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qwerty88's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Murder
Moderate: Colonisation
wynwicket's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I'm conflicted on this one--there was a lot to like: the exploration of Nigerian myth and folklore with a unique and fascinating concept of magic; the idea of the gods forming corporations to encourage and control people's faith and oust each other from power (How would a god drum up 'business' these days?) And a surprise cameo from Aleister Crowley, who's more than a little out of his element among Our Heroes, a former nightmare god and a succubus!
But there was a lot that just didn't work: the constant jumping back and forth through time to show past events took me out of the story a lot; the frequent coercive sex on the part of our succubus (who suddenly decided she was in LOVE in the last 50 pages of the book? Eh.) The heist subplot (which I was really excited about) felt like more of an afterthought. And our Hero, Shigidi, was kind of a blank slate. Intentionally so, maybe, but it was hard to get to know him.
I look forward to discussing this with folks!
But there was a lot that just didn't work: the constant jumping back and forth through time to show past events took me out of the story a lot; the frequent coercive sex on the part of our succubus (who suddenly decided she was in LOVE in the last 50 pages of the book? Eh.) The heist subplot (which I was really excited about) felt like more of an afterthought. And our Hero, Shigidi, was kind of a blank slate. Intentionally so, maybe, but it was hard to get to know him.
I look forward to discussing this with folks!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
blacksphinx's review against another edition
adventurous
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
2.5
This book was pitched to me as an anti-colonial heist. And while there is a heist, and some pages of scathing rage about the plunder on display in British museums, the vast majority of this book is a nonlinear romance between an Orisha and a fallen angel. Also Aleister Crowley is here for some reason, but at least the author remembered he was bi? There is very little on-page prep for the heist and it goes by extremely quickly when it finally happens. There were some beautiful moments (who knew you could make a board meeting crackle) but it lacked both the social commentary bite (anti-capitalism was right there!) and the character moments I was looking for.
There's also a very uncomfortable chapter where our only female character of note uses her succubus powers on a unwilling man to have sex with him then eat his soul, from his perspective. Pure nightmare fuel that also left a bad taste in my mouth.
It was still wildly inventive and I will be reading future works by this author, but this wasn't for me. If you're a romantasy girlie who can handle immoral characters and are looking for something with the scales tipped more on the fantasy side, especially if you're looking for Black characters, you might want to give this a shot.
There's also a very uncomfortable chapter where our only female character of note uses her succubus powers on a unwilling man to have sex with him then eat his soul, from his perspective. Pure nightmare fuel that also left a bad taste in my mouth.
It was still wildly inventive and I will be reading future works by this author, but this wasn't for me. If you're a romantasy girlie who can handle immoral characters and are looking for something with the scales tipped more on the fantasy side, especially if you're looking for Black characters, you might want to give this a shot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Racism, Sexism, and Confinement
Minor: Colonisation, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Car accident
One of our main characters is a succubus who seduces people then eats them. This process is described in detail from the perspective of a totally unwilling victim.lottiegasp's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
This novel follows two Yoruba demons undertake a heist reclaiming a stolen cultural artefact from the British Museum to win back their freedom. While I found the concept fun and interesting, I didn't think the writing was very good, there were too many flashbacks that didn't add much and threw off the pacing, I didn't care about the protagonists or find their sudden change from friends with benefits to true love convincing, the themes of the stolen cultural artefact stored in the British Museum was a bit heavy-handed, and the heist didn't turn out to be very exciting. There were also several graphic sex scenes where one of the protagonists used her magic powers to coerce the other in wanting to have sex with her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
One of the protagonists is a succubus and coerces multiple characters into having sex with her in quite graphic sex scenes.torreychanning's review
adventurous
challenging
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
ramreadsagain's review against another edition
Ah man, I really wanted to enjoy this: Yoruba gods stealing back an artefact from the British Museum? Sign me up!
The main thing I couldn’t get past was the treatment of women. Apart from the main female character (more about her later) every woman existed solely to be sexualised, usually in the form of waitresses wearing skimpy clothing, or else just exists as the ‘hag’ trope.
