Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

 

Pages: 496

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 3rd of September 2019 

A girl with no gifts must bargain for the power to fight her own mother’s dark schemes—even if the price is her life.

Heir to two lines of powerful witchdoctors, Arrah yearns for magic of her own. Yet she fails at bone magic, fails to call upon her ancestors, and fails to live up to her family’s legacy. Under the disapproving eye of her mother, the Kingdom’s most powerful priestess and seer, she fears she may never be good enough.

But when the Kingdom’s children begin to disappear, Arrah is desperate enough to turn to a forbidden, dangerous ritual. If she has no magic of her own, she’ll have to buy it—by trading away years of her own life.

Arrah’s borrowed power reveals a nightmarish betrayal, and on its heels, a rising tide of darkness that threatens to consume her and all those she loves. She must race to unravel a twisted and deadly scheme… before the fight costs more than she can afford.

What I Have to Say 

I was really disappointed because this looked like such a great concept. And I was interested in the look at the Orisha and the other religious powers. Reading it reminded me of the Greek/ Roman gods, the way they played about with their own ambitions and wants, without much care for humanity. 

I just found the pacing really put me off. It was so slow to start with and it had so much build up with so little happening. The middle felt rushed, I would have liked to see more of Efia's development and her change the way she lacked empathy and how her mother and the demons effected that. 

That said, I would be really interested to see the sequel, because it was a really interesting story and aside from the pacing issues, I enjoyed it. 

My thanks go to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.