Masquerade is one woman’s unwilling journey into the political and power-hungry world of nobles in a reimagined 15th century West Africa. It’s dark, gripping, and deliciously morally gray.

Òdòdó is on the outskirts of society as a blacksmith, struggling to survive alongside her mother and the rest of their blacksmith guild. One day, an act of kindness for a vagrant leads to her abduction across the desert and to the capital. And Òdòdó’s captor? It’s the vagrant, who turns out to actually be the king of Yorùbáland.

Her life changes overnight as she becomes his wife-to-be and becomes part of the politically savvy community in the city. Òdòdó is naive, but there’s power for her here, and she can’t turn away. She must discover who her true allies are and learn to become a manipulator herself … before her enemies get their way.

This is not a revolutionary tale - there’s no reshaping of society here. Instead, we watch Òdòdó grow and learn and discover how she can take the tools she has and craft her own freedom. She’s sometimes frustratingly innocent at the start of the story, but once she starts learning how to use her prison to her advantage it’s hard to look away. 

The writing is clear and engaging. It painted such a crisp picture of Yorùbáland and I appreciated how we were sometimes able to discern the bigger picture (as readers) while still seeing things from Òdòdó’s limited viewpoint and feeling her confusion, anger, and adoration. 

Òdòdó fights ferociously for power, but even when she attains it she still acknowledges that she is imprisoned. She didn’t choose any aspect of her life, and even though she is supposed to have been elevated from her former status as a blacksmith, she also loses some of the small freedoms she did have. It’s very much a gilded cage, but one that she learns how to take advantage of. Her world is brutal, and it’s fascinating to watch her learn how to play political chess within the confines of being a commoner bride. 

My one stumble here was that I wish we got more of a look into the various antagonists and their backgrounds. They fell a little flat for me at times, and I wanted a deeper understanding of the world and their clashing motivations. But since Òdòdó has a very limited knowledge base about them, so do we.

This is a story of survival. With rich characterization & culture and stomach-churning political maneuvers, I couldn’t look away.

CW: murder, kidnapping, violence, slavery, war, death (parent), blood, injury, misogyny, toxic relationship, gore, fire, animal cruelty/death, gaslighting confinement, trafficking, classism, body horror, abuse, vomit, sexual violence, infertility, homophobia, colonization

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)