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honeycupreads's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The world we get to explore in Forged by Blood is very beautiful. I really enjoyed the world building and the magic system was so interesting to me. I feel like the first half of this book was pretty good, however with the second half of the book we started to receive a bunch of twists all at once. Everytime we were hit with a new shocking piece of information we would get 3 more twists within the next couple of pages and I feel like we never got time to sit with it and really see how Dèmi processes everything. The romance in this book was poorly done in my opinion. The “love triangle” was very odd to me because I felt as though Dèmi didn’t have any chemistry with either of them. There was some fun banter that came from it but overall neither relationship was very convincing. There’s also a lot of things that I felt could be expanded on a bit more and hopefully we will see some of that in the sequel. All in all I did enjoy this book and will be tuned in when the sequel gets released!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Colonisation, and Violence
Moderate: Slavery, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault
bettysbookishworld's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I would like to thank the publisher, HarperVoyager UK, for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Forged by Blood is a fantasy debut novel isnpired by Nigerian mythology. The mythology is what intrigued me about reading it and it delivered on this front. I enjoyed all the folklore and how it got effortlessly woven into the magic system and the worldbuilding. The story even takes part in a Spirit Realm, which was my favourite part of the book and the most interesting one, too. If this is the reason why you got interested in the book, too, the author does a great job with that and definitely try reading it.
However, I could tell this is a debut novel. The story was missing some sort of nuance. I feel like everything was happening at once without any room for a reader to actually get connected to the story and characters. Events were rushed, plot points got resolved too quickly and characters didn't have much time to actually develop further. It's also supposed to be an adult fantasy, however, the characters and their reactions felt very juvenile. There was also a romance aspect to the book, which consisted of tropes I don't enjoy. I think the love "triangle" was unnecessary when having fated mates/souls, because of its predictability.
I really wanted to enjoy this story, but it just didn't work for me at all. On more positive note, I definitely want to read more fantasy inspired by African mythology and folklore, as I loved it in this book.
Forged by Blood is a fantasy debut novel isnpired by Nigerian mythology. The mythology is what intrigued me about reading it and it delivered on this front. I enjoyed all the folklore and how it got effortlessly woven into the magic system and the worldbuilding. The story even takes part in a Spirit Realm, which was my favourite part of the book and the most interesting one, too. If this is the reason why you got interested in the book, too, the author does a great job with that and definitely try reading it.
However, I could tell this is a debut novel. The story was missing some sort of nuance. I feel like everything was happening at once without any room for a reader to actually get connected to the story and characters. Events were rushed, plot points got resolved too quickly and characters didn't have much time to actually develop further. It's also supposed to be an adult fantasy, however, the characters and their reactions felt very juvenile. There was also a romance aspect to the book, which consisted of tropes I don't enjoy. I think the love "triangle" was unnecessary when having fated mates/souls, because of its predictability.
I really wanted to enjoy this story, but it just didn't work for me at all. On more positive note, I definitely want to read more fantasy inspired by African mythology and folklore, as I loved it in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Slavery, Genocide, Colonisation, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: War and Suicide
Minor: Pregnancy and Rape
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
CWs: blood, parent death, racism, rape and sexual assault (off page), child death, parental death, murder, death, torture, slavery, forced pregancy, misogyny, classism,
Thank you to Ehigbor for a free physical proof! (Sorry I didn't get around to this for so long 😭)
I absolutely adored this world! It's so rich and well described, it really does feel alive.
I'll try not to go too deep into this synopsis as it's best to kinda just go into it. Its pretty fast to get into the main story beats and it doesn't dawdle. Essentially Dèmi and her mother live alone, her father is dead and they live in a world ruled by colonisers who kill or enslave any magic user (rightful owners of the land) that's found. Unfortunately, both Dèmi and her mother have magic. When tragedy strikes and her life is splintered even further, she takes up the task of attempting to change the fate of the lands and her people.
I loved Dèmi as a character a lot. She strong, but fallible - though it does fall kinda into the trope of the female MC needing to lean a lot on the male love interests (alongside a love right-angle). I did get a tad confused at the cast for a bit, there's so many background characters that's given a decent chunk of info each that for my brain wasn't sticking too well in my memory.
The world building is "book 1" world building, there's a ton of questions but a very good base has been made. It's creative, vibrant and full of life. I can't wait for the next book to learn more about the world, the magic system and how it'll all come together!!
Thank you to Ehigbor for a free physical proof! (Sorry I didn't get around to this for so long 😭)
I absolutely adored this world! It's so rich and well described, it really does feel alive.
