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A review by viktranka
Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun
5.0
This was an extremely enjoyable book, and despite being 1st in a series, the sub-plots of book 1 were mostly wrapped up, with new ones emerging for the sequel, so we aren't left without resolutions - it's just these resolutions created consequences. As it should be.
Now the biggest elephant in the room many people argue about: is this a YA or an adult fantasy? Well, dear reader, I'm not a fan of using "this is YA" as some mark of shame to say "this book was beneath me", but from my recent reads, it's much closer in tone and prose to a YA book I've read (Sing Me To Sleep by Gabi Burton) than an adult fantasy (The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem), and you know what? Sometimes we can just read YA books and shamelessly enjoy them, despite being grown up adults.
So, if you liked books like Children of Blood and Bone, The Gilded Ones, Beasts of Prey, Sing Me To Sleep, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, and generally bad-ass Black girls, you'll probably enjoy this one.
List of common YA tropes you can expect from this book:
- oppressed mages who have to fight to make the world a better place
- a hot-headed "wants to do the right thing, but ends up getting into trouble for it" lead
- orphan protagonist
- chosen one
- multiple characters who are apparently more than they appeared to be ()
- a love triangle, no "spice" though (just kisses)
- soulmates / fated mates
- adults are often either support cast, or evil - the spotlight is on the teens (fmc is 17 for most of the book)
- plot armor ()
-
- "and with this easy 5 minute trick, we"
- fast-paced first person narration
- coming of age character arc
Was it cheesy? Yes. Did it have more serious moments? Also yes, especially the ending felt a bit bittersweet, but we'll see what happens in the sequel. Some of the depictions of the mistreatment done to the oppressed population was chilling, like. Did it avoid shoving "shock value" scenes in the face of the reader? Yes, and thank you for that. The reader is made aware of awful things happening, but these aren't depicted in a grueling detail.
My only criticism is that "oppressed mages" is such a tired trope in fantasy right now, both adult and YA, I wish we'd give it a rest for a few years. Also another tired trope is
4.5 stars rounded up. Idk why average rating on this is so low, I guess people who hate YA are pushing it down. If you expected Super Serious African Epic Fantasy, please read The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi or The Unbroken by C.L. Clark instead, you'll enjoy it more, I bet.
I guess it's also publisher's fault for advertising it as "adult fantasy", but on the other hand... they knew what they did putting such a YA-style cover with a cartoonish girl there, I could put this next to The Bone Spindle and That Self-Same Metal and nobody would think "one of these is not like the others".
If you like classic heroic fantasy / YA fantasy tropes with Nigerian mythology, but don't want anything too grimdark - this one was perfect!
Now the biggest elephant in the room many people argue about: is this a YA or an adult fantasy? Well, dear reader, I'm not a fan of using "this is YA" as some mark of shame to say "this book was beneath me", but from my recent reads, it's much closer in tone and prose to a YA book I've read (Sing Me To Sleep by Gabi Burton) than an adult fantasy (The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem), and you know what? Sometimes we can just read YA books and shamelessly enjoy them, despite being grown up adults.
So, if you liked books like Children of Blood and Bone, The Gilded Ones, Beasts of Prey, Sing Me To Sleep, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, and generally bad-ass Black girls, you'll probably enjoy this one.
List of common YA tropes you can expect from this book:
- oppressed mages who have to fight to make the world a better place
- a hot-headed "wants to do the right thing, but ends up getting into trouble for it" lead
- orphan protagonist
- chosen one
Spoiler
hey, the spirits made a sacrifice so you could live and fight!- multiple characters who are apparently more than they appeared to be (
Spoiler
"I'm a heir of a royal / important bloodline" trope and "I secretly had magic" trope- a love triangle, no "spice" though (just kisses)
- soulmates / fated mates
- adults are often either support cast, or evil - the spotlight is on the teens (fmc is 17 for most of the book)
- plot armor (
Spoiler
there were few moments where it felt like something truly awful would happen but last minute rescue arrived-
Spoiler
villain monologue- "and with this easy 5 minute trick, we
Spoiler
overthrew the evil king- fast-paced first person narration
- coming of age character arc
Was it cheesy? Yes. Did it have more serious moments? Also yes, especially the ending felt a bit bittersweet, but we'll see what happens in the sequel. Some of the depictions of the mistreatment done to the oppressed population was chilling, like
Spoiler
children being sold into slavery or prisoners being subject to forced breeding practicesMy only criticism is that "oppressed mages" is such a tired trope in fantasy right now, both adult and YA, I wish we'd give it a rest for a few years. Also another tired trope is
Spoiler
POC fmc comes from an oppressed group but falls in love with a guy who's a leader / son of a leader of the dominant group, that is also white, we had that already in Jasad Heir and Hurricane Wars and...4.5 stars rounded up. Idk why average rating on this is so low, I guess people who hate YA are pushing it down. If you expected Super Serious African Epic Fantasy, please read The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi or The Unbroken by C.L. Clark instead, you'll enjoy it more, I bet.
I guess it's also publisher's fault for advertising it as "adult fantasy", but on the other hand... they knew what they did putting such a YA-style cover with a cartoonish girl there, I could put this next to The Bone Spindle and That Self-Same Metal and nobody would think "one of these is not like the others".
If you like classic heroic fantasy / YA fantasy tropes with Nigerian mythology, but don't want anything too grimdark - this one was perfect!