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5 stars! This review will be spoiler free!
Synopsis: Zelie lost her mother and all the Diviners lost any chance at a regular life the day magic was lost. These people have been treated like trash by the king of Orisha and their families suffer by having to pay a tax just by living with them. One day Zelie makes a series of brave, yet very consequential choices and she is led down a path that could bring magic back. This path is dangerous and full of unknowns, but Zelie has her brother Tzain and the princess of Orisha on her side as they race against time and away from the prince pursuing them in order to resurrect magic. Initial thoughts: BLOWN AWAY. This book gave me all that I was asking for in a new YA fantasy series! I cannot believe it’s a debut novel. It has a unique magic system , and it has amazing world building, and it has an ALL POC cast! I cared for these characters. I cared A LOT. Gods, this one will make you feel the feels! The one thing that didn’t sit quite well with me was just the romance aspect, a tad bit too instalovey. Otherwise, it was AMAZING! I highly recommend picking up this book/series! Plot: (I’m sorry, not sorry, that I have a lot of feels to explain about this book, but I’ll try to keep it short) The world building in this book is WONDERFUL. The way Tomi Adeyemi weaves the history and magical capabilities of the Magi in with the plot is flawless. Nothing ever felt info-dumpy, I was always intrigued to learn more. I didn’t feel overwhelmed or confused at all. The I loved the characters in this book! Praise first for an ALL people of color cast. As I was reading I felt like the actions of the MCs, side characters, and even enemies were paralleling the actions of people in real life. Then when I finally read the author’s note, it all made sense. She attributed this story to the black lives taken too early and without reason and without justice. Her author’s note in the end really hits home. I def suggest you read it if you pick up this book. I did not like the romance – So the romances in this were borderline instalovey for me. Tzain and Amari started shooting flirty glances too early for my taste. Though I didn’t disagree with them becoming a ship in this story. Zelie and Inan’s romance was even worse, almost cringey. The enemies-to-lovers trope is a favorite of mine too, but not when it’s not slow burn. Zelie-Inan were def NOT slow burn. Now, though I initially was all for the Zel-Inan ship In contrast, I did like the friendship that bloomed between Zelie and Amari. Zelie wasn’t so quick to believe Amari was worth their time. Amari wasn’t so quick to warm up to Zelie either. But over time and once they’ve won each other’s trust, they truly became friends. I was living for the F/F support and friendship. MY SOUL DIED AND CAME BACK TO LIFE so many times while reading this book. Literally any moment where Zelie mentions her past my eyes were tearing up. Adeyemi has this way of making you really feel all the pain and hurt that these characters have experienced and are experiencing through the hardships they’re facing. The ending is even more devastating! Once I hit 80%, I could not put the book down for anything! And THAT CLIFFHANGER. Be prepared for a hangover yall because that cliffhanger nearly made me thrown my book across the room (in a good way if that’s possible). NEED NEED NEED THE NEXT BOOK. Characters: I seriously love ZELIE because no matter how stupid her choices are, they still feel like the RIGHT decisions. She’s a warrior, she’s a champion. She loves fiercely! So much so that it comes out in all aspects of her personality. AMARI has what I feel is the best character arc in this story. I feel like her gradual growth from a scared princess into this brave and fierce fighter was so satisfying. TZAIN is the brother that any sister would want. One that will look after us, take care of us, and love us unconditionally. Which is exactly what he does for Zelie and I love it. INAN I’m pretty half and half about. His character arc was choppy at best? I felt like was too flippy-floppy, changing his mind too quickly too often. And regardless of the cringey-ness of his and Zelie’s instalovey romance, they STILL broke my heart. Overall: I need the next book in my hands right now! If I could ask for any ARC right now it would be the sequel to this gem right here. This book was so good. I’m incredibly happy I chose to pick it up. It’s a big first novel in a series at 500+ pages, but so so so worth it. If Tomi Adeyemi keeps impressing me like this she will easily become one of my favorite authors.