After the raid when they’re heading back, they overhear some merchants talking badly about the Kestrel and Karina herself, and Karina tries to break up the fight by revealing her identity, but just when Malik is trying to get himself to strike her from behind with this opportunity, someone else throws a rock at her, and she is hurried away by guards before she is further hurt. Dedele does not even perform, dropping out of the competition, as this was Karina’s win condition for wakama. At the end of a very sexually charged dance, Karina pushes him into the lake in front of everyone, where he has to be fished out. The wish has consequences, however, and a powerful spirit entity kidnaps Malik’s younger sister, Nadia.

He and Tunde race to the finish, Tunde having decided that he does in fact want the opportunity to marry Karina. This story barrels along like a high-speed train, its energy reminiscent of Malik’s fidgeting anxiety or Karina’s frenzied fixation on the increasingly shrinking time she has left to perform her ritual.After admitting that her mother is dead, Karina enlists Afua’s help with the eventual ritual that needs to happen. That ending had my mind completely and totally blown and I'm sure that I'll have a better grasp on the magic system and the world as a whole, but I did have some issues with this first one. In the interim, Malik has an encounter with Idir, and Malik attempts to gain the upper hand with his illusions, but Idir is too powerful.

I didn't hate this book, but it was really hyped as an Aladdin inspired enemies to lovers epic, and I just didn't get out of it what I was hoping to.There is obviously a sequel coming, but I really don't think that I will read it because I am not feeling this urge to know what will happen to the characters. Instead, they’re tales of trickery, clever riddles, and moral lessons, and feature more animal characters than human.

To access you ebook(s) after purchasing, you can download the free Glose app or read instantly on your browser by logging into Glose.The first in a gripping fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction—from debut author Roseanne A. But she is fierce and independent and willing to stand up for what she believes in, never willing to back down from a challenge. It wasn't just one person trying to kill the other, it was both of them planning to kill each other and that's just sooo muuch better. When her mother, the Sultana is assassinated, Karina does not want to carry the burden of rulings and looks for a way to resurrect her mother for which will involve dark magic and a human sacrifice. In a starred review by Kirkus Review states that the storyline is "revitalizing and exciting, Brown’s debut breathes life into ancient but still relevant folk stories".

Regardless of who had her mother killed, none of it will matter if she can manage to bring her back, so she sets about trying to find someone who can help her learn more about magic.

But only one of them outs himself as the one who hired the assassin, though he swears it was only supposed to be an “attempt” to scare the Kestrel into starting war herself with Arkwasi. I really appreciated this inclusion in a high fantasy story and how it contributed to Malik's character arc and growth. At times she was such a badass like when she beat the champion but then SHE THREW THE GODDAMN BOOK INTO A CANON.