Sageborn

by Shakir Rashaan

Bel-Air meets Legacies meets Cloak & Dagger in this explosive and innovative fantasy debut…

Yasir Salah's life is not without its challenges…

Forced to live with his uncle without a reasonable explanation, he finds himself adjusting to the most nerve-racking situation imaginable. New school. New rules. New flow—while wishing he could hit the reset button and go back to his life in Atlanta.

The changes to his body defy explanation, from the supernatural energy pulsing beneath the surface of his skin to his eyes changing colors to match his mood swings to his mysterious connection to a stunning beauty who has him completely spellbound.

All he can do is what his uncle told keep a low profile, try not to be noticed, and keep his anger under control. No matter how badly he wants to—some things are easier said than done.

But what no one knows—not even Yasir himself—is that the horrors of a tragic event have awakened something hidden deep within that will change his life forever.

If only someone warned him of what's coming.

That the world's gonna need him—and soon.

Or that he's becoming…

Sageborn.

547 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” ~ Virginia Wolfe

Conjurer of worlds. Sorcerer. Man. Myth. Legend. Prototype.

All of these words describe Shakir Rashaan, who has been creating mind-twisting stories and lavish worlds for well over a decade, rolling onto the national literary scene as a contributor to Z-Rated: Chocolate Flava 3 in 2012. His raw, vivid, and uncut writing style captured the attention of the Queen of Erotica herself, Zane. A year later, Shakir’s debut novel with Strebor/Atria/Simon & Schuster, The Awakening, opened to rave reviews, while the follow-up in the Nubian Underworld series, Legacy, garnered even more success, and the third installment, Tempest, helping to make the series one of the most unique and best-selling in the erotic romance genre.

Rashaan would later add to his impressive catalog with the debut of the Kink, P.I. Series in 2015, starting with Obsession and following up with Deception and Reckoning. Drawing comparisons to Walter Mosely’s Easy Rawlins series, Kink, P.I. has developed into yet another best-selling series, carving its place as a “throwback to the days of classic mystery books” in the mystery genre.

Further adding to his impressive portfolio, Rashaan was a regular blogger for USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog, where readers could find him at his “Manly Musings” personal blog, reviewing books, television shows, and movies from a man’s perspective. He wrote recaps for various shows for the STARZ Network, including The Girlfriend Experience, POWER, and Survivor’s Remorse, before the blog was retired in late 2018.

Shakir has gone on in recent years to pen a series of bestselling novels, including In Service to the Senator, a sexy political thriller surrounding an up-and-coming vice presidential candidate, The Devil’s All-American, a unique paranormal romance featuring a rising college basketball star, Unthinkable, a not-so-conventional romance set in the entertainment industry, Love, Lust & Beautiful Liars, a romantic suspense novel about an international weapons dealer who was looking to retire and enjoy his HEA, and most recently in 2021, Queen of Cambridge, part of the Queens of the Castle anthology series.

Shakir has switched gears, jumping into the young adult world, developing the Neverwraith series, a YA paranormal fantasy for Entangled Teen/Macmillan, and the South Hampton series, in addition to several other YA and New Adult projects to expand his NEBU universe. Neverwraith is his most ambitious project to date, about a teenage descendant of an ancient metahuman bloodline who searches for the truth about the death of his parents and their connection to a centuries-old blood feud over sacred texts contained inside of his native Kindara, an island nation located near the West African coast ... all while navigating high school

Shakir currently resides in suburban Atlanta with his wife, soon-to-be college graduate daughter, and a Jack-Chi named Teddy.

Reviews

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initial reaction: A long review coming for this and it hurts because I really wanted to like this book much more than I actually did. The original version of this story is Neverwraith by the same author, but this is a reworked, "improved" version. I think some changes did lean towards the better, particularly changes made towards the end, but the beginning was a struggle with the dual POV, among other issues. I'll talk about those issues more at length, but overall, 2 stars.

Full review:

So let me provide a clarification about this book: "Sageborn" is more of a YA Paranormal Romance, not YA Urban Fantasy. I want to say that upfront, because that played a part in what my critical reaction to this book was. But if you take all the moving pieces this story offered, it didn't stick the landing on the romance either. :( For a fated mates story, it was very heavy handed and I felt like I was reading a caricature of a romance than one that felt like a realistic, invested relationship that I wanted to root for. And it hurts my spirit to say it, because this was a Black YA Paranormal Romance written by a Black author (Black man actually, and we've been saying that we need more Black men to showcase in the YA Sci-Fi and Fantasy space). So you might be wondering, "Rose, where did this book go wrong?" And further "Why 2 stars if you're preparing for a robust critique? Wouldn't you give it lower?"

