Children from the village are being abducted and Arrah despite the fact that she has no magic power will do everything to find them and arrest the perpetrator.

I liked the story, I got a little lost with all the different Deities but it was very interesting to discover another way of seeing the world.

I really appreciated Arrah even though she takes too long to confess her feelings to Rudjek. She is a young girl who was raised by two very powerful parents, her father is a kind person. Her mother, however, is another story. The fact that Arrah has no magical power will force her to try the impossible, especially when the children disappear. I love her will, her kindness and her need to protect people.

I really liked Rudjek, Sukar, Majka Hassana and Kira too, they are trustworthy friends in a world where unfortunately it is not easy to trust.

As I said, there is a certain complexity with all the Gods and Goddesses, we get lost in it a little bit but as soon as we understand everything, we get it right. I guessed pretty quickly where the author was coming from and I’m really looking forward to reading the second book to discover the rest of the adventures of Rudjek and Arrah.

Quick word: A story that takes us into a magical and disturbing world.

A powerful, mystical journey into a perilous world of gods and magic

“Why doesn’t magic come to me, Father?”

Sixteen-year-old Arrah has been waiting her whole life for magic to be bestowed upon her. Granddaughter of a great witchdoctor and daughter of the Ka-Priestess of the Almighty Kingdom, she feels the weight of the extraordinary legacy she must live up to but is forced to watch helplessly as other children younger than her are blessed with the gift while she is passed over. Yet Arrah is gifted in other ways – with intelligence, wit, the ability to see and to feel magic, and a fervent loyalty to her friends which inspires from them fierce loyalty in return.

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

Haunted by strange dreams and her grandmother’s visions of demons long believed gone, Arrah seeks answers from the orishas and seers of the Temple. But when tragedy strikes her city of Tamar, the “girl without magic”, who wants so much to help others, makes a fateful decision that will take her down the darkest and most dangerous of paths to sorcery, suffering and sacrifice. Be careful what you wish for …

A beautifully written, enthralling epic fantasy set in a fictional West African kingdom of myth and magic, Kingdom of Souls weaves a rich tapestry with vibrant threads of genuine folklore, creating a substantive, complex, yet recognisable world of ancient pantheons, beliefs and cultures. It has to be said that at times the book goes to some seriously dark places, though this reviewer would argue that this is one of the elements which makes the story so memorable and compelling. It has the courage of its convictions and is unafraid to venture into the human heart of darkness and misuse of magic. Blood rituals, child sacrifice, mind violation and familial abuse all play integral parts in the story – and certain relatives of Arrah are truly the stuff of nightmares.

However, amidst the darkness shine all-important rays of light and hope. Arrah’s relationship with her adored and adoring father is superbly evoked: she is never happier than when listening to his stories, helping him in his shop or learning herb lore from him. Her friendships and blossoming romance with the charming and gorgeous Vizier’s son are heartwarming, tinged with welcome affection and humour. And Arrah herself, telling her story in the first person, draws the reader in with the power of her personality, her sympathy, and her empathy for others. We feel everything with Arrah; we share her frustrations, her failures, her fear, her fury, and her helplessness at the inexorable turn of events.

With incendiary revelations at the end, which are hinted at and gradually unravelled throughout, one gets the feeling that, despite the richness and depth of Kingdom of Souls, the story is only just beginning. Highly recommended, with a caveat regarding some of the darker aspects of the book.

Arwen Evenstar

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

Kingdom of Souls was darker than I expected in places but never felt like it went too far. It did take on some tough topics, mind control, emotional trauma, non consensual sex and plenty of murder. Despite the dark tones it still somehow managed to be hopeful as well.

The writing is clever and sharp, I was pleasantly surprised by this book, when thinking I had its direction all figured out it turned down a different (and much more interesting) path.

Arrah was a likeable and well rounded main character, her reasons for doing things always made sense and were thought through. Her relationship with her father was warm and felt very real.

Likewise her interactions with her friends spoke of long running jokes and years of spending time together without going over the top.

I loved the magic system in the book. The visual representations of magic that users could see, the blessing of magic gifted by the Orisha’s and the anti-magic of the Cravens. It all blended into a well rounded magical system that was fun to learn about.

