Forged by Blood

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

Èrù jé ògá àjèji. Ó si leso aláimòkan èdá di ehànà. Fear is a strange master. It makes monsters from the simplest of men.

The first in a duology, Forged by Blood is the first person pov story told by Dèmi, a girl living in Ifè (a fictional Nigeria created from a blend of fantasy, magic, and realism). The story starts off with an eight year old Dèmi helping her mother try and save a boy who has been poisoned. Dèmi and her mother are from the western land of Oyo and are considered Oluso, they have magical abilities. Currently, Oluso are hunted and enslaved because of a war that happened nine years ago and King Alistair Sorenson, from the northern land of Eingard, took power. The Aje, nonmagical people, fear the Oluso but they also come to them for help. So while it's dangerous for Dèmi's mother to help the poisoned boy, she does so but sets off a destiny changing chain reaction.

The magic that sings through our veins and weaves its strings tightly around our hearts is the very reason violence seems to find us. My mother thought she could escape it if she put me in a cocoon, raising me with only little bits of knowledge about what I am. But I know better now.

After a beginning that brought danger and emotion, the story then jumps ahead to Dèmi at age seventeen. I would consider this young/new adult as this felt more like that, Dèmi figuring out herself, a love triangle, and just overall fitting in that genre's general tone. Dèmi now lives with friends and family that have helped nurture her magical abilities and told her a little bit about her father but she still lives with wanting vengeance for what happened to her mother. When a Lord Ekwensi comes to her with a plan and blackmail, claiming that if he can be appointed regional lord of Oyo, he'll help the people, but he needs her to kidnap the King's nephew, Dèmi can't help but jump at the chance. Her friend Colin, who definitely has feelings for her, insists on coming with her and when Dèmi realizes who the nephew she is supposed to kidnap is, we have the start to the next step of Dèmi meeting her destiny.

I know then, what Jonas is.

I enjoyed the first half of this, with being brought into a world that weaved in Nigerian mythology and history (tree spirts, imperialism) and a girl with magical abilities and will to fight and change the system but then I thought the second half got a little haphazard with throwing in parentage reveals that I think were supposed to rock the boat but didn't seem to change much. I'm personally not a big fan of love triangles and because it was fairly weak and not too disruptive, it didn't feel needed here. The romance between Dèmi and Jonas (king's nephew) was YA toned, with fated mates and “I'm drawn to you” kisses. The latter half delivers a bit of action when Dèmi has a showdown fight and some magical reveals.

I won't allow my fear to keep me from fighting.

The setting was interesting and especially incorporating some Nigerian mythology but the magic and blood mates can be found all over in YA fantasy. This was also more sedately paced, which was good in some places to sink into some fantasy elements (when Dèmi and her friends stay with the tree spirits) but also muted some emotions of danger of urgency. Some of the reveals ended up feeling jumbled and not quite hitting their importance but there is obviously some magical ones that will probably play a bigger importance in the second book. This had Dèmi dealing with emotional upheavals, romance, learning how to control her magical abilities, and figuring out if and how she's going to fight for the world she wants to see. One enemy gets dealt with here but there's also a creation of another, with others possibly in the wings, as Dèmi and Jonas try to carve out their way. With the world building laid out here and Dèmi learning a possibly big secret about her birth and making a deal with the tree spirits, I expect the second to be full of more emotion and action.