Williams makes her authorial debut with a refreshing contemporary fantasy. Aurora and Arden are Black identical twins with a superstar opera singer for a mother. They are excited to settle down in Ohio when their mother retires and enjoy a bit of mundane life. However, those aspirations are smashed when their mother comes out of retirement and takes a gig in London. On the cusp of the girls' eighteenth birthday, their mother vanishes and the twins develop supernatural powers, thus setting off a chain of perilous events. Aurora and Arden must master their new powers and solve an old family mystery if they want to find their mother and stay alive. During their quest, they discover the secret their mother has long kept from them: they are twin goddesses with a staggering destiny. This tightly written story is a short, riveting read that really shines in its exploration of sisterhood and the bonds of family, not to mention its sparkling use of Black girl magic.

This debut YA novel sees two black identical twins discover their magical lineage.In Cincinnati, Ohio, twins Arden and Aurora are about to turn 18 years old. Their mother is Selene Bryant, a famous Jamaican opera singer who has retired to finally settle down with her daughters. When Selene is called to London for an emergency fill-in performance, Aurora is incensed. The teen decides to throw a "legendary" party, to which the bookish Arden is not invited. During the party, a handsome 21-year-old named Devin is drawn to Arden's closed bedroom door. She soon begins to read his thoughts, realizing that "his want for me travels from his body into my own like waves in an ocean." Soon the twins' godfather, Leo, breaks up the party. He informs them that Selene has disappeared overseas. What the girls don't know is that their grandmother Ghani has been empowered with immortality and a vision for justice by the Fates. Her husband, Ezekiel, hates the notion of powerful women as well as the institutional racism plaguing black men. He plans to steal the celestial power from his wife and their gifted children, then use it to help black men dominate society. Arden and Aurora sneak off to London, unaware that they're embroiled in their family's generational war. Williams' fantasy with a diverse cast introduces a few intense topics, like racism and female oppression, but doesn't explore them at length. The story's emotional weight comes mostly from the chapters narrated by Aurora, who believes she is the inferior twin unworthy of her talented mother's love and that Selene has betrayed her daughters. In one bleakly revealing line, the girl says that men are "basically just mirrors who pay for the tickets to where I want to go." Engaging characters-like the twins' cousins Lilo and Liberty and the space-folding Aunt Kiara-help the protagonists, perhaps too well. Great swaths of plot open with each new meeting, and the powerful twins (along with readers) are told far more than they're shown. Nevertheless, continuous revelations keep the optimistic tale humming, and the cast is in fine shape for a sequel.Family bonds create the magic in this stirring fantasy.

Gr 9 Up-This fantasy debut features a compellingly intense sibling relationship, but readers will also be drawn to peeling through layers of family secrets. Selene unexpectedly flies to London for a last-minute gig, missing twins Aurora and Arden's 18th birthday. Selene's peripatetic lifestyle is not new; as privileged daughters of a career-driven single parent who happens to be a world-renowned opera diva, the twins live like "wealthy vagabonds." Only this time Selene travels alone, and disappears. Aurora gets wildly drunk, leaving Arden to cope and cover for her. They follow Selene to London where they discover that her kidnapping was a trap set by weaker, evil male relatives who are out to smash the family matriarchy. Their grandmother, a Jamaican-born goddess named Ghani, teaches them telekinesis and telepathy, special powers they didn't know they had. A deadly battle between the sexes ensues, set for the night the twins turn 18. VERDICT A debut novel combining extrasensory perception, sibling rivalry and a missing parent to strong effect. Georgia Christgau, LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City, NY