A stunning debut novel, I look forward to reading more from Rena in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
"THERE’S MAGIC IN HER BLOOD"
This line and the cover art hooked me into an exciting, unique story that unfolds in a West African world full of magic. The main character is from a long line of powerful witch doctors but isn't very good at being a witch doctor herself. Children start disappearing and she ends up doing something very dangerous and risky to gain the magic she needs. I loved the writing style, the pace, the unexpected plot twists and the unique characters. The world was well built and I am looking forward to reading more from this fabulous author.

I was excited for this story after reading the synopsis and seeing the gorgeous covers but I truly didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised as I could never truly tell what direction this story was going in. I'm actually having a bit of a difficult time putting my feelings into words because I don't know where to start. Because of the West African this novel is drawing comparisons to Children of Blood and Bone but the stories couldn't be more different.

Even though at times it was a little difficult keeping track of the different characters, tribes, locations, and other terms I enjoyed the world that Rena Barron built. Luckily there is KingdomofSoulsBook.com which contains a recommended reading guide. Great for someone like me reading the book of the course of multiple days alongside another book who needs a refreshing on some of the terms.

I find some writers will include detailed violence just for the sake of violence to make the story darker. Every death felt impactful and personal instead of something done purely for shock value. Arrah was not the chosen one heroine who everything comes easy to which was also something pleasant and different. It does initially get off to a slow start with pages of Arrah yearning for and failing at calling magic before the real story kicks in.Though it got off to a slower start this story truly sucked me in. I never saw that ending coming and now I have many questions to be answered in the sequel.

I will say the romance did not intrigue me. I understand in previous drafts the story was to be duel pov but Rujek just hasn't captivated me as a character yet. I didn't feel the chemistry between him an Arrah yet. But I am intrigued at the direction his character will take moving forward.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

She tastes of firestorms and ashes,
Of new beginnings and endings.
She is the monster stalking the dark,
The savior guarding the light.
She sleeps in a pit of vipers and fire,
And awakes in a windstorm of fury.
-Song of the Unnamed

Rating: 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

Arrah is the sixteen year old daughter of two powerful witchdoctors, born to two long lines of powerful witchdoctors. Every year she waits for magic of her own, and every year Heka moves past her. When her last chance passes and she still has no magic of her own, Arrah has no time to dwell on the loss of the future she's always dreamed of. Children are going missing, and Arrah might be the only one who can find them. There is <i>one</i> more way that she can use magic, but the cost is high. Every spell might be her last.

This review has actually been hard to write, because I'm so enamoured with Kingdom of Souls. Honestly my only criticism is that there was a section of part 3 that I found a little slow but even saying that I read the majority of this book in one sitting and the pacing still felt really, really good. I've been loving the quality of the #ownvoices books coming out lately, and I need more diverse fantasy like this, and Gods of Jade and Shadow. Teach me your mythology and culture, please!!

Kingdom of Souls is dark, and there are lots of applicable trigger warnings to pay mind to. Rena has a really good list on Goodreads if you need to check them, and they're worth paying mind to. Despite that, I felt that the darkness in this novel was really well balanced. It wasn't overwhelmingly dark, and while a large portion of this novel is focused on Arrah's helplessness in the face of witchdoctors and demons that are much, much more powerful than herself, it doesn't make the novel seem miserable or hopeless. The West-African setting is beautiful, and I loved the city versus tribal comparisons and how the two cultures were blended together, particularly for Arrah who was living between two belief systems, between Heka and the Orishas.

I think it was Arrah herself that I loved the most, though. She's passionate and brave, willing to sacrifice everything over and over if it means that she can do the right thing. Even in the face of some truly horrible losses, she stands back up and keeps fighting. I was mostly expecting the traditional YA trope of a young witch-to-be who doesn't have her magic right up until she needs it where she proves herself to be the chosen one. That didn't happen here, and I loved Arrah all the more for it. Arrah is massively, massively outmatched. Even with risky charlatan magic that could take her life at any moment, she's weak compared to her enemies. But she doesn't care. There's right and there's wrong, and if she's the only one that can do right then she believes she has to, no matter the personal risk. She's a true heroine, fighting past her believable flaws. Her relationship with her mother is powerfully written, and her sorrow at never quite matching up to her expectations is something that I think most young women can relate to. I can't talk in too much detail about the rest of the book, because it's packed with twists that are better if they're truly unexpected, but Arrah is a character I can't wait to read more about. Especially after the way this book ended. The final line gave me chills for a good twelve hours after I finished the book.

