This is a seriously unique concept, and great execution. The characters are easy to care for. It kept me hooked til the end.

Man, I wanted to love this book as much as I love Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch series, but it's not in the same realm of quality. The storytelling is uneven and the plot momentum herky-jerky. The concept is so excellent (sin-eaters! cool tattoos!), but the execution is flawed. Still enjoyable, just not of enduring quality.

WHAT DID I THINK OF BEASTS MADE OF NIGHT BY TOCHI ONYEBUCHI?
Beasts Made Of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi is actually a pretty intriguing audiobook based upon a fantastic premise. Basically it stars Taj who is an aki meaning he eats sins and gets paid for it. It is his goal to be able to support his family through this endeavor. It sounds easy enough right? Wrong. So, if you eat a sin, your skin becomes tattooed as a result and you have to live through the sin in your mind. It is a process that drives many to madness. Taj wants to help his family though and he’s young and thinks that he is invisible. Unfortunately, he is about to get caught up in some treachery involving the Royals and his land of Kos and the girl he loves.

Well, the world building in Beasts Made Of Night is excellent. I thought the concept of sin eating was very well done. It is magic with consequences — which is something I enjoy when reading fantasy books. I really felt a strong sense of place and magic while reading this book.

As for the romance, I’ll admit I was not very invested. I cared more about Taj and his family dynamic. And it did seem like it took awhile to get to the point with the royals, the princess, and the romance. But yeah, I am old and boring so maybe that is why I cared about the family more.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook of Beasts Made Of Night is narrated by Prentice Onayemi. It is nine hours and seventeen minutes long. It goes by quick though. I thought Onayemi really brings the story and Kos to life. The audiobook made Onyebuchi’s debut feel like a much more immersive experience. I especially liked the accent Onayemi added. It felt quite authentic. In all, if you’re going to read this story, go for the audiobook version.

I am in love with the premise, the Nigerian influences, and the wonderful world building. Taj, the lightbringer and sin-eater is hired to fight and consume the sin of a royal family member. He then gets caught up in intrigue, betrayal and a woven intricate plot between armies, a princess and excitement.
After finishing the book, I was glad to see that this was the first of a series. The plot seemed to take a while to build once the world was created, and then we got to the end and it stopped quickly, beyond wanting more answers at the end of the novel, my only issue was with the princess. Some of the behaviors are questionable but perhaps we'll learn more in the following books.
I will admit that I wanted to read this based on the cover alone and it's well worth the read.

A fantastic novel rich in culture and emotional depth. I absolutely adored this book, and have bought it for my media center!

I wanted to love this book, but didn't. The premise is amazing-- I'm always interested in worlds that have physical manifestations of sin. The storytelling was okay, but so meandering that I was often bored and had to struggle to keep my attention on what was actually happening in the book instead of what I wished would happen. Taj's relationships felt absolutely unrealistic and had little buildup or emotional resonance, so I didn't care when he acquired or lost friends or love interests. The whole time, I kept waiting for it to become exciting, but it never really did.

Tochi Onyebuchis Leben ist ein Spagat zwischen seinem Beruf als Anwalt für Bürgerrecht und seinen Bemühungen als Autor. Beide Karrierezweige verfolgt der US-Amerikaner nigerianischer Herkunft mit beeindruckender Professionalität. Er verfügt über Abschlüsse aus Yale, der Columbia Law School und der NYU. Seine Kurzgeschichten und Novellen erschienen in „Asimov’s Science Fiction“, im „Nowhere Magazine“ und in der Anthologie „Panverse Three“. „Beasts Made of Night“ ist sein Debütroman, ein Traum, den er sich nach 15 Jahren harter Arbeit erfüllte und der Gerüchten zufolge der Auftakt einer umfangreichen, gleichnamigen Saga sein wird.

Der 17-jährige Taj ist ein Aki, ein Sündenfresser. Sein Körper ist übersäht mit Tattoos, die beweisen, wie viele Sünden-Bestien er erschlug. Diese Manifestationen der Sünde, hervorgerufen durch einen Magier, können zwar getötet werden, erscheinen anschließend jedoch auf der Haut des Aki, während die Schuld der Tat auf den Sündenfresser übergeht. Die meisten Aki verfallen eines Tages dem Wahnsinn. Taj weiß, dass er irgendwann den Preis für sein Talent bezahlen muss, doch noch gilt er als der beste Aki in ganz Kos. Leider ist seine Reputation wertlos, da seinesgleichen als verdorben geächtet werden. Niemand möchte zugeben, die Dienste eines Sündenfressers zu benötigen, schon gar nicht die königliche Familie. Als Taj in den Palast bestellt wird, um den König selbst von einer Sünde zu befreien, ahnt er nicht, dass er in eine abscheuliche Intrige hineingezogen wird, die nicht nur die Beseitigung aller Aki zum Ziel hat, sondern auch Kos zerstören soll. Taj muss handeln. Kann er den Wahnsinn, der bereits in ihm wütet, lange genug zurückhalten, um seine Freunde und ganz Kos zu retten?

