They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.
Now we rise.
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for an enemy.
I wanted to love it, but unfortunately, it fell a little short for me... Interesting enough to finish, but not so much so that I picked it up every night before bed. Perhaps if I hadn't just finished the Shades of Magic trilogy, I mightn't have had such high standards. This is the author's first novel after all so there's that... But what was it that I did and didn't like?
Well, the premise was good. The Nigerian culture and the underlying message about oppression could've been pretty powerful. The Orïsha, the Maji clans and the deities behind them made for a very interesting magical culture background... but the storyline kind of just puttered along and the characters all blended together after a while. The point-of-view changing from chapter to chapter confused me after a bit too, especially since I'd often find myself forgetting who was narrating that chapter—which goes back to the characters blending together... sometimes they all just sounded the same!
This book is also being made into a movie. I still plan to check that out. After all, once Hollywood gets their hands on it, they may edit out a lot of the drizzle and add a bit more action, aka "Hollywood it". LOL
Book 2? I dunno... perhaps I'll make the time if only to see if the action improves and the character development is sharpened, but at 500+ pages, I'll probably check out a few other reviews first to see if it's worth it.
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