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A review by ofmadnessandmagic
Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.
For me, Forged By Blood falls into the category "great idea, not-so-great execution".
I enjoyed the book but it ultimately fell flat for me, even though there were aspects of it that I really loved.
The worldbuilding and setting are amazing. Out of the Nigerian-inspired fantasy books that I've read so far, this one had my favorite world. It did such a great job at balancing the sad reality of colonization while also showcasing the magic, richness and beauty of Nigerian culture and mythology.
I think the idea of the novel was great and I certainly see where the author was going with it, it just didn't fully work for me.
The plot felt convoluted at times with everything that was going on. There were also a few scenes where I was a bit confused how we got there. In my opinion, there were too many plot strings that didn't feel woven together.
I also didn't love the romance, it felt quite forced, especially the progression between the "prologue" and then their re-union in the now made little sense to me, mostly in regard to the FMC's reaction. (I know this is very vague but I can't really say more without spoiling anything).
Overall, I think it just comes with some issues that are common in debut novels, but I see a lot of potential and will definitely be interested in the author's future work.
For me, Forged By Blood falls into the category "great idea, not-so-great execution".
I enjoyed the book but it ultimately fell flat for me, even though there were aspects of it that I really loved.
The worldbuilding and setting are amazing. Out of the Nigerian-inspired fantasy books that I've read so far, this one had my favorite world. It did such a great job at balancing the sad reality of colonization while also showcasing the magic, richness and beauty of Nigerian culture and mythology.
I think the idea of the novel was great and I certainly see where the author was going with it, it just didn't fully work for me.
The plot felt convoluted at times with everything that was going on. There were also a few scenes where I was a bit confused how we got there. In my opinion, there were too many plot strings that didn't feel woven together.
I also didn't love the romance, it felt quite forced, especially the progression between the "prologue" and then their re-union in the now made little sense to me, mostly in regard to the FMC's reaction. (I know this is very vague but I can't really say more without spoiling anything).
Overall, I think it just comes with some issues that are common in debut novels, but I see a lot of potential and will definitely be interested in the author's future work.