When I finished Skin of the Sea, I remember being so confused about the ending. The pacing of the novel was strange and I couldn't tell if there was a setup for book two because everything had seemed to be resolved. This book solved all of those pacing issues and expanded the world in a logical way.

Having saved humanity once, Simi is once again called upon to protect the ones she loves. Reuniting with friends new and old, Simi must stop the anti-gods from taking form and bringing doom and destruction to the human world. The continuation of West African mythos blends so seamlessly with the story, and I felt like I had a good basis for the main characters because of the last book. I still felt like they were very one-note, flat characters, but I could root for them this time around.

I found this ending to be very satisfying. Simi spends the entire duology working to save everyone else and take care of everyone but herself. The close is very hopeful for her, and I feel like if it had come sooner, she might have been able to develop more as a character. For now, she really suffers from Mary Sue heroine syndrome.

I could not wait for this one, and Bowen did not disappoint! Fans of book 1 will appreciate that the book jumps right to the action. There is no "recap" or lagging exposition, so we go all in with the same cast and crew that we remember. That said, anyone interested in this book that did not already read book 1 should plan on doing so before enjoying this one.

The pacing of this one was very fast and tense scene after tense scene. The ending is a bit anticipated, but definitely appropriate. I recommend the book for ages 14 and up, fans of the Little Mermaid (the real version, not the Disney one), and fans of mythology-based fantasy.

Let's just say that this one was so good that it left me so disappointed with the next book I tried picking up.

As soon as I finished Skin of the Sea, I was so excited to see that the second book was on NetGalley. I read it write away and I really enjoyed it. My favorite thing about this series was learning all about African Mythology. I'm sorry to say that I never heard of any of it. I loved reading about it and then googling each Myth for even more information.

Soul of the Deep was just as good as Skin of the Sea. Simi is just such an interesting character and I loved that Kola was also back.

This is a fantastic duology that I highly recommend.

I am so glad that there was a sequel to Skin of the Sea! This book was FULL of action. I will say that it would be good to refresh yourself on the characters and the details of how things were left at the end of Skin of the Sea. This book does not explain anything for readers that may pick up this book first, or remind readers like me, who read LOTS of fantasy and who read the first book many months ago, of some of those details. Thus, I feel like I would have enjoyed this book even more if I had jumped into it immediately after reading book one. I enjoyed learning even more about the African deities and different cultural practices. I appreciate the choices that Simi makes. The new supernatural creatures included were scary but fascinating. Well done! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

What a fantastic sequel! When you have loved a book so much it’s always a little worrisome reading the sequel for fear the magic will be gone. I loved being back in Simi’s world, learning new legends, meeting new friends and reuniting with old ones.

This is the kind of sequel I love. The story warps up nicely while leaving just enough to keep me looking forward to the next book. The story is entertaining and paced well.

It breaks my heart to not like this book, but everything I loved about the first book I felt this one went back on (literally). It felt as though everything from book one was undone within the first 50-75 pages of this one and that book one genuinely did not matter. The romance was forced, the combat bland, and the worldbuilding rushed. This book had so much that it could offer. The plot was fascinating and such a great idea, but it felt like it took a massive back seat to Simi's constant droning on about Kola and how attractive he was and how strong he was and how beautiful his eyes were. Book one captured my interest because while Simi was attracted to and interested in Kola, she stayed with the thought of her task at hand and that their love was impossible. In Soul of the Deep, she repeated herself nearly every time that their love was impossible and yet she drooled over him every chance she got.

I really wanted to love this book, especially since book one was one of my favorite YA that I have read in a while, but the poignancy and depth of book one was missing in this and it read as a bland YA "fantasy" novel.

I absolutely loved this book! It was so interesting and full of plot twists that I love. I was never bored throughout this book and the author did a great job creating interesting and unique characters. This is a book that I will reread over again and again. Great book!