Królestwo dusz

Kingdom of Souls #1

by Rena Barron, Natalia Mętrak-Ruda (Translator)

Urodzona w rodzinie potężnych szamanów, szesnastoletnia Arrah zupełnie nie radzi sobie z magią, nie potrafi wróżyć z kości, nie umie przywoływać duchów przodków. Ku rozczarowaniu jej okrutnej matki, nie potrafi rzucić nawet najprostszej klątwy.

Pewnego razu Arrah odkrywa, że jej matka kradnie dzieci, aby z pomocą czarnej magii stworzyć drugą, lepszą córkę. Kobieta planuje, że nowe, demoniczne dziecko obudzi Króla Demonów, którego nienasycone pragnienie dusz zniszczyło już niejedno królestwo. Tym razem, jeśli Król Demonów wróci, zniszczy wszystko na swojej drodze.

Zanim Arrah zdąży kogokolwiek ostrzec, jej matka więzi ją w klątwie milczenia. Aby powstrzymać matkę i demoniczną siostrę, której moc dorównuje nieśmiertelnym orishom, Arrah musi poświęcić resztę pozostałych lat życia. Każdy wykonany rytuał coraz bardziej zbliża ją do śmierci, ale dla Arrah najważniejsze jest, aby powstrzymać siostrę i Króla Demonów.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Young Adult Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Mythology, Witches

440 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2019

About the author

Rena Barron grew up in small-town Alabama where stories of magic and adventure sparked her imagination. After penning her first awful poem in middle school, she graduated to writing short stories and novels by high school. Rena loves all things science fiction, ghosts, and superheroes. She’s a self-proclaimed space nerd. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading or brushing up on her French.

Rena is the author of the YA fantasy series, KINGDOM OF SOULS and the contemporary fantasy middle grade series, MAYA AND THE RISING DARK.

Check out the World Map and World Guide for KINGDOM OF SOULS at http://kingdomofsoulsbook.com/

Check out the activity guide for MAYA AND THE RISING DARK at http://renabarron.com/maya-and-the-ri...

Rena prefers not to be tagged in reviews to save her sanity. Follow her at @renathedreamer and renabarron.com.

Reviews

[Maryam Rz. · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5 ★’s) It’s always crucial to support Black authors, now more than ever; so I’d like to bring this grand, dark, haunting, fascinating, and mind-boggling African fantasy to your attention.

To everyone who dares to dream,
dares to live their truths,
dares to stand against atrocities,
dares to say I am enough,
this book is for you...

If I had to use one word to describe Kingdom of Souls, other than the adjectives already listed above, it would be crazy. Thoroughly and gloriously crazy. Oh the twists, the reveals! I had my pants shocked off on too many occasions and it was simply delightful. This book is all about lies and half-truths. Power and ambition and revenge. Attempting to belong and daring to say enough. It was dark, but not in a graphic way.

My only criticism is that the first 40% was slow and not intriguing enough besides its world, unlike the rest (after chapter 17) which had my attention by the throat with its mesmerising madness and fascinated me to hell and back. It’s really unfortunate that the plot did not start well, doing an injustice to magnificent path it will end up on. Because at the aforementioned point in the book, the tale takes such a drastic turn on the road that whoever doesn’t hold out will be missing a treasure.

You cannot believe how it all changes evolves into something extraordinary and indelible with complex characters and a dark, epic tale. I confess, I tried very hard to give the book four stars, I did, but if chapters 1-17 deserved three stars, then 18-42 got all the five and an extra one on top of that. Which leaves me no choice but to happily give it 4.5, which I always round up. What a tragedy, such a shame 😁

“This world is a cruel place, and only the most brutal thrive,”

I strongly suggest (to avoid implying that I might be forcing you, ofc, would I ever!?) listening to my playlist at the end of this review for some epic, spooky, and tribal music. Now to see about desperately stealing a copy of the next book...


CW: mutilation, self-harm
also check out author’s review



⟱ Storyline ⟱

For she will rise from the ashes alit in flames.
For no water will ever quell her pain.
For no redemption will befall her.
For we will never speak her name.
—Song of the Unnamed

Five thousand years ago the orishas and demons fought a war when demons attempted to destroy the gods and their human creations, a war that saw the destruction of the demon race, their Demon King’s ka and soul being bound in a box when twenty of those gods gave up their bodies to defeat and imprison him.

Or at least, that’s how the story goes.

Do you want the truth? Not the story? I promise you the truth is much more interesting than the lie.

Arrah, a girl born to two powerful parents who cannot wield any magic herself, a disappointment whose only special trait is her impenetrable mind, sits hoping this year will be the one where magic finally lights on her skin. But the path she will end up walking is not one she ever imagined existed, let alone for her.

Because after five thousand years, the beast stirs. The box shakes. The children are stolen from streets. And Heka, the mother and father of magic who gave the tribes magic when orishas withheld their power, visits the Blood Moon Festival one last time.

Will the gods care enough to shake out of their yearslong slumbers and save the mortal world from the Demon King one more time? What’s the point of gods if they turn their backs when needed the most?

When she finally wakes, her wrath will be the death of us.
For there to be peace, there must be death.



⟱ Storytelling ⟱

Her hair hangs loose in soft, dark curls that promise kindness, but they’re lullabies that end in nightmares.

Rena’s writing is easy and flowing with golden moments of inspiration, yet more special in its masterful capturing of feelings and atmosphere. Her story-telling is outstanding in knowing when and how to deliver information, dodging info dumps like a pro. She, in every sense of the world, weaves a tapestry of a tale and I, for one, cannot wait to read more of her fantastical imaginings.



⟱ Characters ⟱

“Our greatest power lies not in our magic, but in our hearts, Little Priestess.”

► Arrah: anger is undoubtedly one of my favourite themes to read (if not the ultimate favourite) and I truly appreciate how, by the end of this first installment, our MC is taking a stroll down the fury road. She is clever, unyielding, and absolutely no-nonsense, wasting no time pondering useless things that she cannot help, stop, or predict. Yet she is belittled by her mother, always seeking to belong, to be worthy, to satisfy the person who should love her most but calls her a disappointment and a shame. Truly, my heart aches for her.

Credit: Alex Castellanos

► Efiya: the most intriguing but disturbing character of this book, she is one I will not be forgetting anytime soon. Or even late. Unstable. Cruel. An overgrown child who shares all of children’s traits—the impulse to play games, the lack of a concept of good and bad and must or must not—mixed with too much power. Efiya is a petulant girl playing deadly games.

Credit: Alex Castellanos

► Arti: aaahhh Arti, what am I supposed to do with you? I love her, despite all her cruelties, all the ways she failed as a mother. I see why she walked the path she did. I understand her rage, her pride, her ambition, her sense of betrayal and her harsh judgment. And I know that she cares for her daughter, if perhaps less than her revenge and desire.

“A man’s character lies not in his fine clothes, but in the purity of his soul.”

► Rudjek: I was hesitant about our love interest at first, but he undoubtedly grew on me. Though I don’t have much to say about him except the fact that he is kind and caring and willful and not my type, but precious all the same.

Credit: Alex Castellanos

► Sukar and Essnai I certainly loved more, they are just badass friends to Arrah, and then there is the Demon King who I need more of, along with his demons (I have a thing for demons, okay?).



⟱ Relationships ⟱

Between all the relationships in this book, it’s the messed up familial bonds that stand out most to me. Yes, there is romance, and it’s cute, and it promises to be even more heartwrenching in the sequel (and I should note that I ship Daho and Dimma more than Arrah and Rudjek, though the latter are also beautifully tragic), BUT...

Oh do the complicated and toxic familial bonds take over the stage. What is it like to have a mother you have longed for all your life, loved and needed and tried to impress, and yet need to kill at the same time? To have a mother who loves you and wants to protect you, but who loves her ambition more, prises her revenge over you? What is it like to gain a sister you have vowed to kill even before her birth? To hope to help her while planning to end her?

