A rich, dark urban fantasy debut following a teen witch who is given a horrifying task: sacrificing her first love to save her family’s magic. The problem is, she’s never been in love - she’ll have to find the perfect guy before she can kill him.

After years of waiting for her Calling - a trial every witch must pass to come into their powers - the one thing Voya Thomas didn’t expect was to fail. When Voya’s ancestor gives her an unprecedented second chance to complete her Calling, she agrees - and then is horrified when her task is to kill her first love. And this time, failure means every Thomas witch will be stripped of their magic.

Voya is determined to save her family’s magic no matter the cost. The problem is, Voya has never been in love, so for her to succeed, she’ll first have to find the perfect guy - and fast. Fortunately, a genetic matchmaking program has just hit the market. Her plan is to join the program, fall in love, and complete her task before the deadline. What she doesn’t count on is being paired with the infuriating Luc - how can she fall in love with a guy who seemingly wants nothing to do with her?

With mounting pressure from her family, Voya is caught between her morality and her duty to her bloodline. If she wants to save their heritage and Luc, she’ll have to find something her ancestor wants more than blood. And in witchcraft, blood is everything.

Listening Length

16 hours and 14 minutes
Author

Liselle Sambury
Narrator

Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Audible release date

June 15, 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN

B08WG19DZS
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	16 hours and 14 minutes
Author	Liselle Sambury
Narrator	Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	June 15, 2021
Publisher	Simon & Schuster Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08WG19DZS
Best Sellers Rank	#7,708 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #5 in Teen & Young Adult Multigenerational Family Fiction #9 in Contemporary Fantasy for Teens #11 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy for Teens

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

354 global ratings

5 star		67%
4 star		20%
3 star		10%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Ezra

In love!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 25, 2022

Verified Purchase

Not only did this book have me the moment it started, it kept me captivated and eager to finish. Voya is a breath of fresh air in terms of YA protags, and I rooted for her while she struggled to figure out what she was meant to do.

There were so many aspects of this book I connected to on a personal level, to the point of tears because it mirrored aspects of my life that I’m not used to seeing in books. From the complex emotions of being the oldest child of divorced parents, to seeing a family dynamic that makes me think of my own, to being a trans man just like the love interest of this book.

Despite how things ended, I just want Voya and Luc to be happy! They’re both babies and I hope the next book will be kind to them (and me!) and at least let them have a decent next journey. August can’t come any sooner if you ask me!

One person found this helpful

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Jessica W.

LOVED IT

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 18, 2021

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This book was so epically fantastic. I cried so much. I haven't felt personally attacked by a book this much in a long time. Like. It hurt me.

Here are the things you need to know. Liselle did a fantastic job of merging real world issues of today into what they might be in the future as well as adding in a magical society and new issues for that time period.

There's a lot of hits on culture and identity within the Black communities (because not all Black is the same, in case you missed the memo) as well as the magical communities and how the community you belong to and the company you keep doesn't necessarily make you good or evil. Every choice we make has a consequence and it's those choices that decide who we truly are. And it's a gray area.

There were SO MANY plot twists. Just left and right things were jumping out at me like, you should have seen this coming, but I didn't. and it was fantastic.

It was queer, just a whole dang lot of queer love (as there should be). And the magic system and the family aspect and gods y'all, I can't even form coherent thoughts anymore.

I cannot recommend this book enough. It was bloody brilliant.

14 people found this helpful

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Shonna F

Beautiful Story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 1, 2022

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I will be saving this story for my daughter when she come of age. Great life lessons taught in a fictional manner.

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Amazon Customer

MUST READ!!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

Omg I loved the whole storyline and it's hard to not find characters that you like and are rooting for. Love the diversity and inclusivity. Counting down till the next release by this amazing author!❤️

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Anastasia

I loved it.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 30, 2022

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I liked the theme and everything about this book. Magic. Family. And the hardest decision for a teenager to make.

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Adrianna Wrubel

Excellent book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 2, 2022

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There were a lot of ups, down, twists, and turns. I like a book that actually surprises me. I figured some things out and then other things came as a shock.

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Becca C. Smith

WOW!!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 15, 2021

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This book was AMAZING!!! I was pulled in immediately and couldn't stop reading until I was finished! Voya is such a beautiful and complex character who is forced into an impossible situation. And even though she has had difficulty making choices in her life, the one constant is that she will do anything to protect her family. Anything. I cried, I laughed, I cheered, I even got mad (I'm looking at you Justin), it wasn't just a fantastic read, it was a true experience and now I'm dying for the sequel!!! This is a spoiler-free review so I won't say why, but GAH! I can't wait to dive back into Voya's world again! In the mean time, I'll just re-read Blood Like Magic lol!

