This is an exceptional debut book. The writing really you into the story. The story is well paced, just the right amount intense and the world building in this one is fantastic. The characters in this one are well done, with enough depth and intrigue to keep me reading. The book also covers a lot of topics that are very real in the world we live in today including child soldiers, war and genocide.

I love when I'm reading a book and I know I'm near the end, but I'm still surprised when the ending comes. I found myself staring at the Acknowledgements pages asking "that's it?! I NEED MORE!" That's a good thing. It means that I really loved it. Thanks to Epic Reads and Booksparks for the gifted book.

This is the most adult YA book I've ever read and honestly, I love the book because of that. And while I picked this up because I wanted to read something more fun and fast, I'm actually enjoying the slower pace. The deeper world building and the character development really brings a sense that this is an epic story and not some flash in the pan that I get with many recent YA fantasy books. I was truly enamored from this story and will try my best not to gush entirely in this book.

The story follows Sloane, a young person who at the age of 15 was recruited into the Lucis army. The only caveat; she's a Scion with magical powers and Lucis has been systematically killing every single Scion they come across. But from the advice of her grandfather, she joins the army in hopes of finding out the truth behind her mother's disappearance.

While she's there, she spends a month in the intensive training program, forced to kill or be killed despite not wanting to cause anyone harm. The brutality of this book was visceral. If you thought Sabaa Tahir is brutal in the Ember in the Ashes series, then you will be surprised by what Deborah Falaye is able to do.

The first impression I had was this felt like The Hunger Games; young children forced into an army and defend people who you don't even care about while they extort your resources and force your people to live in hiding, poverty, and/or be killed. It has a bit of that hopeless feeling to it and it gets even deeper as you read what Sloane endures in the army.

I was so taken by the magic as well and learning how it works. I think the most fascinating part was reading that the gods of the past were connected to the Scion through their magic and how that manifests in the characters. It was so richly built and it's always that X-factor that makes me more intrigued with the story.

I also absolutely love the inclusion of so much reality into this story as well. For Sloane, being a Yoruba born with Scion powers meant hiding a lot of herself in order to avoid being killed. There's the Lucis who came to Nagea only to take over, kill the natives, and claim power over a land that doesn't belong to them. I don't know about you, but that sounds extremely relevant and something that is blatantly obvious from the writing. I love how it's so obvious throughout the story. You can understand Sloane's frustration with it. You can see barefaced how contradictory it was and how it must feel for those who have to endure it

The second half of the book moved much faster than the first half for sure. But I loved the first half and the overall pacing of the book. It took its time to dive into the world and really presented a character with flaws and extremely relatable. I loved that nothing came easy for Sloane and the brutality she faces felt so obvious for the world that she lived in. It really brought the character to life and really made me root for her even harder. The ending was probably the most surprising component of the book as it all finally comes together. I honestly didn't expect to read what I read. If I could find a flaw in any of this, it would be that some things were a bit repetitive and mentioned a few times. It didn't bother me, but it was enough to be present in my mind.

Overall, I'll probably be hyping this book up for a while because it was so good. I can't wait for the next one mostly because this one left you wanting a bit more. It's a story unique on its own and while you can get caught up in how it reads like one story or another, I think that Deborah Falaye's written something special here and I can't wait to read the next one.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a gifted copy. Check out my review below.

Whew! This was a solid debut. It was also a tough subject to read about. But the world building and development of the story including the characterization of main character Sloane Shade made every word worth it.

The action is fast-paced. The military-centered world is dark. The concept of humanity is pitted against the concept of survival of the fittest. And on top of all of that it centers Yoruba mythology and lore.

Did I mention that it’s part of a duology?…

Humanity Vs Survival
As part of the content warning, the author informs you that the story is “inspired by the real -life horrors endured by child soldiers.” I was a little wary to begin reading, because I actually learned about child soldiers in the newsroom when I was an intern for the online component of a news magazine. At the time, war was raging in Liberia and the images coming across the wire were those of child soldiers. I never got over the image of what must have been a 13 year old kid with a machine gun and a teddy bear backpack on.

Deborah Falaye builds brilliant complicated layers into Blood Scion. The struggle for one’s humanity in the midst of a dark and bloody fight for one’s survival is an ongoing theme throughout the book. Some might call Sloane’s actions morally grey, but it’s an interesting issue to dive into with the characters. What’s more forgivable to kill and survive in order to help others or to abstain from killing as a form of honor and be killed yourself?

