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kittyg 's review for:
Daughters of Nri
by Reni K. Amayo
I picked this up on audio for #Blackathon and I was glad to finally get around to trying out this series and this new-to-me author.
I have to first give credit to the author for her descriptions of the characters who are black. She doesn't shy away from describing the colours and tones of the skin, nor the way that hair textures and practices differ, and I loved to see this representation as a strong stable of the whole book.
This book is a tale about two twins who get separated at birth but who were born goddesses. They don't know about their heritage, but they live in vastly different places when the story starts and they have to gradually unlock their powers and find their way back to one another. One lives in a tiny village and the other as an orphan in the palace.
Esinaala (called Naala in the book) is easy to root for as she's keen to stay true to herself and say things how she sees them. She doesn't shy away from fighting for herself and others and she's always trying to be helpful to others around her.
Sinaikuku (called Sinai in the book) is a different kind of character who likes to take her time and think more before rushing headlong into action. She felt a little harder for me to connect to and I did find her plot to be a bit slower and lower stakes at first.
Eze Ochichiri is the 'big bad; in this book. He's supposed to be a ruler who wants justice but in actuality he's trying to achieve this by ordering people to kill innocents. I disliked him intensely throughout.
Meekulu Kaurandua was a cool character who plays the role of a kind of mentor for Sini. She is a tough older lady character who has more knowledge than she first lets on and I think she came into her own as the book progressed. I liked her odd detours in conversation to prove a point.
The magic of this world is small and I wanted more. Though the characters do discover their magic and potential I felt like for me it was a bit too little explanation and a bit low impact but I think this is probably going to be expanded in book #2.
In the end, a solid 3*s for me, a very likeable ready and some very good points, but in terms of the story it's a little predictable and the pacing felt a bit slow overall to me.
I have to first give credit to the author for her descriptions of the characters who are black. She doesn't shy away from describing the colours and tones of the skin, nor the way that hair textures and practices differ, and I loved to see this representation as a strong stable of the whole book.
This book is a tale about two twins who get separated at birth but who were born goddesses. They don't know about their heritage, but they live in vastly different places when the story starts and they have to gradually unlock their powers and find their way back to one another. One lives in a tiny village and the other as an orphan in the palace.
Esinaala (called Naala in the book) is easy to root for as she's keen to stay true to herself and say things how she sees them. She doesn't shy away from fighting for herself and others and she's always trying to be helpful to others around her.
Sinaikuku (called Sinai in the book) is a different kind of character who likes to take her time and think more before rushing headlong into action. She felt a little harder for me to connect to and I did find her plot to be a bit slower and lower stakes at first.
Eze Ochichiri is the 'big bad; in this book. He's supposed to be a ruler who wants justice but in actuality he's trying to achieve this by ordering people to kill innocents. I disliked him intensely throughout.
Meekulu Kaurandua was a cool character who plays the role of a kind of mentor for Sini. She is a tough older lady character who has more knowledge than she first lets on and I think she came into her own as the book progressed. I liked her odd detours in conversation to prove a point.
The magic of this world is small and I wanted more. Though the characters do discover their magic and potential I felt like for me it was a bit too little explanation and a bit low impact but I think this is probably going to be expanded in book #2.
In the end, a solid 3*s for me, a very likeable ready and some very good points, but in terms of the story it's a little predictable and the pacing felt a bit slow overall to me.