All interesting concepts and questions delivered so deftly and tangibly that my heart broke into a million pieces at the love and pain of their contradictory nature.



⟱ Worldbuilding ⟱

Magic isn’t good or bad. It’s people who make it dangerous. We’ve done nothing but use it to destroy each other.

In this series Rena Barron has built an exceptional world inspired by West African mythology; a world of curses and spells and the pricey magic of Charlatans; of a city in the space between time, a void, and restless ghosts without souls; of the pure magic of orishas pulled from the fabric of the world, the stolen magic of demons taken from consumed souls, and the anti-magic of cravens.

A world ruled by orishas, immortal and careless beings who created humanity as their poorer reflections, love them like their children and find them entertaining or worthless depending on their mood; such as the Twin Kings of the sun and the moon, or gods of dreams and fire and sea and seasons and beasts; my favourite among these gods is Fram, the balancer of life and death, a being of duality, fluid in gender, singular in its binary existence.

“May he join with the mother and father, may he become one with the kingdom of souls.”

It was a delight to spend a whole day of my life in this exotic, immersive fantasy world—I can’t help but crave more.



⟱ Companions ⟱

Book playlist: Spotify URL

Books in series:
• Kingdom of Souls (Kingdom of Souls, #1) ★★★★✯
• Reaper of Souls (Kingdom of Souls, #2) ☆☆☆☆☆
• Untitled (Kingdom of Souls, #3) ☆☆☆☆☆

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so impressed by this book. It was a lot darker than I anticipated and the world was so rich with mythology and magic. I loved that the main character was one of the only people in this world without magic. She comes from a very powerful family, both her parents have very strong magical lineages. Instead of being the special ~one~ she was completely unspecial and had everything working against her but despite that she had ambition and hope to become something greater. This also heavily featured a mother/daughter relationship that was unlike any I have read before and had so many layers. Every time I thought I had figured them out something new was revealed. The family dynamics in this book were very complex.

The reason why it's not a full 5 stars is because the pacing was a little off at times. It is quite a long book and there were moments that dragged a bit. But overall it was such a fantastic start to a series and I can't wait to see where it goes from here!

[Ashleigh (a frolic through fiction) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, this is where I kick myself for not reading this book sooner. I was anticipating this book for so so long, but wow was it worth the wait (even the added months I delayed, for some unbeknownst reason).

This book is unlike anything I've read before. Everything about this world is so rich, the plot complicated but impossible not to fall into, the magic system one with so many layers that it blew my mind a little. This book has a pervading sense of danger seeping gradually into its pages the more you read, turning magic from a thing of wonder to one of the darkest weapons. There is a whole mythology to this world (inspired by West African mythology), with various histories, stories, contradictions clamouring for attention for top spot as most important. It's fascinating to read, and makes for such an intense plot I couldn't help sinking deep into the pages.

Not to mention the characters and their relationships. This has one of the most complicated, twisted family dynamics I've ever read, and boy does it make for a good story. The conflicting emotions, the chilling feeling when something goes against the norm...gahh it was STRONG. Add in the friendships, the camaraderie paired with Arrah's own independence and individual trials, and you have a whole host of characters you can't help but love to read about.

I genuinely loved every page of this book. While I'm kicking myself for not reading this new favourite sooner, I can at least be happy knowing I don't have to wait quite as long for the sequel...because wow do I need it!

[Rena Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm bias, of course! This story is deeply personal to me and explores themes that have shaped my life. I hope readers enjoy it too!

Now that Kingdom of Souls is officially out in the world, I want to include content warnings for those interested in reading the book. The story includes blood magic, an intentional infliction of self-injury in a ritual, challenging familial relationship, death of a child, death in battle scenes, mention of animal sacrifice (not on page), animal possession, mind manipulation, and an act of a sexual nature that occurs when a character tricks another character while disguising their appearance.

Lastly, there is a World Guide for Kingdom Of Souls which includes terms and definitions that appear in the book: http://kingdomofsoulsbook.com/guide.

[Amy Imogene Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Gods, demons, fluid time constructs, ruthless families, and more collide in this epic fantasy opener that sits at the table with the titans of YA fantasy.

Writing: ★★★★★
World building: ★★★★★
Surprises: ★★★★
Pacing: ★★★ 1/2

Arrah is the daughter of two powerful magic users. Her father's ties to the rural tribes keep her with one foot in the old world, while her mother's political fist in the urban Kingdom keeps her with one foot in the new. This clash of cultures, magic, and sense of morality was amazing—and split along the dichotomy of father versus mother, which was also interesting.

Arrah isn't the "chosen one" in this fantasy—in fact, she's one of the few characters without a natural source for magic—and she finds herself in an epic conflict between gods and demons.

The orishas (gods) have ruled the land for all of living memory. The Demon King and his followers were vanquished long ago, and the orishas remain in power. But then... Arrah discovers that her world isn't all that she thought it was. Her mother has her own vendetta to accomplish, and Arrah finds herself on the front line of a godly conflict that she is definitely not prepared for.

But she's willing to do anything to win.

Things I loved:
Arrah's sense of self—her rock-solid personal identity was refreshing. The land of Kefu, where time is fluid?? So cool, so unique, it added to the myth-like feel to the story. THE WRITING—GORGEOUS. The love interest was supportive and not too involved with the plot. The sidebar chapters written from the orishas to...someone(s). Those sidebars make me want to reread this book immediately, to catch references that I missed on the first pass. The world. I loved it all, honestly. One quick spoiler favorite: HER DEMON HALF-SISTER, EFIYA?? SUCH a unique and twisted character.

Things I wished were better:
The pacing—given the sheer amount of plot and time progression that occurs, Kingdom of Souls feels like more than one book that was smashed together. I would have happily read one book on the events pre-Kefu, and then another book on the events that happened after. There was DEFINITELY enough plot for more than one installment. But really, is too much plot a negative??

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[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack)]

So this book apparently has not been announced yet, but it's being pitched as Wonder Woman in a West-African inspired world. also, it's about a girl with no power trying to defeat her sister with power. sign me up.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5****

Magic has a price- if you’re willing to pay.

This book had great characters, great plot and explored African mythology. This book focuses on a girl called Arrah, the non-magic daughter of powerful witch doctors... much to Arrah’s disappointment. All Arrah wants is magic so that her mother will finally be proud of her for something, rather than just a disappointment.

When children begin to go missing from the poorer areas of the land, Arrah seeks to get magic in order to stop the disappearances and see who is behind the kidnappings. However, to gain magic there is a heavy price to pay which is painful and dark. Through exploring the kidnappings, Arrah discovers the truth which she was not expecting at all, and the consequences of this sends her whole life spiralling.

This book had some twists and turns I was just not expecting at all. The magic and determination of the characters could be dark at times which just drew me into this book even more. Arrah was a great MC and her friends gave her strength and were supportive which was fantastic too. There was a slow burn romance (sort-of) but this didn’t detract from the plot at all.

This book did contain a very dysfunctional and angering family dynamic (I don’t want to give too much away) but this added to the plot. It explored the lengths people will go to gain power.

I loved learning about the Orisha’s and the magic system in this book. With so many twists and turns I cannot wait to see how this series continues.

[jessy]

I don't really like this cover (the US one) but whatever. Still gonna read this. The UK cover though isn't that bad so that's cool.

(The ARC is so much more beautiful)


update:

i received a digital arc for this five years ago, i never read more than a few dozen pages, i don’t remember anything, it’s not my genre anymore

[Aaryn Flott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year! I mean look at that cover! It’s delicious 🤤

Kingdom of Souls is the story of 16-year old Arrah. Despite stemming from a highly esteemed witch doctor of a father, and extremely powerful high priest of a mother, Arrah herself, possesses no inherited magical traits. Because of this, she is treated as a pariah in the magical tribal lands, and devoid of love from her own incredibly influential mother. Though she has the love of her father and her grandmother, the Chief of Tribe Atari, Arrah craves magic more than anything. She covets power and validation, and the only way to achieve both, is through magic.