*rolls up sleeves*

There was a lot that went wrong with this book. But I think it had the potential to be a better story. This, to me, felt a bit like my recent read through experience of "Roar of the Lambs" by Jamison Shea. "Sageborn" had the bare bones pieces to be a solid story. Black teen boy named Yasir moves to another town, lives with his uncle to get away from a supernatural threat. Ends up meeting a girl he has an on-off the fence relationship with (Zahra), has to navigate drama with his relationships at the new school as well as his old life, and navigating some really weird happenings around him. Sounds like all the elements of an interesting YA story, right?

Ehhh. I wish we actually got that story. I would cite the title of a Florence and the Machine song from Final Fantasy XV for what I'm about to say about this book: "Too Much is Never Enough." Or rather, too much of the wrong thing gives lends a story that isn't enough to carry it.

I read two different versions of this story: the one contained in Neverwraith and the one that's in this: Sageborn. I would argue that the better (not by much :( ) version of this story is represented in "Neverwraith." It feels more polished for flow/pacing and for the base elements of the story being contained to Yasir's headspace only. That being said, both narratives contain the same issues to the detriment of the overarching narrative. "Sageborn" made decisions that I struggle to see why they were included, revealing some of the weaknesses the original narrative had in more striking detail. How? Buckle up and read onward.

I'll start with a quick rundown of "Neverwraith" since it was the story that was published first under Entangled Publishing back in 2023. So a few years apart from what would become "Sageborn". 52 chapters, 438 pages. It's advertised as "Bel Air" meets "Cloak and Dagger," a doggone good comp and one where I'm familiar with both properties. I was invested when I heard that, as well as the advertisement that it was a YA Urban Fantasy with Black characters. (Again, for its actual execution, ehhhh. And also, confirming, this is not YA UF, but YA PNR. I'll explain in a bit.) Yasir starts off as the new kid living with his "Unk" at a new school away from his friends and the life he knows. You're not sure right away why he's there, but the narrative takes its time filling in the blanks along the way. I didn't mind that Yasir was a conversational protagonist - some might actually take issue with that because it's an old narrative style that used to be more prevalent in YA's long running narrative history. Think Virginia Hamilton, Walter Dean Myers, Nikki Grimes, and Alice Childress as examples of authors who used this style well. It's not a technique that's used as much now. Usually a narrative like that tends to skew towards the younger side of YA, rather than for older teens. But the trick to using that style well is that the protagonist has to be narratively convincing for both voice and presentation. The reader has to believe in what the character is saying and going through in order to want to continue following them. Point blank - the style as applied was terribly inconsistent in "Neverwraith." Yasir had moments when he sounded like a teenager, then other times sounded like a grown Gen X man with some of the terms he used. Some of it got passed off to his uncle or grandmother's terms, but it was still felt like it was displaced for him. I went along with it at first because I was invested to see where the narrative would go.

As the narrative went on, I realized that some of the interactions between the teen characters felt odd as presented. Yasir meets Zahra very early on, and the narrative wastes no time letting you know that these two are working towards being together. This made it clear to me that this was more of a Paranormal Romance than Urban Fantasy, especially since this was the focus for a good stretch of the novel. I would not have minded it if the relationship didn't feel so forced upon the reader. And as a veteran YA romance reader, this presentation felt VERY heavyhanded and overdone. Even Zahra touching Yasir's face not long after they met feels too overt. That's not even taking into consideration the number of places Yasir goes to meet Zahra The flirting feels forced, the number of terms of affection feel overdone and repetitive, and it doesn't feel as genuine a connection as it should be. It happens too fast, too pushed, too overdone. And yes, after reading on, I understood it to be a "fated mates" story, but when you overdo something that should be a genuine connection, it can sour the experience very quickly. And that's not the only thing that feels forced. Even the conflicts that are designed to cause Zahra and Yasir issues with being together feel contrived to an extent. I'm not saying that teens don't have these conflicts in real life, but certain elements feel like they grind the tension established in the novel to a halt. Yasir gets into fights at the drop of a hat, and while some seem like being at the wrong place at the wrong time, it feels unnecessarily drawn out. I was often left asking the question as I went along "When is this story really going to begin? Why is Yasir on the run? When is the magic going to kick in?"

At least in "Neverwrath", the narrative moves more smoothly to see the "strange" things that happen to Yasir over time. The sudden visions he gets of another land when he draws (Yasir does art), the rage that comes on that he can't explain. There are very small "hints" that things are not what they seem, but just as soon as the intrigue for the unexplained oddities and horrifying scenarios starts building (including a near death scene that Yasir experiences which briefly has Zahra recount events), it reverts back to the meandering flirting, jealousy from other girls and casual sexual harassment (which I didn't like) and "romance" (it's way too forced) between Yasir and Zahra. The narrative whiplash from intrigue to repetitious events was...a lot.

