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lokiisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
Updated to 4 stars!
Thank you to Penguin Teen for a finished copy to read and review!
Although this was not the ending I was hoping for this was overall a solid ending to the Beasts of Prey Trilogy. After such a strong build up from Book 1 to Book 2 I was hoping that this final book was going to knock me off my feet.
You might be asking yourself... "Why did you rate it 4 stars if it's not what you expected?" It's 4 stars because of the experience I had while reading, and at the end of the day the pros outweighed the cons.
I loved all of these characters! I loved the imagery I can create while reading. I listened to audiobook in the car, and when I tell you I was cackling at things that Ekon did, and the dynamic the group had between each other! I had a time reading and listening to this book.
I did want to list out my "cons"
Cons:
-The romance between Koffi and Ekon felt rushed/strained. Honestly didn't really expected to break threw to a romantic relationship *at all*. Yes, I know they had feelings for each other, BUT after everything that transpired it felt like Ekon was holding more of the romantic feelings to Koffi.
-The epic final fight scene that was being built up for the last 2 books was meh. To compare it to something. The Fantastic 4 movie from 2015 the final fight scene with the bad guy… that’s how this felt. Just lacking.
-Mekena and Safia felt like as the story progressed they became inferior side characters. Because wdym they’re in a secret relationship????
Thank you to Penguin Teen for a finished copy to read and review!
Although this was not the ending I was hoping for this was overall a solid ending to the Beasts of Prey Trilogy. After such a strong build up from Book 1 to Book 2 I was hoping that this final book was going to knock me off my feet.
You might be asking yourself... "Why did you rate it 4 stars if it's not what you expected?" It's 4 stars because of the experience I had while reading, and at the end of the day the pros outweighed the cons.
I loved all of these characters! I loved the imagery I can create while reading. I listened to audiobook in the car, and when I tell you I was cackling at things that Ekon did, and the dynamic the group had between each other! I had a time reading and listening to this book.
I did want to list out my "cons"
-The romance between Koffi and Ekon felt rushed/strained. Honestly didn't really expected to break threw to a romantic relationship *at all*. Yes, I know they had feelings for each other, BUT after everything that transpired it felt like Ekon was holding more of the romantic feelings to Koffi.
-The epic final fight scene that was being built up for the last 2 books was meh. To compare it to something. The Fantastic 4 movie from 2015 the final fight scene with the bad guy… that’s how this felt. Just lacking.
-Mekena and Safia felt like as the story progressed they became inferior side characters. Because wdym they’re in a secret relationship????
At the end of everything I did enjoy this entire series. Did everything transpire how I hope it did... no, BUT all together this was a fantastic trilogy that I will always recommend :)
✨ For more reviews and content follow me on Ig @lokiisreading ✨
✨ For more reviews and content follow me on Ig @lokiisreading ✨
awernke's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
mitabird's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.0
jaz_gets_literary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, and Confinement
savanah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, War, and Violence
beasleysbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gh0st0fth0ught's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ajthequeen's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Full disclosure: I'm 24, so this review may be affected by the fact I'm no longer a "young adult" and probably not necessarily the intended audience.
I felt like the characters across the board this book were EXTREMELY immature, especially the beginning. They all seemed very two dimensional the entire book.
Makena was treated like, and acted like, a young child rather than a teenager. Ekon and Zain acted like they were about 13 years old. The love triangle was super weird and forced and never really got any resolution. Ekon and Koffi never actually talked or had a good conversation, they were just suddenly together in the epilogue despite not having any romantic scenes or conversations (I'm NOT talking about smut or spice, I'm talking about things like holding hands, being close to each other, brushing hands/shoulders, moments of peril where they felt like the other was going to be hurt/die, a hug, etc).
The author shoehorned in a couple pop culture references (Ekon asks, and I quote: "Is this water sanitary? It seems...dubious to me." Which if you're on Instagram reels or TikTok, youve heard the popular sound "is this water sanitary? It seems questionable to me.") There was a reference to a "cranky old man" who is particular/cranky about his cabbages in one of the markets, which is likely a reference to ATLA.
