Book Review: Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray
** read for the November BNYA book club meeting
Beasts of Prey is a young adult fantasy about a boy and girl thrown together to hunt down a mythical beast who is plaguing their city.
Koffi is an indentured slave to the Night Zoo and will care for the exotic beasts until the debts her family accrued are paid. Ekon is a warrior in training who is about to complete the final test to become part of the Son of the Six guard. A dangerous fire at the Night Zoo will throw these two together and send them on a deadly quest into the jungle. In hopes of securing his spot in the guard and avenging his father Ekon will vow to kill the Shetani, a beast that has been plaguing their city for years. Koffi will make her own promise to capture the Shetani and make it the newest member of the Night Zoo in order to clear her debts with the owner. As the two join forces and face unknown horrors in the jungle they will learn about magic and the truth behind the Shetani.
Although this book didn’t suffer from many serious issues I just didn’t find it that engrossing or gripping. Most of the time it read like a middle grade novel with fairly low stakes where the monsters of the jungle were easily defeated and left no serious after effects. The romance was fairly puppy love-ish with no chemistry or heat and the magical system was rather vague. I would have enjoyed more about the Night Zoo but that was limited to just a couple of scenes. The last few chapters finally get interesting as schemes and nefarious characters are revealed.
This wasn’t a deeply flawed book but it missed a certain zing for me personally. I needed more tension, higher stakes, more Night Zoo (less wandering in the jungle) plus some heat between the two main characters.
3 stars
** read for the November BNYA book club meeting
Beasts of Prey is a young adult fantasy about a boy and girl thrown together to hunt down a mythical beast who is plaguing their city.
Koffi is an indentured slave to the Night Zoo and will care for the exotic beasts until the debts her family accrued are paid. Ekon is a warrior in training who is about to complete the final test to become part of the Son of the Six guard. A dangerous fire at the Night Zoo will throw these two together and send them on a deadly quest into the jungle. In hopes of securing his spot in the guard and avenging his father Ekon will vow to kill the Shetani, a beast that has been plaguing their city for years. Koffi will make her own promise to capture the Shetani and make it the newest member of the Night Zoo in order to clear her debts with the owner. As the two join forces and face unknown horrors in the jungle they will learn about magic and the truth behind the Shetani.
Although this book didn’t suffer from many serious issues I just didn’t find it that engrossing or gripping. Most of the time it read like a middle grade novel with fairly low stakes where the monsters of the jungle were easily defeated and left no serious after effects. The romance was fairly puppy love-ish with no chemistry or heat and the magical system was rather vague. I would have enjoyed more about the Night Zoo but that was limited to just a couple of scenes. The last few chapters finally get interesting as schemes and nefarious characters are revealed.
This wasn’t a deeply flawed book but it missed a certain zing for me personally. I needed more tension, higher stakes, more Night Zoo (less wandering in the jungle) plus some heat between the two main characters.
3 stars