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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don’t venture much into the fantasy genre. This was a good story to venture. Secret powers, loyalty, friendship, ambition, freedom and betrayal are the major themes. The pacing was off for me - there were times it seems to drag along and other thrones went went too fast. Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I may consider reading the next book in the series. I don’t have Netflix currently, but may check it out if I get it or when it comes out in DVD.
How did I find this book? It was selected by Stephen Curry for his December 2021 Underrated book club selection hosted through Literati.
How did I find this book? It was selected by Stephen Curry for his December 2021 Underrated book club selection hosted through Literati.
I was debating whether to give this 4 or 5 stars, but honestly, it deserves 5!
There are so many layers to the story. The worldbuilding is interesting and intricate, the characters are bright and distinctive on the page, and Gray's writing style is really doing it for me.
Beasts of Prey is a Pan-African fantasy inspired by lore, animals, language, and even historical figures from many different African nations, as Gray explains in her author's note. Gray also explores forced diaspora. You can really feel her love and devotion to the world and the story that she's created, and it gives the book that extra layer that makes the world come alive.
I also love that she included an annotation of her first chapter in the back of the book!
It does have some classic YA tropes, but I loved the main characters and the central theme of finding yourself and overcoming past trauma. The story follows two main characters: Koffi, an indentured beastkeeper of the Night Zoo, and Ekon, a trainee for a band of religious warriors called the Sons of Six. When Koffi accidentally unleashes magic she didn’t know she had, called the splendor, it gets her in trouble with the owner of the Night Zoo. She finds herself teaming up with Ekon, who is trying to prove himelf worthy of being a warrior, in order to track down a monster called the Shetani.
I also ended up enjoying puzzling out how one of the POVs connected with the others.
This is a great beginning to the series and I recommend it if you're looking for a story with multiple POVs, great characters, monsters, magic, and a creepy jungle!
There are so many layers to the story. The worldbuilding is interesting and intricate, the characters are bright and distinctive on the page, and Gray's writing style is really doing it for me.
Beasts of Prey is a Pan-African fantasy inspired by lore, animals, language, and even historical figures from many different African nations, as Gray explains in her author's note. Gray also explores forced diaspora. You can really feel her love and devotion to the world and the story that she's created, and it gives the book that extra layer that makes the world come alive.
I also love that she included an annotation of her first chapter in the back of the book!
It does have some classic YA tropes, but I loved the main characters and the central theme of finding yourself and overcoming past trauma. The story follows two main characters: Koffi, an indentured beastkeeper of the Night Zoo, and Ekon, a trainee for a band of religious warriors called the Sons of Six. When Koffi accidentally unleashes magic she didn’t know she had, called the splendor, it gets her in trouble with the owner of the Night Zoo. She finds herself teaming up with Ekon, who is trying to prove himelf worthy of being a warrior, in order to track down a monster called the Shetani.
I also ended up enjoying puzzling out how one of the POVs connected with the others.
This is a great beginning to the series and I recommend it if you're looking for a story with multiple POVs, great characters, monsters, magic, and a creepy jungle!
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It's been almost a week since I finished this one, and I still feel like I lack the words to express how beautiful I thought this book was. The world-building and character development are great. I was fascinated by the idea of magic as "splendor" that is drawn up from the earth, and the journey through the Greater Jungle to find a monster was tense and vivid. It took me to the very last sentence to piece together all the elements to this story. I'm excited to read the sequel Beasts of Ruin to see what happens next, especially since this book ends on quite the cliffhanger.
adventurous
emotional
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:
N/A
2.5 stars
This book is good at being a basic ya novel—very tropey, but an easy and mindlessly enjoyable read. Still, this does mean that there’s more focus on a quickly built romance (wdym they became that infatuated with each other after just a week??) than what I wanted to see. I was at least 200 pages in before the characters actually got to the jungle, and then I didn’t get to see as many freaky things as I was expecting. Also I called one of the major twists very early on. It’s a cool idea, just not super surprising.
This book is good at being a basic ya novel—very tropey, but an easy and mindlessly enjoyable read. Still, this does mean that there’s more focus on a quickly built romance (wdym they became that infatuated with each other after just a week??) than what I wanted to see. I was at least 200 pages in before the characters actually got to the jungle, and then I didn’t get to see as many freaky things as I was expecting. Also I called one of the major twists very early on. It’s a cool idea, just not super surprising.
This one took me a bit to get into, but once the plot really got going I couldn't stop. I'm very into books set in African and middle eastern areas right now and this gave me everything I was looking for. Different cultures, magical systems, belief systems, terrain, you name it. The ultimate character twist is something I did not see coming, and I also wouldn't have guessed what was actually terrorizing Lkossa; it seems like surprising me is hard these days, so that's a huge plus in my book. I wish it had picked up the pace a bit more in the beginning, but other than that I would totally recommend this one to anyone interested in books like Children of Blood and Bone or We Hunt the Flame.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5 stars rounded up!
I am very much unsure of my feelings for this book. I absolutely loved the world and magic in this book but at the same time it went by super slow and just left me feeling meh. I do think this is a great set up for a fantastic series but I wish we got a little more from the characters and scenes from the night zoo and jungle. The ending did leave me interested to read the next book so I definitely will be continuing on with the series!
I am very much unsure of my feelings for this book. I absolutely loved the world and magic in this book but at the same time it went by super slow and just left me feeling meh. I do think this is a great set up for a fantastic series but I wish we got a little more from the characters and scenes from the night zoo and jungle. The ending did leave me interested to read the next book so I definitely will be continuing on with the series!
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
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:
Complicated