All in all, I can't wait for the next part of this series to arrive, and I'm about ready to trade some of my years if it means getting the book just a little bit faster.

Arrah is a daughter of powerful witchdoctors Arti from tribe Mulani and Oshe from Tribe Aatiri. Her mother has a high position in the Kingdom as Ka-Priestess and she doesn’t give much attention to her. Whenever both of them see each other, Arrah feels her mother disappointment in her as she still doesn’t possess magic. As a child of powerful witchdoctors, everyone expects to be as talented as her parents. She waits patiently but when she turns seventeen and has a last chance to receive magic from Gods, she’s getting more scared that she will never possess the magic.

Like each year, the five tribes of Heka gather for the Blood Moon Festival. That’s the time when Heka presents his gifts to the children of tribes. Unfortunately, even with the help of chieftain of Tribe Aatiri, her grandmother the magic slipped out from her hands. The day after Blood Moon Festival ends her grandmother test her in magic and she fails again. During the tests, her grandmother has a vision about emerald eyes of a demon who is connected to Arrah’s life. As much as it scares her, it also gives her hope. She thinks a demon has a connection to her lack of magic.

Soon when she comes back to her home in Tamar. That’s when the news about missing kids spreads around the people. The kidnapper is a powerful and no one can find him. With time, more and more kids are missing. Arrah thinks it has to have a connection to a vision of the green-eyed demon and she tries to solve the mystery. She never expected the truth would be so hurtful and destroying. It ends the life she knew and changes into the nightmare.

A book itself is very interesting and surprising. The heroine, even without magic, is the only one who can sacrifice her life to save the others. She put the kingdom, its people and her family and friends on a pedestal. Even if she is left alone with all the problems, she doesn’t lose her hope. She fails many times, but it doesn’t demotivate her to try again.

Arrah loses a lot and as much as she’s hurt she is still trying to rescue her kingdom. She is a kind of victim of this whole story. She sacrifices everything for her people and in the end, she wins nothing. Magic and her past take everything from her and leave her with nothing.

The only thing I didn’t like was that everything happened so fast. The scene just started and instead of developing it the author cut it and went on with another scene. I think it was also was done on purpose so the story won’t bore the reader but I wanted to read more about a few aspects and it annoyed me a bit.

I like that the author shows a realistic view of the religion in the book. People within the book believed in their gods and every story left about them. They would never even think most of them are just lies. The Gods in the book turn out to differ from the description that was repeated by years around the kingdom. It is also a reason for all their problems at the end that shows that even Gods makes mistakes that lead to unexpected turns of the events. Beliefs are very strong in people's lives and they can lead them to being a good person or to being blinded with the belief and become the opposite of a good person.

The worst part of reading this book was me having too high expectations and a completely different view of the story before I started to read it . Even if the book was fantastic I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I would without expecting too much from it. Don’t get me wrong. The story was amazing and very interesting but as weird as it sounds I couldn’t feel that I am a part of the story. However, I can’t wait to read the next book in this series. The ending of the book was better than I was expecting and I think the second book can be even better than the first one.

I would like to thank NetGalley, HarperVoyager and Rena Barron for providing me a digital copy of this book. I was more than happy to read it and honestly review it.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoy fantasy books and there are too many that follow a stereotypical pattern. This one does not, I was intrigued by Arrah the main character from the beginning . I found the switch between the present and the past a little distracting at first but the reasoning behind this became clearer as the book progressed. The writer's imaginative use of witch doctors, magic and the African setting combine to make a really enjoyable book. Look forward to reading the next book to continue the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC of this book.
I didn’t think I was going to finish this book. Firstly because there were no translations at the start. There was no explanation that parents were referred to by their actual names and/or “father”, “mother” interchangeably. I spent quite a while wondering who Oshe and Arti were because they were suddenly spoken of by Arrah but I hadn’t been introduced to them! And when is Osana?? There were no author notes of the hierarchy in the kingdoms. A brief glossary section (with a map!) at the start of who is who and what certain words mean would have been useful as I spent the first couple of hours of the book making very slow progress as I was so confused about what I was reading... and highlighting words for the translation proved fruitless 50% of the time. And the other 50% of the time, although I managed to find the answer, I was frustrated at having to stop the flow of the book to go hunting for the most appropriate translation - I don’t like to interrupt fiction with the real world! Lol! It made it quite hard work not having a quick reference guide at the start of the book as there have been in other cultural books that I’ve read. And because there was no authors note I had no idea what I was reading during the passages of dialogue between the gods (or was that just one god speaking? ...it was unclear).

