⭐⭐⭐
Pros: Adeyemi is unflinching in her portrayal of an oppressed people and you truly feel for the Diviners and hope the Monarchy pays for its horrendous crimes.
Cons: It wasn't until about halfway through that I felt the book hit its stride/Betrayal, forbidden love, enemies to lovers, this book had its moments where it was one cliche stacked upon another.
Full Review:
Orisha was once a land flowing with magic. The 10 tribes of Maji, people gifted with control of a certain aspect of Sky Mother's soul (power over earth, air, fire, water, metal, disease, time and even death) were immensely powerful. And of course, Saran, the King of Orisha, was terrified that all that power would turn against him. So, he had all the Maji rounded up and killed, including Zelie's mother. They dragged her away in chains and hanged her and the other Maji from a tree.
It's a dark beginning to an even darker story.
Zelie is now a woman grown and is doing what she can to learn how to live in a world that hates her simply because of how she looks and what she is. She has the distinctive white hair of a Diviner, meaning that when she hit her teens, her magic would come forth. Only, with the Maji desroyed and magic gone, Zelie has no powers and she knows, even if she did, it would be a death sentence to show them.
That all changes of course.
Amari, the princess of the Orishan monarchy has managed to sneak away from a torturous luncheon with the local nobility and wanders the castle in search of her handmaiden and best friend, Binta. She finds her, in her father's throne room, of all places. She dares not interrupt but is confused and frightened by what she sees. She stands there, horrified as guards drag Binta (who's also a Diviner) forward and force her to touch a scroll that they've found. They're convinced it's a sacred object of the Maji and when Binta's magic is brought forth in a powerful flash of pure white light, they know the scroll is legitimate.
Unfortunately for Binta and to Amari's horror, she watches as her own father kills Binta and calls for the other sacred objects to be found. Desperate and terrified, Amari manages to steal the scroll and run from the palace and whether it's divine intervention or simple blind luck, she runs into Zelie, who's at the Market that day. She begs Zelie to help her escape and though Zelie isn't exactly sure why, she does. She grabs the princess' hand and they run from the marketplace together, the sacred scroll safely tucked away.
This, of course, puts them on the path to bring magic back to Orisha for good but it won't be easy. It will be a literal life-changing, world altering journey that will leave many people dead, others more powerful than they could have ever imagined and the entirety of Orisha changed.
Though this book was unique, well crafted and gut-wrenchingly dark, for me, it didn't really hit its stride until almost halfway through. I kept reading because I was curious as to what would happen but, parts of it were a struggle. It wasn't the story so much as the characters. Zelie's constant arguments and battles with everyone and everything grew tiresome and of course, the enemies to lovers cliche with Zelie and Inan is a cliche I've just always found implausible.
I give Adeyemi all the props though for not shying away from the dark, harsh reality of the world she's created which is an obvious paralell to our own. I don't know if I'll continue the series but Adeyemi has written a very powerful story of what can happen when the oppressed begin to stand up and fight against their oppressors.
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