However, the price for acquiring magic is steep, and unforgiving. Arrah is unwilling to let herself stoop so low, as to become a sharlington. But when her kingdom is in turmoil, and children start to go missing, and the new threat of demons arise, Arrah becomes willing to sacrifice anything. Even if that means wrecking herself in the processes and committing the ultimate taboo of blood magic.

What I liked:

The world building was unique and intricate and I could practically immerse myself in the tribal lands and the kingdom. The creatures, desert landscapes, and ruins were all so whimsically described. I could feel the magic of the world pulse under my skin, and I loved it. The west African themed backdrop was much appreciated and reminded me of Children of Blood and Bone which is a good thing!

Arrah was an incredibly level headed and self assured protagonist. She knew what she wanted out of life, and was willing to do anything to accomplish it.

I totally adored Arrah’s relationship with her father. It’s rare that we see so much interaction between parents in fantasy novels, and I love that her father was so inclusive in her life. Great representation!

I also enjoyed the dynamics of the relationship between Arrah and her mother. There was a strain and complexity to their relationship, that was tangible and heartbreaking. I felt Arrah’s inferiority and anguish about not ever being good enough for her mother.

The religious aspect of the book was phenomenal and I loved the Pantheon of Gods and the role they played within the story. Korre was a darling and her enigmatic personality was fun to read about.

The demon king because obviously 🙄

I also loved all the plot twist despite all the whiplash it gave me. Though I did manage to guess one of them, though it didn’t ruin the story for me!

The only tidbit of criticism I have is that I wish the side characters and love interest were expanded on. Hopefully we get that development in the next Installment!!

[Starlah · Rating 5 out of 5]

reread in March 2021 in participation for reading the sequel and I honestly enjoyed this more the second time! absolutely LOVED!

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was billed as a YA African inspired tale but I didn't pickup on either very much. Barron has established a rich, complex fantasy world that other than having witch doctors didn't scream Africa to me. That is by no means a bad thing. I've just read enough fantasy that elements like tribes and pantheons blended in to general fantasy world building more than anything else. This was very complex and dark for a YA book. Other than the main characters being 17 to 18, I wouldn't consider this a YA book, but just general fantasy. (I know labeling as YA probably sells more copies.) The majority of this book is mostly world building, setting things up for the future. I did feel like the last 100 pages jumped to what could have been the end of the series. After slowly developing the world over the first half of the book, events escalate quickly. There was a huge leveling up of the characters' abilities at the end that I thought would have took place over the course of the trilogy, but Barron decided to take the book in another direction.

Arrah is a young woman hoping to come into her magic. When children start disappearing, she decides to force the issue doing something drastic. This kicks off events that will change her world irrevocably.

Received a review copy from Harper and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[The Artisan Geek]

------------------VIDEO REVIEW------------------


22/2/20
Review is up on my channel! :D


22/7/19
Loved it! Review to come! :)

30/4/19
I AM HOLDING IT. I AM HOLDING IT. I AM HOLDING IT.
Oh my gosh, a thousand times thank you and more to the amazing Rena for sending this book over!! I feel the mother continent calling for me you guys!!! AAAAAH :D

29/3/19
I have been hyped up about this books for days! This story line sounds so good oof! This is definitely in my top 5 most anticipated books for the rest of the year!!

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[Meaghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arrah has been desperate for a whisper of magic all her life, as she was born to two of the most powerful witchdoctors of their generation. When her loved ones and city are put in danger, and magic still refuses to answer her call, Arrah must seek out other ways to make the magic do her bidding. But is she willing to pay the price?

I was lucky enough to be chosen for the cross-country travelling ARC initiative, and even though the book wasn’t for me I absolutely support the idea! This one ARC is giving so many teen and POC reviewers the chance to read and review the ARC early without requiring a large following or hundreds of ARC copies. I was only 4th in this chain of readers, but I’m happy so many people are getting the chance to read this single copy of the book!

This book is a difficult one to discuss for me, mainly because I really wanted to enjoy it and I need for there to be more POC written fantasy with POC characters in YA and fantasy in general. Unfortunately, while I loved many of the background aspects of this book, I just couldn’t click with the characters or the way this story was told.

This book’s main issue was that it was way too ambitious for both a debut and a first book in a series. There was just so much in this book to digest, and I still don’t think I’ve fully finished understanding and thinking through all of it. It’s not only thick, but dense as well, and chock-full of just too much plot, action, and death. This book alone could have served as an entire series on its own with its plotline, as the book seems to follow the chain of exposition -> rising action -> climax -> falling action quite a few times. It was just too much for me as a reader alongside understanding the world and the lore woven into the novel as well.

However, my biggest personal issue was the hopelessness of most of the novel. This novel gets really dark really fast, and I get that comes with demons, but the utter despair that this book emanates from 20%-90% with no hope of a true resolution put me off a whole lot. It seemed like the only way this could turn around was with a miracle, and instead of it reading as a struggle between the main cast and this evil, it seemed more like continuous beat down of the main cast as their loved ones were all slowly killed off. (Seriously, almost every single character you’re introduced to in the first 10-20% of the novel is dead by the end). Don’t get me wrong, I like dark books and dark magic and dark villains, but I need some balance. It needs to be a battle/war that the main character seems to have some feasible chance of winning for me to stay invested.

Even with all those issues, I have to commend the author on the world and lore she created for the story and the way morality is played with in this book. The world seems to be incredibly diverse naturally, it doesn’t seem forced at all. Additionally, I absolutely loved the lore/religion of the world and how it factored into the plot itself, especially all the reveals made at the end. You also have no sense of good and evil in this book as almost everyone seems to walk the line between the two, with Arrah trying desperately to figure out which side to stake her life on. It was fascinating to analyze and read from that mindset alone.

I am extremely tempted to continue the series when the rest of the books come out, even with my disappointing experience with the first book, as I did really enjoy what the author was trying to do. Hopefully there’s a little more balance in book 2, and I don’t get the same strong feelings of despair and hopelessness.

[Alexandra Elend Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If he’s to be believed, there are secrets buried inside me, ones that even I cannot fathom, ones that will unravel me.”

What a deeply magical and incredibly twisted book. As Rena Barron's debut novel it was an incredibly satisfactory work and much more than anything I was ever expecting.

I've been meaning to read something like this for a long time. Something that brings to life African culture and the complexity and beauty of it. So, having found this book felt like winning the lottery as it delves delightfully in the tribal magic and brings it to life.

Kingdom of Souls is a book full of twists and darkness and magic that happens one after the other without leaving a single moment for you to relax. And it truly deserves all the praises.

“I promise you the truth is so much more interesting than the lie.”

I'll admit, in the beginning, the book had me largely disinterested because it has a, sadly, slow start. Not bad or boring just... slow. Really slow.

Putting the foundations for such a complex and weighty world is not an easy task and it dragged the book along with it. Sure, I was deeply struck by just how beautiful and intricate the world was and wanted to know more but everything else was just not capturing my attention.

I knew this would happen as I had already been warned that it took a bit of time to pick up steam. But once it warmed its engine and started going it was a ride that no one could stop and that I took eagerly. Because it never stopped once it started.

The little wait needed to get to it is completely worth it. And is, by no means, a long one.

Of course, once I realized it is a debut novel I was more settled into... though it really doesn't feel like a debut novel for most of it. I was a bit shocked when I found that out.

“He had finally found the love of his life. You see, Little Priestess, this isn’t a love story between a boy and a girl. This is a love story about a father’s love for his daughter.”

