The writing style simply wasn't for meㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

I've tried many times to find a way into this story, but unfortunately I've finally had to give up. I liked the characters, but unfortunately the plot didn't engage me as much as I had hoped. I did not finish the book and therefore will not write and publish a review. Thank you anyway for the opportunity to read the book.

3.25 stars

I enjoyed this but I did think there were just a few things that kept it from a higher rating. I would've loved Nova's POV sooner. I did enjoy the character art showcasing the POV changes. The writing needed just a touch more polishing up. And it felt like something was just missing? It might've just been me but I needed a bit more from the story. I am interested in more from these authors though.

The Sigil brings the same energy that drew many to the Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games. The magic of being able to make characters so relatable that you can see yourself in this world of magic, sigils, monsters, and multi-dimensions.
What makes it stand out from the hundreds of other Fantasy books is its inclusive and diverse characters.
There is something for everyone, regardless of where you are in your journey, that you can see yourself reflected back at you. Not an easy feat, and keeping the book interesting at the same time.
I received this free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest unbiased review

I liked the book! I found a very attractive story, a good plot, but in my opinion it sinned in some things. But in general a good experience!

An ordinary boy who wants to be extraordinary.

The debut novel by Shakeil Kanish and Larissa Mandeville is set in our world where magic is just around the corner. Our protagonist, Lake Smithson, longs to be someone in this world. He finds himself at a school of magic, and does everything in his power to belong there.

I had some problems with the pace of the book. In my opinion, it could do with a bit more conflict in the beginning. The last part was stronger.

According to Amazon, this book is being re-edited at the moment, and I look forward to reading the final version.

I'm not sure what to think about The Sigil. The plot sounds amazing but it was... hard to grasp. It reminded me a little bit of The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken at the beginning but it reads very much like a debut novel. I really wanted to like this one more.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this copy to review.

Representation: gay black boy MC, black girl MC

Lake Smithson is in a rut, trying to get into colleges and being declined from all of them. He experiences a great tragedy, and starts to spiral until he stumbles across an odd letter. With this, he discovers there's a whole hidden magical world that humans aren't allowed to be a part of. Of course, Lake fights this because he feels like he's finally found a place where he could belong. There's magic, creatures of the dark, love, friendships, and chaos.

Rating: 3.5/5 Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this! I thought the magic system was interesting, with how only the gifted are able to use it by drawing sigils and activating them. Humans can technically use it too, but they'll be corrupted and possibly die if they try. The whole concept of the MC getting into a magical school, not having any magical ability, and never suddenly discovering some hidden power was really refreshing. I loved that Lake's being gay was very casual, it came up in the story from time to time but was never a big coming out moment. I really loved Nova! Sure, she's a little abrasive in the beginning, but I just love her unapologetic blackness. I liked how they showed the POV change with illustrations of Lake and Nova before the perspective shift. Though I did feel like Nova's POV came in really late. I wish she had been added earlier, and had more chapters.

From the cover of the book, you expect a dark fantasy and it is, but you don't really get that feeling until maybe a third into the book? The beginning is a little dark with the loss of Lake's brother, but other than that, it felt like just a standard YA story until we finally encountered the Neth, creatures of the dark. That was when it went darker, the pacing started to pick up and we dove more into this magical world. There were some plot holes, and some things that were kind of glossed over that shouldn't have been (such as the destruction in Lake's home, how was that cleaned up?), and some things that I felt like were missing but couldn't put my finger on. On Goodreads, the author says it's being re-edited but I don't know when that was posted. I hope the copy I received is an older one, because there are quite a few grammar issues, typos, and so on. But all in all, I did enjoy this read, and that ending WHEW! I need the next book!!

The characters were nice and the basis of the plot was intriguing but the writing style was basic and the plot felt badly paced with a lack of depth or exploration. A decent read with potential for a sequel but as it stands, nothing special.

I received this book from NetGalley, but the opinions are all my own. Wow... what a unique story! I had no idea going in what I was getting into as the blurb was vague, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance. Lake and Nova were great main characters, definitely not mainstream, which I really appreciated. The magic theme with friendship and betrayal gave it an overall fantasy feel while it still felt modern and relatable. I believe it is a story the average person can say, "Hey, that could be me," and I think that is important. It gets four stars from me.