I got 2 hours in and thought I was going to have to mark it off as “unfinishable” because it was so confusing - and leaving a book unread is something I’ve only ever done once as I hate not finishing books. I decided to give it another half and hour before calling quits and that was the best thing I did because it completely turned itself around. Do I understand all of what I read? No. Some words and passages are still a complete mystery as to what the meaning was. I still don’t understand the hierarchy in the kingdom, I don’t know who the gods were talking to during their passages, was it a one way conversation or two? What does the kingdom look like in map form because I couldn’t understand who was travelling where at times?! And the hour of “Osana” is still unknown.
But those are all “details”. In terms of the story told, I did understand it and it was a beautiful, rich, dramatic, heartbreaking story. I actually found myself unable to put it down after that “I’ll give it 30 more minutes” moment.
Despite the rocky start and the (still) confusing words/passages I would still rush out to buy a sequel because when the story actually began in earnest, it was addictive and totally immersive. The characters were beautifully written (the ones that mattered anyway) - some I didn’t feel had enough flesh for me to care about them but I got the impression I was supposed to care... But perhaps they’ll feature more in the next book. I say “next book” because it very much ends with the suggestion that there is more to come.

The only part I wish I could change was the Arrah/ Efia progression. I wish there was more... bonding (I guess would be the word) before Efia grew up and began her “games” in the garden. That would have made their final meeting all the more heart wrenching. It still did tug on the heart strings based on what happened, but had there been more interaction (or even just one more meaningful paragraph) between them when Efia was small and loving, it would have made the relationship feel more conflicted to me as the reader. Arrah spoke of feeling conflicted but I was mostly wondering why because it’s not like they shared many happy memories. But like I said, it was a painful scene to have to get through as it was, I just feel that there was space for more.

I’m sure reading this review you’re seeing all of the things I would have liked to have had. All of the missing pieces. But know that despite everything I’ve said above - I would read it again, many times. Because it really is worth the effort. And despite the flaws I’m still rating it as 4 star and a very strong 4 star!! So that should say something. If I had the section at the start explaining everything I was missing it would definitely be a 5 star book!
Fantastic debut and I’m really glad I stuck with it. If the final released version doesn’t have translations/explanations of hierarchy/map etc I would urge people to bear with it - it does get better. If it does have that explanation section then happy reading! You’re going to love this book in its entirety! And I will probably read the translations and reread the entire thing with a better understanding!

This is hands down one of the best YA fantasy books I have EVER read. Barron's writing is superb, her worldbuilding engaging and the pacing was perfect. Honestly, there is little to no complaint out of me other than I wanted more haha. Arrah is such a wonderful protagonist and the side characters are so easy to love [or hate depending on which side of the plot they're on] and I think I could never get enough of the relationship between Arrah and her Father. So often we find not enough positive parental relationships in YA but Barron gives you the good and the bad and Arrah's father and grandmother are two of my ultimate favorite characters in this book. I could sincerely gush about this all day and feel so lucky to have had a chance to read an eARC of it.

Thank you with an absolutely MAJOR THANK YOU, to Netgalley, Harper Collins and Rena Barron for the opportunity to read an eARC of Kingdom of Souls in exchange for an honest review.

I loved everything about this book. The story, the characters, the plot, the world building. It was all done so beautifully and reminiscent of both We Hunt the Flame and Children of Blood and Bone in the best way, two books that I absolutely loves reading this year.