I started getting more invested a bit after 50% in the narrative (in "Sageborn" it's over 70% into the novel) when the lore starts kicking in. Especially when Gamba shows up. That was also a sign to me that this was not a YA Urban Fantasy, because the magic elements and the worldbuilding take a backseat to the romance. I keep saying this because I don't want people picking this book up expecting one thing while getting another. I was very disappointed to see that it took so long to get to the intrigue of what Yasir actually was and how it had to do with his family history, the fictional African nation that he and Zahra hail from (which Yasir's grandmother reveals). The brief flicker of a transformation scene we get when Yasir looks in the mirror (the fangs and the shifting to a monster) before Gamba shows up in "Neverwraith" was actually well done, I liked that part. The lore built of Yasir's creature is closer to lycanthrope/werewolf with a familiar ally in "Neverwraith". Even one of the final scenes towards the end of "Neverwraith" has Yasir running with torn clothes (shirtless and ripped pants left from his tux) after an encounter that has him losing control of his human form and shifting into the creature, despite Gamba's warnings. It's a very different setup in "Sageborn" though. (More on that later.)

Gamba is a familiar-type ally that awakens once Yasir's life is put in peril, and it ties into some of the rage and more confrontational scenes where Yasir is left with questions. Zahra fits into this not only being a fated mate from youth to Yasir (again...this was kinda obvious and felt forced throughout the narrative), but it's also made clear she has a "familiar" type ally that's close to her and powers of her own, some of which help calm Yasir's rage. But we don't get a lot of what she's able to do here.

The book ends really at the point the true story/conflict begins, and it feels like so much wasted narrative space in "Neverwraith" that could have been spent building more of the character backgrounds, digging into the lore, and dipping into how Yasir goes for help with managing the creature/beast that is his respective reality.

Then we get to "Sageborn", which is supposed to be the "improved" version. *sighs*

Let me get something off my chest from the get go: Shakir Rashaan has a very clear weakness in writing from the perspective of teen girls. Not just that, but the portrayal of teen girls collectively, whether in POV or as side/accompanying characters. It was a problem in "Neverwraith", but it was even worse in "Sageborn." It has to be said. Someone has to be honest about it (and I don't think I'm the only one making mention of that, there's no sugarcoating that critique). It was really offensive to read the reductive caricature that Zahra's POV brought to "Sageborn". You would think that providing an alt perspective/co-protagonist might help a narrative, but in this case it hurt. Very much hurt, badly. Between the inaccuracies about cars that was supposed to make Zahra a "STEM" girl to the very outdated language that made her seem older than a teenager, Zahra's POV did not improve this narration at all. Threw me out of the story so many times and made it more tedious to get through compared to "Neverwraith". And you can tell the narrative toll it takes by the length: 64 chapters, 547 pages. 100-some extra pages that absolutely could have been reworked or cut significantly, if not left out entirely.

In "Sageborn", the narrative has most of the same basic story beats, with a prologue added to showcase Yasir's history and the prophecy, dream sequences designed to predict some ominous things in his past, an attempt to make it more obvious that there are magic things going on. (Those additions really don't improve much since they end up taking an immediate backseat.) But the problem still remains with not only prolonging the narrative to accommodate two perspectives focusing on the repetitious relationship more than the lore, but also dwelling on details that don't give more clarity to the conflict at large. Several chapters that were in "Neverwraith" were included in "Sageborn" with minor tweaks at the beginning, but changes became more pronounced towards the end. The creature lore is completely changed in "Sageborn", with Gamba appearing as a ghost in the mirror when Yasir first realizes him, but still a familiar type aide that helps Yasir when he's in danger. Yasir becomes a creature in that same scene toward the end of "Sageborn" but not necessarily a beast. (And towards the end when he's at the prom and shifts back to himself, his tux isn't torn or askew.) Some chapters are rewritten into Zahra's POV from the previous novel to give clarity to certain details. But while these changes were made, it didn't solve the core problems that were left at the heart of the narrative between both versions of the story: the forced nature of and portrayal of the romance, the irresponsible, collectively stereotypical portrayal of the teen girls who were in this novel, and the unnecessary delay of lore building that came so late in the narrative that it was hard to feel invested in the set up of a world, lore, and roles for Yasir and Zahra that could be interesting, but ends before anything truly begins.

