Kayode dreams of eating the forbidden fruit of the Orishas, so he can gain the power of the gods and stop them terrorizing his people. So when a fruit mysteriously appears in his path after the Orishas snatch his sister, he leaps on it.
Surging with new and difficult-to-control powers, he joins forces with a shapeshifting trickster god and a vengeful princess to save his sister and put an end to the mighty Orishas. But each has more fearful powers than the last - and Kayode's stolen half-god strength won't last for ever...
I know a lot about European myths. Greek and Roman, all over it. Bits and pieces of Native American and Asian, yep. Anansi the Spider, bring him on. But for all that the world is getting smaller, myth collections don't have a lot of African stories in them. Stories like this are seeking to redress the balance. Although the Orisha - spirits set between people and the gods - here are invented, they're based on real ones, and Ashley hopes that readers will be inspired to find out about the real ones after reading this.
On its own it's a great action story, full of tension, tight moments and heroics. The characters are all amazing - shoutout to Bami! - and there were several moments where I gasped or shouted as I was reading.
There's a couple of threads left unpulled at the end - possible sequel? - but all in all things are settled. This is a great read and I can't wait to start selling it.
The Boy to Beat the Gods publishes on the 4th of July, 2024. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment