This book will be published on September 3rd, 2019. I read an advance reader's copy and undoubtedly there will be differences between the version I read, and the published edition.
ISN'T THIS COVER SO FREAKING SWEET? ...have I mentioned enough that I'm a sucker for a good cover? This one is specifically good because the cover is comprised of different elements that slowly present themselves throughout the story. I just freaking LOVE a good cover. So good.
...anyways, here's an amazon summary, "Magic has a price—if you’re willing to pay.
The lush world building of Children of Blood and Bone meets the sweeping scale of Strange the Dreamer in this captivating epic YA fantasy debut.
Born into a family of powerful witchdoctors, Arrah yearns for magic of her own. But each year she fails to call forth her ancestral powers, while her ambitious mother watches with growing disapproval.
There’s only one thing Arrah hasn’t tried, a deadly last resort: trading years of her own life for scraps of magic. Until the Kingdom’s children begin to disappear, and Arrah is desperate to find the culprit.
She uncovers something worse. The long-imprisoned Demon King is stirring. And if he rises, his hunger for souls will bring the world to its knees… unless Arrah pays the price for the magic to stop him.
Inspired by tales of folk magic in her own community, Rena Barron spins a darkly magical tale perfect for fans of Three Dark Crowns or Shadow and Bone, about a girl caught between gods, monsters, and her own mother’s schemes." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Arrah's family has roots in the tribal lands. She and her father are visiting the tribal lands for a holiday of sorts, and Arrah is hoping this will be the year that her magic awakens. Her father and mother both come from strong lines of magic, and Arrah can see magic, she can feel magic, she just can't do magic. It's very strange for someone to be aware of magic and not be able to wield it. Another small oddity, is that no one can read her mind, which is weird, because if she doesn't have magic, how can she stop people from reading her mind?
Anyways. Arrah's magic hasn't manifested again, and she returns with her father to the city where her mother serves as Ka-Priestess. There's a top leader, and then two second leaders underneath them; the Ka-Priestess is one of the second leaders. Arrah best friend, who she may also have feelings for happens to be the son of the other second leader, and so their parents are constantly battling with each other. ...but that doesn't stop Arrah from having friends that she likes.
Children have started to go missing within the city though. Her mother can't use her magic to find them, and Arrah is worried another one of her friends (who happens to be a child) will be taken from the market. In a desperate attempt to find them before they strike again, Arrah seeks out a way to use magic that will trade years of her life away to be able to perform a ritual. She sits on it, trying to decide what to do, when her friend does disappear. With a lot of hesitation but with more determination, Arrah performs the ritual, and performs the next one to find the child snatcher... only to find her own mother.
Dun dun dunnnn
That's enough summary.
This book was wild. There was so much world building, character development, just like plot mechanisms that were going on. Honestly, I felt a bit stupid as a reader because I feel there were spiritual elements at play that were hinted at in the whimsical way that spiritual things do that are open for interpretation but this seemed like it wanted to make a point and I kind of like shrugged and wanted to go back to the story.
But, this book was also LONG. So much happened in such a condensed amount of time and it was a whirlwind of this mystery unfolding with gods, and timelines, and demons, and so many things at once! With a story like that, you'd think it'd be hard to put it down... but it wasn't. I found myself taking breaks just to recap what I think happened, how that played into the larger plot/mystery, and try to make predictions for the next few chapters of the book. ...but I kept having to take breaks and try to figure out what was going on.
There was also this odd implication about future and past things at one point that weirded me out in a grander scheme of kind of wait, how does this world work again? So I kind of had to ignore it when it was presented, but then it kind of came back into play later, and probably will in the second book? But.... like no. Stop.
....I don't know. It was a bizarre experience from start to finish for a wide variety of reasons. I rooted for Arrah most of the time, but she was also kind of haphazardly flying by the seat of her pants for the most part which was odd considering her upbringing. ....I don't know!
Happy reading!
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