Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

Kingdom of Souls (Kingdom of Souls, #1)

by Rena Barron

THERE'S MAGIC IN HER BLOOD.

Explosive fantasy set in a West African world of magic and legend, where one girl must sacrifice her life, year by year, to gain the power necessary to live up to the expectations of the mother she has never been good enough for.

Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Tomi Adeyemi and Black Panther

Arrah is a young woman from a long line of the most powerful witch doctors in the land. But she fails at magic, fails to call upon the ancestors and can't even cast the simplest curse.

Shame and disappointment dog her.

When strange premonitions befall her family and children in the kingdom begin to disappear, Arrah undergoes the dangerous and scorned process of selling years of her life for magic. This borrowed power reveals a nightmarish betrayal and a danger beyond what she could have imagined. Now Arrah must find a way to master magic, or at least buy it, in order to save herself and everything she holds dear.

An explosive fantasy set in a West African world of magic and legend with a twist you will never see coming.

Reviewed by layawaydragon on

5 of 5 stars

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I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.I am abso-fucking-lutely honored to have been chosen for the Kingdom of Souls tour. My fellow YA Fantasy fans, rejoice in knowing the hype is real AND DESERVED.

Today, you'll find my review, some favorite quotes, and a giveaway to enter. With no spoilers! So, let's get to it!

About the Kingdom of Souls:



IMHO: Kingdom of Souls


Content Warning: Includes bullying, children kidnapping, human sacrificing, rape by deception, toxic mothering, tales of torture, PTSD, and typical violent fighting.

  • DEVOURED IT LIKE NO-FACE AND I NEEDS MOOOOOOORE.

  • Did not feel like the almost 500 pages it is.

  • Arrah is great. Realistic teen, understandable, doing her best for what she thinks is best with her baggage.

  • The romance is super cute, bantering and awkwardness from friends to lovers. 

  • Love how meaning of  words like charlatans and gendars has transformed in this world

  • Love, LOVE the letters between chapters from the orishas. They might be my favorite part.

  • Most fantasies, hell most novels, adhere to unwritten societal conventions and Kingdom of Souls just goes, "hold my beer".

  • Villains are people too. Didn't think I'd be rooting for a *REDACTED*s death or sympathizing with a *REDACTED*.  Or that *REDACTED*

  • More

  • Compliments

  • That

  • Cannot

  • Be

  • Made

  • Without

  • Spoilers

  • Was not expecting much of anything that happened, TBH. No idea where it's going, but Imma be there!

  • Major like woah, cliffhanger ending. But it's a natural and understandable breaking point so I'm not mad at it.


The only unperfect thing about my first reading of Kingdom of Souls, was my adult brain and fatigue re: teen repeatedly lamenting angstily. This was over completely understandable things, while I would probably curl up in a ball and die unlike Arrah. SO, it's not  really fair to complain about it, but dragged they did.



Kingdom of Souls is perfect for every YA fantasy fan, especially those looking for something beyond the typical Eurocentric swords and wands. It’s like Tahir’s A Torch Against The Night series meets Nix's Old Kingdom.

favorite Quotes:


To not only see magic, to tame it, to bend it, to be magical?

 
It's a smell of home, and a smell laced with bad memories.

 
"You look like you've just seen the end of the world."

"Old news," I sigh, waving my hand, "I saw that months ago."

 
--a memory that sputters like torchlight at the first drops of rain, trying desperately to shake itself loose from some unseen chains.

 
But for there to be peace, there must be death.

 

About the Author:



Giveaway:


Prize: Win a Kingdom of Souls VIP swag bag: a copy of Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron + swag (US Only)
Starts: 4th September 2019
Ends: 18th September 2019
Embed Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:




This review was originally posted on The Layaway Dragon

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • Finished reading
  • 3 July, 2019: Reviewed