A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

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Not only that, but it treats its villains with compassion and does not rest on the trite cliché of “good vs evil”. Her character frequently bangs out fun and witty dialogue and the way the other characters interact with her can be interesting, as she often defies their expectations of her as a spoiled, screw up princess. Fully-realized complex characters with dual points of view, rich world-building, gripping plot and a romance to root for - I wish this was the kind of YA fantasy I'd read in my teens. It didn't justify their behavior, but it helped to understand why they handled situations in a certain manner. Aminata revels that she has been spying on Farid and wants to maintain her position, so she hustles back to the palace while Afua and Hamidou hustle Karina out of Ziran.

Karina plans on using Malik and a couple of other people for the human sacrifice while Malik plans to kill her to save his sister. But even with all of these “weaknesses”, Malik is determined and never ever wavers from his goal of saving his sister, no matter what the cost. Lauren Sheehan-Clark in a review for The Daily Californian noted that it incorporates many fantasy tropes "while also breathing new life into a repetitive genre".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. As for the romance, just check out the tropes: enemies to lovers (as in on opposite sides, have to kill each other), super slow burn, soft boy/fierce girl, angst for days. They have come to try and make enough money to send back to their mother and grandmother back home to bring them to Ziran to join them eventually. But wishes are dangerous (as anyone with a lamp or a genie would know) and Nadia ends up being the payment for such a wish. Every minute was riddled with stories and folklore and it was all just so magnificent that I couldn’t really put the book down (had to force myself to most of the time).

Karina is a princess whose mother has just been assassinated and whose court is in the midst of political upheaval. So if you’ve got any other fantasy novels to recommend that are written by black/POC authors, please drop them in the comments, I read a lot of novels by white ladies, which is fine, but certainly not the only YA fantasy perspective out there and I really want to broaden my horizons. During the scuffle, Malik and his sisters find themselves in a strange hut, where a powerful spirit manifests before them.Brown has admitted to using Ghanaian folk tales as an inspiration for her book, this story isn’t really a fairy tale or folk tale retelling. I do think there's a lot more room for growth with her character though; for instance, although Karina is horrified at the truths about her country's cruelty and xenophobia, she's still unable to look past her privilege, like when she wonders why Malik is so intent upon defending a "lowly servant". Desperate to escape the prison of her bedroom and find the other ingredients needed for the resurrection ritual, Karina starts a small fire in her room, which causes panic since it was a big fire that killed Karina’s father and sister. Still, I think it’s a gorgeous piece of fantasy literature and I can’t talk enough about how refreshing it is to dive in a world that isn’t centered around European fantasy tropes. Seventeen year old Karina Alahari is the princess of Ziran, who lost her father and sister in a mysterious fire outbreak.