Unfortunately, this wasn’t a good read for me. I wanted to like this much more than I did. The cover, West African setting, and the title really drew me to this.

The pacing wasn’t slow, but I didn’t mesh well with the writing style. So much of it felt like unnecessary details or sterile. We have a fox spirit, kidnapping, and trying to unite two kingdoms! Narborhi is educated and can fight hand-to-hand combat. Nothing about that sounds boring but the execution was.

One of the main conflicts/themes is that Narborhi has seen the horrors of marriage going wrong and leaving women destitute or shells of themselves. Her mother's experience really shaped her worldview.

I like that the book acknowledges that marriage (at least certainly at her age - 16 years old) isn't for everyone. Despite that, many of the characters (one of the male leads even) desired marriage but didn't gaslight or belittle Narborhi's feelings. There's a balance of good and terrible marriage(s) here, but the power imbalances with the majority of the young brides are made very clear.

I liked the Red Tapestry once it was introduced, a haven for women to showcase their skills and talents.