If you love found family, charming characters, spooky monsters, shapeshifters, and Caribbean legends … get ready for King of Dead Things. 

I have once again picked up a book that I didn’t know was a duology - that ending! I need to know SO MUCH MORE.

We’re following Eli, a teenager with magical healing abilities and no memory of his past. Luckily, he’s got a great support system in his two best friends, Sunny and Max. When they’re sent to track down the fang of Osebo, a weapon that can take magic, their paths collide with Malcolm.

Malcolm is the son of the duppy king, desperate to wipe away their connection. But he needs his dad in order to help his mom, so he’ll use his death magic to do anything he needs to.

The full group soon finds themselves racing through London in search of the fang - before someone very evil and very powerful gets her hands on it. But they’ve all got secrets of their own, and they have to learn to trust each other in order to survive.

I really loved all of the main and side characters here. They were well-developed, and the different forms of friendship and found family were lovely. The main group of young people have found home in each other  - and with the blunt but caring Pam, who owns the Caribbean restaurant where they live.

The Afro-Caribbean folklore was compelling, and I thought the magical rules (how magic is used and stored in this world) were really interesting.

It was very fast-paced, which mostly worked, but I did think the ending scenes were a bit rushed - especially the final battle. I also would have loved a little bit more resolution in this first arc. The ending felt a bit frustrating, and I didn’t feel like we got really any answers at all. 

This was a lot of fun, and I’m super intrigued to see how the story concludes.

CW: murder, death, vomit, toxic relationship, dementia, blood, gore, body horror, abandonment, animal death

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)