The fact that this story also centers children/15 year old teenagers brings in another what it means to have your humanity challenged at such a young age and to have your childhood stolen from you as part of that challenge. “Great soldiers are made from pieces of their broken selves, and the most vulnerable children are always the easiest to use, abuse, and destroy.” When I read that, I knew this was going to be a major dystopian tale.

The Next Black Girl Action Figure
Sloane is a determined young woman who learns not just how to survive but how to live in survival mode. I know you hear me talk about Black Girl Magic in a lot of my reviews, but…that is what I like to read about and this book hits the concept of Black Girl Magic on the dot. As she endures the journey after being conscripted, she must hone three things: her physical, mental and magical health. In a world ruled by Lucis, mistakes mean death. I’m not going to go into into, because of spoilers, but Miss Ma’am holds her own.

Tension
Allow me to snitch on myself for a brief moment. The tension is set up superbly in this book and I may have buzzed over a few paragraphs every now and then because I just had to know what or how a secret was going to go down. I promise I will go back! #Confessionsofanexcitedreader Anywho, that is just a clue as to how good the tension in this book is. There are secrets, betrayals, death, and loss. Everything you need for a suspense-filled novel is there.

Really great debut voice and I want to see more the author's work in the future! And for this book, I love the intrigue happening here and the complexity unfolding.

4.50 Stars. This was intense! Wow, what a book. I just finished it and I still feel like I’m buzzing a bit. The story has some length to it but it was so gripping that once I started reading it, I knew I would be finishing it in the same day. The fact that this is a debut makes me even more impressed. I did think the story had a few bumps, but overall it was a very good read.

Since I review so many LGBTQ+ books, I do want to mention that this book doesn’t have any queer rep, at least not that I noticed. I picked this book up because I really enjoy YA fantasy, I was in love with the cover, and reading more books by WOC authors was one of my 2022 reading goals. I was also very interested in the blurb and I found that this book gave me a very light The Hunger Games vibe, and a bigger Divergent vibe. While I found both of those to be true, this book was still quite different since this wasn’t a dystopian but was fantasy instead. The fantasy elements and world history are based on Yoruba culture and mythology. I’m a big mythology fan. I love all the different gods and goddess, but I have never before heard about any Yoruba deities. Getting to learn about some, for the first time, was a highlight for me and I hope to find out about many more in book 2.

While this is a YA book, it barely feels like YA to me. There are different types of YA and to me this seems more like the kind of YA that is written mostly for adults. Yes, older children could read this but it was rough in parts. This book is very violent, with lots of beatings, deaths, and multiple attempted sexual assaults. The characters were supposed to be 15, and it was one of the few issues I had because they did not feel 15 at all to me. I honestly think this book works better being New Adult or just Adult. I kept picturing the main as maybe 19 or early 20’s and I just think 15 didn’t fit.

I had just finished a fantasy book that was very slow paced, so I was happy to read a book that was the opposite. Once this book starts, it just doesn’t stop. However, there were a few times that I thought the pace was a little off. Sometimes the book went too fast when it seemed like an important part that needed to slow down, and other times the book might have slowed on a part that didn’t seem to matter as much. I think this is a common debut issue and that the more Falaye writes, the smoother her pace will get. And even with a few pace bumps, the book was so gripping that I could not stop turning the pages anyway.

The overall cast of characters does take a while to get used to. In a book where so many people are enemies, it was hard as a reader to want to get attached to secondary characters since you didn’t know who to trust. The main character will definitely grow on you and I found that she really became not just my main but really my only focus. The book ends up having a good amount of twists and turns. There were a few I didn’t care for, since I felt like they were too obvious, but there were some I did not seen coming and I liked them much more. I loved the last literal handful of pages and it made me really excited to read the second book. It is a cliffhanger yes, but I still felt good about the ending instead of being angry or frustrated at it. I’m also happy that this is a duology so we don’t have to wait years and years before the series is over.

TLDR: A very gripping and intense fantasy book. While this is YA book, there are a lot of violent scenes so I would not recommend this for a younger audience. This is the kind of YA that I definitely think adults would enjoy. I would also recommend not starting this book at night because once you start reading you will not want to put it down. If you enjoy fantasy, and also like the kind of vibe of a Divergent or The Hunger Games, I think you would also enjoy this read. This was a well written debut and I can’t wait for the second book.