I can't even begin to express just how hooked and addicted I was to this. And how not to be when the story was so sad and heartbreaking?

The way that the story is not a simple, straightforward, and unrealistic white-and-black story is one of my favorite things ever. It's full of greys and reds and any shade in between that becomes more complex with every page and more tragic with it. All the times my heart broke and filled with rage and disgust all at the same time are too many to be counted.

With incredibly complex characters and many, many secrets and lies laying in-between every revelation felt well earned and deserved and enriched the world more and more. All the way to the very last word of the epilogue.

The world truly feels like a character all of its own because of just how detailed and impressive it is. With its tribal magic and demons and two different sets of gods we have more than enough to go on for a much larger book. And, well, this is just the first book in the trilogy.

“With or without magic, my power lies in my mind, my decisions, even in my mistakes.”

The cast of characters was just as incredibly interesting and I love the way they added to the story while at the same time were different from the tropes a fantasy book falls all too easily.

Arrah is our MC and she is such an interesting character to explore. Wanting desperately to come into her magic to live to her family's legacy and her mother's expectations she is just all too disappointed to not have any herself. She shows us a different kind of protagonist than what we usually get and I loved her for it. She's fierce and vulnerable and smart and foolish and so full of contradictions that she feels perfectly human. Even though it took me a little while to warm up to her I fell in love, hard, with her.

Rudjek, funny, sweet, fierce Rudjek, stole my heart the moment I landed eyes on him. His journey is one that I did not see coming but is so well foreshadowed that I have no objections.

We also have our pragmatic Daho. With a past full of shadows and secrets we don't really know much about him but, let me tell you, I love him and I really, really want to know more about him. He is not what meets the eye and much more than we are told.

Of course, we also have amazing friends that all compliment well enough the variety of shades of this book. I do wish we had gotten more on them, as we just got little dips and tastes of their stories and potential.

“Love is a dangerous thing, especially among our kind. Our love is boundless, endless, all-consuming.”

Above all things, I think it was a love story between the members of a family and just how complicated that can turn out to be at times. Not always straightforward or pretty but something that becomes its own thing takes its own form and becomes something unique and mystifying for anyone else.

The couply-romance is there and we get a very nice foundation for it all -I did say it has the most glorious love triangle ever - but it doesn't take any particular shape in this book. It is not, most certainly, the center of the love in it.

“Even the most horrible act isn’t so bad if you skipped the devastating parts.”

To say that the villains in the story took me by surprise is another understatement. I suppose I entered the book very naively and optimistically and then had all of that ripped right out of me. For they took shapes that I just didn't want to consider at the beginning.

Except Efiya, she was terrifying and disturbing and gave terrible chills since the very beginning. And, here's the thing, I hadn't read a character that gave me such a horrible feeling in a long, long time, but she truly brought all of that right back out. Just thinking about her now turns my blood to ice.

Still, they were delightful. Complicated and persuasive I could see myself going down any of those paths because of the situations lived which, if you ask me, is the very best kind of villain there ever is.

“Unfortunately for us, a god’s love is both beautiful and terrifying.”

I have zero regrets about having picked this book up and stuck with it till the very end because now I've known such a beautiful world.

To say that I'm excited to see where Barron's imagination and already incredibly promising skills will take us is understating my emotions but, sadly, there aren't words that can encompass just how excited and elated and anxious I am for it.

“For her story begins at the end. Full of pain and sweet revenge. For she shall not rest in this life. For she must suffer for her sins.”

_____________________________

Wow, what a ride.

I'm glad to say that I enjoyed this book a lot and have many, many feelings right now.

As the best books do, I'm very conflicted with my feelings towards the end of the book, well, more accurately, the characters.

RTC.
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This book has been on the edges of my attention and interest for a long while but in light of everything and the #BlackLivesMatter movement, I decided it needed to move to top priority ASAP.

I don't really know much about what the book is supposed to be about, though this title is giving me a few fair assumptions.

I just hope it's gripping and interesting - no, they are not the same thing.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew, that ENDING.

This book is honestly a big one in terms of size. Here in the UK it's published as adult fantasy, which, considering the pacing and the length, makes sense to me. Because it's almost 500 pages and is not super fast-paced, but then in the US it's published as YA and the heroine is sixteen (if I caught that right?) which goes to show how so much YA fantasy is becoming quite crossover nowadays.

Anyway, weird musing of age categories aside, KINGDOM OF SOULS is a rich, dark, West African-inspired fantasy. There are demons and orishas and witchdoctors and cravens. The worldbuilding was lush and incredible and easily my favourite part of the book.

I wasn't as big a fan of the pacing. I think I was slightly affected by a reading slump, but the slow build of KINGDOM OF SOULS really didn't help much. Sometimes I love a good unwinding opening, but not this time around. It picks up about chapter 17, give or take. But honestly damn, there is so much content in this book! Many many things going on also dumb old me thought it was a standalone for quite a while.

Character-wise, I liked Arrah as a heroine. In a lineup, she's not the most noticeable but there was a quiet resilience to her and I liked her rationality/line of thinking at certain points. I was also a big fan of her and Rudjek! Which is a surprise because they fulfil the friends to lovers trope and normally I'm not as interested in that, but they were soft. But damn if I'm not interested in this uh . . . 'new guy' who might usurp Rudjek after that ending. Arrah's parents are also both present within the story, which is a fresh one considering that YA parents are often absent or just dead. Also I really liked Efia? Demon/villain girls are my favourite, so it's not surprising, but Arrah and Efia had a really interesting sisterly dynamic that I would have liked to seen explored more.

Opinions on this book will definitely vary depending on what a reader goes in for and they aren't expecting a speedy, easily-read YA fantasy.

EDIT: Damn first I thought this was a a standalone, then a duology, now I see it's a TRILOGY?! Lots of stuff is going to be packed into these books if the first one is any indication.

> 3.8 stars/ 4 stars (finding it hard to choose - first half is 3.5 but aspects of the second half are very 4/4.2 stars)

thank you to the publishers for a review copy in exchange for an honest review! <3

[Cesar (Inactive) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

Tedious would be the right word to describe Kingdom of Souls. A tedious, monotonous, repetitive book that utterly bored me. It's a miracle I even finished it on the number of times I was close to DNF'ing it. And believe me, there were a lot.

What made me want to read Kingdom of Souls in the first place was that it's a West-African inspired story with myths, magic, and an interesting premise. However, those three things I listed were the reasons why I didn't like the story.

The story is about our main character, Arrah, who lives in a world that is filled with magic yet she herself is unable to wield it. A big issue for her because she comes from a family of powerful magic users (witchdoctors) and is looked down upon it by other people, including her own mother. When children start disappearing and her grandmother receives a strange vision, Arrah decides to find out what's happening to the children and to her. But since she can't use magic, she uses a forbidden alternative that does allow her to use some magic but at a cost.

On paper, the story sounds fantastic. The beginning reminded me a lot of Akata Witch which I read for a children's course in college and I was sure I would like some of it. However, the execution of it was done poorly in my opinion. If I had to summarize Kingdom of Souls, I would say that it's nothing but exposition and repetitiveness.

There is a lot of mentions of mythos and magic in the story. The problem is, there is too much of it that it's hard to keep up with what is what and who this god is and who that person is and how magic works and blah blah blah. Literally the first half of the story is exposition. Information that, mind you, takes away from the story. How am I supposed to focus on the story if I'm told for the 5th time of how this piece of myth is important or who that non-important character is?

There's. Too. Damn. Much. Information packed in one book. I feel like I've read the entire worldbuilding of the trilogy in one book. I know it's supposed to set the world but if all of it is crammed into one book in a series, then it can be a lot to take in if there's room for the other books to supply said worldbuilding. And because of that, it will make the following books dull in comparison to the first book since all the worldbuilding is explained.