We meet our heroine, Arrah, as a child getting ready to partake in a traditional ceremony where all the tribes of Heka come together to celebrate the magic bestowed upon them by Heka, one of the orishas (gods) of their people. This ceremony also is the time at which Heka bestows the gift of magic upon the chosen ones of their people in accordance with a promise he made long ago. Arrah, who is the child of two powerful witchdoctors and the granddaughter of a powerful witchdoctor chieftain, is nervous because she doesn’t necessarily belong, considering her parents are from two separate tribes and she no longer lives with either tribe. Instead, Arrah and her parents live in the Kingdom where her mother serves as the Ka-Priestess, one of the most powerful people there. Arrah is extremely nervous about whether or not this will be when she develops her magic because she’s wanted it for so long. Fast forward to 5 or 6 years later and it looks as if Arrah is still waiting for her gift. It’s practically unheard of for someone with Arrah’s lineage to never develop magic and she absolutely feels the shame of it because her mother can barely stand to look at her. Her father and paternal grandmother have not given up hope, though this last Blood Moon celebration seems to be an indication that not only will Arrah never develop magic, but something dark and sinister surrounds her. After this development, it also becomes clear that something sinister is happening in The Kingdom, where children are disappearing and neither the Temple or the royals in charge are able to figure out what is going on or how to stop it. The journey to discover what is happening and how to stop it sets Arrah on a dangerous path which involves trading her years for magic, something that not only leaves a mark on a person’s soul (ka), but also their reputation. Arrah, however, is resolved to find out what happening, no matter the cost, and it turns out that the cost and culprits are greater than she ever expected.

That’s as much of the plot as I’m willing to give away with out giving spoilers. Essentially, Arrah throughout the story has to come to terms not only with the so called disgrace she brings her mother, but the fact that her best friend and love happen to be the son of her mother’s rival. The love story of it all definitely plays a role in the plot, but what I love about Rena’s writing is that the love story seems to flow with the main plot and mystery, not overshadow it.

Arrah also finds herself in the middle of a predicament that involves the orishas, who may not be as trustworthy as some believe, the Temple, which is full of mysteries, a Demon King, and children who have gone missing. All of this is combined with the fact that she has to finally accept that she will never have magic of her own, not unless she does the unthinkable and trades years of her life for the ability to do magic. This magic is known to be the magic of the unworthy and of charlatans, but what if it’s the only way that she can truly help? What if the children disappearing are connected to whatever dark and sinister green eyed entity is supposedly coming after her or at least in her future? A girl has to do what she has to do right? Exactly.

Kingdom of Souls is filled to the brim with love, action, and the struggle of not only living up to your family’s name, but also dealing with struggles within a family in general. Arrah’s relationship with her mother leaves a lot to be desired and she constantly seems to be fighting to gain her mother’s approval, even when she’s not sure she wants it. I think that Rena does a great job of showing Arrah’s inner struggle and detailing how the relationship with her mother impacts Arrah’s decisions throughout the entire story.

I’ll be honest and say some of the secondary characters were a bit confusing and I had a hard time keeping them straight, but that didn’t stop me from loving them. It also helped that theres a handy guide on Rena’s website and twitter for some of the characters. The orishas as characters provided their own mystery because while they are worshipped as gods, it soon becomes clear that they are not as benevolent as one would hope and they have their own secrets and failings that impact the story as well. You’re left not knowing whose story to trust, which is amazing because I think that is exactly how Arrah feels as well.

The magical world that Rena created is an amazing one and I honestly can’t wait until the next installment because the ending of KoS sets you up in a way that closes out one story, but leaves you wanting more of another. Also, as a black woman, getting to see black female characters who are powerful, strong, who love, who hurt, and who can break is amazing. Yes, we love a strong main character and yes you get those, but you also get to see that behind every strong mask is pain that you may or may not have thought would be there. You can’t be strong 100% of the time and I think that Rena does a great job of showing that with her characters.

Be sure to go and pick this up when it’s released on September 3rd. It also doesn’t hurt that the cover is absolutely gorgeous.

Kingdom of Souls was quite the surprise book for me. Easily readable and with an excellent plot. I loved this richly imagined world, the characters were well-drawn and I was wholly invested in their fates. Demons, magic and witchdoctors made this a really intriguing and engaging read. Loved it!

