A Song of Wraiths and Ruin convinced me due to its rich and brilliant worldbuilding combined with captivating storytelling and elements inspired by folklore and mythology! Surely my favorite aspect of this story, and what made me fall in love with the book in the very beginning. Brown really knows how to interwine elements of West African folklore with her very own fantasy world and the stories told in the book were so beautifully written and narrated that I found myself craving for more.

The second favorite thing of mine were the protagonists who shined due to their various traits and motivations, and it was a duel on who I find more likeable at times. Both - Malik and Karina - are such realistic characters that show sides of strength as well of weakness, and it was their inner struggle and fight that I find most thrilling. I also like to add that it was nice to see a mental health representation with these characters as it is something we rarely seem to see in fantasy novels. However, I sometimes didn‘t see why it was so much connected to the magic and fantastical elements of this story and would‘ve wished for it to not be depicted as a side effect of it.

This leads me to the part that I enjoyed the least - the magic system. Usually good worldbuilding goes hand in hand with a good magic system. However, while I adored the rich worldbuilding of ASOWAR, its magic system just caused confusion, and didn‘t click with me at all. Often I saw myself not properly understanding how the magic even started in a scene or how it worked, going back only to be left with more questions. I still don‘t think I understood how it works, even though it happened to be more explained toward the end of the book. Just as much as the lack of information and detail bothered me, it also was confusing on how the characters seemed to master it so quick and beautifully without seeming to grasp what it actually means. Definitely something I‘d wish to see more development of in the next book as it didn‘t have the right explanation that it needs.

Another thing that I found rather lacking but didn‘t bother me as much as the previous aspect was the romance. While I enjoyed the idea of it, and the scenes on their own, I would have wished for more build up. Malik and Karina both had too serious goals and motivations to start losing sight of them for each other, and therefore, I often struggled to accept the romance as it was delivered despite enjoying the scenes. While I found the big scene where the realization hit them was perfectly done, and the perfect moment for that spark to ignite, it was the lack of build up before then that didn‘t convince me of their love. However, I can see a lot of development there as the ending promised a bigger and more complex connection!

Despite those issues, the worldbuilding and characters shone so much that I really enjoyed the story, and can‘t wait for its sequel!

Actual rating: 3.5 stars!