Title:Kingdom of Souls
Author: Rena Barron
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Series: Kingdom of Souls #1
Genre: Fantasy|Young Adult
Length: 496 pages
Published: September 3rd 2019
Goodreads link
Born into a family of powerful witchdoctors, Arrah yearns for magic of her own. But each year she fails to call forth her ancestral powers, while her ambitious mother watches with growing disapproval.
There’s only one thing Arrah hasn’t tried, a deadly last resort: trading years of her own life for scraps of magic. Until the Kingdom’s children begin to disappear, and Arrah is desperate to find the culprit.
Review:
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2019, I mean the cover is stunning, the story appealing and I am a sucked for outcasts.
With all this, I had a very hard time pushing through the middle to get to really appreciate this book. I don’t even know if it was the book or I wasn’t in the right mindset at the moment. But I feel that there are a few chapters that feel more like a filler and nothing much happens.
The setting is beautiful, the magic system amazing, the plot-twist a little predictable but not hard to believe. Actually, I feel that most of the time when a plot twist comes out of nowhere it’s like that because it makes no sense, is not the case here.
I think Arrah, the main character, comes over a little bit whiny but I put that on all the shit she goes through and the fact that the story is told from her perspective so we get to follow all her worries and fears, she did fine! I hope to see some really cool character development from her in the next book because it is, for now, one of the best female characters I read.
I feel like this was way too dark for your usual YA story, things that I actually liked.
My main issue was the pacing, I had to put this book down and read something else and come back to be able to finish it, but boy am I glad I did! I am actually excited about the sequel later this year!
Something that was excellent executed is the grayness of the characters. I started this story thinking that I know who are the good guys and the bad guys but after contemplating it, it is not that simple. All characters are shades of gray and is so perfectly done!
Overall it was a solid read, I really recommend it!
4.5/5 stars
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