There is so much myth, fantasy and genuinely great storytelling packed into the pages of this novel. She was probably the most adventurous out of the two girls but I’m sure that’s because she had more freedom compared to Sinai in some aspects.

She should be considered lucky in that sense because she had the education and wealth, some, including Naala, would dream of having. The god system hasn't been heavily developed in this first book, but it's interesting and unique so far- I always love mythology in fantasy. We constantly get told that the Eze is such a terrible human being, but we never actually see him doing anything villainous?The setting is incredibly engrossing, and since I'm not very familiar with the part of history the world was based on (medieval Nigeria I believe), it was fascinating to learn about. You don't create an Infinity Gauntlet-style weapon and make acquiring it a Plan B or something that the characters stumble into in the middle of the book. I ended up bookmarking the glossary separately so I could flick to the back whenever a word came up that I didn’t know. My favourite genre is paranormal and as someone of Nigerian heritage, I've heard of and seen a lot of inexplicable events.

The plot in itself was okay, the story moved slow but at the same time things happened way too fast? I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot so I’ll leave it there but it did make me change my mind-set. The Eze has "black skin" that blends with the darkness of a cave, Sinai has "dark brown legs", Eni has "pecan skin", one of the goddesses is "carob-coloured".The magic of this world is so subtle and breathtakingly beautiful that magic almost feels like the wrong word to use because of the images it conjures up. In other words, when someone treats you badly don’t try to get revenge or even treat them badly because of it – respond to them with kindness or don’t react at all.

Her motives are not without reason, but as the book progresses, she learns that she is capable of so much more. And because the story is African (although West African) there are enough similarities that I can relate to.

We support each other immensely in this world but that doesn’t come easily, it is a journey to get there. Once I familiarized myself with all the characters I found that I actually enjoyed the book and the couple of plot twists. But I found myself being slightly bored with the majority of this book and I was hoping for a bit more in terms of story progression and character development. I’m so appreciative of authors that include glossaries and maps because it makes unknown words and even just general visualisation so much easier. That means that there were just a lot of odd choices I noticed that really took me out of the story and prevented me from being fully taken in.

Her pronunciation of the words and the names were so good, and the Nigerian accent she did was also very amazing.I enjoyed the two main characters but there were certain times where each perspective hit a slow patch and I wanted it to speed up a little. The themes of the complexity of black female relationships, how weak men and patriarchy pervade and try to suppress our desires, dreams, ambition, black girl magic, beauty and our need for justice are prevalent.