The first in Rena Barron’s trilogy, Kingdom of Souls, is a full of magical mischief blending witchdoctors, demons and several other forms of deities, tribes and blood medicines. At its heart is Arrah, the daughter of two magical parents, Arti and Oshe, and granddaughter to the chieftain of the Aartiri tribe. Destined to be a witchdoctor, unfortunately for Arrah she appears to have inherited no magical powers of her own. Her closest friend, though her feelings hint at more than friendship, is Rudjek, the son of the Vizer who is Arti’s sworn enemy. Arrah is a feisty protagonist though Rudjek is certainly no slouch. Arrah is desperate for magical powers but will she compromise her very existence to gain them? There are shades of ‘death eaters’ in the familiars here and comparisons with Laini Taylor’s Daughters of Blood and Bone trilogy but for me there are too many unfamiliar words (that needed a glossary), a bewildering number of characters and a tricky plot that proved difficult to keep track of. Thanks to Harper Voyager for the ARC.

I loved this book from page one, the beautiful and descriptive language, the characters and the whole concept.

Subtly, the eloquence started to drift away to plateau at a still very acceptable level, leaving a very enjoyable book full of interesting characters, places and situations. This would have been, without a doubt, a 5 Star book if the characteristics at the start of the book had run through to the end. Having said that, 4+ still makes it a book that is certainly worth your time, especially if you are into this genre and enjoy a twist or two in the plot.

I was really excited to pick this book as the premise really interested me however it failed to keep me interested, The book started off really strong and I really liked the character of Arrah. However, I feel like the author tries to condense too much into this one book that I fee could have been spread out over more due to this it felt like we were constantly jumping from one thing to the other without anytime to process what was actually happening.

We definitely need more own voices fantasy books like this however, this one just wasn't for me. I gave this 2 out of 5 stars

All Arrah wants is to have just a little magic. The way her parents have it, the way her Grandmother, the great Aatiri chieftain, wields it and sees visions of the future. But she doesn't, and when children start disappearing in Tarah, Arrah does the forbidden: exchanges years of her life for the taste of magic.

Kingdom of Souls is involved and complex. Gods walk the earth, the Demon King is manipulating humans for his freedom, and Arrah is caught in between, powerless. It's beautifully crafted, bringing you into a world of witch doctors and magic, an eternal battle of good vs evil--except who is good and who is evil? Barron turns your expectations upside down, creating a pantheon of gods who are both good and evil, powerful yet fallible. After all, they created this mess. Now they need to fix it.

Arrah is a compelling character--as she needs to be as the voice of this novel. It's fascinating to sink into her view of the world, the outsider always wanting to fit in, the outcast desiring the one thing that would finally make her accepted by her society. It's made even stronger as her most precious relationships are tested and tried, exploring the question, what is love? Does her mother love her even in the midst of her frigid nature and her pursuit of revenge? Can Rudjek really love her in the face of the opposition of both their families?

The gods come into it here and there, with brief interlude chapters that sound like monologues. It's a little jarring, but does give some context to everything that is taking place.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harper Voyager via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I absolutely loved reading this book it had so much depth to it. The story line was great and kept me second guessing in place and what an amazing reveal about one of the main characters. I can’t wait to see where they go next with this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Rena Barron has created a rich and magical story that I found incredibly hard to put down. It was easy for me to imagine this world that she had made and found myself so immersed that I was sad when I reached the end. I did find it hard to get into at the beginning but honestly, I think that was my fault as I was struggling to fight a book slump, however the more I read the more I found myself not wanting to stop.

I love Arrah, I think she is such a tough, independent character who went through so much in this book but still managed to come out even stronger. She made a lot of decisions in this book, some which I didn’t agree with but that made her more diverse and not your average protagonist. She had a lot of flaws but that just made her a more realistic character. I really found myself liking the friends she surrounded herself with and even found myself enjoying the villain’s in this book for how sinister and selfish they really were.

One of my favourite things about his book was the mechanics of the magic system and that those who are not born with it can pay for it at a high cost. I also like that it wasn’t just limited to one or two types, there were so many! I was also a big fan of the mythology used throughout this book!

