Reviews with content warning for Death - Her Name Is Knight

i loved following Nena’s journey in finding her power, strength, and resilience after surviving so many horrific tragedies. i was rooting for her the entire time and left so impressed and emotional over her growth. the writing style is also beautifully unique, the switching between 1st and 3rd person for her “Before” and “After” chapters was a phenomenal choice that truly enhanced the narrative journey. the only thing i didn’t enjoy was the romance subplot, it was a little too insta-love for me and it didn’t make sense that Nena would fall for someone she doesn’t know well that quickly, especially considering all of her trauma. i’m interested to see how it will all play out in the sequel!

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remigves's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

Content Warnings

tessatalksbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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cortney_d's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Nena Knight, code name Echo, is a highly trained assassin for The Tribe — a powerful collective committed to the advancement and protection of Africa and its people all over the world.

I picked this up expecting an action-packed story about a badass assassin who’s dispatched to help break up a human trafficking ring. And that’s what we got from a heroine who, from a young age, was questioning and aspiring to live a life beyond the confines of the gender norms in her family.

What I wasn’t expecting — and was pleasantly surprised by — was a deeply emotional story about family, retribution, reclaiming one’s power, and self-discovery.

The story is told in dual timelines — the before and after — encircling a major event in Nena’s life. The before is told in first person from Nena’s perspective and the after is told in third person. It’s brilliantly executed and after a few chapters I realized that the two stories would eventually converge. And they did in the most beautiful way.

I felt so many contradictory emotions when reading this — excitement, fear and tension; I laughed and teared up at one point; there were moments that felt heartbreaking and others that made my heart feel so full; and parts of Nena’s story made me question my faith in humanity before completely restoring it.

There was also a realistic portrayal of the effects that years of trauma can have one a person in a way I haven’t seen before. The constant push and pull of wanting to be accepted and loved, and wanting to trust but always questioning if it’s possible, real or even safe to do so. It was so well done.

The attention to detail, the layers and nuance incorporated into every storyline and character was incredible. Everything happens for a reason and every character serves a purpose even if it’s only temporary. There’s a scene where “Don’t Wake Me Up” by Lianne La Havas is playing and I’m not exaggerating when I tell you it was the perfect song for that moment and that I could see and feel everything that was happening. (Side note: I’m obsessed with that song now.)

Not to be dramatic but reading this felt like an experience more than just a story. It would make an incredible movie if the right person got their hands on it.

I cannot recommend this amazing debut enough! 🤎

And I would be remiss if I didn’t shout out Tamika Katon-Donegal @elite_qt who absolutely killed it on the audiobook!! Ghanaian, British, French, American and Jamaican accents?! 🤯 Incredible!! 👏🏽👏🏽

⚠️ As always, check the trigger warnings in the forward. The story involves some very heavy issues but the author handles them with a lot of care and sensitivity. There are violent action scenes, but there’s no body horror or graphic or gratuitous descriptions of physical or sexual violence.

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