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A review by fadingapple
Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.75
4.75/5 stars
Wow - just wow! Ehigbor Okosun is EXPLOSIVE with this brutal, intricate, elegant debut. Demi is such a great main character - she's broken and flawed and strong and torn; we learn from and with her and watch as the history she thought she knew, based her life on, is flipped on its head. She is forced to confront everything she's grown up thinking and the grief and anger she's carried for 9 years and make decisions that will determine not only her fate, but the fates of the nation and all magic users.
The world building, lore, magic, and Nigerian folklore is stunning in this book - fully immersive, beautiful, and devastating at times I was left reeling by the images rendered by Okosun's descriptions. It never felt info-dumpy but I always felt like I had enough information at the time to understand what was happening and feel apart of the world.
The relationships were just....chefs kiss. The tension and love triangle, further complicated by trust issues and secrets, was done so well. Any frustration was felt on behalf of the characters, not because I felt like Okosun was toying with us or dragging it out. Some of the reveals shocked me, others were expected, and at least one broke my heart to pieces.
Overall, this was a really phenomenal start to a duology I cannot WAIT to complete. The cover is stunning, the writing is outstanding, and it was just so fun to read. Definitely add this one to your TBR and Okosun to your authors-to-watch list!
Wow - just wow! Ehigbor Okosun is EXPLOSIVE with this brutal, intricate, elegant debut. Demi is such a great main character - she's broken and flawed and strong and torn; we learn from and with her and watch as the history she thought she knew, based her life on, is flipped on its head. She is forced to confront everything she's grown up thinking and the grief and anger she's carried for 9 years and make decisions that will determine not only her fate, but the fates of the nation and all magic users.
The world building, lore, magic, and Nigerian folklore is stunning in this book - fully immersive, beautiful, and devastating at times I was left reeling by the images rendered by Okosun's descriptions. It never felt info-dumpy but I always felt like I had enough information at the time to understand what was happening and feel apart of the world.
The relationships were just....chefs kiss. The tension and love triangle, further complicated by trust issues and secrets, was done so well. Any frustration was felt on behalf of the characters, not because I felt like Okosun was toying with us or dragging it out. Some of the reveals shocked me, others were expected, and at least one broke my heart to pieces.
Overall, this was a really phenomenal start to a duology I cannot WAIT to complete. The cover is stunning, the writing is outstanding, and it was just so fun to read. Definitely add this one to your TBR and Okosun to your authors-to-watch list!