This was an ARC that I won in a BookishFirst giveaway. Thank you so much to BookishFirst and the publishers for providing this copy for review! Definitely be sure to get this book when it releases in September!
I seriously loved this book so much. I loved that it was split between three main POVs, Adiah (first person, told in past), Koffi (third person, told in present), and Ekon (third person, told in present). It was such a unique reading experience!
Next is the writing style. 10/10! I loved Ayana's writing style so much! It really transports you to the world of Lkossa! I can't wait for the sequel!! Koffi and Ekon are such amazing characters and I want to be back with them so bad. The magic system was unique and you can tell it took a while to put together. It's so thought out and I really appreciated it.
The whole story/setting was very African inspired and it was brilliantly done! In the author's note, Ayana says that the language (yes!! There's a whole new language! Think Ravkan or Kerch from the Grishaverse) was based off of the Swahili language, which is such a cool language to build off of. I loved the addition of new plants (edible and deadly) and animals (mostly deadly) in the Greater Jungle. It made it feel like it was a real place.
The twist at the end... I will never get over it! It leaves the reader wanting more, and I was just in shock for the last 20 pages. I even started to tear up a little. Definitely be sure to read the trigger/content warnings, and go preorder Beasts of Prey NOW!!!
I seriously loved this book so much. I loved that it was split between three main POVs, Adiah (first person, told in past), Koffi (third person, told in present), and Ekon (third person, told in present). It was such a unique reading experience!
Next is the writing style. 10/10! I loved Ayana's writing style so much! It really transports you to the world of Lkossa! I can't wait for the sequel!! Koffi and Ekon are such amazing characters and I want to be back with them so bad. The magic system was unique and you can tell it took a while to put together. It's so thought out and I really appreciated it.
The whole story/setting was very African inspired and it was brilliantly done! In the author's note, Ayana says that the language (yes!! There's a whole new language! Think Ravkan or Kerch from the Grishaverse) was based off of the Swahili language, which is such a cool language to build off of. I loved the addition of new plants (edible and deadly) and animals (mostly deadly) in the Greater Jungle. It made it feel like it was a real place.
The twist at the end... I will never get over it! It leaves the reader wanting more, and I was just in shock for the last 20 pages. I even started to tear up a little. Definitely be sure to read the trigger/content warnings, and go preorder Beasts of Prey NOW!!!