Audiobook Review: The Mystwick School of Musicraft by Jessica Khoury

Humor and heart shine in this middle grade fantasy about a girl who attends a boarding school to learn how to use music to create magic, perfect for fans of Nevermoor and The School for Good and Evil series.

Amelia Jones always dreamed of attending the Mystwick School of Musicraft, where the world’s most promising musicians learn to create magic.

So when Amelia botches her audition, she thinks her dream has met an abrupt and humiliating end—until the school agrees to give her a trial period. Amelia is determined to prove herself, vowing to do whatever it takes to become the perfect musician. Even if it means pretending to be someone she isn’t.

Meanwhile, a mysterious storm is brewing that no one, not even the maestros at Mystwick, is prepared to contain. Can Amelia find the courage to be true to herself in time to save her beloved school from certain destruction?

GENRE: Middle Grade Fantasy

PURCHASE LINK: Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jessica Khoury is the author of many books for teens and young readers. Her stories have been translated into over a dozen languages and have been finalists for awards like the South Carolina Junior Book Award, the Ignyte Award, the Maine Student Book Award, the Oklahoma Sequoyah Masterlist, the Amelia Bloomer Project, and many more. Her bestselling middle grade debut The Mystwick School of Musicraft was named one of the Best Audiobooks of 2019 by Audible and is one of the Top 20 Most Listened-To children's books of all time.​

In addition to writing, Jess is also a fantasy cartographer and illustrator. Her artwork has appeared in NYT Bestsellers, video and tabletop games, and of course her own books.

Jess currently lives in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband and daughters. She spends free time hiking in the mountains, playing video games, and sketching new characters for new stories.

Review

This is one of those books that's just perfect for audio. The accolades — Best Audiobooks of 2019 by Audible and one of the Top 20 Most Listened-To children's books of all time — are well deserved, because in audio format the music parts simply shine! The book's concept of music as magic is clever (though as a singer rather than a musician I'm bummed that I won't be magical 😂) and one I haven't actually encountered before.

I literally shrieked when one of the "battles" started because I love listening to orchestral and cinematic music and IT WAS AN ORCHESTRAL PIECE oh my goodness!

Here's a little behind the scenes video I found on the author's website:

I'm very much looking forward to starting the next book as well as the prequel. In audio, of course. And I hope we get an album/soundtrack!

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️️⭐️️

---

Hi! I'm Marie, a Filipino SFFH author and book reviewer currently based in the UK. I’m the co-author of The Prophecies of Ragnarok, a Norse myth new adult urban fantasy trilogy, and I also have several short stories published in anthologies and literary journals.

You can find more info about me and my books, and also subscribe to my newsletter for more content, here. And if you like what I do, please also consider supporting me on Ko-fi! 🩷 https://ko-fi.com/mariesinadjan

If you fancy a short read, I have a cozy reimagining of the Norse myths about Hel, but it's just under 70 pages and can be read in one sitting. ✨ Plus there's a swag kit coming soon! Includes a "membership card," a bookmark, a sticker, an origami dog, and an exclusive 500-word story 🫶🏼

All things end, and all must die.

But death is not always the end.

When Geiravor Lokisdottir was stripped of her name and cast out of Asgard, torn from her family and the life she had known, she thought she’d lost it all. But in the shadows of Niflheim she discovers the path to her destiny, and what it truly means to be queen.

This is a prequel short story to THE PROPHECIES OF RAGNAROK trilogy by Meri Benson and Marie Sinadjan, and a retelling of the myths involving Hel, the Norse goddess of death and the queen of the underworld.