At one point Ekon remarks that it's terrible that some worshippers of Amakoya pay and get special treatment. He asks if Koffi could believe that, and Koffi says some long paragraph about how she could believe people are afforded luxuries based on wealth and class that others can't obtain no matter how hard they try or deserve it (paraphrasing). Which is not wrong, but it felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over my head. It just felt like a random social justice statement that didn't fit anywhere within the book or plot whatsoever. No further social justice or political commentary was in the book and then characters don't attempt to change these systems whatsoever, so it really just didn't make sense. If they were looking to topple a corrupt government, maybe this would've fit better. It just served to break immersion.
The plot was an entire mess. Plotholes galore. If I discussed all of them here id be here all night. I feel like nothing actually happened in this book. Every big encounter they had was conveniently saved by someone just jumping in or walking by. Atuno was apparently removed from mortals but just happened to save the gang? How did he know they were there? Ekon talks with Itaashe, but never gets a chance to mention it to Koffi, so when Itaashe shows up Koffi had no idea she was coming but never showed any surprise other than whispering her name. It's never mentioned again, and Ekon never explains it. Fedu was absent the entire book. For a big bad, he didn't do much. He sent the untethered a total of two times and killed a whole village (which is never mentioned by anyone ever again after they tell Koffi when she wakes up!) But overall he mostly just... Doesn't do anything. No run ins during the journey, no build up. He promises to use koffis weakness against her but never does?
Koffi is called a powerful daraja and the most powerful daraja of their time ala Percy Jackson, but she doesn't actually.. do anything with the splendor. She scares herself and everyone else a couple times, makes a shield, passes out, and gets a couple of pock marks (which are never explained). Rinse and repeat three times and that totals the amount of splendor she uses this book. She has no control over the splendor, can't fight with it, and is overall useless. Thus leading the author to have a group of people randomly save the day every time they have a fight because for a group of daraja, they're completely useless.
The ending was rushed and had about as much emotion as a sack of potatoes despite the fact that one of the group literally DIES. No one is shown mourning him, which the author tries to rectify in the epilogue but it falls flat since there's no grief journey. This book felt like a standalone. There was no need for a whole trilogy for this ending. Koffi could've met with badwa a couple times, got the splendor, and had this whole book happen in about 450-500 pages (being generous). This book rendered the first/second book basically useless. It should've been: Start at night zoo, discover/kill the shetani, meet badwa, unlock splendor, go on journey to kusonga plains/gather gods to stop fedu, end. 500 pages max.
Makena was treated like, and acted like, a young child rather than a teenager. Ekon and Zain acted like they were about 13 years old. The love triangle was super weird and forced and never really got any resolution. Ekon and Koffi never actually talked or had a good conversation, they were just suddenly together in the epilogue despite not having any romantic scenes or conversations (I'm NOT talking about smut or spice, I'm talking about things like holding hands, being close to each other, brushing hands/shoulders, moments of peril where they felt like the other was going to be hurt/die, a hug, etc).
The author shoehorned in a couple pop culture references (Ekon asks, and I quote: "Is this water sanitary? It seems...dubious to me." Which if you're on Instagram reels or TikTok, youve heard the popular sound "is this water sanitary? It seems questionable to me.") There was a reference to a "cranky old man" who is particular/cranky about his cabbages in one of the markets, which is likely a reference to ATLA.
At one point Ekon remarks that it's terrible that some worshippers of Amakoya pay and get special treatment. He asks if Koffi could believe that, and Koffi says some long paragraph about how she could believe people are afforded luxuries based on wealth and class that others can't obtain no matter how hard they try or deserve it (paraphrasing). Which is not wrong, but it felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over my head. It just felt like a random social justice statement that didn't fit anywhere within the book or plot whatsoever. No further social justice or political commentary was in the book and then characters don't attempt to change these systems whatsoever, so it really just didn't make sense. If they were looking to topple a corrupt government, maybe this would've fit better. It just served to break immersion.