Ich finde Tochi Onyebuchi sehr sympathisch. Ich bewundere sein Engagement im sozialen Bereich und seinen Ehrgeiz, parallel zu seinem fordernden Beruf eine Karriere als Autor anzustreben. Ich weiß, dass er mit einer Bipolar-II-Störung lebt und seine Alkoholsucht überwand. Deshalb bedauere ich die folgenden Worte von Herzen: „Beasts Made of Night“ ist eine Katastrophe. Nach der Lektüre war ich völlig geschockt, ich fragte mich ernstlich, ob in meinem Rezensionsexemplar vielleicht Teile fehlten, denn die Geschichte dieses Reihenauftakts fühlte sich dermaßen unvollständig und fragmentarisch an, dass ich ihr nicht einmal folgen konnte. So etwas habe ich noch nie erlebt. Onyebuchi konnte sich offenbar überhaupt nicht in seine Leser_innen hineinversetzen. Er beschreibt nichts, er erklärt nichts, er schubste mich in dieses löchrige Gebilde hinein und erwartete, dass ich mich ohne seine Hilfe darin zurechtfand, während er munter riesige Gedankensprünge vollzog und keinen einzigen Aspekt verlässlich ausarbeitete. Ich stürzte im freien Fall durch die Löcher in Handlung, Chronologie, Worldbuilding und Charakterkonstruktion und konnte zuschauen, wie mir „Beasts Made of Night“ rasant egal wurde, weil ich es nicht begriff. Diese Entwicklung betrübt mich, denn ich ahne, welche Geschichte Onyebuchi eigentlich erzählen wollte und wie sie sich in seinem Kopf abspielte. Er konnte seine Fantasie wohl nicht auf Papier bannen. In einem Interview erwähnte er, dass das Setting Kos von der nigerianischen Stadt Lagos inspiriert sei. Diesen Eindruck teilte ich nicht, mir erschien die ummauerte Stadt wie eine krude Version des antiken Roms, erweitert durch einen wilden Mix östlicher Kulturen und Gebräuche. Was hinter Kos‘ Mauern liegt – keine Ahnung. Da sind Bäume. Mehr weiß ich nicht. Die Gesellschaft, die dieses inkonsistente Bild bevölkert, erschloss sich mir ebenfalls nicht. Hat die königliche Familie nun Macht oder wird Kos in Wahrheit von Magiern regiert? Ich weiß es nicht. Ebenso fehlte mir eine Begründung, wieso die Aki verabscheut werden, obwohl ihr Wert unschätzbar ist. Sie erweisen den Menschen einen unverzichtbaren Dienst, da Sünden nicht nur ideologisch abgelehnt werden, sondern auch „krank machen“. Inwiefern und wieso – ich weiß es nicht. Da sie nun schon als Bodensatz der Gesellschaft gelten, läge es nahe, ihre Tattoos, die sie offen brandmarken, zu verstecken. Tun sie nicht. Warum – ihr ahnt es – weiß ich nicht. Gern hätte ich mich in diesem verwirrenden Ansturm bruchstückhafter Informationen zumindest am Protagonisten Taj festgeklammert, ja, ich wäre bereit gewesen, ihn emotional in einem Todesgriff zu halten, um mich durch „Beasts Made of Night“ hindurchzubringen. Es ging nicht. Ich kann ihn nicht leiden. Er ist arrogant und aggressiv, kein bisschen empathisch und kurz gesagt ein Widerling, der viel zu große Stücke darauf hält, bisher nicht verrückt geworden zu sein. Tolle Leistung. Applaus. Kurz vor Schluss versucht Tochi Onyebuchi dann, die Handlung dieses Schweizer Käses durch eine überraschende Wendung aufregend und unvorhersehbar zu gestalten. Unglücklicherweise war dieser Dreh inhaltlich vollkommen unlogisch. Das fällt allerdings nur marginal ins Gewicht, weil das Vorspiel kaum glaubwürdiger ist.

Es tut mir sehr leid, dass mir „Beasts Made of Night“ nicht gefiel. Ich glaube fest daran, dass Tochi Onyebuchi ein toller Mensch ist, freundlich und hilfsbereit. Seine Pläne, ein erfolgreicher Autor zu werden, würde ich an seiner Stelle jedoch noch ein paar Jahre auf Eis legen. Was diesen Reihenauftakt betrifft, kann ich leider nur einen möglichen Rat aussprechen: ab damit in den Papierkorb und noch einmal ganz von vorn anfangen. In ihrer aktuellen Form hat die Geschichte meiner Ansicht nach nicht einmal Potential, da sie zu viele offene Baustellen aufweist. Ich begreife nicht, wieso das Manuskript überhaupt von einem Verlag angenommen wurde. Aufgrund mehrerer Rezensionen, die ich gelesen habe, weiß ich, dass ich nicht die einzige bin, die so empfindet. Man hätte Onyebuchi vor diesen Negativmeinungen bewahren müssen. Niemand sollte erleben müssen, wie der eigene Debütroman von den Leser_innen in Stücke gerissen wird.