With the exposition comes a lot of repetitiveness both from the massive info-dumping and Arrah herself. I can't describe Arrah as a character because there is nothing about her that makes her stand out other than she's just a girl who can't use magic, which, mind you, is a common trope that is a hit or miss with me. In this case, it was a miss. And since she has no magic, she likes to repeat that over and over and over and over again. We get it, you're a protagonist who is not special but special at the same time. I don't even know who she is as a person other than her constant whining.

It also doesn't help that the side characters are not important. You have all these characters tossed in here and there who each have the personality of cardboard and are easily forgettable. Kind of like this whole book. "Ah, yes, hello there side character #2 who does absolutely nothing. Hello, side character #9 who appears for one page and is never seen again even though your name is mentioned again but is forgettable. And last but not least, hello, love interest whose name I forgot and doesn't have any chemistry with the main character."

The two things I did like, ironically, was the mythos and magic. In fantasy, I love anything involving myths and worldbuilding and despite the info-dumping, I liked learning this story's myth. (Though I'll probably forget about it soon). The magic is also interesting. While the magic system isn't perfect, what little we get is quite interesting.

I wish I had more positive things to say but that's about it.

What I think makes this ultimately fall flat is Rena Barron trying to fit in so much of the world in one book, it takes away from the actual story and characters. Worldbuilding is important but so are your characters and story. If you put too much focus on the world, the characters and story suffer.

Would I recommend this book? Yes and no. Yes because I do like the myth and world and it's an ownvoices story in a West-African inspired story. What I didn't like others may like so if you have the patience, then go ahead. But no because if you don't like any of my problems with the story, then you'll have the same experience I did. It's ultimately up to you what you want.

What started out as promising soon turned to boredom and ended with disappointment. Needless to say, I will not be continuing on with this series.

[Zoe Stewart (Zoe's All Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm thinking this is more of a 3.5 for me. I listened to the audiobook for quite a bit of it, but I much preferred the physical copy. One of the main reasons this isn't a higher rating for me is the romance. At first, it seemed like it wouldn't be such a huge part of the book. However, unfortunately, it really took over. I understood why when I finished, but still, the endless descriptions of his eyes, his lips, the deep timbre of his voice, etc. could've really been done less frequently. The setup for a love triangle really pissed me off too. I'M OVER THE LOVE TRIANGLE THAT IS ACTUALLY A V. WE DON'T NEED THOSE ANYMORE. If Rudjek falls in love with the Demon King (or vice versa) I'll be very pleased. Otherwise, I'm over it.

I thought it would be a great break from how disappointing YA fantasy has become, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. While I loved the world, I think it could've been more fleshed out, if we weren't so focused on how fucking hot Rudjek is. (Also, I didn't 100% love the characters as much as I was supposed to.) Some of the plot was extremely predictable, but I was pleasantly surprised by other parts. Overall, I'm looking forward to the next book, and to see how it improves upon this one.

[Vivianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spoiler free mini review

This book was awful. I am sorry but I really didn’t like it.

I like that it was an POC fantasy, the west African inspiration, and I like the cover. But I think that’s about it that I liked.

The plot was sooooooooo weird. I still haven’t comprehended what was happening actually. I am just… I don’t know. It was strange. Too much was happening and at the same time too less. But mainly I did not enjoy the story! Some things seemed random or added as an afterthought. At several points in this book I was like what?! HUH?! Other parts felt disconnected and disjoining.

There are scenes in here that were super dark, I can’t believe this is a YA book actually. A scene where eight? Children are murdered, a rape scene, weird rituals, child abuse, torture, and the whole book is filled with the main character being held under a spell so she can’t act against her mother, which I found very abusing and torturing. It went even so dark that I didn’t know how this would ever become alright. I felt hopeless and triggered while reading this, not my cup of tea.

I was bored throughout this whole book, I was confused, I was detested, I was put off, I was… urgh I want to really stop talking about this… Why o Why o why? The pacing was also very off. The beginning was just not moving and then half way through everything went soooo fast and very… illogical? I didn’t understand things and because of this during the audiobook my attention was slipping. Making it even harder.

I disliked every character in this book. Really… there is nobody I liked, nobody I cared about. The main character was VERY helpless, illogical and annoying. I didn’t enjoy reading from her pov at all. The side characters were very underdeveloped and not enjoyable. I can’t tell you their names anymore, that less of an impression they made on me. On top of this I didn’t understand her mother and Elfiya. This was I think my main problem?

The world was interesting in some way, but not very well executed. I liked the idea of west African inspiration but besides the rituals I didn’t really see a lot of that coming back in the story.

WTF was that ending..?

Will not even read the sequel if you pay me.

No thank you.

[Savannah Holland · Rating 1 out of 5]

TRIGGER WARNING: Rape and victim blaming
-I would like to begin this by saying I have sent my arc off to a different reviewer and can no longer provide exact quotes, but following along with the updates I recorded as I read I can refer to those for at least one specific page.

Warning: SPOILERS

The rape in question appears approximately 3/4 (pg 414ish)through the book When Arrah and the Love interest, Rudjek, are on a quest through the forest. Arrah leaves R to bathe and upon coming back finds him in the aftermath of having sex with Arrah's sister, a demon, disguised as Arrah herself. Essentially Rudjek consented to having sex with Arrah, not knowing he had been tricked. This is literal rape, an occurence which not only serves no purpose for the plot other then to I guess really prove that the sister, who has already murdered and tortured people, is really really bad???
Arrah is immediately angry with Rudjek for "not knowin it wasn't her." One could argue that in the heat of the moment Arrah was acting out of hurt, except this attitude never changes. Rudjek is given no sympathy for the rest of the book and his own rape is held over him like a dark cloud until the end. Not only that, but an actual God mocks Rudjek for this in front of all of his friends on page 479 (according to my goodreads updates).

BIG PLOT SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT
As if this is not upsetting enough as it is, the author takes great pains earlier in the book to present the villain, Arrah's mother as sympathetic due to the fact that she was tortured psychically by an evil witchdoctor. The descriptions of said torture, while not being physical, are heavily compared to sexual assault. Basically her mind, and those of a few minor characters, was raped. This event in question lead Arrah's mother to seek revenge against those that allowed this to happen (the church and government) by partnering with a demon, to conceive Arrah's sister, in order to bring down humanity.
Basically, from the villain's PoV, this is a rape revenge story, which is why it is so bizarre to have another character get raped and blamed for it.

All that aside this book was heading for a solid 3.5 star rating. It was very fast and had some interesting elements and characters. Arrah for example, was very well rounded and i enjoyed her quite a lot. My main issue came with pacing. It felt very disjointed to the point where I once compared it to reading 3 separate books that didn't feel like they belonged together.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was crazy. I mean beyond crazy. From the beginning of the book I had no idea what direction the book was taking and I definitely can say that it had twists and turns that no one could possibly see coming. The complexity of the world and the relationships between those with magic, regular humans, the Orishas, and the demon kind is something that takes time to understand. I wouldn’t go into this novel attempting to give definitive titles of “good and evil” to anyone. Most of, if not all, the characters are morally grey which makes for a very compelling story. In terms of plot, I was extremely surprised at how complex the author attempted to be in world-building. At times, it felt as though there was too much information packed into this nearly 500 page novel that could be shared over what I am going to assume is book 2 and 3. And because of the overload of information, there were some parts of the book (namely the middle) that seemed to drag on. The plot didn’t really pick up speed again until the last 100-150 pages of the book. With such a interesting magic system and world, I felt as though this initial book could have been shorter. The character development was also interesting and I found that the main character Arrah was weaker than I wanted. My heart was searching for this kick ass female lead that could take on anything and yet most of the time I felt like she was relying on everyone and everything around her. I also feel as though her love interest was irrelevant to the core of the story. They didn’t need to be together and honestly after the crap that he pulled at the end of the book, they shouldn’t be together at all. I just want a YA fantasy book that has nothing to do with romance. Is that too much to ask for? Overall, I did enjoy the book and annotated the crap out of my copy. I wanted to give it 5 but I couldn’t justify it with the issues that I took note of. I definitely will be picking up the next book in the series because that ending was MIND BLOWING. If there is one thing I love about a book, it’s the authors ability to write a twist that no one sees coming.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vid review here https://youtu.be/s0HvD_mcivc on Nov, 22, 2020


EDIT AFTER A 2nd READ

i ended up enjoying it, the best was the african lore and world building, but towards the end the plot dragged a bit. Also there was a bit too much of repetition about certain topics, i.em i lost count of how many times arrah said she wanted magic to end up having it and saying after wanting it so much now she doesn't want it because it's not worth it.