This book is follows fifteen-year-old Sloane on a journey of magic, injustice, power, and revenge in a world inspired by Yoruba-Nigerian mythology. Deborah Falaye doesn’t hold back. This book is INTENSE with twists and turns and new horrors around every corner. It’s also a great book to pick up on #InternationalWomensDay .

I was particularly impressed with how Deborah was able to create a blended fantasy-sci-fi-dystopian world with such a rich history and mythology. There was real depth behind the stories in the Sloane’s world and every character had an interesting background. The world felt big and old and like there were many more stories to to tell in this place.

"Real monsters are not born. We are made"

Wow. Where do I begin?

Cover art: STUNNING
Storyline: Captivating

Deborah Falaye's debut novel, inspired by Yoruba-Nigerian mythology, is an absolute gem. Once I got started it was so hard to put down. She seamlessly integrates the Yoruba-Nigerian mythology with the destruction of humans by one another and the dangers of having too much power in a way that makes you really see and feel the struggles that the characters face with both aspects.

The story is hard hitting, unforgiving, and at times utterly brutal. It is fast paced, has a compelling plot, and has excellent world building. Even as someone who isn't as familiar with Yoruba-Nigerian mythology, I didn't feel lost or overwhelmed by trying to understand the complexities that go along with the mythology and how it translated to the characters or their stories.

I honestly can not wait to see where this story goes next and I'm a bit sad that I devoured it as quickly as I did because now I'm completely left wanting more!!! I would definitely recommend checking this out if you are a fan of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was granted eARC access to Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye after attending the #FrenzyPresents YA catalogue preview in December 2021. Thank you for the opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Sloane is a powerful young Scion, descendant of gods, born into magnificent and dangerous magic that will spell her doom if the wrong people discover her secret. Unfortunately, she gets recruited into the country's military where she'll be expected to kill or be killed, and kill others just like herself. Is she strong enough?

Blood Scion is a powerful, fast-paced, and slightly horrifying (in a good way) book based on Nigerian mythology that also echos the very real horrors of abducted war children in many African nations today. It's raw, it's messy, and it's very sincere. This book is not for the weak!

I think this book does an amazing job of taking fantastic sources of real world inspiration and crafting a story that hasn't been told in quite the same way before. I love that we're getting so many Black girls who overcome the odds and change the world sort of stories in mainstream YA these days, and this is a great story even if you want to consider the racial commentary, too. (But please, consider the commentary! This magic may not truly exist in the real world but this plot echos situations that really still happen in the real world.)

Where this loses a star for me, making it a 4 rather than a 5, seems to be the same stumbling points I'm seeing other sub-5 reviews comment on. Less important: the romance just doesn't work. More important: the maturity level of all of these teenage "child" soldiers feels off. Yes, trauma in childhood absolutely changes you. As someone with C-PTSD from childhood trauma I can attest that people always told me I was a 30 year old in a child's body, and you really do pick up survival skills and modify your behaviour to do the adult things that need to be done. That doesn't truly mean you start to think and act like an adult in every way, though. There's a phrase in psychology: "Never a child, always a child." People who are forced to grow up too fast will never grow up in certain ways (or at least not until they've had decades to process, heal, and work on themselves.) We've got teenagers here who become adults in every meaningful aspect in a short amount of time and I don't quite buy it.

Overall this is an amazing book, I highly recommend it, and I'm eager to read more from this author!

I will honestly say, I started to read this book several times before I was actually able to get into it. I'm not sure if I wasn't in the right headspace, or if this book didn't have the right kind of hook to pull me in.
There is A LOT going on in the beginning and your thrown into a fantasy world with not enough, or perhaps not the right kind of description as to what is going on.
Also, I think there is a little too much description and not enough interaction and dialogue between characters. I wasn't invested in any of the side characters and because of that I don't think I connected much with the main character, either.
Also, I'm still not sure if the "love scene" was supposed to feel real or if it was meant to be a joke...
She was definitely a woman on a mission with a one track mind.

This is a wonderful, albeit VERY intense, fantasy novel. It starts off almost immediately with a sexual assault attempt, and includes lots of heavy topics including child soldiers, genocide, rape, genocidal rape, and other violent things. And yet, it's a beautifully written story of persistence and rage, rebellion in the face of overwhelming hate and powerful odds against the protagonist. It's not a 'fun' read, but it's an amazing one.

