Great start to a new YA fantasy

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Beasts of Prey is a fantasy inspired by Pan-African and Own Voices, following two characters that go into the Greater Jungle searching for a monster. Koffi, one of the main characters, works for the Night Zoo because her family has debts to pay. One night her mother is endangered and she unleashes something within her to protect her mom. In the city of Lkossa magic doesn’t exist, but Koffi seems to have discovered magic lurking within her. Ekon, the other main character, has been training his whole life to be part of the city’s Sons of Six army. During the ritual to become part of the army things get a little crazy and he doesn’t make it as a Sons of Six. Koffi and Ekon’s paths cross and they both decide to go into the Greater Jungle in search of the Shetani, the demon who has been killing people for centuries.

While I think the beginning of this had a very slow start, it does pick up and once it does you can’t seem to stop yourself from reading. I really enjoyed the world that the author has created and while I think it had amazing world building, it still lacked for me. I wanted more info about Lkossa and about the Greater Jungle. I think being in the Jungle should have been fast paced like it was, but a longer part of this story. The author builds up to both characters venturing into the Jungle, but they don’t stay very long. The second half of this book was action packed and felt like the average YA fantasy book. While nothing really stands out for me in this book, I still enjoyed reading it and am pretty excited for the next book.