 PUBLICATION YEAR: 2018
GENRE: Fantasy
PAGE COUNT: 525
FORMAT: Paperback
AVAILABLE AT : amazon
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There
is a lot of hype around this book. Everyone from the Book tube community has
been gushing about it ever since it released this year. It was an instant
bestseller and very soon it is going to be adapted into a movie . When the hype
around a book is of this epic proportion, one tends to set extremely high
expectations going into it. This leads you to end up either loving it or hating
it. I am happy to report that I absolutely loved it .
It is
an African inspired fantasy story that is based on a land called Orisha where
magic has been eradicated by the current monarchy. The people with magical
powers were called Maji and after a certain age they tend to acquire certain
powers . These powers included being a healer, reaper, burner, the ability to
read minds etc. But a decade ago, the ruthless King Saran wiped out magic and
killed every maji in a Raid leaving behind their children who are now treated as
second class citizens. One of the many maji who was killed during the raid was
the mother of our main protagonist Zelie.
After a decade long suffering of torture and abuse, she finally gets an
opportunity to restore magic in her land. With the help of her brother Tzain and
a rogue princess Amari , she sets out on
a dangerous mission . In this mission , she is
required to collect some artefacts and take them to a holy temple where
magic can be brought back.
The
story is told in multiple perspective by the 3 main characters- Zelie, Amari
and Inan. Zelie, as told above was the daughter of one of the maji who was
killed by King Saran during the raid. She has all the markings of a maji . She
is fearless, strong and determined to bring magic back in order to protect her
family and her tribe from the brutalities of the king and his army.
Amari
is the princess and daughter of the evil King Saran . She had her doubts about
her ruthless father and the day she
became sure of it, she ran away from the palace . She stole one of the artifacts required to bring magic back and accompanied Zelie in her
mission.
Inan
is the prince and son of King Saran.He is the main antagonist in Zelie’s
mission and gives a very hard time .
Apart
from these three main characters, we also see a fascinating cast of other
characters who played significant roles. Amari was my favourite of the three
followed by Zelie . Zelie had all the characteristics that one expects from a
hero . Amari , on the other hand , had the best character graph throughout the
story. We see her evolve from a shy introvert princess to a strong woman who is
determined to fight for justice. Inan
was perhaps the weakest when it came to character development. . Throughout the
story, we see a confused and indecisive prince
torn between deciding what’s
right and what’s wrong.
The
best part about the story was that it was more than just action and magic . Most epic fantasies tend to focus on the action/magic part but this story had
human emotions and drama in equal amounts . We feel for the characters and the
empathize for the trials and tribulations they have to go through. We get to
see two romantic plot lines – one was cutesy ,innocent and the other was extremely intense. Both were
written in a beautiful way which helped
in taking the story forward . Apart from the romance, we also see two fantastic
portrayal of sibling relationships. One is between Zelie and her brother Tzain.
Both are extremely protective of each other and are willing to die for one
another. Inan and Amari are the other
brother- sister duo who share a strange yet sweet bond which grows as the story
progresses. I also loved the rival turned friendly vibe between zelie and amari. It is always
refreshing to see female bond in stories.😊
As
far as the magic system was concerned , it was pretty straightforward and easy
to understand. The terminologies used to describe magic can be intimidating at
first but it is described in such a beautiful way that I was able to get
through easily.
This
book definitely stood out from all the
other fantasy books that I have consumed recently . The fantasy tropes are unique and
unconventional . For instance, the
people ride on lionaire , panthenaires,
etc instead of horses or vehicles . The
costumes, religion and even the people were unique. 😊
It
was a page turner for me. It was thrilling and entertaining . It was so fast
paced that it did not feel like I was reading a 500 pages long book . This might be due to the fact that the
chapters were really short and every chapter ended with something gripping
which made me craving for more. As a result of that, I flew through the book.
Trigger
warning for abuse, torture, violence and bloodshed. It did not shy away from
showing some extremely violent scenes which added substance to the narrative.
Also
don’t forget to check out the Author’s note at the end of the book where Tomi
Adeyemi talks about her inspiration behind
this story and requests us to
relate it to the current world and show some empathy towards all those innocent
women and helpless kids who become a prey to police brutalities on a daily
basis.
It
is definitely one of the best books I read this year . It deserves all the
accolades and hype in the world and I suggest you give it a try.👍
RATING - 🌑🌑🌑🌑🌑 ( 5/5 )
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