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Only those from the most powerful magical families can attend Blackwater Academy, but new student Alka has them fooled. Now it's time to take down the oppressive wizard ruling class from the inside.
Alka Chelrazi is on a mission:
1. Infiltrate Blackwater Academy
2. Win the Great Game
3. Burn Wizard society to the ground
As a child, Alka witnessed her parents' brutal murder at the hands of Wizards before she was taken in by an underground rebel group. Now, Alka is deep undercover at the most prestigious school of magic in the Republic: Blackwater Academy, a place where status is everything, where decadent galas end in blood-splattered duels, where every student has their own agenda. To survive, Alka will have to lie, cheat, kill, and use every trick in her spy's toolkit. And for the first time in her life, the fiercely independent Alka will have to make friends in order to recruit the misfits and the outcasts into her motley rebellion.
But even as she draws closer to victory—and to vengeance—she sinks deeper into danger as suspicious professors and murderous rivals seek the traitor in their midst, as dark revelations unravel her resolve. Can Alka destroy the twisted game...without becoming a part of it?
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 6, 2021 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780759555990
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780759555990
- File size: 1070 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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July 1, 2021
Gr 9 Up-Alka Chelrazi is not who she appears to be. She is not a Humble-someone without magic who must serve the wizards in the Republic of Marovia. She is not a hapless member of the gang that attacks the coach of Lady Alayne Dewinter. She is not Lady Alayne, though she assumes her identity and takes her place at Blackwater, an elite academy where young wizards prepare to take leadership roles in the Republic. She is on a mission of destruction for the rebellion and a mission of vengeance for the family that she lost. Alka-posing as Alayne-nevertheless encounters those at Blackwater who are far more complex, far more sympathetic, and far more human than she ever imagined. From the servant Marlena and her classmate Fyl to handsome prince Talyn and the mysterious Professor Calfex, Alka attracts allies as she schemes and struggles toward a final bloody confrontation with her parents' murderer and the system that caused their deaths. There is much violence here, yet there is also tenderness, loyalty, and a protagonist who manages to acknowledge who she is and take a stand for what truly matters. This society is structured around discrimination and abuse of power by magical people over non-magical people; various ethnicities are described but don't correlate clearly to real-world ethnicities. VERDICT Older teens who enjoy imperfect heroes in realms where magic creates as many problems as it solves will relate to this story immensely. Recommended for high school collections.-Kelly Kingrey-Edwards, Blinn Junior Coll., Brenham, TX
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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