I'll try not to go too deep into this synopsis as it's best to kinda just go into it. Its pretty fast to get into the main story beats and it doesn't dawdle. Essentially Dèmi and her mother live alone, her father is dead and they live in a world ruled by colonisers who kill or enslave any magic user (rightful owners of the land) that's found. Unfortunately, both Dèmi and her mother have magic. When tragedy strikes and her life is splintered even further, she takes up the task of attempting to change the fate of the lands and her people.
I loved Dèmi as a character a lot. She strong, but fallible - though it does fall kinda into the trope of the female MC needing to lean a lot on the male love interests (alongside a love right-angle). I did get a tad confused at the cast for a bit, there's so many background characters that's given a decent chunk of info each that for my brain wasn't sticking too well in my memory.
The world building is "book 1" world building, there's a ton of questions but a very good base has been made. It's creative, vibrant and full of life. I can't wait for the next book to learn more about the world, the magic system and how it'll all come together!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Genocide, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Slavery
Moderate: Death and Confinement
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
morrigan_gaines_writes's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
**I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher. This is my honest review**
3.5 STARS!
There were a lot of positives for this book, BUT the pacing/transitions made it hard to follow what was happening sometimes. I wanted to love this book but several times I was flipping back through feeling like I had missed something important.
<b>Some things I loved:</b>
The world and magic system is elaborate and engaging.
It is fast-paced.
The magic, creatures, and various fantasy elements are a breath of fresh air after reading so many books with European inspired fantasy.
The overarching theme of colonization was done well. There was so much this story had to offer in surviving as an oppressed people and what it means to rise up against injustice. The internal conflicts/reactions of each of the three characters felt genuine in regards to their part in the political and social issues of this world.
Ehigbor Okosun's writing shows a talent and great potential for wrapping us up into a story. I really enjoyed her writing style. The descriptions don't feel forced or drawn out, the magic system is fascinating and the political/social aspects of the world make you want to read more.
<b>Things that didn't work for me:</b>
We flew through things at times. We'd be dealing with one plot point and suddenly that was resolved and we had skipped through to a totally new conflict in the plot. Normally this would make for a fast-paced book but the transitions made the plot feel disjointed to me. I (on multiple occasions) had to pause and check if I had skipped something or missed an important detail.
I felt like the magic system needed some clarifying. For example, what was essentially a magical leash for Jonas, on several occasions was described as not being able to stretch very far. But then there are times that Demi is a whole room over without concern.
We need a glossary. There are so many terms, words for different types of Oluso, and so much in this world that I had difficulty remembering what was what.
There is a huge cast of characters and we didn't always get enough of an intro about a character for them to stick in my mind the next time they appeared. Again this may be because of the pacing/transition issue for my brain.
<b>Additional Comments:</b>
The love triangle was hard. I didn't feel a lot of chemistry between two of the characters, so it didn't feel so much like a love triangle but more like the MC was just using the characters to relieve some of her trauma/stress through physical affection. This does appropriately fall under romantic fantasy genre, not fantasy romance, as the romance is a subplot.
I believe this is suppose to be marketed as a New Adult or Adult fantasy book. But the characters are young and the way they act makes it hard to read it as adult fantasy. HOWEVER, they are young but dealing with very much ADULT issues. So I am interested in seeing if the second book expands on that idea and matures them. I'd say for the general adult fantasy reader, this book may not be what they're use to because of the immaturity of the characters.
<b>Final Notes: </b>
As a debut novel, Forged by Blood did intrigue me. I will be watching Ehigbor Okosun in the coming years and reading her books because there is amazing potential in her writing. I think that if the transitions and plot pacing wasn't so rough for me, this would have easily been a 4 or 5 star read. It's a solid debut and I can't wait to see what comes next!
3.5 STARS!
There were a lot of positives for this book, BUT the pacing/transitions made it hard to follow what was happening sometimes. I wanted to love this book but several times I was flipping back through feeling like I had missed something important.
<b>Some things I loved:</b>
The world and magic system is elaborate and engaging.
It is fast-paced.
The magic, creatures, and various fantasy elements are a breath of fresh air after reading so many books with European inspired fantasy.
The overarching theme of colonization was done well. There was so much this story had to offer in surviving as an oppressed people and what it means to rise up against injustice. The internal conflicts/reactions of each of the three characters felt genuine in regards to their part in the political and social issues of this world.
Ehigbor Okosun's writing shows a talent and great potential for wrapping us up into a story. I really enjoyed her writing style. The descriptions don't feel forced or drawn out, the magic system is fascinating and the political/social aspects of the world make you want to read more.
<b>Things that didn't work for me:</b>
We flew through things at times. We'd be dealing with one plot point and suddenly that was resolved and we had skipped through to a totally new conflict in the plot. Normally this would make for a fast-paced book but the transitions made the plot feel disjointed to me. I (on multiple occasions) had to pause and check if I had skipped something or missed an important detail.
