On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to Liselle Sambury all about her incredible debut novel, Blood Like Magic, which not only has enough Toronto landmarks to throw a stick at but is described as “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.”
Here’s the summary…
After years of waiting for her Calling—a trial every witch must pass in order 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.
There’s no question that Blood Like Magic is a five-star read, but there’s a little more to it than that. Because it’s not relevant just for the sake of relevance, by connecting the distant past to the near future, what Liselle has done is allow us to see things that maybe we should have seen a long time ago. With a compelling mystery, a stellar top-to-bottom cast including a powerful lead in Voya, and a beautiful soft sci-fi sensibility, Blood Like Magic is a book you won’t soon forget.
Steve and Liselle talk about her connection to the Toronto Writers Crew, her amazing work with the books lead character Voya, the not-so-fair publishing industry, Blood Like Magic of course, and much, much more.
Blood Like Magic is out now, so click HERE to order a copy today!
