I’ve had this one on my shelf for over a year and have always been intimidated by the heft. This book doesn’t look too long but it is over 600 pages and HEAVY. I finally prioritized it this month and it was worth it.

The story draws upon African history and folklore to create a fantastical kingdom with shape-shifters, vampires, ogres and more. Our narrator is Tracker, who is “said to have a nose” and uses his enhanced sense of smell to find missing people. He is brought into a team of various characters, all with their own backgrounds and abilities, to find a missing child.

I won’t lie, I struggled a bit with this one initially. The timeline jumps around a bit in the beginning, giving you background on Tracker. There are also trigger warnings galore in this book. However, I really enjoyed the world James created, particularly the characters (some of the creepier ones might give me nightmares for awhile lol). It was also interesting to read a fantasy book with a queer main character, and one in which queerness is accepted as a normal part of life.

I alternated between the hardcover and audiobook for this one, which I think really helped me. The book is written like a story being told out loud so it translated well to audio. But it was also helpful for me to see all the maps in the book and see the names written out. I recommend doing it in both formats if you can. Overall, this is definitely one to consider picking up if you enjoy fantasy!

TW: pedophilia; gore and violence; graphic sexual assault; drugs; swearing