raenyreads's Reviews (345)

I don't typically read YA as I have just enjoyed them less in the past but maybe this is the one to convince me to pick them up more often as I really loved this one. I was immediately sucked into the world and it turned out to be a big page turner for me. The mystery starts out very early on and had me hooked. I liked the main characters and felt their relationships were realistic and developed well. Highly recommend, can't wait to read the sequel.

Although I wasn't engrossed in the story of this novel I can't deny that it is written brilliantly. The short chapters from different POVs made it really interesting and I enjoyed the POVs that really changed the pace up. 

This is a brilliant graphic novel in both plot and art style. I really enjoyed the story, the characters, and their development. The way the author uses colours and tones is expressive and gorgeous. Highly recommend and will be reading more from this author.

This is another great book from one of my favourite authors. Pet is one of my favourite books of all time so when I saw Akwaeke Emezi has written another YA novel I was very excited. Thank you to Faber Books for sending me an early copy of this book!
The world created in this book, inspired by Igbo culture, is amazingly detailed and complex and sucked me in from the first chapter. The way the magic system intertwined with the worldbuilding creates a really solid background to the plot that had me constantly interested to see where we went next.
The plot was well crafted and kept me intrigued throughout. The mystery was well established and the reveals towards the end had a satisfying mix of things I had predicted and things that surprised me.
As I consistently find with Akwaeke Emezi's work though, the characters were my favourite aspect. The way Emezi is able to cram so much depth into these characters in a sub 300 page novel is a testament to their skills as a writer. From the start you empathise with Somadina, and as the story unfolds the developement she undergoes feels realistic and earned. One of my favourite side characters was Uwafulamiro, who doesn't get as much focus but still feels like a really integral part of the story and I enjoyed his dynamics with other characters.
I guess the book just didn't have the absolute wow factor I need to give it 5 stars but I still highly recommend it.

I haven't quite yet formulated the proper words for how amazing this book is so I'll hopefully update this review at some point. But for now, this book really made me examine things from new points of view, the topics and the way they were discussed were highly engaging and interesting, and the way it is written conveys the message perfectly and made me feel like I was part of a conversation with the book itself. Highly recommend.

This is such a fun read. If you want a cute romance, with a mystery plotline and a smidgen of horror then this is for you.
I loved the setting of the story and the details of the worldbuilding which gave context to characters backgrounds. The romance part of the plot I felt was really well done and very cute, I was invested in how the relationship would develop throughout. The other plotlines also kept my interested in the developments throughout the book and managed to use some common romantasy tropes without feeling boring or done before. 
I'm looking forward to continuing with this series!

This is such an interesting novella. The plot was mostly simple but was kept interesting by some twists and turns along the way. I would love to see more stories from this world as I think it is really interesting and I just want to know more about it. Even with the short page count the author was able to make me invested in the main characters. The illustrations in this edition also really helped with establishing the whimsical feeling of the story. 
My only negative is that, as is common with many novellas, I was left wanting a bit more depth from the story and the characters.
Recommend for a short read.

Wow, I knew going in that this book would be dark but DAMN I was still surprised by many of the events.
This book is such a page turner as once the plot kicks in about a quarter of the way in it is just a wild ride from there. I love Akwaeke Emezi's writing and this book is no exception, the characters she crafts are so detailed and multifaceted that you can't help but want to know more about them. 

This was a great novella from the perspective of a man living in a dictatorial regime. I enjoyed the focus on how the regime maintains power and how the people can fight this in their daily lives. The way the plot progresses had me constantly wanting to know what happened next, resulting in this being a bit of a page turner.
The writing style is very much a stream of consciousness, which worked for my sometimes and not others. I think I wanted a bit more umph from the writing style, but this may have been something that was lost in translation. 
Overall I'm glad I read this.

I think this is a great series but maybe not for me? I like the main characters and their interactions, and the Greek mythology elements are what interested me in the first place. But it just seems to drag a bit for  me. I'm not invested in any of the characters yet (end of omnibus 2) and I don't feel the need to come back to the story? I think this is the end of reading this series for me.