The characters are a bit raw, but the book does have potential.

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DNF'ed at page 320. Yes, I know. Only less than 200 pagea to finish it, if I had read until this page why quit now? Because I've lost all interest in the characters and the plot drags because the pacing is off and the events begin to be jumbled.

I loved the idea of the book, the mythos of it, that it has such strong African lore, and the first part, while slow, looks promising.
But the last part of the book, leading to Efiya birth... that is when I just couldn't. She could have had profundity and be a compeling villain, but I don't care about her one jot. Our main character is repetitive and boring, as are all her relationships. At this point, all characters seem rather plain to me, don't evolve and don't learn from their mistakes and I just can't justify to keep on reading in case it gets better.
It was a promising idea, but sadly ended up not being for me.

[Aida-Bianca Groza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Când am terminat de citit cartea am evitat să îi fac review-ul, pentru că nu îmi găseam cuvintele și nu știam cum să formulez o opinie care să fie pe măsura cărții.🤔 După 3 luni, să sperăm că o să reușesc.😬
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Alte carte luată datorită hype-ului pe care l-a avut pe bookstagram. Dar, Doamne, cât își merită hype-ul!!!!
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Este unul dintre cele mai bune fantasy-uri citite de mine vreodată, din punct de vedere al creării lumii. Nu mă așteptam deloc ca sub această copertă SUPERBĂ să găsesc o lume a magiei, a triburilor, a tradițiilor și a legendelor atât de complexă, de bine conturată și descrisă, dar în același timp și complicată.😧 Aceasta mi se pare că este și punctul forte și esența cărții, efectiv lumea fantasy creată. Din păcate, fiind atât de îmbârligată, deoarece sunt multe triburi, fiecare are alte obiceiuri și puteri, mulți zei, cu povești și însemnătate și roluri diferite, nume ale personajelor destul de neobișnuite și poate greu de reținut, te poți pierde extrem de ușor atunci când citești.😕 Pentru că știam că urmează și alte volume din această serie și din dorința de a ține pasul și de a înțelege pe deplin, încă de la început mi-am luat foarte multe notițe, pentru că altfel aș fi pierdut foarte ușor șirul evenimentelor. Așa că dacă vă doriți să începeți această carte, vă recomand să faceți la fel și să vă înarmați cu răbdare și calm, pentru că oricât de superbă este “Regatul sufletelor”, cu siguranță nu este o carte ușoară.🤣
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Pe lângă această lume bogată, ce are această carte diferit este personajul principal. Dacă sunteți obișnuiți cu un personaj entitled, care să aibă super puteri prin care să se facă remarcat și să fie superior tuturor, ei bine în această carte este exact invers.🤣 Trebuie să recunosc că a fost o experiență diferită să fiu alături de Arrah, să o văd cât de neputincioasă este în multe cazuri, de neajutorată, câte sacrificii face, doar pentru că nu este capabilă să simtă magia. A fost cumva reconfortant, dar în același timp dureros și trist, să o vezi cât se chinuie, câte piedici i se pun și câte obstacole are de trecut, dar cum de multe ori eșuează. Deși este fantasy, aspecte de acest gen te fac să empatizezi mult mai mult cu personajul, deoarece reflectă realitatea cu care toți ne lovim.🥺
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Iar ca și acțiune, nici nu mai are rost să vorbim. Nu te aștepți deloc la ce se întâmplă, au loc dezvăluiri peste dezvăluiri, nu poți prezice în ce direcție o va lua romanul, iar când vezi ce legătură și rol au personajele, cât de interconectate le sunt destinele tuturor, rămâi absolut șocat.😶
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Vă recomand din tot sufletul această carte, deși nu este una ușoară, dar vă promit că nu veți regreta sub nicio formă. Dacă vreți să citiți ceva diferit, care să vă absoarbă complet în poveste, “Regatul sufletelor” este cu siguranță alegerea potrivită!💛

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

16-year-old Arrah is the daughter of powerful Witchdoctors. But she doesn’t have the magic that her parents have, and she so desperately wants it and the approval of her mother. That she does everything she can to get it. She loves her dad dearly and closer that her mother. When children start to missing Arrah finds out that it’s her mother who is responsible, trying to summon a Demonic king. So Arrah performs a ritual to get magic so she can stop her mother. But it takes years off her.
Kingdom of Souls is a unique fantasy tale of Witchdoctors, magic, demons, gods in a world of an African setting. It had great characters especially Arrah who trying to get approval from her mother and yet going against her trying to get rid of the demon king. I thought it was beautifully written and I really enjoyed it until I got a bit confused of what was happening at the end. 4 stars from me.

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t really know where to begin with this review. There was so much about Kingdom of Souls that I loved. I adored the world building, the rich mythology and learning how magic works in Arrah’s world, yet at the same time I was introduced to so many characters, tribes and gods that I found it difficult to keep track of them.

Enter my cheat guide. I had no idea who or what was going to be important later on and I was so overwhelmed in the beginning (up to about 20%) that I found myself frantically making notes about practically everyone. I’ve included these notes in this review mostly for my benefit in case I need a refresher course prior to embarking upon the second book but if they help you in any way, you’re welcome.

I’ve marked them as spoilers because I mention some characters that don’t even appear in this story until near the end. I’ve tried to avoid spoilery type info dumps here but please still be aware that you may read something in there you don’t want to know yet.

Arrah’s Family
* Arti - mother, from the Mulani tribe, “Ka-Priestess of the Kingdom”
* Oshe - father, from the Aatiri tribe, has a store in the West Market
* Efia - sister

Arrah’s Family’s Staff
* Nezi - porter, has burnt hands and a limp
* Ty - matron, does the cooking, doesn’t speak to anyone, has “episodes”
* Terra - has only been on staff for 2 years, does the rest of the chores, Arrah’s age, gossips

Arrah’s Friends
* Hassana - female, beautiful, Aatiri
* Rudjek - male, smells of lilac and woodsmoke
* Sukar - male, tattoos on his forearms and shaved head glow when the magic is there or he’s near someone with the gift, Zu

Rudjek’s Family
* Serre - mother, daughter of the North, her country is Delene
* Suran Omari - father, Vizier
* Uran - older brother, whose mind was broken during the Rite of Passage
* Jemi - older brother, whose mind was broken during the Rite of Passage, killed a merchant
* Crown Prince Kelechi - brother, two years older than Rudjek
* Second Son Narmer - brother, Arrah’s age (16)

Rudjek’s Attendants
* Majka - best friend, gendar, parents are commanders under the Master of Arms, 17
* Kira - 17, father is the Master of Scribes

Kingdom Hierarchy
* Almighty One - the most powerful position, held by Dereje, who was best friends with Suran before he rose to the throne
* Vizier - second most powerful position, held by Suran Omari, “governs the Kingdom”
* Ka-Priestess - the third most powerful position, held by Arti, “the voice of the orishas”