A school for magicians, a tragic death and a group of friends trying to save their world - the story is not new, but had quite a few chances to stand out. While every magicians in this world can use sigils to make spells, most of them also have an inane gift, that varies widely. Also while there is an openly gay protagonist it fits into the story and doesn't feel forced. It is just a part of who the main character ist.

But sadly there are a lot of negative aspects I noticed:
While the story tried do be exciting and captivating it often falls to nicely together. Without explanations to why something happens it just is taken for granted by the characters. For example, Lake can from the start read the letters used in sigils and goes on to draw sigils for his friends on multiple occasions, even though they have been learning it for years and he only a few weeks. And not even once is that questioned by anyone. Another point is how he just gets accepted to study at the academy because of a little bit of blackmailing, that isn't even done convincingly. It is mentioned more than once or twice that no non-magician can know of the existence of magic, but he gets to just walk in and stay? I really liked the direction the story went, it just wasn't logically sound most of the time.
Another difficult aspect for me was the way direct speech was used. Sometimes there were a few different speeches without a hint to who spoke what. On other occasions there was a direct speech and in the same line another character did something, so that at first I wrongly thought it was also that person who spoke. Which was especially noticeable when it was Stone who acted after the direct speech, since he is mute.

I think this story has great potential but for me their are just too many negative aspects to recommend it in it's current state.

Heartfelt and sincere own voices story but the writing is clumsy and needs more polish. Lacks gravity and weight because we never really get to experience the moment. Needs to breathe. It feels like everything is in a rush to happen, from plot point to conversations,but most of these moments feel arbitrary.

Good grip on character voice, but unsure why there are multiple POVs because we don’t get much from switching back and forth. I liked Nova a lot as a character but didn’t feel her perspective added anything (beyond me being even more fond of her).

Beautiful novel that captivates friendship, betrayal and love with a hint of magic! Its somewhat like Harry Potter for adults. The characters are diverse and relatable. It was a little hard for me to get into the story at first, but later on, the book was a true page turner. The language is simple to understand like a YA novel, but the story is dark fantasy! Looking forward for book2 in the series.
Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for reader’s copy of this novel. The review is my own and not influenced in any way!

"Holy sh-" indeed.
I need the second book right now!
On another note: I really like the book!
Both main ptotagonists are so different but it fit right into the book and the story (Can we speak about the character art? I loved it! So beautiful drawn!) Nova's no shit attitude really spoke to me. Also the main characters are diverse (mute, poc, gay, adopted, plus size) and it's really good to read.
At first I head a difficult time to get into the story and get to know Lake, because it seemed like all you knew about him are his college rejections and that he loves his family. But after the first 20% I was intrigued! The magic system is different from everything I've read till today and it's interesting, The role of the gidas in this story is finally important and not only mages can save the day!
The book in some ways like the adult version of Harry Potter?! But in most ways it's a really great story of friendship, family and magic!
I can only recommend it!

This is a corker of a book. Great characters, a story that gets better as it goes along. So far this is my book of the year.

An entertaining book for a quiet day. It's a book with a very interesting universe and a captivating plot. The first chapters immediately catch my attention and make me want to know what will happen.

I would have liked more development on the characters but it's still an enjoyable and delightful story.

I received an e-copy of this novel from Netgalley for a true and honest review. I rate it 5/5. Why do you ask? Well, buckle up...because I'm going to tell you. So, any good story has 3 components: Character/goal, conflict, and stakes, and I feel that Shakeil and Larissa did a fantastic job. The characters were so realistic and relatable. I love seeing a novel with a LGBTQIA+ main character. There were so many ups and downs that the novel held my attention. I WANTED to read the story. I feel that is the most important thing. Did I want to continue? YES. The stakes were high for Lake and Nova! These had two perspectives which can be difficult in 1st when not done right. The characterizations were well written.
Don't get me wrong....there were some holes in the story (I'm not spoiling anything) and I was left a little confused, BUT for some reason...I didn't care. I was so enthralled by the story that I came out of my trance-like state on the last page. If you like a dark urban fantasy...pick up a copy of this!