A review by blkgrlreading89
A Taste Of Magic by J. Elle

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A Taste of Magic is a really unique take on a magic school and magic system! Park Row Magick Academy is not the super fancy magic school you’re use to. It’s located in the back of a Black woman owned beauty salon. The school is extremely underfunded and lacking the resources it needs for it’s students to thrive. It has only lasted this long because of its dedicated teacher Ms. Mo. PRMA mirrors many of the schools in poor, underfunded areas all over this country.

Middle grade stories have some of the most genuine and pure relationships. Kyana has a multigenerational living arrangement with her mama and Memaw. They are such a tight knit family even though Kyana’s mom works a lot. Aside from Kyana, Memaw was my favorite character! She was constantly dropping this little nuggets of wisdom and nurturing Kyana’s passions which reminded me of my own grandma 🥰 I also adored Kyana’s friendship with Nae and the new bonds she formed with the Magic kids at Park Row Magick Academy like Ash and Russ. 

A key takeaway from A Taste of Magic is that a Black child can make a mistake and not be vilified for it. Too often in our society black and brown kids are not given the grace to make mistakes and learn from them. It was refreshing to see Kyana be allowed to make a mistake, realize it and come up with a solution with the support of not only her family but the witch community as well.

The common household substitutions for magical ingredients Kyana found and used from the old spell book Memaw gave her were really ingenious! For example creaming together Kool Aid powder and cocoa butter as a substitute for slug skin paste when making the antidote potion.

The food descriptions throughout the book had my mouth watering. I never wanted a bowl of gumbo or a slice of cake so bad in my life! Being a GA girl, I agree with Memaw that the best food you’ll ever find is down south 😉

So much of this story resonated with me and I know BIPOC kids especially Black kids are going to love it. I can’t wait to see where this new series goes!

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books for an eARC of A Taste of Magic in exchange for an honest review.