I felt like the magic system needed some clarifying. For example, what was essentially a magical leash for Jonas, on several occasions was described as not being able to stretch very far. But then there are times that Demi is a whole room over without concern.
We need a glossary. There are so many terms, words for different types of Oluso, and so much in this world that I had difficulty remembering what was what.
There is a huge cast of characters and we didn't always get enough of an intro about a character for them to stick in my mind the next time they appeared. Again this may be because of the pacing/transition issue for my brain.
<b>Additional Comments:</b>
The love triangle was hard. I didn't feel a lot of chemistry between two of the characters, so it didn't feel so much like a love triangle but more like the MC was just using the characters to relieve some of her trauma/stress through physical affection. This does appropriately fall under romantic fantasy genre, not fantasy romance, as the romance is a subplot.
I believe this is suppose to be marketed as a New Adult or Adult fantasy book. But the characters are young and the way they act makes it hard to read it as adult fantasy. HOWEVER, they are young but dealing with very much ADULT issues. So I am interested in seeing if the second book expands on that idea and matures them. I'd say for the general adult fantasy reader, this book may not be what they're use to because of the immaturity of the characters.
<b>Final Notes: </b>
As a debut novel, Forged by Blood did intrigue me. I will be watching Ehigbor Okosun in the coming years and reading her books because there is amazing potential in her writing. I think that if the transitions and plot pacing wasn't so rough for me, this would have easily been a 4 or 5 star read. It's a solid debut and I can't wait to see what comes next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: War, Sexism, Kidnapping, Slavery, Medical content, and Trafficking
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy
shelvesofivy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
From my first impressions of the STUNNING cover and the synopsis of a fantasy inspired by Nigerian mythology, I was super excited to get to this book. Once I got into the story, the author's way with words became clear: she gives very poetic and vibrant descriptions of Dèmi's emotions and the world around her.
Despite the lovely prose, it admittedly took me a while to become invested in the story. There seemed to be a slight imbalance between exposition and action, giving the feeling of a slow plot—despite the fact that this was not a slow or low stakes story by any means at all.
Around the halfway point, I finally felt hooked by the action and intrigue going on. I can't wait to see what the next book has in store for the characters and their (and my) unanswered questions. This is also the type of book that I'll definitely need to reread! There was a mix of twists that I predicted and did not, so I'd be interested to see all of the foreshadowing in hindsight. (I also want to reread a finished edition; since I originally read an unproofed copy, there were some punctuation and formatting errors)
When it comes to the characters, they really shine! Dèmi makes an incredible protagonist who's both strong and flawed. She has strong beliefs and her actions align with those beliefs throughout the book.
I adored one of the love interests from the beginning, and even though the other one annoyed me (as is usually the case when I read love triangles), I still grew to at least appreciate his character.
This is not a light story by any means (please check CWs!), but it remains hopeful and even humorous at times with the character dynamics. The moments of banter and heart are what I live for, and this delivered ♡
|| Thank you William Morrow Books for the advance reader's copy! I won this arc in a Storygraph giveaway, but all opinions in this review are my own. ||
Despite the lovely prose, it admittedly took me a while to become invested in the story. There seemed to be a slight imbalance between exposition and action, giving the feeling of a slow plot—despite the fact that this was not a slow or low stakes story by any means at all.
Around the halfway point, I finally felt hooked by the action and intrigue going on. I can't wait to see what the next book has in store for the characters and their (and my) unanswered questions. This is also the type of book that I'll definitely need to reread! There was a mix of twists that I predicted and did not, so I'd be interested to see all of the foreshadowing in hindsight. (I also want to reread a finished edition; since I originally read an unproofed copy, there were some punctuation and formatting errors)
When it comes to the characters, they really shine! Dèmi makes an incredible protagonist who's both strong and flawed. She has strong beliefs and her actions align with those beliefs throughout the book.
I adored one of the love interests from the beginning, and even though the other one annoyed me (as is usually the case when I read love triangles), I still grew to at least appreciate his character.
This is not a light story by any means (please check CWs!), but it remains hopeful and even humorous at times with the character dynamics. The moments of banter and heart are what I live for, and this delivered ♡
|| Thank you William Morrow Books for the advance reader's copy! I won this arc in a Storygraph giveaway, but all opinions in this review are my own. ||
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Torture, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Drug use, Genocide, and Rape
amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Thank you Net Galley and Harper Collins for the advanced reader copy. This is a 3.75 rounded up to 4. I rounded it up because I'm old and not the target audience.