The plot was an entire mess. Plotholes galore. If I discussed all of them here id be here all night. I feel like nothing actually happened in this book. Every big encounter they had was conveniently saved by someone just jumping in or walking by. Atuno was apparently removed from mortals but just happened to save the gang? How did he know they were there? Ekon talks with Itaashe, but never gets a chance to mention it to Koffi, so when Itaashe shows up Koffi had no idea she was coming but never showed any surprise other than whispering her name. It's never mentioned again, and Ekon never explains it. Fedu was absent the entire book. For a big bad, he didn't do much. He sent the untethered a total of two times and killed a whole village (which is never mentioned by anyone ever again after they tell Koffi when she wakes up!) But overall he mostly just... Doesn't do anything. No run ins during the journey, no build up. He promises to use koffis weakness against her but never does?
Koffi is called a powerful daraja and the most powerful daraja of their time ala Percy Jackson, but she doesn't actually.. do anything with the splendor. She scares herself and everyone else a couple times, makes a shield, passes out, and gets a couple of pock marks (which are never explained). Rinse and repeat three times and that totals the amount of splendor she uses this book. She has no control over the splendor, can't fight with it, and is overall useless. Thus leading the author to have a group of people randomly save the day every time they have a fight because for a group of daraja, they're completely useless.
The ending was rushed and had about as much emotion as a sack of potatoes despite the fact that one of the group literally DIES. No one is shown mourning him, which the author tries to rectify in the epilogue but it falls flat since there's no grief journey. This book felt like a standalone. There was no need for a whole trilogy for this ending. Koffi could've met with badwa a couple times, got the splendor, and had this whole book happen in about 450-500 pages (being generous). This book rendered the first/second book basically useless. It should've been: Start at night zoo, discover/kill the shetani, meet badwa, unlock splendor, go on journey to kusonga plains/gather gods to stop fedu, end. 500 pages max.
megzy818's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
ethana's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
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? It's complicated
2.75
I hate to say it but this book was disappointing. I liked the first two installations of the series fine- the world building and setting is so vibrant and definitely a highlight, and I especially enjoyed reading about Ekon and his struggles with anxiety and fighting back against religious indoctrination. But this book just did not stick the landing for me for one big reason: the plot. Spoiler ahead.
Everything just felt far too convenient. Their camp is attacked but pretty much every character that matters are the only survivors. New quest is unlocked: find the rest of the gods and ask for their help, but they've only got about three weeks. They manage to find Amakoya and she sends them on a quest to find a bracelet. This is where the problem started to worsen because I still don't know what the point of this quest was beyond to run down the clock and needlessly pad an already long book. They think they found the bracelet but don't manage to get it and decide to move on. They don't so much find Atuno or Itaashe so much as they conveniently find them (usually just in time to rescue them from some new threat as a literal deus ex machina). There are far too many instances of the group getting conveniently rescued by just the people they're looking for in this book just in the nick of time. One of these times they're conveniently rescued nets them three benefits: they meet Akande, who just so happens to have the real bracelet (the one they tried to steal earlier was a fake, rendering the plot point even more pointless in retrospect), *and* Itaashe happens to show up too! So few of the events that take place in this book feel earned because they just happen to the characters while they're wandering vaguely in a direction. And the book ends with the gods just showing up and doing pretty much everything so the plot can be wrapped up in a neat little bow, rendering the involvement of the protagonists all but pointless.
The characters also felt like a point of struggle in this book, with Koffi especially feeling all over the place from chapter to chapter. She starts the book with silver pocks on her shoulder that seem to spread the more she uses the splendor, meant as a sign that keeping it in her is taking a physical toll, but this is implemented inconsistently throughout the book. There's a few instances where she experiences pain using her gift, but most of the time she's fine, and little attention is given to her having to hide this from strangers. The spread of the pocks is also inconsistent and all but forgotten by the book's conclusion. Her personality shifts are also seemingly meant to be a symptom of the splendor as well, but she just barely felt recognizable as the Koffi from the previous two books. She just came across as so much more generic in a really disappointing way.
