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A review by tanya_tate
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-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? Yes
4.75
Book Stats
Stars: 4.5 Stars
Start Date:05/02/24
Ending Date:05 /18/24
Genre: Historical Fiction Fantasy
Form: E-Arc/ALC
Page Count: 352
Publishing Date: 07/02/24
Point of View: 1st Person
Setting: 15th Century West Africa
GoodReads:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6446918379
My Blog: https://tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2024/05/18/masquerade-by-o-o-sangoyomi/
Thank you MacMillan Audio for the Audiobook Arc exchange for an honest review. Thank you Edelweiss for the E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.
Masquerade is a West African Nigerian/ Yoruba retelling of Hades and Persephone. Ododo is a 19 year old Black Smith who the village people call witches lives in Timbuktu with her mother who is also a Black Smith. One day she is kidnapped and whisked away to the capital city of Ṣàngótẹ̀ after giving a stranger a rose that she foraged in her shop. The stranger ends up being Aremo, the warrior king who has taken over Yorùbáland including Ododo’s home, Timbuktu. Captured by her beauty, singing, and blacksmith skills, he wants her to be his wife and rule by his side. As Ododo steps into becoming his wife and her role in the court, political and court intrigue ensues for the quest of power.
This book is like a slow cooker or a pressure cooker. You put all your ingredients in for your dinner and let it cook slowly. You read the instructions of the slow cooker and you trust the process. When your dinner is done, the meat, vegetables and rice you had there is tender, juicy, and cooked to perfection. That is what Masquerade is to the fullest. It’s a book that you just got to let it cook and you’ll be surprised with the contents.
The author weaves a basket of storytelling, world building and character development in the eyes of Ododo and how women are treated in general. Her character development from a 19 year old girl who was black smith taking from home to marry the warrior king to being the most powerful Women in Yorubaland is perfectly crafted. She is a woman that as the saying goes “I support women’s rights and wrongs.” can be fitted perfectly with her. She did what she had to do in order to survive.
I do have to say that if you are a person who doesn't like slow pace books, this may not be for you. Even though I am not too fond of slow paced books myself, some parts are slow but I can tell the author was building on to something. So you have to trust the process because the payoff is so good. Like the last 30% of the book was cooking but the last 10% was straight fire. But it is the reason why I can’t give it a full five stars because some parts were a little boring but it’s a book that if you push through you will love it. I listened to the audiobook in which the narrator, Ariel Blake, was amazing with her voice. Which she did hold my attention to the story.
The characters of this book are morally grey and challenging at best. Some are doing things for themselves, while others are doing things for others. One thing I do have to say is that you have to watch your back in this book because you don’t know who is going to pull the dagger at you for their personal grain. This book pretty much becomes if Game of Thrones was set in 15th century Africa. The political scheming and intrigue was top notch. Like I just said you don’t know who to trust and who is your ally or your foe.
I will say this book is loosely based on Hades and Persephone to the point it feels like more an inspiration than an actual retelling. If you are looking for a traditional love story with the two characters based on Hades and Persephone (cough to fix your Lore Olympus fix cough) this is not the book for you. The love between Ododo and Aremo is a walking red flag, toxic, and who can use the other.
The king may say he loved her but he did kidnap her, never fully thought that she could be his equal even if he was using her for Intel, was using gifts for love, and almost turned on her at a drop of a dime when serving his interest. Even if was full of charm and had some great lines, he still was a tyrant who didn’t mind who he killed and took land from to increase his power. Even if “You are the bones that make up my spine.” was a good line, it shows what a good charmer he was.
Ododo never fully loved him but loved the fact that she could gain with him power and social standing. Like sure, he was a walking red flag that she should have walked away from but each day she strayed she realized she liked the power and freedom it gave her being with him. Until she realized that he will never appreciate the things she did for him which she had to take matters in her own hands. I also will not call Ododo an “Evil Persephone” either. This woman was put in certain situations that were not ideal and she thought about her own survival/ place in the kingdom which she learned that quickly.
There is also social commentary on how women are treated and how they can get their agency back. Like the black smiths who are women are called witches for no reason at all. Who they pretty saw how one person rose in the ranks and thought they can all do it too. It shows how women are treated by the moms, the guys who think they are inferior and how often they are pitted against each other instead of being unified. Like I said before I support women's rights and wrongs which this book makes you think.
This is a debut for this author but this is a masterclass on how you tell a story that if you trust what the author is trying to do, it is a payoff. I highly recommend this one and can’t wait to see what Ms. Sangoyomi writes next. I just wish I had the physical arc of it to put in my library instead of the digital. Lol Will be buying this one!
Also lets give it up for the beautiful cover!