The Vizier’s Guildmasters
* Master of Arms - Rudjek’s aunt and the Vizier’s twin sister, General Solar, “leads the military forces of the Kingdom: the gendars, the guardsmen, and the shotani.”
* Master of Scribes - Ny (Kira’s father)
* Master of Scholars
* Master of Laborers
* Artisan’s guild - Guildmaster Ohakim

Shotani - elite assassins, have some magic, live in the Kingdom

Crests - show rank or position
* Omari - lion’s head
* Sukkara (the royal family) - ram, “symbol of their blood connection to the sun orisha, Re’Mec”

Some of the Locations
* Tamar - where Arrah, Rudjek and their families live
* East Market - in Tamar, Kofi (Arrah’s friend) works there, charlatans are also there
* West Market - in Tamar, Oshe’s store is there
* Kefu - time works differently there

Tribes of Heka - Heka gives magic to the tribes
* Aatiri - “do not walk or leap, for clouds of magic carry them. Grandmother’s silver locs coil on top of her head like a crown, and she wears a half dozen necklaces of teeth. The Aatiri are tall and lean with prominent cheekbones and wiry hair braided like mine.” Arrah’s grandmother, Malikah, is the Aatiri chieftain. Malikah’s grandmother was Yaaba. Other ancestors are Machie and Ara.
* Kes - the smallest tribe. Their lands “border the valley to the northwest. Their diaphanous skin and near-colorless eyes remind me of the Northern people.” “lightning cuts across the sky and sparks dance on their skin”
* Litho - “lies southwest of the Temple of Heka in the woodlands. White dust covers their bodies and vests of rawhide.” “The ground shifts beneath their feet, moving as gentle as ocean waves”
* Mulani - “live the closest to the Temple of Heka.” “It was a Mulani woman Heka revealed his presence to when he first descended from the stars a thousand years ago. Now the Mulani chieftain serves as his voice. The position would belong to my mother had she not left and never looked back.” - their witchdoctors are all women. “They have broad shoulders, curvy bodies, and skin ranging from deep brown to alabaster.” The Mulani Chieftain is Arti’s first cousin
* Zu - “from the mountains south of the Temple” “leap above our heads, their feet supported by air. Tattoos cover their bodies and they wear crowns of antlers”, the Zu seer is Barasa

Orishas - worshipped in the Kingdom, they have human and animal aspects
* Esi - the sky god
* Fayouma - the mother of beast and fowl
* Fram - the balancer of life and death
* Kekiyé - orisha of gratitude
* Kiva - protector of children and innocence
* Koré - moon orisha - female, twin god
* Mouran - master of the sea
* Nana - god that shaped the earth
* Oma - orisha of dreams
* Re’Mec - sun orisha - male, twin god
* Sisi - guardian of fire
* Ugeniou - the harvester
* Unnamed - cobras around each of her arms
* Yookulu - weaver of seasons

Cravens
* Fadi - the group’s leader, male, excels at shifting
* Juhanah - female - group’s best tracker
* Lumo - Mensah’s twin, group’s best healer
* Mensah - Lumo’s twin, group’s best fighter
* Riham - female, shortest of the group, “can bend space and manipulate her environment”

Demons
* Dayo - Demon King
* Merka - possesses a cat before they possess a fisherman

Familiars - shadowy, shapeless and ever changing. They can only be seen by people with tribal blood. They’re believed to be relics of people destroyed by demons. “Wherever the Familiars go, death soon follows.”

I think it was because I was so bogged down in my note taking that I managed to entirely bypass the whole ‘connecting with any of the characters’ experience. One character that I thought I would form a connection with early on died soon thereafter and the villain I was hoping to cheer on didn’t make much of an impact on me.

Had I found the guide on the book’s website before I read this book instead of after, my reading experience may have been vastly different. I learned things from this guide that I missed entirely when I read the book. However, considering a couple of the characters illustrated on the cast page don’t exist in the first book, perhaps some of the guide also relates to later books in the series.

Impacts of trauma play out in various ways with multiple characters, which I found very interesting. Although it’s not mentioned by name it’s almost certain a few characters could be diagnosed with PTSD. The violation involved in the mind manipulation wasn’t that dissimilar to survivors’ experiences of sexual assault.

Some of Arrah’s thought patterns were quite repetitive. Hearing about how much of a disappointment she was to her mother and how she had longed to have magic her entire life provided me with sufficient underdog fuel to want her to succeed initially, but the amount of times she lamented both began to annoy me as the story progressed.

Although I witnessed plenty of action, with fight scenes, destruction and all round mayhem, it also felt like I spent a good portion of this book waiting around with Arrah for the next sequence of events to begin to unfold.

The ending was quite abrupt and left a ton of unanswered questions, which will hopefully be addressed in the next two books (yep, I found out after I started reading that this is the first book of a trilogy). However, I’m not entirely sure if I’ll still be as eager to know some of the answers, like what two of the characters were whispering about, by the time the second book is released.

If I reread this book I would spend less time focusing on the minutiae and try instead to form meaningful connections with the main characters. It felt like Arrah’s world was real and this is why I’ve given this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ instead of ⭐️⭐️⭐️. Had I been emotionally invested in Arrah’s journey this could have been a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book for me.

Content warnings include abusive and neglectful parents, animal possession, blood magic, death by suicide, death of children and mind manipulation.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperVoyager, an imprint of HarperCollins UK, for granting my wish to read this book.

[Bang Bang Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

The problem with this book...no editing
The rating is low because I didn't enjoy anything in this book. Sometimes I like the first 75 pages and then the book falls apart but in this book, I didn't even enjoy 20 pages.

Issues I Had With this Book:
*Good Lord, Where is the Editor? Barron was too ambitious for her first novel and a book one. While the world was somewhat interesting with Gods and witchdoctors, Barron tried to cram too much folklore into this story which made it convoluted and confusing. This story had a very simple plot-stop the person who is trying to release the Demon King. But no, Barron had to add an ominous green eyed serpent and her mother's family hating the MC and servants and a rivalry with the royals and a romance and several gods with their own chapter with confusing dialogue-are there two people talking here? And kidnapping kids and a girl complaining ALL THE TIME that she has no magic and potion class with Snape and bones and a village with soulless beings and a mom with a weird backstory and a creepy sister and then that ending. If you read all the aforementioned and you're shocked at all of it; then you know how I felt reading this book.

*Hold My Hand, Please-The main character does absolutely nothing without help. You maybe saying that receiving help is realisitic and that when a character does everything on their own with no help is annoying. And you would be correct but usually, the MC uses their own brain at some point but no, Aarah literally is told what to do the ENTIRE book and when she finally gets her magic, the gods control her magic so they do everything for her. I also didn't know who Aarah was; she had no personality.

*Kofi Who? So one of the major plot points, which is on the back of the book, is that there are some kidnappings and then Aarah must make a deal on her life to save the children. Okay that's cool but the kid she risks her life doesn't get on the page or is mentioned until page 94. Then he's taken on page 124ish and I'm supposed to think that Aarah loves this kid so much that she's risking years of her life? There was no set up to this relationship. It would have made more sense if her close relative was taken not some rando kid from the market.

*These Villains are Bad - There are a couple of villains and although I appreciate Barron's willingness to go there, villains have to be sympathetic in order to be effective. While she tried to make the first villain sympathetic, it just didn't work and this was mostly due to ALL THE FUCKING INFO-DUMPING!! The second villain was one-dimensional and they weren't on the page enough to develop them. A better version of this type of villain can be found in Minya from Strange the Dreamer. Both villains were all tell and no show.

* ALL THE FUCKING INFO-DUMPING- This world was all info-dumped by everyone. Info-dumping is a deal breaker for me and I will immediately lower it a star if there is too much of it and this book was riddled with it.