The side characters also suffered as the book went on, and they seemingly have little to do beyond provide generic banter. Granted, I read Beasts of Ruin last year so my memory of it isn't perfect, but I don't recall the other daraja being quite so one-note as they are in Beasts of War. There's so much going on in the plot that it feels like there's little room in the plot for anyone who isn't Koffi, Ekon, or maybe Akande. And don't even get me started on the pointlessness of Zain's last second death.
I wanted so badly to enjoy this book. The world has so many interesting places and unique creatures to explore, as well as so many interesting character dynamics that could have been explored but ultimately weren't. The plot is disjointed and overly contrived, with story elements coming and going seemingly on a whim. The Untethered show up to create tension but are otherwise ignored. The potentially complicated romantic entanglements of Ekon, Safiyah, Koffi and Zain are only half resolved by hastily murdering Zain at yhe last minute and seemingly forgetting Safiyah exists. The climax took place so fast and wrapped up so easily I was left confused and wondering "That was it? After all that fuss, that was it?"
Everything just felt far too convenient. Their camp is attacked but pretty much every character that matters are the only survivors. New quest is unlocked: find the rest of the gods and ask for their help, but they've only got about three weeks. They manage to find Amakoya and she sends them on a quest to find a bracelet. This is where the problem started to worsen because I still don't know what the point of this quest was beyond to run down the clock and needlessly pad an already long book. They think they found the bracelet but don't manage to get it and decide to move on. They don't so much find Atuno or Itaashe so much as they conveniently find them (usually just in time to rescue them from some new threat as a literal deus ex machina). There are far too many instances of the group getting conveniently rescued by just the people they're looking for in this book just in the nick of time. One of these times they're conveniently rescued nets them three benefits: they meet Akande, who just so happens to have the real bracelet (the one they tried to steal earlier was a fake, rendering the plot point even more pointless in retrospect), *and* Itaashe happens to show up too! So few of the events that take place in this book feel earned because they just happen to the characters while they're wandering vaguely in a direction. And the book ends with the gods just showing up and doing pretty much everything so the plot can be wrapped up in a neat little bow, rendering the involvement of the protagonists all but pointless.
The characters also felt like a point of struggle in this book, with Koffi especially feeling all over the place from chapter to chapter. She starts the book with silver pocks on her shoulder that seem to spread the more she uses the splendor, meant as a sign that keeping it in her is taking a physical toll, but this is implemented inconsistently throughout the book. There's a few instances where she experiences pain using her gift, but most of the time she's fine, and little attention is given to her having to hide this from strangers. The spread of the pocks is also inconsistent and all but forgotten by the book's conclusion. Her personality shifts are also seemingly meant to be a symptom of the splendor as well, but she just barely felt recognizable as the Koffi from the previous two books. She just came across as so much more generic in a really disappointing way.
The side characters also suffered as the book went on, and they seemingly have little to do beyond provide generic banter. Granted, I read Beasts of Ruin last year so my memory of it isn't perfect, but I don't recall the other daraja being quite so one-note as they are in Beasts of War. There's so much going on in the plot that it feels like there's little room in the plot for anyone who isn't Koffi, Ekon, or maybe Akande. And don't even get me started on the pointlessness of Zain's last second death.
I wanted so badly to enjoy this book. The world has so many interesting places and unique creatures to explore, as well as so many interesting character dynamics that could have been explored but ultimately weren't. The plot is disjointed and overly contrived, with story elements coming and going seemingly on a whim. The Untethered show up to create tension but are otherwise ignored. The potentially complicated romantic entanglements of Ekon, Safiyah, Koffi and Zain are only half resolved by hastily murdering Zain at yhe last minute and seemingly forgetting Safiyah exists. The climax took place so fast and wrapped up so easily I was left confused and wondering "That was it? After all that fuss, that was it?"