📕 Title: The Gatekeeper’s Staff
✏️ Author: Antoine Bandele
📖 Genre: YA Fantasy
⭐ Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
📝 Book 1 in the TJ Young & the Orishas series

BOOK BLURB

Despite growing up in a community of diviners, magic has never been easy for fourteen-year-old TJ, the odd one out between his powerful older sister and talented younger brother. His sister’s mysterious death sends waves throughout the community, unearthing information that leaves TJ wondering whether he really knew her at all. Hoping to find out the truth, TJ enrolls in Camp Olosa, a remedial magical school located in New Orleans. As TJ begins to tap into his powers and investigate his sister’s past, he doesn’t expect to encounter the ancient spirits called the Orishas.

REVIEW

This was everything I wanted in a young adult fantasy novel, in an academic setting similar to Percy Jackson or Harry Potter but inspired by West African mythology. This story was fresh and fun, and the magic system was unique.

Unlike similar books where the protagonist is estranged from their magical background, TJ was brought up within the diviner community and knew about Orishas and magic prior to attending Camp Olosa. Despite this, there’s still plenty of intrigue and discoveries to be made as the camp is TJ’s first time learning magic in an academic setting.

TJ’s experience of being a middle child is so relatable, especially as he deals with being a relatively average student while his two siblings are both exceptional in different ways. This story is TJ’s journey to discover his own strengths while facing the loss of his sister.

The supporting characters come to life on the page, each with their own backstories and character arcs. I especially loved Manny! I appreciated how TJ’s preconceptions about people are often challenged, and how it’s never quite obvious who the “good guys” are. This was a fantastic setup for the series and I’m very excited to start on the next book!