But Nneoma is our main female character; she is a succubus. I’m not against the use of these in fiction but I’m not convinced this book progressed beyond the misogynistic origins of the succubus myth. Despite being the second main character, Nneoma’s role consists of having sex and mentioning a mysterious loss of her sister. They need someone (a man) to help them in their heist? Don’t worry! Here’s a flashback where Nneoma had sex with a guy and now he owes her a favour. Oh and the sex is never fully consensual by the way, the first time this happens, it’s with Aleister Crowley, who is gay, and she magically seduces him right in front of his male partner, which was such a nice way to treat your queer characters (/s). The second time this happens, she quite literally rapes a man while he is saying “No, please” and crying thinking about his family. He then dies. This was the moment I DNF’d.
Beyond that, our main character Shigidi did not have enough characterisation for me considering I was at the 54% mark, and the writing style also wasn’t for me - way too many adjectives and adverbs man 😩 I don’t need a paragraph of what the sky looks like every time we change scene.
The main thing I couldn’t get past was the treatment of women. Apart from the main female character (more about her later) every woman existed solely to be sexualised, usually in the form of waitresses wearing skimpy clothing, or else just exists as the ‘hag’ trope.
But Nneoma is our main female character; she is a succubus. I’m not against the use of these in fiction but I’m not convinced this book progressed beyond the misogynistic origins of the succubus myth. Despite being the second main character, Nneoma’s role consists of having sex and mentioning a mysterious loss of her sister. They need someone (a man) to help them in their heist? Don’t worry! Here’s a flashback where Nneoma had sex with a guy and now he owes her a favour. Oh and the sex is never fully consensual by the way, the first time this happens, it’s with Aleister Crowley, who is gay, and she magically seduces him right in front of his male partner, which was such a nice way to treat your queer characters (/s). The second time this happens, she quite literally rapes a man while he is saying “No, please” and crying thinking about his family. He then dies. This was the moment I DNF’d.
Beyond that, our main character Shigidi did not have enough characterisation for me considering I was at the 54% mark, and the writing style also wasn’t for me - way too many adjectives and adverbs man 😩 I don’t need a paragraph of what the sky looks like every time we change scene.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual assault
wormlibrary's review
2.75
A generous 3 stars.
This was fine. It read super fast and I (mostly) enjoyed the writing style and the interesting lore I got to learn about. The nigerian slang peppered in did a great job of making it even more immersive.
Religion is a corporate system in this novel and while an interesting concept, I feel like more could’ve been done with it. The way it worked made Shigidi’s background pretty bland for what he is, and I struggled to think of him as the main, titular character of this book for most of the time. I found his character arc, motivations, emotions… unconvincing and some nonexistent until maybe the last 10%. In contrast, Nneoma’s past is thoroughly explored and narrated for big chunks of the book, and she was so much more of a personality that just completely overshadowed Shigidi in my eyes. As much as it drove the story, it rubbed me the wrong way because his name is the one in the title.
Nneoma is also a succubus, and there’s a plethora of sex scenes ranging from dub con to straight up rape, so be aware.
My expectations of this before reading were way off, but all in all I had an alright time.
Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
This was fine. It read super fast and I (mostly) enjoyed the writing style and the interesting lore I got to learn about. The nigerian slang peppered in did a great job of making it even more immersive.
Religion is a corporate system in this novel and while an interesting concept, I feel like more could’ve been done with it. The way it worked made Shigidi’s background pretty bland for what he is, and I struggled to think of him as the main, titular character of this book for most of the time. I found his character arc, motivations, emotions… unconvincing and some nonexistent until maybe the last 10%. In contrast, Nneoma’s past is thoroughly explored and narrated for big chunks of the book, and she was so much more of a personality that just completely overshadowed Shigidi in my eyes. As much as it drove the story, it rubbed me the wrong way because his name is the one in the title.
Nneoma is also a succubus, and there’s a plethora of sex scenes ranging from dub con to straight up rape, so be aware.
My expectations of this before reading were way off, but all in all I had an alright time.
Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
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