From the very first line I was hooked on this book! Thank you to MBC for reaching out to me for a review/coverage!

Sloane's voice draws you in immediately. As you get the sense of the world, she pulls you along and you're entrenched in the horrors of her every day reality. I loved seeing her grow and change as a character. Her resilience and sheer determination to carry on is inspiring. Though she is not without flaws, I believe those are what make her such a stand-out character.

The tension in this book is heightened even more, and just when you think it couldn't get worse for Sloane it does. Watching her and the other "recruits" go through the process was gruling. Falaye writes with such care and respect, and I really appreciate that.

**I am a HarperCollins employee. Opinions are my own. I will not be rating this book for conflict of interest.**

"When I was a child, Momma always taught me to fight for those too weak to raise their fists. Scream for those too afraid find their voice. And stand for those too tired to rise on their feet." (May be omitted after publishing)

3.5/5 Stars - YA Fantasy about a young girl, Sloane, who gets recruited into the evil Lucis army, a military force dedicated to wiping out Scions, people blessed with the magic of the old Orisha gods. Unbeknownst to them; however, Sloane is a Scion with her own mission: find out what happened to her mother, take the Lucis down from the inside, and survive training while fighting the fire inside.

This was a very magical story with one of the most truly bad-ass MC's I've ever read. The mythology of the world, the gods, the land, and the magic was incredibly atmospheric and Falaye's writing never seemed to slow me down. I really love books with a deep background and thorough world-building, and this definitely delivered. Where this just kinda fell flat for me and made me ultimately decide on the rating was that Sloane and the world were the only interesting components of the entire book. Her friends weren't great, the romance was very meh, and the plot could have been less predictable. I am super happy this book only takes place from Sloane's perspective, because if it hadn't, I think I would have slogged a little bit.

CWs: Attempted Sexual Assault, Sexual Assault, Child Slavery, Racism.

This book hits very heavy with rape and prejudice of Brown people. Sloane states often how vicious and savage the Lucis army is, not just against their pursuit of the Scions but of all people they come across. In my opinion, this seemed to be a big commentary on colonization, which I could be wrong about, but this is how I interpreted it, and it was very difficult and devastating to read at times. She calls out the evil of the Lucis rulers and never bends to the injustice inflicted upon her. The way Falaye wrote Sloane to be so incredibly brave, selfish, and a war head on the path of justice is revolutionary YA to me; I have truly never read an MC like her before. Her thoughts and her actions kept taking me by surprise and changed the game for young, female main characters.

The last few thoughts I had on this were: 1) I can never read the word "fatigues" again without wanting to chuck the word across the room. I understand that this is the technical term, but I swear (and I am not exaggerating), I think this word was AT LEAST on every other page. It became so repetitive and was genuinely making me not want to keep reading at times, because of how often this word was used. There were also some other really cool references in this as well, including a character named Faas Bakker...sound familiar?? Kaz Brekker anyone?? Also, there is a GoT "Not Today" reference in this story regarding a character's reaction to Death, which I thought was really fun. I don't know if it was intentional, but I'd like to think it was. This book was truly very good, and I think I will read the next one, if simply just to read more of my girl Sloane and see more expansion into the world. Besides those two keys things, however, I do feel that this was a solid 3.5 Stars. Highly recommend if you are the mood to read a kick-ass, Hot Girl vibes MC.

I was provided this ARC by HarperCollins.

First and foremost, I am loving seeing so many books that have come out recently and are coming out that feature different culture's mythology and folklore. I love being exposed to stories that are inspired from or draw directly from these sources.

The story itself had me a bit raw at some points because it was so powerful. The world itself comes across very dark and gritty and the pacing made the book a super fast read. Every time I thought there might be a bit of a breather there was a twist and the story was moving on. That's not to say it was too fast, I'd say it was pretty perfect in that way.

The characters were super complex and I absolutely loved the main character. She was written in such a real way, struggling through the difficulties she faced instead of sailing through. I'm not going to say much more simply because I think you should go into this story not knowing a ton - experience it as it is and enjoy the ride.

If you tore out my heart, it would feel just like this.

Rating: ✨✨✨✨✨4.6

When someone talks about near perfection, you normally think, 'OH, they mean those dreams about owning a bookstore and having a unicorn as a BFF'. Well, for me (it's definitely that, but also-) it's this book. I say near perfection because if I say this is perfect, other books I've said the same about will band together and make away with my fantastic yet deadish looking cadaver.

