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This is a 500+ page book which I devoured in 2 days. I'm so surprised by how fast I finished this. This was such a good ASS book. I was 100% invested in it and found it impossible to put down whenever I was reading. This book is fucking amazing and deserves all the hype it's getting!! I found myself getting attached to these characters so quick and literally on the edge of my seat because everything is so action packed and intense and death can happen to anyone at any fucking time in this book jfc.

��PLOT

Orïsha was once a land where magic used to thrive and be respected, but now magic is considered dangerous and is absolutely forbidden. Zélie, a Divîner like her mother and many others, now lives under oppression and fear of the ruthless King Saran. When a powerful scroll is found, the Divîners have hope that magic can be bought back to the land of Orïsha for good. Zélie with the help of some people, is destined to find the other powerful artifacts and bring magic back.

��WRITING AND WORLD BUILDING

This is such a beautifully written book and I'm in love with so many of the powerful quotes from this book. Though this is a fantasy novel, the society in this world is very similar to ours.

Every character in this book is black. Dark skinned people in this book are treated so horribly and called nasty slurs every day, while the lighter skinned people (including the royals) will do anything to stay light. They don't go out because then they'll be exposed to the sun which will make them darker and even go as far as putting powder on themselves to stay light. It shows the every day racism dark skinned people go through.

I LOVED reading about West African culture. Their customs, tradition, language, food, religion and festivals were so beautiful and interesting to read about. I was fucking heart eyes at the writing throughout the entire book.

Also, this book is so brutal and ruthless. There is violence like, literally everywhere. A lot of blood is spilled. People are always FUCKING DYING. The Divîners are treated very horribly. There's a lot of gore, so please keep this in mind if these types of things bother you. I, personally, loved it.

��CHARACTERS

※Zélie is character who annoyed me a lot throughout the book, but I still really liked her character. What I love about her is that she's not a perfect Mary Sue and accepts her fear of messing up, but she made some terrible choices that got her into so much trouble. This girl is deadass told a thousand times to not fuck up AND SHE DOES. She gets so many people killed and puts her family in so much danger. I literally wanted to scream at her to just fucking listen to Tzain and not attract attention. I feel really meh towards her. I don't hate her, but I really don't care if she dies either, you know what I mean? Lmao.

※Princess Amara is a fucking goddess and I would kiss the very ground she walks on. What a fucking queen, I would DIE FOR HER. Unlike her brutal father who hates magic and the Divîners, she sympathizes with them and wants to bring a change to Orïsha. She's such a sweet and kind character. She's just..... so soft, precious and innocent. I want to protect her from every bad thing on this planet and give her cookies or something. She's always expected to be a perfect lady at the palace and considered weak by her father for not being able to being herself to strike someone with a sword. And at the end, she's a fucking Lioness. She goes through so much and is able to defend and find her strength, while remaining kind and loving. Alkdskjsvbqdgq, I fucking love Amari.

"Duty before self."

※Inan is Amari's brother and the crown prince. He is constantly torn between right and wrong: to stand for equality and peace or continue his fathers extermination of magic? He is always pressured to please his father and do what it best for his kingdom, sacrificing anything and everything if it means good for his kingdom. I really felt heartbroken over what he was going through and just wanted to give this poor kid a smoothie or somethin'.

※Tzain is Zélie's brother and one of the best characters in this book. He's so clever, loving and precious. His relationship with Zélie is so perfect and adorable. He's always watching out for her and wants to protect her from harm. I love how, when he fell in lurvveee, he didn't fall for the "I'LL IGNORE MY ENTIRE FUCKING FAMILY OR DRIFT AWAY FROM THEM AND DROOL AFTER MY GIRLFRIEND" trope. He always has Zélie's back. I love him.

These four characters are the main characters and they all have POV's except for Tzain. I really hope we get a POV from him in the next books because I really love him!!!

※The shittiest parent award goes toooooooooooooooooooooooooo King Saran!!!!! DING DING DING.
What piece of fucking shit, this dude oh my god. I fucking hate him. He's a horrible parent and leader and whenever he popped up, I hoped he died. He's so cruel, even to his own family and just an absolute shithead. Fuck this guy.

Overall, this book is fantastic and important. I loved it from beginning to end and was so surprised by how much I loved it. Definitely one of my favorite books of 2018. I can't wait for the other books in the trilogy to be released. This ending was absolute hell.

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This book thicc but I know it's going to be worth it because all black characters???? about west African culture??? This is going to be EPIC.

Buddy read with the gang: Rae, Nadhira, Danielle, and Scrill