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Book: “Forged by Blood” by Ehigbor Okosun
Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, August 2023
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: A brilliant new voice brings a brilliant new novel: debut author Ehigbor Okosun’s first book in an action-packed, poignant duology inspired by Nigerian mythology–full of magic and emotion and set in a highly atmospheric, complex world in which a young woman fights to survive a tyrannical society, having everything stripped away from her, and seeks vengeance for her mother’s murder and the spilled blood of her people.
In the midst of a tyrannical regime and political invasion, Dèmi just wants to survive: to avoid the suspicion of the nonmagical Ajes who occupy her ancestral homeland of Ife; to escape the King’s brutal genocide of her people—the darker skinned, magic wielding Oluso; and to live peacefully with her secretive mother while learning to control the terrifying blood magic that is her birthright.
But when Dèmi’s misplaced trust costs her mother’s life, survival gives way to vengeance. She bides her time until the devious Lord Ekwensi grants her the perfect opportunity—kidnap the Aje prince, Jonas, and bargain with his life to save the remaining Oluso. With the help of her reckless childhood friend Colin, Dèmi succeeds, but discovers that she and Jonas share more than deadly secrets; every moment tangles them further into a forbidden, unmistakable attraction, much to Colin’s—and Dèmi’s—distress.
The kidnapping is now a joint mission: to return to the King, help get Lord Ekwensi on the council, and bolster the voice of the Oluso in a system designed to silence them. But the way is dangerous, Dèmi’s magic is growing yet uncertain, and it’s not clear if she can trust the two men at her side.
Review: I was really excited when I saw this book scheduled for release this summer. I’ve read some great fantasy novels based on various African cultures’ myths, and I was intrigued to see what Nigerian myths and stories had to offer. I also think the cover on this one is really neat. Though it does read as very YA to me, which I find to be a really strange choice for an adult fantasy novel. And, unfortunately, this confusion of reading group is really something that brought this read down for me.
But first, let’s start with the good things. Fantasy novels really live and die by their magic systems and their world-building. I think there were some unique ideas for each offered up in this book. Early on, I was definitely intrigued by the nature of this world and how exactly the magical elements wove throughout the way this society operated. Unfortunately, things began to go off the rails fairly quickly.
While I was interested in the magic elements, as the story went on, I struggled to really put together how all of this was meant to work. Further, some of this explanation and continued world-building would be plopped down right in the middle of action scenes, really halting any momentum that had been building. There were also a lot of new terms and language, and these, too, were simply thrown at readers with very little introduction. Perhaps an index or glossary could have helped ease readers in (something that I think most fantasy novels could benefit from, regardless of where they’re pulling their inspiration). These kinds of challenges with pacing and how to properly introduce your reader to a new world are often found with debut authors, and, when given time to grow their craft, can be greatly improved upon in future books. Such is the hope here.
Also, as I said regarding the cover, there felt like there was some disconnect in whom the target audience is meant to be for this book. The overall tone and style of the writing read as very young to me, and many of the choices with the main character also fell into common YA tropes. For example, the main character repeatedly had to not learn from her mistakes and make obvious errors in judgement to simply move the plot in the direction it was meant to go. There was also a very unfortunate love triangle with basically zero chemistry between any of the members. Honestly, if I hadn’t known that this was marketed as an adult fantasy novel, I would never have guessed that it hadn’t been meant as YA.
And that’s not to say that YA has to have simplistic writing or fall into trope-y traps; I’ve read a number of fantastic ones this year. But I do think that adult readers will have a lower tolerance for some of these things, and that this book would have been better suited for a younger audience. Even there, however, there were a number of weaknesses in the writing (there were times where the writing simply failed to properly describe what and how things were happening) and characterization (I think the interactions between almost all of the characters were fairly simplistic and predictable) that would have prevented this one from being a hit for me.
Rating 6: There were hints of what could have been a good story, but the weaker aspects of the writing really prevented me from enjoying this one.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Forged by Blood” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Africa-Influenced Epic Fantasy.
The Library Ladies 