Bones at the Crossroads — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: LaDarrion Williams
Published Year: 2025
Publisher: Labrynth Road
Pages: 529

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): It's his freshman year at Caiman University, and all 17-year-old Malik wants to do is be a normal college student. Go to parties, choose a major, talk to girls, and learn some new magic.

But instead, he's reeling from a summer of discovery, loss and betrayal, and still uncovering the truth about his powers and his legacy as the descendant of a powerful magical lineage. The family he only just discovered is already fractured beyond repair, and the mother he thought he knew—and risked everything to find—might be the biggest danger to the new life he's building. Malik is trying to find his footing in a world threatened by intertribal tension and the rising power of the Bokors. But how he can he use his power to protect a world he's not sure he'll ever fully belong to...

In a wholly unique and electric saga of magic, heritage, and community, Malik confronts the dark cracks of the magical world, and the darkness in himself. Exploring the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting, this heart-pounding fantasy series is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion.

First Impressions

I was offered the chance to review this book before I read the first in this series. I had had the first book on my TBR list for a while and was very excited. I don’t personally love the cover art and wouldn’t be drawn to it just on sight alone. After reading the first book, I was slightly less excited to read the second but I was curious where it was going to end up.

What I thought

Sigh. I want to like this series so much.

This book picks up right about where the last one left off. Malik is starting his fall semester at Caiman University. Kumale, Alexis, and Malik’s mom are all missing and Mama Aya is dead. While Malik is dealing with the death of his grandma and the evil of his mom, he also has to battle with being a normal college student.

My biggest issue with this book is how similar it feels to other magical books I’ve read, specifically Harry Potter. There is an entire (unnecessary) storyline about the Homecoming at Caiman and it feels like it’s pulled straight from the Triwizard tournament and ball from the 4th Harry Potter. Chancellor Taron’s mom feels like a knockoff of Umbridge while Taron feels like a weaker version of Dumbledore. I got to a point where I just started skipping pages about the Homecoming because of how pointless it was. I get that Williams is using it as a storyline to address homophobia and mental health in the Black community, but when your book is 500 pages long do you really need 200 pages to be focused on that?

Malik’s love life also drove me nuts. I did like Dominique, though I don’t fully trust her, but him still being hung up on Alexis was so odd to me. I didn’t understand him falling so completely in love with her in the first book, so him still being hung up on her rather than feeling betrayed made no sense. I also do like D-Low, Malik’s roommate, but Savon is supposed to be Malik’s friend and he turns on him pretty quickly when he gets elected to the Homecoming Court.

Now when we look to theactual magical part of the story, I’m still confused as to how this world functions. Malik seems to be this all powerful magic wielder who develops powers at convenient times. His grandma somehow gifts him her magic when he dies too which makes him even more magical? I sort of started to understand his mother’s evilness, but then the way to handle it confused me again. There is also a scene where Malik gets blamed for murdering other students that felt so similar to the scenes in Harry Potter where Harry is put on trial and then has to flee with his friends.