*The Supporting Cast-The supporting characters were neither interesting nor important to the plot. There's one girl whose only purpose was her appearance. The boyfriend was meant to charming I suppose but he added nothing to the plot and sometimes his dialogue took me out of the story-"Pretty please?" Who says pretty please in a fantastic African world? The dad? Why the hell was he in this story? What major role did he play except to play with he reader's emotions? The grandmother-wasted; Terra-wasted; Kore-wasted. None and I mean NONE of the supporting characters had any development or any impact to this novel.

*What the Fuck was that Ending? Before that ending, this was a 2 star and then I just couldn't anymore.

For me to give a book a one star it meant that there was nothing here-no amazing world or characters. The main character wasn't interesting and the folklore was too much. There was nothing here for me to enjoy.

[⊹ ⁺ ₊ ✧ she's book obsessed ✧ ₊ ⁺ ⊹ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kingdom Of Souls
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ll just head straight into the magic system because wow! A super complex world with intriguing history.
I absolutely loved the cultural setting and I want to read more books like this. It’s a new world I’ve only skimmed the surface of, which I wish to dive deeper into.
However, some things need to be said.
Personally the characters appeared to be a bit bland, and I didn’t form a connection with any of them. It was a bit slow in the beginning too, but after a hundred pages it began to catch my interest.
There is this one thing I couldn’t stop fussing over though, and it’s the amount of times the word “belly” is used. It always seemed to appear in every chapter, and once I noticed this I saw it everywhere.
I wish I got more invested in the story because I really loved the world building.
That much said, I appreciated that the love interest in the book was a part of the story, and not the whole plot.

[Sana]

Aaand the comparisons to Black Panther begins

No, but for real this actually sounds great and I don't know how I didn't know about this before today like

'Set in a West African-inspired fantasy kingdom and having a tone comparable to Wonder Woman, Last Witchdoctor centers on a young woman who fails at magic, fails to call upon the ancestors and can't even cast the simplest curse. In fact, she fails so much that her witchdoctor mother conjures a better daughter, one whose power soon threatens to destroy everything in its path. Now the young woman must find a way to master magic, or at least buy it, in order to defeat her sister.'

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SCREAMS AMAZING SO IT BETTER BE

Source

[nia&#x1f3f9; •shades0fpaper• · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can find this review on my blog Shades of Paper.

“I once laughed at stories about demons, and now I know that one may walk in my shadows. She does not mean well.”

I was so excited to read this book because I’ve been hearing amazing things about it and a lot of people have been talking about Kingdom of Souls lately so I was super intrigued, not only by the cover but by the premise. And overall I have to say that there were some elements that I really enjoyed about it but there was some thing about the pacing and the plot of the book that made it dragged a lot and made my enjoyment of it lower.

One of the reasons why I gave this book 3 stars was because of the pacing. The first half of the story was so interesting I was so intrigued by the plot and the magical elements of the book and I wanted to know what was going to happen next, even though I was a bit confused by everything that we learned so far, but the other half of the story was so slow and I felt not much was happening.

My main issue with the story was like I said before, that it was so dense. I don’t consider Kingdom of Souls very big book, but there were a lot of times where I felt the story wasn’t evolving or progressing as I thought it would and we were stuck in the same place. There was a big change in the tone, the plot and the setting of the novel if we compare the very beginning and the second half that it felt as if I was reading a different book, and there were a lot of subplots going on that made Kingdom of Souls seemed dense and very slow start. In my opinion all the stuff happening wasn’t adding anything to the plot, and frankly, I was so bored during the majority of the time because of that. The very beginning of the novel was so intriguing and I was so engaged, but I became less and less invested in the book as I continued with it, till the point of felt so disconnected to it.

However, something that I adore and consider one of my favorite things of kingdom of souls was definitely the mythology and the magic system. I loved how the magic was introduced to the story.

“Don’t get caught in the shadows, for a demon waits to steal your soul. The younger the soul, the sweeter the feast.”

When you come to the characters, I think they were okay but they weren’t my favorite. Some of them were so underdeveloped and could’ve been much more than what was learnt from them. Efia was such an interesting character and I was rooting for her so much when she was firstly introduced, but she was a very a flat character that I ended up pretty disappointed with her. She could have been such an interesting villain but because we almost knew anything about her and her POVs didn’t add a lot to her character arc, she ended up being another plain villain.

The rest of the characters were fine. I definitely really enjoyed the relationship between our main character and her dad, and I think that was such a precious thing to see in the book, and I also really appreciated the friendship and the interactions between the different characters throughout the novel They had very nice and dynamics and I’m just sad that they didn’t hit all the marks for me.

One of the things that I have to add to my review is that I couldn’t care less about the romance. It was very rush and frankly I didn’t see a lot of chemistry between the characters. I mean, I really liked them together and I like their interactions throughout the book, but I just felt that the romance was so underdeveloped.

Overall, I think Kingdom of Souls had so much potential and had such an interesting concept for a book, but the pacing of the plot made my enjoyment lowered quite a lot. I appreciated it so much that it was book with such a diverse cast of characters and that it had that very interesting magical elements and a very in-depth world building, but I would’ve loved to see more of that magic and a more complex plot and characters.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This doesn’t change my opinion whatsoever. All thoughts are my own.

“Some people can pull magic from the fabric of the world. Some can coax magic to come with rituals and spells. Many can’t call magic at all. It’s a gift from Heka to the people of the five tribes—a gift of himself—but it’s different from everyone.”

....

Thank you HarperCollins for giving me an ARC of this book

LOOK AT THAT COVER! That girl could choke me and I’d be totally okay with that

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[Celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Edelweiss for the e-galley and Goodreads for the arc win.

I enjoyed this far more than I expected to. This is not to say because of the content, but more because I am burning myself off of fantasy. BUT this is the exception. This has renewed my hope in the genre.

This book was dark, and I love dark so you can imagine my glee. There are books out there that trick you into thinking it's creepier than it is, and those books always disappoint. I mean, there's magic, witchdoctors, demons, kidnapped kids, soul-sucking situations...I'll stop there as to not give too much away.

This OWNVOICES fantasy revolves around Arrah and the fact that she does not possess the magic that runs through her family's blood. When a mysterious string of disappearances occur, Arrah decides that she must take matters into her own hands, because her mother, a powerful witchdoctor has gone rogue. Add in a love interest who's a family enemy and some intense world-building, and you hooked me.

Rena Barron built a world that you can sink into with ease. There is a lot to remember, gods names, tribes, etc., but it was fairly easy once the story got started. The plot was chock full of action. I swear there weren't any slow spots at all. I was anxeity ridden for almost 500 pages.

Al in all, this was the complex and dark world that I want in fantasy books. We have a protagonist that has a head on her shoulders and does things true to her heart. I gave this an extra star as I let the story marinate after I finished. It stayed with me days later, and that is how I know what I experienced was worth it. I feel like my words don't do justice to how I feel.

5/5 I will read the sequel.

[Fadwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sent an arc of this book from the publisher in exchange of an honest review

CW: Abusive mother, mind control, self-harm, sexual assault imagery, mass murder, child sacrifice, possession, poisoning, death.

At this point, many years into my reviewing career, you must know that if you say “ownvoices African fantasy” I do not need to hear more, I WILL come running. No ifs, ands or buts. So it only makes sense that this review of Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron, which is a West African fantasy, eventually shows up on my blog. And eventhough I had a couple issues with it, my experience reading it was overall very enjoyable and I’m looking forward to what comes next. The details of this last statement are as follow:

The writing is beautiful and lyrical in ways that sucked me inside the story in no time and made me feel the atmosphere of every single chapter and every single scene. The descriptions are so vivid that you can’t help but be transported to whatever it is you’re reading, and that’s always major plus for me whenever I’m reading fantasy. That being said, in some places, it didn’t not flow as easily as in the rest of the novel, some parts were overly descriptive and the worldbuilding was done awkwardly, it wasn’t weaved into the narrative as well as in the rest of the novel and it took me out of the story.

Full review posted on my blog : Word Wonders