The reason I’m not giving it a five-star review is that I just felt at times like the story was just a bit too slow and that I always found myself confused when Arrah would be in one place and wake up in another with no explanation. I also feel like for the first book in a series, this was a lot to take in and that might be scary for first time YA readers.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book and I’m so glad that NetGalley and HarperCollins granted my wish to read this. I really do recommend giving it a go when it’s out! I have a feeling that this book is going to be one of the most talked about books this year!

I’m going to say right from the start that this is one hell of an impressive debut from Rena Barron. Kingdom of Souls is, as far as I can tell, her first published work and shows a lot of promise. I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye out for future works by this author if this is any indication of what she’s capable of.

This is not your typical medieval European fantasy tale. The setting is heavily influenced by African folklore and mythology, and as a result follows a very different formula to the sort of fantasy that’s dominated the genre charts for the last fifty years or so. It centres on the life of Arrah, the daughter of two powerful magic users who appears to be incapable of controlling magic herself despite her heritage. What makes this even more problematic for Arrah is the appearance of the green-eyed serpent, a mysterious spirit that seems to suggest a dark and troublesome future for our protagonist.

When children start to go missing in the city of Tamar, Arrah goes out of her way to unlock her magical ability, enacting a dangerous ritual that trades years off her life in return for the ability to control the magical energies infusing the world. However, the truth is even more horrific than Arrah could have expected, and soon she is fighting to protect not just herself but also the entire world.

There are essentially two halves to this book. The first half focuses on Arrah’s quest for magic, and shows the lengths she is willing to go to in order to get what she wants. This is not some shrinking violet protagonist we’re dealing with here, but a strong-willed, albeit sometimes impetuous heroine, and that strength proves essential later on. As she tries to come to terms with what she sees as her own failure we get to meet her friends, including love interest Rudjek, and learn of the political and social structure of the world Arrah inhabits, and slowly but surely the main plot gathers pace in the background.

The second half of the novel hits you like a brick, and things get very dark very quickly as Arrah is dragged unwittingly into a war between gods and demons. The author really piles on the despair and nihilism in this second half, and that strength of Arrah’s really comes in handy as she fights back against the darkness. Even with a bona-fide god on her side, there are times when it genuinely feels there’s no way that Arrah can possibly prevail against the bad guys. It’s a long time since a book has made me anxious for the main protagonist right up until the last chapter, and for that alone I salute the author. There are no easy wins in this book.

Flicking through the marketing material and other reviews, I’ve seen this book compared to Black Panther and Wonder Woman, and I’m wondering how much of that is down to the setting and tone because honestly, I’m not seeing it myself. Yes, it’s got a strong West African influence, just like Black Panther, but for me that’s where the comparison ends. And yes, it’s got a strong and independent female protagonist with royal roots, just like Wonder Woman, but again, end of comparison. For me this book stands out because of its uniqueness, not because of its similarity to other things that happen to be very popular. I guess what I’m saying is even if you didn’t necessarily enjoy Black Panther or Wonder Woman, if you’re looking for a high fantasy read that’s refreshingly different to the usual medieval European fare then please give this book a chance. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Barron is an exquisite storyteller. This story should be enjoyed like a glass of fine wine, sip by sip and word by word, as the author weaves beautiful fictional magic. As she conjures up demons, shamans and the kind of magic that sucks people dry.

Arrah feels immense pressure to make her family, her people and her ancestors proud. As yet her ancestral powers have failed to make an appearance, which can be rather embarrassing at the annual ceremony where all the tribes and witch-doctors gather. Her father and grandmother have faith, but her mother doesn’t even try to hide her disappointment.

There is one thing she can try to evoke magic, however it comes with a price – the kind of price that is irreversible. When local children start going missing, including a dear friend, she finds she has no other choice. It’s the beginning of an intricate, vicious and ruthless power struggle. A struggle that will leave death and despair in its wake. It will make Arrah either crumble like a sandcastle or rise to the occasion.

It’s YA fantasy, however it has the intricate world-building and mature complexity of high fantasy. The blurb doesn’t do it the justice it deserves and neither does my inadequate attempt to give a brief idea of the plot. It’s an intense and captivating read. A fascinating exploration of myth, culture and fantasy.