A review by hearthside_storytelling
The Conductors by Nicole Glover

mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

((Thank you to NetGalley and John Joseph Adams/Mariner Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)) 

“Whether it was bodies found chopped up in a trunk, missing cauldrons, or cursed teakettles, they poked and prodded until they made sense of the senseless. They found nightmarish things tucked aware in the quietest of homes. Revealed culprits and caught thieves. And they found lost loved ones.”
The Conductors 

When I first started reading this book, I didn’t really know what to expect. I seem to have a habit of reading alternate history, post Civil War/restoration/wild west stories that often involve magic. It’s a very cathartic way to revisit historical trauma and a trend I’m hopeful will stick around. The Conductors is the latest in the trend and offers some unique takes. 

We follow our main character Hetty, an escaped slave who currently lives free in Philadelphia and solves crimes with her husband Benjy. Before settling in Philadelphia the two worked as Conductors for a fantasy take on the Underground Railroad, all while searching for Hetty’s long lost sister Esther. 
The final part that sets this novel apart is…. magic of course! 
 
This book is a little hard to talk about because it is absolutely STUFFED with plot and action. The pacing is pretty fast (and sometimes a little weird) an Hetty is just nonstop involved in something or with someone. The book has occasional flashbacks to Hetty’s past, answering questions that naturally evolve while reading a mystery. 

The world building is pretty natural and it is rarely a character explaining how things works. The magic systems are a little confusing, but if you give it time, it’s explained in pretty solid depth. I don’t want to spoil it because it’s really cool and has race elements that play into it without falling into the “magical negro” trope due to the magic being world wide and varied. (Of course this is an OwnVoices novel and unlikely to fall victim to these stereotyped tropes, but I saw some reviews that complained about the magic system without having read the whole book so I wanted to set aside any trepidation.) 

One of the unique elements is the different magic that is practiced by black people and white people, and I’d be excited in future books to see if any other ethnicity/backgrounds would practice other forms of magic. The magic is really comfortably built into the writing and the world. It feels so natural and the writing is very visually evocative. 

The world and the characters within it are both the strongest and weakest points. The world feels very full, very fleshed out and it feel like Hetty is really apart of a community. She has a lot of friends and there are a lot of female characters in the book. I’m pretty sure it’s an entirely black cast in this novel. 

The biggest problem is that, honestly, there are WAY too many characters. They all, mostly, serve a purpose because there are multiple plots running. I don’t really read mysteries, and this book is setting up for a series, so I’m not sure if this is regularly apart of this genre, but it was one of my least favorite things about the book. It seemed like every few pages was introducing us to another character, or their husband, or their cousin, or that guy they met one time, or the owner of this restaurant, or…. and so on. 

There’s SO much to love about this book. Hetty is hard to not love. She is one of the fullest female characters I’ve ever read. She’s very headstrong, talented in magic and sewing, very closed up about her emotions. She’s a great main character and she’s the best reason to read this book. Paired with her husband Benjy, a marriage that is very unconventional and has a pretty unexpected romance, their dynamic is infectious. 

Another character of note for me is Hetty’s friend Penelope. I am 1000% obsessed with her. She’s a talented singer and healer and very blunt and no nonsense. There were a couple of times where Hetty’s actions were kind of whack and Penelope was NOT tolerating it. 

Side note: Penelope reminds me a lot of Sophie’s sister in Howl’s Moving Castle. (Much more the book version than the almost non-existent movie version. But that’s a conversation for another day.) 
 
But for every Penelope-level character there are, seriously, 5 characters that feel… unnecessary. While this book is packed to the brim, it feels like it could really afford to trim the fat. A lot happens, but sometimes it’s over explained of filled with more background information than is needed. 

I also have a lot of issues with the last, like, 30% of the book. All the plot points are tied up (a little too easily for me…,) the mysteries are solved, and it’s set up perfectly for more books. However, the ending was pretty confusing and unsatisfying for me. The main motivations didn’t really sit right with me. But I’m going to cut some slack to be book because I was quite sick when I read it, and I might have just been in a nasty mood. 
Now bare in mind, I read an arc and it’s entirely possible that a lot of my problems can still be solved. Even if they aren’t, that shouldn’t deter you from reading this book if it checks all your boxes. It’s a really unique setting with guaranteed at least one character you’ll like, and a main character that is pretty excellent. The pros really outweigh the cons for me. I don’t really read sequels, or mysteries, but I would be interested in seeing where this series goes. 

And on a final note: 
 
How gorgeous is that cover????? 
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