Vielen Dank an Netgalley und den Verlag Razorbill für die Bereitstellung dieses Rezensionsexemplars im Austausch für eine ehrliche Rezension!

This fantasy in another world/universe has roots in some Terran myths & traditions, and I was fascinated by the concept. I kept starting it and being there for the ride, but putting it down and coming back to it. The first 100 pages seemed episodic without really deepening my understanding or empathy for the main character. I ended up not finishing it before it expired, but I would recommend it for fans of Nnedi Okorafor or Renee Adieyah.

I loved the storyline and premise of this book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

I had trouble caring about this book or its characters. The story fell flat, and I didn't enjoy most of it.

Thanks to the publisher for access to this title.

The concept of sin eaters in this tale was interesting, but I really can't say I enjoyed reading this book. I pushed through to call it finished, but I didn't relate to any characters or find that I liked the book any more than I originally thought I would.

Some may enjoy this, but this just wasn't for me.

Loved the imagery in this book. I had a hard time staying engaged with the plot—parts kept my attention, while other parts were less interesting for me. This plot is unique and should finger a wide readership among teens looking for something out of the ordinary.

Onyebuchi's world brings forth a society that has corporeal sin-beasts and sin-eaters, called aki, who rid people of their sins. In Kos, the aki are treated like untouchables, prominently because they are considered unclean and full of sin, never mind the fact that it is other people's sins that they carry and get rid of. But they are held apart from society and even the royals, who utlitize their services frequently to maintain a pure image and soul, don't hold them in much regard. The kingdom's royals are carefree and negligent to the plight of their people, though, despite their 'pure souls'. Taj is an aki, who is particularly skilled, and gets caught in the politics of Kos due to his power.

The world of the book is well constructed, and the author's writing lends to a vivid imagery of a kingdom ruled by the image of purity, while the common people live in terrible conditions. Taj's descriptions of his neighborhood, the food, the customs and the art and religion all add wonderful details to the world. His mounting dread about his future as he eats more and more sin-beasts comes across well in the prose, with there being a distinct narrative shift that lends it a bit of realism. The politics of Kos, while convoluted, also make pretty good sense. I loved the parts about the mages and the scholars, and the education systems of Kos, the corruption within their ranks and how the knowledge is controlled in the world.

Where the book disappointed me was in developing the romance - considering Taj is moony-eyed over the princess for more than half the book, I expected bit more of an emotional connection to come out in the text. Instead, it is like one or two 'close' moments where she basically fetishizes his tattoos and the next moment, he is infatuated and basically declaring his love by the end of the novel. His complicated relationship with his sicario and the mage he befriends are comparatively better developed. His own emotional development feels lackluster and I don't know if it is his reaction to the sins, but he feels distant from the readers.

Some scenes also didn't make sense on the storyline, like when the king orders him arrested, or when he joins the palace but doesn't actually do anything - it felt like there were plot-holes in the timeline. The ending also dropped out of nowhere and the book ends on a (sort of) cliffhanger.

Essentially, while this was an interesting concept and a rare mythology being explored, it felt like there were parts that could have been restructured or made more complete. 3.5 stars.

Loved the Nigerian references. Very original plot. Character development was a bit thin and I didn't understand some of the conflict elements. I wish the cover had more of a traditional male gender draw because I do think a lot of my boys will enjoy this read. The cover is beautiful but is somewhat swirly and very purple.

"Sins weigh us down, and if you carry them with you past death, the earth and the sky both will reject you"

* *
2 / 5

Beasts Made of Night has been on my radar for a couple of months because it sounded fantastic: sin taking form as beasts, a young man whose job is to devour the sins of others, a dark conspiracy, and the cover is gorgeous. I love a dark, intriguing, conspiracy-laden fantasy novel from time to time, but unfortunately Beasts Made of Night but the writing was lacklustre at best and nobody other than the main character had any, well, character.

"I think about what that apprentice Aliya said about sin-spots being poems, but here at night it's too dark to read whatever might be written on me"

The beginning is great. Taj is an aki, a sin-eater; people sin and this builds up inside of them, making them sicker and sicker until a priest performs a ritual on them, drawing forth the sin. This sin takes the form of a shadowy animal which must be fought, killed, and consumed by youngsters like Taj. Once consumed, the animal becomes a mark upon the sin-eater's skin, sort of like a tattoo. We open with Taj, a young and strong man with a difficult life, fighting such a beast; I thought the entire concept was really awesome and unlike anything I've read. Upon eating the sin of a royal family member, Taj is involved in a twisting and turning plot involving betrayal, a children's army, and a really weird-ass princess. I really didn't understand her and it's a pretty major case of instalove.

