Reviews

The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

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yrc's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.0

Wow, what a fantastic storyteller and book!

I'd heard of the author before, and since I like my reads diverse and this was available on kindle, I decided to try it out. What hooked me was the quick yet convincing narrative, plus great world building and characters I rooted for.

While I'm usually VERY much turned off by coming of age tropes, the building of plot and dynamics was extremely believable and won me over very quickly. To me, it's super impressive that the author packed so much action and complex themes in under 100 pages.

Here we have family loyalty, heroism against all odds, dear friends along the way, danger, oppression, comradery and duty. If you're looking for an exceptionally told and refreshing story, give this one a try!

stevensawtelle's review

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challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Interesting, quick read. Very beautifully written with deep lessons

nianianiania's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? N/A

4.75

loveterature's review

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adventurous mysterious reflective 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

4.0

The Lies of The Ajungo follows the story of a young boy in the City of Lies where there is no water. all boys who reach the age of thirteen are made to cut their tongues off by the Ajungo Empire in exchange of a meagre amount of water, just enough for them to sustain. so, Tutu, the protagonist of the story begins on a quest to find water outside the city for his sick mother. the themes of the novella revolves around oppression and rebellion with the right amount of magical realism and epic quests.

this was my first time reading a book based on African mythology and i liked the way Moses Ose Utomi wrote the book. the premise was a mix of fable and fantasy in the author's own words and I was surprised at how much i liked it.

my one major problem with this book was that it was too short. the ending felt rushed and undeserving of how it should have ended instead. there could have been a better way to do the show vs tell thing too but i can understand since it's a debut novella and it need not be perfect.

it was, overall, a nice read.