasn’t much to build since it’s still heavily set in our world. I would've loved to see Malik messing around and getting used to his magic but we hardly got that outside of classes or near-death experiences. It took a while for the central plot to come into play, and when it did, the story got predictable. Everybody I suspected turned into a culprit in one way or the other. I didn’t care for Malik and Alexis as a couple. They were holding on to the past rather than building anything. Whatever connection they had wasn't convincing to me, especially with how they treated each other. 

Then I learned this was supposed to be 'black boy joy' and 'no trauma'. A lie. This entire book is based on trauma and we hardly saw Malik experience any kind of joy. It's why we don't see him have fun with his magic or trust anyone. I honestly thought there would've been a balance between lightheartedness and the heavy plot lines, but it was mostly heavy.