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Named one of The Root's 100 Most Influential African-Americans of 2020, L.L. McKinney is a writer, a poet, and an active member of the kidlit community. She's an advocate for equality and inclusion in publishing, the co-founder of Juneteenth Book Fest, and the creator of the hashtags #PublishingPaidMe and #WhatWOCWritersHear. She's also a gamer girl and an adamant Hei Hei stan. Her works include the Nightmare-Verse books, Nubia: Real One through DC, Marvel's Black Widow: Bad Blood, and more.
A breakout author. --Entertainment Weekly With memorable characters and page-turning thrills, the Nightmare-Verse is the fantasy series I've been waiting for my whole life. Alice is Black Girl Magic personified. --Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Hate U Give Praise for A Dream So Dark The Alice I never knew I needed. The Alice I was missing. McKinney conjures a Wonderland for those of us who weren't given the looking glass. It is a feat of black girl magic! --Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times-bestselling author of The Belles McKinney's follow-up to A Blade So Black proves she is a master of urban fantasy... Explosive from start to finish and guaranteed to send readers gleefully down a rabbit hole from which they'll emerge begging for a third installment. --Booklist, starred review Complex intrigue... Rousing, nonstop twists help make this sophomore entry a success. --Kirkus Reviews Praise for A Blade So Black Mixing elements of Alice in Wonderland and Buffy the Vampire Slayer... a delectable urban twist on beloved fantasy tales. --Entertainment Weekly This really is Lewis Carroll by way of Buffy, and it makes for a fun, gritty urban fantasy. --NPR I loved the 'our world' framing and the 'other world' adventure so deeply. They were at such odds, but the overall effect was just chefkiss.gif perfect. --E.K. Johnston, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: Ahsoka and A Thousand Nights Wholly original and absolutely thrilling--A Blade So Black kicks so much (looking gl)ass. --Heidi Heilig, author of The Girl From Everywhere A dark, thrilling fantasy-meets-contemporary story with a kickass heroine. --Bustle Retold fairy tales have been a popular trend... but you've never read one quite like A Blade So Black. --Nerdist A brash, refreshing, vitally diverse retelling of a classic... You need this book. --Tor.com A Blade So Black is a novel that roars mightily in the face of all those Wonderland tales that have come before. L.L. McKinney is on her way to someplace special with this debut; get onboard now. --Locus magazine This isn't a retelling, this is Alice in Wonderland 2.0. --BlackSci-Fi.com An epic about Black Girl Magic. --We Need Diverse Books blog An explosive, kickass debut... The Alice in Wonderland retelling the world has always needed. --Booklist, starred review Relentless action, spiraling stakes, and a fierce heroine... A heartbreaking cliffhanger will leave fans clamoring for a sequel. --Publishers Weekly A thrilling, timely novel that ensures readers will be curious for a sequel. --Kirkus Reviews With a modern flair, a rich backstory, and just enough emotional heft, this particular looking glass will have readers eagerly falling through it. --The Bulletin Teens will root for Alice as a strong, multidimensional black girl usually unseen in YA fiction... A must-purchase. --School Library Journal A Blade So Black is a modernized version of a well-known story that retains enough of the original to be lauded by both fans of the classic and readers wholly new to Wonderland. --Shelf Awareness