Demí is a magic user. After healing a colonialist's kid(Jonah), her mother is killed. Demí is betrayed by a new friend, and she is forced to take a life debt to live. Fast forward 9 years, Demí is forced to kidnap her betrayer and go on a quest to save her people and her family.
This reads like an entertaining YA. If you like love triangles, fated mates, inventive African worlds, interesting revenge plotlines, and magic, you might enjoy this book. It was a fun read, and I can't wait for book two.
It does cover colonialism, racism, xenophobia, slavery, child abuse, rand marginalization. Please check content warnings.
Demí is a magic user. After healing a colonialist's kid(Jonah), her mother is killed. Demí is betrayed by a new friend, and she is forced to take a life debt to live. Fast forward 9 years, Demí is forced to kidnap her betrayer and go on a quest to save her people and her family.
This reads like an entertaining YA. If you like love triangles, fated mates, inventive African worlds, interesting revenge plotlines, and magic, you might enjoy this book. It was a fun read, and I can't wait for book two.
It does cover colonialism, racism, xenophobia, slavery, child abuse, rand marginalization. Please check content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Genocide, and Grief
Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, and Slavery
aliteraryescape's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Racism, Death of parent, Racial slurs, and Slavery
Minor: Rape
atthelibrarywithmegan's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I received a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
This was the first Nigerian mythology inspired fantasy that I’ve read. I’m not sure what mythology it was based off of, but I truly enjoyed not reading yet another Beauty & The Beast retelling, or some other European fantasy retelling.
I loved Dèmi’s character BECAUSE she was headstrong, whereas some people saw that as a character flaw. Yes she was rash and didn’t always think things through, but she was working towards a bigger picture and trying to help other Oluso people.
There is betrayal, magic, a bit of a slow burn romance, a love triangle, fated mates, death, genocide, and over throwing the patriarchy. I can’t wait to read how Dèmi and Jonas (Maybe Colin too?) help free the Oluso people from a terrible ruler in book two.
.
Age recommendation: 15+ years old.
This was the first Nigerian mythology inspired fantasy that I’ve read. I’m not sure what mythology it was based off of, but I truly enjoyed not reading yet another Beauty & The Beast retelling, or some other European fantasy retelling.
I loved Dèmi’s character BECAUSE she was headstrong, whereas some people saw that as a character flaw. Yes she was rash and didn’t always think things through, but she was working towards a bigger picture and trying to help other Oluso people.
There is betrayal, magic, a bit of a slow burn romance, a love triangle, fated mates, death, genocide, and over throwing the patriarchy. I can’t wait to read how Dèmi and Jonas (Maybe Colin too?) help free the Oluso people from a terrible ruler in book two.
.
Age recommendation: 15+ years old.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Death of parent
canascorner's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Forged By Blood is the first book in a fantasy duology about a young woman named Dèmi. After losing her mother in a tragic way for which she feels responsible. Dèmi is forced to cope with being born with magic that has been forbidden and losing the only family she had left. Dèmi and other people like her, Oluso are persecuted and subjected to mass genocide by the magic-less Ajes. Demi makes a deal that has the opportunity to restore balance but she has to decide what she’s willing to risk and if the potential reward is worth it.
I enjoyed the story as a whole. Dèmi was a well crafted character. Her plight and struggles felt personal. The magic system and inclusion of Gods and deities was so intriguing. Calling her world beautiful feels wrong because of all of the cruelty they were subject to however, Ife sounds like such a beautiful place.
This book discusses some difficult points such as race, class, trust and the power of choice. The oppression of the Oluso people for being born magic wielders felt all to familiar. Dèmi’s refusal to settle for constant victimization kept me invested. She knew there was a better way for her and people like her to live and she fought to find it without compromising herself in the process.
Dèmi was a walking contradiction at times and it was frustrating. In a certain scene she would be so hyper vigilante that it bordered on unreasonable and in the following scene she would make a rash and very dangerous decision. There are times that Dèmi is angry and reacts before she has a chance to be given the full scope of the situation. I recognize that there are situations that require immediate action but it seemed that she jumped first and thought later so frequently that she was getting reckless.
While reading my overall experience was enjoyable and engaging. Participating in Dèmi’s grief process and battle with trust issues gave me things to consider. Dèmi’s selective impatience and anger got her into things that could have been avoided. In spite of the rough hand Demi was dealt, she never gave up and for those reasons I give Forged by Blood 4/5 stars.
This book would be great for people that enjoy mythological based fantasy books with diverse characters that have tear down the unjust political system mindset. If you’re sensitive to violence, death of parents, discrimination and mass genocide this book might not be for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Genocide, Racism, Death of parent, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Misogyny
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