Loved this book! The characters are beautiful, the world building is magnificent, and the plot will keep you turning the pages!

I requested this book on a bit of a whim, not really expecting much of it. For what it's worth, I definitely liked it more than I thought I would, but I feel like it just didn't live up to its full potential.

Unfortunately I could not get into this book. I thought it had a little too much going on and I really did not care for the insta-love with the moleman thing. It was a little bizarre and seemed to come out of nowhere. I just could not connect and get a grasp on why people were doing things. I guess this one just did not work for me. I can certainly see why a lot of people liked this book, but it didn't do it for me.

This is basically an anthropomorphic Game of Thrones. When I started to notice the similarities to GoT and other epic novels, I thought I was going to be annoyed and dislike the book. But I loved it. If I could give more than 5 stars I would gladly do so.

Because of the multiple viewpoints, I often found myself sympathizing with someone that I practically hated a chapter or two before. There was only one or two villainous characters that I never grew to care about, even when it seemed like I should have had pity on them.

I CANNOT wait for the sequel.

Ramya is the Melokai of Peqkya. She's been the Melokai for a long time and believes her time is up. When she goes to the prophet Sybilya to learn her fate she instead receives a shocking prophecy fortelling trouble and a wolf claiming the throne. Ramya is prepared to fight off all who dare challenge Peqkya, but she is not prepared for love. Ramya finds herself thrown off balance by her personal life while preparing to defend her home.

Melokai is so different from what I expected. The cover promised warrior women or at least a warrior woman, which is somewhat seen towards the end of the book. People talk about fighting, but very little is described. What the book does go into detail about is sex of all types. The book has male prostitutes, female prostitutes, inner species, homosexual, gang rape, and I'm probably forgetting some other types of sex. This read like a woman's romance novel for much of the book.

Those aren't the only unexpected aspects of the book. The book also features lots of human like animals or animal like humans. Pekya's people are described as cats. I'm not positive they actually are cat women or if it's simply a moniker for them. Pekya does have talking cats called clever cats which are largely messengers. Next comes Drome and these people are definitely part camel. They have humps on their backs that can store water. The Trogrs seem to be part bat. They don't have eyes, but them hum to see what's happening around them. Then there are the wolves who have evolved the ability to stand on their hind legs like people. They also must have opposable thumbs or something near enough because they are described as being able to hold weapons. At the end are the Fertilians who seem to be plain old humans.

So Peqkya is shown to be a horrible place to live as a male. Peqkya men are kept alive for reproduction, pleasure, and slave labor. What's worse is Peqkya has a specialized position for men known as pleasure givers. These men's only job is to please women sexually. It doesn't sound bad at first until you realize they have to have sex with any woman who demands it at any time. I know it still doesn't sound too bad. What makes it horrible is if any of these men can't perform or do not please the women they are with they have their cocks cut off, shoved in their mouths, and then are sentenced to death. So yeah, not so great. Peqkya is the home to the main point of view and title character the Melokai Ramya. It was challenging to care what happened to a place that treated men in such a worthless fashion.

My largest problem with the book is in the end there aren't many likable people. I felt somewhat sorry for Ferraz his fellow pleasure givers, and the other Peqkya men. I also felt for Queen Jessima of Fertilian who was forced into a loveless marriage to a much older King who cries out his dead wife's name while having sex with her. The negative actions of these characters seemed to stem from their unfortunate lot in life. I couldn't feel for any Peqkya women due to their complicit nature in thoroughly terrifying the men around them with the constant threat of death.

Melokai was not at all what I expected from the description and the cover.

2.5 out of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Melokai is an epic fantasy featuring a great, diverse cast of characters and an intriguing storyline which, while not having many twists and turns, still manages to be compelling.

The book starts in the mountain country of Peqya, a country ruled by women and in which men are reduced to slaves and Pleasure Givers (actual term in the book). Ramya is the titular Melokai, or the country's ruler. She believes her people loves her and are happy with her long and prosperous rule. As the rest of the novel progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that this isn't exactly the case. Her own advisers for example, express their disagreement and in some cases, disgust even at her actions. Peqya also advocates equality between women but not with men and it predictably made a lot of people disgruntled and angry with their lot in life.

Ramya isn't the only POV character though. The book features different point-of-views, from Ramya's former PG to royalty from distant lands to people in her army even. Ramya herself wasn't even my favorite POV character in this book. In fact, I found her to be arrogant and she also made some decisions which I thought should have resulted in international incidents. As a ruler, she was said to be a good one but either I have different standards or that was just what she thought of herself. It's one of those things I appreciate about this book- Ramya thinks about one thing, doesn't mind the consequences, and doesn't think about the people she's actually alienating.

The other characters are also pretty good. There's a spoiled brat prince from a desert country who gets his ass handed to him, a queen from another country who becomes friends with Ramya, and even a sentient wolf with a complicated past. All of their arcs come together to form an intricately woven fantasy world.

I also loved the world-building. It feels incredibly lush, from the decadent nations to the harsh lands the wolves inhabit, I felt totally immersed in the worlds and cultures the author was describing. I also liked the cat imagery presented in Peqya, even though I myself identifies as more of a dog lover. I also liked the writing style which conveyed the characters' personalities, motivations, and characteristics very well.

All in all, I really liked the novel and I'll also be putting the next one on my TBR list.

Oh my GOSH, this book!! I requested it on a whim, not really sure what to expect. What I ended up with was a book that I couldn't put down! The author did a magnificent job of creating a brilliantly vivid world for her readers. The characters were complex, unique in their own personalities, bounced off each other amazingly and developed with the story. The plot itself moved quickly, leaving me hanging on every word and unable to put the book down. (I kid you not. I read while I made the kids Mac and Cheese and totally burned it. Who burns Mac and Cheese??) I need everything this author has ever written or will write.

I was immediately drawn to Melokai because of that gorgeous cover! It's wonderful to see fantasy centred around people of colour, as so often fantasy worlds are very white-oriented. There is a massive range of cultures and people featured in this book, which is very refreshing. I particularly liked the concept of the Melokai as a ruler, chosen for a limited amount of time, as it's very different to the kinds of rulership you often get in fantasy, where there is a hereditary kingship.

There's also some really interesting political situations going on. I liked reading about the pack dynamics in the wolf pack, and the matriarchal society has some fascinating elements, like the children being brought up away from their parents so as to ensure a true meritocracy. I also liked the reversal of the usual fantasy courtesan set up, since all the sex workers were male. I would have liked to see this explored even further!

One small negative is that I think the book could do with a thorough edit for grammar and language. There are a lot of comma spliced sentences, and a few instances of the wrong words being used ('I can't bare it' used in place of 'I can't bear it'). This is a deal-breaker for me, but if this could be fixed, then I think this could be a really good example of multi-POV epic fantasy, with some unusual and interesting facets.