I very much enjoyed this book, and recommend listening to the audiobook! It has three different readers for Adiah, Ekon, and Koffi and was a very immersive experience. The book follows primarily Koffi and Ekon. Koffi is essentially an indentured servant at the Night Zoo, whereas Ekon is an aspiring warrior who wants to join the Sons of the Six. After a fire at the Night Zoo, both Ekon and Koffi must work together to search and find the Shetani in the Greater Jungle, who has been killing citizens in Lkossa for the last century. 

The story does start off slower, and we learn a lot about both Ekon and Koffi's background and environments before the events of the book have them enter the Greater Jungle and move the plot forward. The world-building is not information dumping, and you slowly learn more and more as you go on. Surprisingly, the author does this in a way that it doesn't feel confusing and I generally felt I caught onto the story and world quickly. 

The magic system is a hard magic system, with rules and consequences built in. Magic has a cost, and it is very interestingly explored in this book. The world's culture and religion is Pan-African inspired as well. Their culture is clearly defined, with the many cultural differences shaping Ekon and Koffi's view of each other and even of their shared religion. The characters themselves have a lot of depth, and you learn about their weaknesses and their strengths, which helps to emphasize with them further and see them as three-dimensional characters. It is not outrightly said, but Ekon does seem to suffer from OCD and PSTD due to his father's death before the book's start. 

This book blew my expectations out of the water and I didn't know where the plot was heading. There were plot twists, and betrayals, but overall it wasn't tropey in any way and I felt the overarching story was very unique. There is romance, but it is very slowburn and is not a main plot point. I do think in the sequel, this will be explored further. Overall, this is an amazing story and despite the slower start, if you enjoy YA fantasy, this is a book to pick up!