5 people found this helpful

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Cope

Can't put it down

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 10, 2021

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This book is so good, I literally can't wait to read it everyday. Im just about finished and I think I received it less than a week ago. looking forward to the next book but I'll have to wait until Aug of 2022! Gaahhh!!!

Lots of good characters, very LGBT+ friendly, futuristic but not too over the top, lots of personal conflict and family drama that the main character has to overcome and a few surprises along the way.

10/10 would recommend.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Charlotte Watkins

An Intriguing New Take On Witches With Wonderfully Crafted Characters At It's Core

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 16, 2022

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‘There’s something about lounging in a bath of blood that makes me want to stay until my fingers shrivel enough to show the outlines of my bones.’

Actual Rating: 4.5

Truthfully I picked ’Blood Like Magic’ up because of its promise of magic and how very intriguing but harrowing Voya’s task sounded. I didn’t really know what to expect out of this book besides those features; I didn’t think too much about what else would be going on or even what the setting would be like. And that setting ended up being a truly luscious treat. Set slightly in the future Liselle Sambury’s novel features genetic developments, futuristic tech and a social media style rating system that was somewhat reminiscent of the dystopian novels that I’ve previously read and loved. This added bonus was one of two which I want to highlight; the other being a slight mystery element that gave the plotline – which was already pretty packed – another intriguing route to go down. I wouldn’t describe it as a full fledged thriller – it’s still definitely more so an urban fantasy novel – but there was a mysterious family secret to uncover and I loved that. Needless to say this debut caught me off guard and left me hooked.

Magic in this novel was fantastic. It follows a well thought out and designed system which includes various rituals, beliefs and a lot of history. I don’t want to say too much about it as part of the fun of this book is discovering everything for yourself but I loved how the ancestors were incorporated into this tale. Another of my favourite elements of this book was the Thomas family at its centre. There wasn’t a single member that failed to intrigue me. Seeing their family dynamics was fantastic and I firmly believe that it’s a feature of this novel that will appeal to many readers. Voya was a wonderful central character to follow as well and the complex relationship that developed between her and her love was splendid. It was slow burn, believable and featured the kind of banter that leaves you grinning madly. But it also had a rather unsettling undercurrent to it considering everything that’s going on with Voya’s Calling.

The truth is that there’s a lot within this book that I could gush about. The writing was glorious, the setting fun to explore, the characters well defined and their connections to one another oh so believable. For most of this book I was convinced it was going to be a five star read, then it dropped to four for me which frustrated me to no end. Without going into spoiler territory I’ll simply say that a choice was made that felt quite unbelievable to me. Enough so that it really hampered my experience for a little while. I can see why the author went in the direction that she did – and it’s lead to some fantastic future potential – but it doesn’t didn’t quite gel for me character wise. Thankfully the end of this book picked right back up with some seriously fabulous content which pushed it back up to a 4.5 rating overall. Sadly I can’t quite fully get past the aforementioned rough patch but the ends definitely left me itching for more.

So overall naturally I recommend this book and think that it could appeal to a wide variety of readers – those who love big family dynamics, complicated romantic ties and magical storylines being the main amongst them. I majorly can’t wait for book two to find out exactly what happens next.

Ndeana Makipure

A great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 19, 2022

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I absolutely adored this book. The writing was wonderful and descriptive, the magic system was simple and I loved the generational tie-in, and the characters were great. I loved Voya immediately, she was very realistic and well-fleshed out. She and Alex were my favourites. I liked Luc a lot as well.

My only wish is that I would have liked to see more magic, this felt more sci-fi with magic in there rather than the other way around. I'm not very sciencey so I didn't understand a lot of the technological stuff. I also think this could have been shorter, there was a lot of 'explaining' the world especially in the early chapters which slowed the pace down in parts.

I loved the ending. Certain parts had me near tears. Can't wait for the sequel.

Anna

Enjoyable read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 27, 2021

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I devoured the book in a few days. I look forward to more work from this author. I like the journey she takes you on.

Amazon Customer

Definitely a must read

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 24, 2021

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I could not put this book down, once I started I was hooked and had to know what was going to happen! Very well written and loved that this was based out of Toronto in an area I know very well, made the book come to life. You will not regret reading this book. I cannot wait for the sequel to come out!

Bianca Koosz

Beautiful book

Reviewed in Sweden 🇸🇪 on September 29, 2022

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It’s so beautiful, I love the cover art and the color. The text is very nice, perfect in fact in my opinion. I really have nothing negative to say about this.