kylpon 's review for:

Beasts of War by Ayana Gray

3.0

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3ish stars?
I loved parts of this one but overall it was missing something. There's a lot of plot holes and the group is often saved by sudden outside forces. Things are too convenient

Spoiler

Attuno showing up when he does even though he has been avoiding all things mortal. Ekon meeting with Itaashe but never getting to tell Koffi and her lack of surprise or anything when she appears at the final battle and really how dull was that battle, how little Fedu actually does

Koffi is supposed to be super powerful and I get that she cannot use the splendor without risks to herself with how much she is holding within herself but even when she does use it she has so little control. The thing I disliked the most though was the love story and how poorly it is played out. There's no actual resolution, we get the result in the epilogue but none of the how it got there and it just has no feeling to it. There isn't a lot of character growth in general. The Akande chapters while usually interesting, didn't add a ton to the story other than making it longer. He had such a small, albeit important, role to play in the story that all the time spent on his backstory just didn't feel that worthwhile.
The book isn't all bad though. I enjoy the African feel to it and seeing the various gods. The setting and the description of the beasts are the best parts. There is an interesting quest story in there, I just struggled with this book more than I hoped.

I still enjoyed this series overall and appreciate the different mythos. I'm glad I finished the trilogy, but isn't a favourite of mine.