Have you ever read a book that was objectively good and that you enjoyed, but still felt let down when you finished it? That’s how I felt reading Beasts of Prey. It was a solid four star read. The magic and plot were interesting. The characters were nothing special, but they weren’t bad. But I had gone into the book with really high hopes. I’d seen multiple reviews calling this book their “new favorite read” and “life changing”, and for me, it was just good. I definitely want to pick up the sequel when it comes out—YES there will be a sequel! The book was pushed and marketed like a standalone, Goodreads has it marked as a standalone, but it ends on a cliffhanger and there will be a book 2. And when book 2 comes out, I will read it as well as any more books there end up being in the series. If my expectations hadn’t been so high, I might have been more excited and impatient for those releases, but right now I feel vaguely indifferent towards having to wait for more.
I did really enjoy the pan-African setting and culture. There are so few high fantasy novels featuring Black characters and an African inspired setting (I can only think of three—Children of Blood and Bone, Raybearer, and A Song of Wraiths and Ruin), so seeing that representation is great and necessary. The premise of the magic and mythology was familiar and unique at the same time—and I mean that in the best way. There was the familiar underscores of magic can be dangerous and too much corrupts in the mythology of the world, but the way that magical elements (and especially the forest) manifested in the present day of the novel wasn’t anything I’d seen before, and was very intriguing.
The plot was interesting, but there were places where it dragged and turns that the plot took that I just didn’t quite enjoy. I liked the big plot twist and where it ended up taking the story, but I didn’t enjoy the way it played out in the reveal and everything with Badwa. I think the whole, mystical mentor thing can be very difficult to pull off, the execution didn’t work for me.
However, the turns the plot took after that point were enjoyable and kept me engaged. I got really into the book and read the last 1/3 of it in one sitting.
Again, the characters were fine. There was nothing wrong with them, I just never fully connected with them. I think Ekon was supposed to have OCD. I have OCD myself, and while I found it cool to see that representation in fantasy where it is exceedingly rare, something about the way it was portrayed rang a little hollow. The romance felt very out of place to me. I felt absolutely no chemistry. It kind of felt like the author was told “you need a romance to sell books”, so she added one in. There was just no spark between them, no chemistry. It felt forced, and I think the book would have been better (and otherwise unchanged) without it.
And I know this review is pretty critical. I’m sorry about that. I genuinely did enjoy this book, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a high fantasy recommendation.
I did really enjoy the pan-African setting and culture. There are so few high fantasy novels featuring Black characters and an African inspired setting (I can only think of three—Children of Blood and Bone, Raybearer, and A Song of Wraiths and Ruin), so seeing that representation is great and necessary. The premise of the magic and mythology was familiar and unique at the same time—and I mean that in the best way. There was the familiar underscores of magic can be dangerous and too much corrupts in the mythology of the world, but the way that magical elements (and especially the forest) manifested in the present day of the novel wasn’t anything I’d seen before, and was very intriguing.
The plot was interesting, but there were places where it dragged and turns that the plot took that I just didn’t quite enjoy. I liked the big plot twist and where it ended up taking the story, but I didn’t enjoy the way it played out in the reveal and everything with Badwa. I think the whole, mystical mentor thing can be very difficult to pull off, the execution didn’t work for me.
However, the turns the plot took after that point were enjoyable and kept me engaged. I got really into the book and read the last 1/3 of it in one sitting.
Again, the characters were fine. There was nothing wrong with them, I just never fully connected with them. I think Ekon was supposed to have OCD. I have OCD myself, and while I found it cool to see that representation in fantasy where it is exceedingly rare, something about the way it was portrayed rang a little hollow. The romance felt very out of place to me. I felt absolutely no chemistry. It kind of felt like the author was told “you need a romance to sell books”, so she added one in. There was just no spark between them, no chemistry. It felt forced, and I think the book would have been better (and otherwise unchanged) without it.
And I know this review is pretty critical. I’m sorry about that. I genuinely did enjoy this book, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a high fantasy recommendation.