This book deserves to be hyped.
Let's begin with that.

It deserves the love, and the freaking out rants, the late night spewls, the grunting sounds of pain, the red eyes, the gasps-all of it! Frankly, I still can't believe I haven't seen more people begging for ARCS.

It has:
-Monstrous people
-POC characters
-People striving to break out of slavery
-Girl whose power is as vicious as it is beautiful.
-A FREAKING ROMANCE THAT GAVE ME LIFE-
(even though it wasn't the focus of the story, but I don't care- it was amazing)

SO really.... why aren't more people adding the book-

Before I write a whole essay about why you should undoubtedly give this book permission to tear out your soul and play badminton with it, I'll write a quick overview of the things that left me at the side of the road, crying out for divine help.
Was the help delivered?
AHAHAHAHA no.

I need to start with how savage the world was. This section includes what I think of the worldbuilding and pace (basically me trying to organize my thoughts from weeks ago, when I *actually* read the book). There's angst, the complexity of how gritty everything seemed to be. The ambience of the story came with the scent of a storm brewing, it warned of impending disaster, possible destruction and yet, I was entranced with it. Of course, it had flaws, but they were not what I focused on. My eyes were steady on the action, the powers and how everything just... clicked. You know? The pace was incredibly fast, the kind of fast that I crave. Not the one that feels rushed or that one that missed the whole point since the beginning, but the sort of pacing that captures you from the get go.
And I really,
REALLY liked it. *giggles half way to death*
*she cannot die until she has read the second book*

The twists and action scenes were flipping delicious. Imagine being served a plate full of steak, mashed potatoes, mouth watering gravy- and then told to eat a little every minute. Not eat it all, just bit by bit. It's tortorous, is it not? But you end up eating every crumb, every residue. Because it's just THAT good. I really wished we had been blessed with more training scenes but you never know, maybe the second book will have that gift-

*screams into pillow of how unfair life is*
*continues living said life*

Also, don't even get me started on the plot twists.
I hate you with my very being.
But I don't-
Give me the second book please-

Then we jump onto the writing. Excuse me??? How is this a debut novel??? With that writing??? That's illegal???
No, really, it is. You stole the words I never knew I needed to say straight out of my brain sometimes. And I love you for it (me pretending I'm talking to the book like that's normal- is it not??) Have you ever read a book where the writing kind of makes you stare at the wall for a few seconds while saying 'Holyyyyyy crappppp', because it just hits that hard? This is one of those books.
And it hurts.
But it's the good kind. (me justifying why I like literal red flags-)

The characters can run me over, throw me off a forest trail, snap my bones, destroy my life- and I would ask them how much money` I owe them for that blessing.
Aggressive, but absolutely true.

The MC is my soulmate. It had to be said. In fantasy/ dystopian/ mythological books, the MC is most of the time that one snowflake that is the only one able to do a certain skill, the difference with this MC is that she failed. She failed, and tried and failed. Her frustration went unheeded, agony unheard of, screams ignored, frankly I LOVE when characters are built like that. Not just become the best of the best in 10 chapters. It's difficult to become even decent at something you haven't practiced in a while, and it showed in this story. I loved the raw honesty, the sassy moments and most of all, how all the characters lost a part of themselves. Because it made the story REAL. How would you go into a war that you were forced into, scared and alone, and not sacrifice a part of yourself by the end of it? Who wouldn't become a monster?

Now, the rest of the characters would be spoilers, so the only thing I would blatantly admit is that this book made me feel for a character that was in the story for two pages.
AND THEN THEY DIED-

I'm okay.
Everything is okay.
No, it is not, but we'll cut off some extremities and make it okay.

A special shout out to the romance, lads and gents! A round of bloody applause for the trope that made my heart beat out of rhythm for a week. And freaking donkey on a pole, it made that whole week a blessing.

Like come, on. This?

"You hate me,
Show me how much"

*Booksy is disconnected from life at the moment, dial 348- KILL A PIGEON to revive her*
(I have a battle with those blood suckers-)
(Seriously, I want to electrocute them)
(With human teeth)
(I don't know how, but I will.)

I AM TRYING TO BREATHE, OKAY? I. AM. TRYING.