I wanted to be invested enough in this series to continue it, but since it really was a tedious journey for me to get through, and I couldn't feel much connected to any of the characters other than Yasir (I did try for Zahra, but in the end, she felt like a caricature of a teen girl with only some redemption when some of her history and lore for what she was came up), I think my journey with "Sageborn" ends here. "Bel Air" meets "Cloak and Dagger" would be a good story, but the promise of that pairing comp wasn't met here. I had similar issues with another work of Rashaan's (A Deal Inked in Blood, which I hope to review soon), but this was another narrative of his that needed more reworking into really diving into the heart of its characters, conflict, and MORE magic/lore. Not wash, rinse, cycle, repeat scenes of a connection that felt like overkill.

Too much is never enough, indeed.

Overall score: 2/5 stars.

[AndiMan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it 70% into this book; I stopped right at Chapter 45 before my book club meeting. To me, 70% is far enough for me to feel confident in giving this a one-star rating.

This book was sold as a YA urban fantasy but gave poorly done contemporary high school romance. There was a hint of fantastical elements but there is an annoying focus on the beef between Yasir and Ian that the narrative itself believes to be convoluted.

Based on the summary, the story is supposed to be about Yasir discovering he has magical powers and navigating this new fantasy world that he's found himself in. But instead we have a heavy-handed, poorly-written, forced romance between Yasir and Zahra with this weird beef with fellow classmate Ian, who can't decide if he wants to be cordial with Yasir or antagonize him, that is also horribly written and uninteresting.

The fact that this is an improved version of his traditionally published novel Neverwraith is so sad. This has an extra 140-150 pages than Neverwraith and I was told that Zahra's second POV is the cause as she doesn't have her own viewpoint in Neverwraith. Which could only make the original book better as Shakir can not write a teen girl competently to save his life. Most of Zahra's character revolves around Yasir and all her and her best friend Kendyl really talk about are boys.

Similar to A Deal Inked in Blood, which I finished only because it was so short, we have female classmates that sexually harass our main male character, who can't respect him being in a relationship, so now we have our main POV teen girl character on the defensive around all these other teen girls that just can't help themselves around her boyfriend. It's pretty gross honestly. It's clear that Shakir has a very limited view of teen girls and is not at the stage where he can write them well or even decently.

Not that Yasir was written much better. He was a ball of anxiety and on the verge of anger in almost every confrontational instance and I never got a clear sense of him as a person. Shakir's last YA male protagonist Trey was similarly shallow so I just don't think Shakir is a good writer. Perhaps his adult work is better but he is a pretty bad YA author which is unfortunate as I'd like more YA fantasy/sci-fi works for black teen boys as its currently lacking. But Shakir is not an author I'd recommend for any black teenager as his stories are underdeveloped and poorly written and not engaging for any audience unfortunately.

[Tia Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great YA read I was engaged from the beginning to the end Yasir a young boy forced to move with his uncle but only given its for your safety as the reason. Being a teenager was already rough now add moving and going to a new school not fun but YaYa tried to be optimistic of his new life trouble finds him on damn day one smh. The only highlight was meeting Zahra who Yasir felt a weirdly strong connection only meeting her once. The story follows the odd events and body changes Yasir encounters and how his newfound friend group helps him embrace the changes that are to come after his real purpose and the truth about what happened in his past are revealed Im excited to move onto book 2 I definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys YA Fantasy thank you to the author Shakir Rashaan for this advanced review copy all opinions are my own.

[Lovanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like how the author touched on the black male main characters mental health. It was really nice to see how it is talked about and the different strategies that he used to help with it. That being said I found this book to drag quite a bit. Everything is so mysterious and it keeps being repeated that more things will be revealed soon but that was such a let down to me. The first 250 pages are literally just fluff. Noting significant is happening. Lots of dialogue with the characters but no real answers to what is going on with the main character. The ending was kind of flat for me. I know it’s supposed to have more books in the series but I’m unsure if I’m invested enough to want to keep reading.

[Urban Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shakir Rashaan brings us into an entertaining paranormal world with Sageborn. Rashaan does a good job with bringing Yasir’s story to life. It was refreshing to see an African American male teen as the lead character in this kind of story. Rashaan did an excellent job with keeping the same elements of the prior release of this book while adding more exciting elements. You get more insight into Yasir’s surprising background as well as Zahra and other characters. Yes, this is a teen & young adult book but adults will enjoy this too! Sageborn is full of magic, secrets, heart-stopping action that will get you ready for book two.

[Roxann New · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just amazing! Wonderfully told story and- my favorite- you get the POV of more than 1 of the main characters throughout! Another favorite? Mythology/YA/hero style storyline. DO NOT miss this book!