Kingdom Of Souls was such a deeply complex, richly dark fantasy.
It me intrigued from the very first page. 👀 I do like my epic fantasy daaaark and this definitely delves into that side of magic, with witchdoctors gone rogue and demons breaking free and unsolved murders. It’s both badass and chilling, powerful and empowering. And though it’s very dark it’s not hopeless! Arrah has no maic and she’s spurned by her mother and treated as less by her clan — but she’ll stop at nothing to defeat this darkness.
We stan a Gryffindor heroine. 😭🙌🏻
// #ownvoices West-African inspired mythology
Kingdom of Souls fiercely focuses on Arrah and her relationship with magic (aka she has none) and her mother (a powerful witchdoctor with ptsd from being tortured for years by her predecessor) and how children start to go missing and no one seems interested in looking into it.
I always find fantasies overwhelmingly intense at first as you find your footing amongst the world building. I do admit this had a lot of characters and as someone who struggles with names (dude, I don’t even remember my nieces’ names), I did falter keeping everyone straight. Plus there’s a lot of gods and tribe names.
The whole story is packed full of witchdoctors, dark magic rituals, years-being-traded-for-magic, dangerous curses and gods gone rogue. The whole story was woven with love and care, depth and heartfelt magic.
// it packs a lot in
The plot is super, super intense! It’s not always action scenes and there’s lot of focus on the world and the politics of Arrah’s people. It crams a lot into the 500pgs.
// characters
Ok Arrah was precious and I did love her so much. She strives so hard to be enough but is always found lacking by her mother who is an infamously cold and powerful woman. I also loved her friendship with Rudjek. It has a bit of a Romeo x Juliet vibe, since Rudjek’s father is Arrah’s mother’s enemy. I shipped them but…it is not an easy ship eeep. The book also hugely focuses on family…and I can’t give spoilers but I love how it explored this.
And can we take a moment to appreciate a book featuring FEMALE VILLAINS!??! Best. Love. Thank you so much.
// a dark epic fantasy to capture your soul
Definitely try this one if you love YA fantasy with complexities, dense worlds, and evil that does not sleep. 🤗 It does take a lot of concentration because it’s meaty, and I do admit to being lost at the end. It’s a hardcore adventure full of cultural pride and messy families and a girl who dares to believe she’s worth something despite being different.
Releases on September 3rd, 2019!
thank you to the author for the ARC!
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Arrah is a young woman from a long line of the most powerful witch doctors in the land. But she fails at magic, fails to call upon the ancestors and can’t even cast the simplest curse.
Shame and disappointment dog her.
When strange premonitions befall her family and children in the kingdom begin to disappear, Arrah undergoes the dangerous and scorned process of selling years of her life for magic. This borrowed power reveals a nightmarish betrayal and a danger beyond what she could have imagined. Now Arrah must find a way to master magic, or at least buy it, in order to save herself and everything she holds dear.
An explosive fantasy set in a world of magic and legend with a twist you will never see coming.
| what do you think? |
tell me some black authors’ books you’ve read and loved recently!! and is this one on your TBR? what do you think of dark fantasy?
I don’t really pay any attention to the authors who write books. I almost see the author and the book as two different things. I so have to check this title out though.
You 100% had me at West African mythology. I am so feeling all these new books that are based on diverse mythologies, and I just can’t get enough of them. Also, female villains? Yeeees. I definitely need to pick this one up!
YES, we need more female villains!! I am so very hyped for this book. Also this is unrelated but I live your new(ish) aesthetic!
*love
Sorry I just had to correct that or it was going yo annoy me😂
*to
I’m done
This sounds like it might too dark for me personally to enjoy, but it does look super interesting! The concept of mixing culture with fantasy fascinates me.
theonesthatreallymatter.blogspot.com
I’m not a big book reader, but this book sounds very interesting. Thank you for sharing!
I read this book too and loved it! I liked the characters and the world building too. The characters names threw me off at times too since there were so many. I think I could have benefited from a list of characters.
Gah!!! This one sounds amazing! I can’t wait to pick it up next week! Thanks for sharing, Cait!