On a closing note, before I really decide to dedicate a complete thesis to this book. I strongly encourage you to scream out of the window for at least five minutes, so your voice is all hoarse and pained, so you can feel like I do. And want to feel it again because you just let out all the frustrations and worries in that agonizing scream, that's me with this book. The plot is an intricate delicacy, the storyline is capturing a scenic picture of a blood filled path where the characters might suffer and might die, but there's always going to be a speck of hope.

Like me hoping to get a sudden email from the author asking me to read the second book ahead of everyone-
*chokes on toilet paper*

~👑Special thanks to Netgalley and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!👑~

This wasn't a bad book by any means, and I can handle violence in my YA fantasy, but I just found it really hard to enjoy a book where the main character has to kill multiple people she cares for. The book lost me at the first one.

hmm this is a hard book to review.

I was really excited about this one after seeing Sidrah live-blogging her reactions. However, I think I went in expecting something else than what I got.

I talked about this with Sidrah and how some of the elements in this book are more typical for adult fantasy, and how because of that it made it hard for me to get into the story.

The book started off very slow for me. I didn't feel invested in the characters or the story, and while the plot sounded interesting, it didn't completely capture my attention until almost half-way.

It really takes a while to fall in love with the side characters, and while for most of the book I felt a little annoyed cause I didn't like anyone so much, I think it was worth the wait to see their relationships develop and grow. It made for certain scenes to be more emotional too.

This book is very dark, gory, and disturbing. But I think it shows the reality of what colonizers have done to Indigenous peoples in our world. One specific scene gave me major Hunger Games vibes which I absolutely loved.

However, the romance that ends up developing closer to the end of the book just didn't work for me. I knew it was building up to it, but I thought it would be less "in your face" as it was in the last few chapters. The plot-twist I partly saw coming, and the rest was interesting.

I will be honest, I skim-read the last half of the book just out of impatience. Most of the book felt too slow, and then it would finally pick up for a few chapters, and then go back to slow. At one point in one of the later chapters, a whole week is quickly summarized into a couple pages, which felt odd considering the amount of detail we got about the training and physical tests.

The ending was pretty epic though and definitely had me rooting for Sloane for a second. Despite that, I don't know if I enjoyed the overall book or writing style enough to read the next book. It's possible if I had read this at a different time, I might have enjoyed it more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 4/5 stars.

I always know when book boxes do special editions before release that it's typically going to be a good one. I was so excited for this debut arc, and I LOVE contemporary fantasy inspired by Yoruba and other African folklore. I LOVED Children of Blood and Bone, so I was looking forward to this one. I love how it's an intricate look at colonization and militarism. I wasn't really prepared for the inclusion of guns and whatnot, but it added to the political landscape and developed the plot past typical "fantasy" novels. I was drawn in to Sloane's struggles, and I appreciate making her a morally gray protagonist simply to survive the horrors of colonization. There is a LOT of death in this novel, but the consequences and the emotional fallout are well done. I also liked the plot...a lot...and I want to know more. I want more magic. I want to learn more about Sloane and her ancestry. I want to know how other powers manifest.

I didn't really like the twists, though, I didn't think some of them were necessary (hello...DANE) but after I got about 30% in the novel, I was hooked and didn't want to put it down. The ending was INTENSE though, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Deborah has an absolute knockout on her hands and I will be SO MAD if people sleep on this book. Holy wow. I am gobsmacked. This is easily one of the best and most intriguing YA Fantasy novels I've ever read. You won't want to miss it.

Full RTC

Initially intrigued by the book's premise, I hoped to be pulled into this book. Because of the tragic books I'd read earlier in the month, I found myself without the patience to make it through the traumatic - near rape - at the start of the story.

Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this to review! The cover to this book is absolutely striking. You know from the beginning you're likely getting an action packed science fiction epic, and that's exactly what this book delivers.

Falaye sets the tone of this story right from the beginning. We get to see Sloane's powers in the first opening scene, and you know that something dangerous is going to follow it. This is definitely a military driven story, and we see how this affects Sloane from beginning to end. Thoughout, Falaye integrates the African mythology with the technology of those in power, making for an overall hard-hitting story.

While sometimes pacing can be difficult for stories like this, I'd argue the pacing is pretty spot on in this book. It makes the story itself more accessibly, and it makes it difficult to put the book down. In addition to the pacing, Falaye fleshes out each of the main characters well. They more than one dimensional, adding to the intense nature of the story.

All in all, if you're looking for something like Skyhunter by Marie Lu, this is a great read-a-like. I'd definitely be interested in reading the next book!