I’m a sucker for a good time travel story, so the third middle grade novel in the Mystwick School of Musicraft series, The Dark Refrain by Jessica Khoury (audiobook by Audible Originals, 2024), was definitely one I enjoyed. In this volume, Amelia Jones finds out that her grade is taking a one-month field trip to Strasburg, Austria, to learn about classical music. Of course, adventure begins. She and her besties get trapped in a time spell that sends them back to Mozart’s time.
While the title might sound “dark,” it actually felt a bit lighter than the previous two books, which focused on dark magic, which her estranged father encouraged. In this book, her father becomes more of a positive influence. One particular historical character also adds humor to most scenes in the book, as do spells gone awry from Amelia, Jai, and Darby.
As with the other two books and the short prequel, we listened to The Dark Refrain audiobook rather than only reading it. The audio includes background music whenever the characters in the text play their instruments. It made the whole story feel much more immersive and is simply the perfect medium for a musical magic book like this; you should listen to it if you can!
Note: As of writing (July 2024), it appears the audiobook is the only one available.
