Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy

Product Information

It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool — like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much — like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbour.

It's #feelgoodfriday and I have the perfect book to put a smile on your face. Nic Blake and the Remarkables by Angie Thomas was such a joy to read. It was a fun, fast-paced adventure from start to finish. While this was all a lot of fun, I was hoping for a stronger emotional tie to Nic. I think it's because she would tell us how much her best friend meant to her, rather than show us how much he meant to her. There were many parts of the story that happened in Nic's head, and I just didn't feel as much of it. But I think this is something that can definitely change in future books. We are only just getting to know who Nic is, and it's more than just the 'Chosen One'. I'm hoping to see her relationship with her mom and brother develop, as well as have her father become an important person not just in her life, but in the rest of her family. And yes, I want her best friend to remain part of her life! Walker Books has landed Angie Thomas’ debut middle-grade book Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy in a three-book deal.The Manifestor Prophecy ends with a sense that Nic’s greatest challenges may still lie ahead of her… which is great news for us readers! I can’t wait for the next in this series.

I read this book as an audiobook from the library, but I also have an ARC from the publisher (full disclosure), which didn't affect my review in any way. The main characters were fun and loveable. I loved the dynamic between the three by the end of the book. And I loved the family aspects especially. It was just very sweet and wholesome at times. In “The Manifestor Prophecy,” Nic’s origin story, Thomas uses her narrative mojo to connect with adolescents. As the trilogy progresses, it’s sure to light the way toward the multifaceted worlds of adult speculative fiction — from Octavia Butler to Neil Gaiman to N.K. Jemisin — that await this next generation of fantasy readers.Nic Blake wil niets liever dan een machtige Manifestor worden, net als haar vader. Maar voordat ze de kans krijgt om alles van hem te leren, zorgen een reeks ongelooflijke onthullingen en angstaanjagende gebeurtenissen ervoor dat Nic en haar vrienden op zoek moeten naar een magisch voorwerp. Ze heeft geen idee hoe het eruitziet, en toch moet ze het vinden, want anders zal Nics vader gestraft worden voor een misdaad die hij volgens haar nooit kan hebben gepleegd. With her dad being accused of a crime she can't believe he committed, Nic is plunged into a terrifying and dangerous quest. To prove her dad's innocence she must hunt for a magical tool she's never heard of in a remarkable world she knows very little about. But with some very dodgy characters on her tail, does she have any chance of finding it in time? And what is Nic's role destined to be in this remarkable world?

With an ending which is begging for a follow-up series, never mind just a solitary sequel, I am tremendously looking forward to revisiting Nic’s world to find out what she encounters next. Nic Blake and the Remarkables is one of those books that hooked me from the very start, and I was excited about it because it was written by Angie Thomas and it definitely didn’t disappoint. I would say her first middle-grade fantasy debut is a success on its own and I love how she puts her own flair towards it. Also, I do recommend listening to the audiobook whilst reading as well. The audiobook was so well-done (like all Angie Thomas’s books) and it gives the story more depth. I've seen that most people absolutely love this book, so I hope that most young readers really enjoy it as well. Maybe it just didn't work for me - and that's a good thing, because I want kids to be able to love this! I usually try to review books objectively, especially if I'm not the target audience. I wouldn't read a horror novel and give it a low rating because it was 'too scary', and similarly I don't judge MG/YA for feeling 'immature'. Still, I have to be honest about how I felt.We have a straightforward first-person-narrator middlegrade adventure with a ton of fantasy elements, which is something I always look out for. Well, I don't care about the narrator choice that much, but fantasy?! Hell yes.