A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

Product Information

The constant telling instead of showing, lack of interesting character motives and instalove made me feel disconnected from this story.

The Twist: I’m not sure what the twist is for particular folk tales, but the biggest draw of this book is the African-inspired setting, cast of color, and unique magic system! Anyone who tried to take this city from her would soon discover that the Kestrel’s daughter had talons of her own.Instead, they’re tales of trickery, clever riddles, and moral lessons, and feature more animal characters than human.

HOWEVER, there were some issues that I had with this book namely in the form of world development, magic system development, and the "romance. Raised like a brother to Karina, he was in love with her older sister Hanane, though supposedly Hanane didn’t love him back that way. Tunde does, hesitantly, and the soldiers take Leila away because Malik is the only one who can save Nadia.

Back at the palace, her mother brings her to a secret cavern under the palace and explains why she can never leave Ziran.

Malik has no idea where to even start looking, even after he figures out he is supposed to be looking for masks. Aminata revels that she has been spying on Farid and wants to maintain her position, so she hustles back to the palace while Afua and Hamidou hustle Karina out of Ziran. Even though I can’t trace the folklore in this book back to any one specific tale, the heavy infusion of African cultures in Sonande, Ziran, and the characters within just makes this book sparkle. Malik is trying to justify his response, and Karina is about to jump in when Afua arrives out of nowhere, attacking Karina and crying that her family has been taken prisoner because of the raids by the Sentinels.The only thing I can really say that is even close to a criticism is that there is so much lingo in here (which I love), but I wish there was a glossary in the back. Karina believes the Kestrel to be cold and disappointed in her, but the Kestrel simply let her grief at the loss of her eldest daughter and husband turn her away from being close to her daughter. The only major complaint I have with this book is the writing style - it feels fairly awkward in places and quite lacking in descriptions when it comes to certain emotions, actions and just general movement within scenes.