Beasts Made of Night reads like a first draft of a novel. The content is good, the plot has glittering potential, and I just loved all the background setting. But it really needed polishing up: the writing needed smoothing out, the scenes needed to flow, my attention needed to be captured rather than just drifting along, the slew of secondary characters need some excitement. There's three or four women in this book, a servant, a sin-eater, a childhood friend, a studying mage, and a princess, and they all sort of merged into one amorphous blob with little personality; Taj seems to be fascinated by each in turn. My favourite was, however, the apprentice mage, full of curiosity and scientific knowledge; I also loved Taj's childhood friend, who joins a group of renegades whose choice of rebellion is graffiti. I would have loved to know more about the scribes!

"Finally a tradition that has nothing to do with sins and aki and us bearing the guilt of others"

That's the biggest problem with this book, really: it's never quite enough. Not enough detail, not enough drama, not enough character exploration, not enough plot, and it's all strung together by rough writing. There's some great quotes and ideas, but mostly I just drifted through this book dispassionately, but really wanting to find something to love about it.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book

Unique and action packed fantasy story, inspired by the author's mother's Nigerian heritage that takes on a life of its own. It leaves you reading quickly right up to the last page.
Fun main character of Taj, reminded me of Sage from the False Prince series. As you get with fantasy, some language terms and nicknames of items get confusing

Taj, an aki, unwillingly battles and eats sin beasts. The royalty of his country must be free of sins, in effort to accomplish this, Taj is tasked with training a new generation of aki. How can Taj save others from experiencing his fate and stop the royalty?

This was a fresh new fantasy novel, with Nigerian influences. While the story became dry at times, the uniqueness of the characters and story will keep the interest of the reader.

I really liked this book. Ever since I read about it, I loved the synopsis and the cover! They are just so mysterious and fascinating! This is the first book I read with a Nigerian-inspired setting and I'm hooked!

It's such a fascinating world! I loved the magic system. In this world, sins can kill. They consume you if they are not taken out of your body by a mage and then eaten by an aki. Aki is the name of a person that can eat sins. They have to battle them in their animal form and literally eat them. They will then appear in their body in the form of a tattoo! How fascinating is that?!

Akis are awesome, right? Well, people in this world don't see it that way. Akis are seen as lower than humans. They have the duty to cleanse society (meaning who can afford it) of sins, but because they carry it in their skin, people are repulsed by them, as if the sins and guilt were theirs. It got me so angry! Being an aki is not chosen neither is it easy. But they are amazing, especially our main character Taj!

Taj is an amazing character and an amazing aki. I loved seeing him battle and seeing the way he thought. He is a person that doesn't pity himself, he tries to protect others, even if his life is in danger because of that, and he is incredibly strong both physically and mentally. He is just a very pure person (got it?... Sorry, my jokes are always this bad...). I also really enjoyed some other characters. Especially Omar and several female characters! There are some really bad-ass ones here!

This book was much more emotional than I was initially expecting and I really connected with the characters. All the injustices in this world made me so angry!

This world is absolutely fantastic. I really enjoyed the writing and all the Nigerian words and expressions. The characters were awesome and the plot fascinating and action-packed. There's nothing I didn't like other than I wished this book was a bit bigger.

Although the beginning is slow-paced, it starts getting faster and faster. The world development was absolutely fantastic, but I wanted a bit more of the plot. I wanted to see more of the characters and their life. I love this world, I find it fascinating and I hope to see more of it, I can hardly believe this is the author's first novel. Starting with such an amazing idea?! I definitely recommend it.

Taj is an aki - a sin eater. Aki are shunned by "regular"folk, except for when the regular folk need a sin removed from their body. Sins take the shape of smoky somewhat corporeal animals (they can do harm), and are eaten by the aki, which then causes the aki to get extremely sick and leaves a semi-permanent or permanent tattoo on their body. Taj, as a very powerful aki, is recruited by the palace to eat the sins of royalty. While there, he discovers the royals are more corrupt than he could've dreamed, and he decides to do what he can to stop their nefarious plans.

That synopsis was nearly impossible to write because this book was short on plot, but more on that in a minute.

I went into this book really wanting to like it - the setting (alternate-Nigeria) is fairly unique in YA, and I was really excited to read a fantasy loosely set in an African country. I thought the premise of sin-eaters was super cool, and I was eager to learn more about it. Unfortunately, the premise was the best thing about the book. The book has a lot of promise (and I was reading an advanced reading copy, so some of these issues could've been rectified), but doesn't deliver on much. The first 35% of the book is worldbuilding, but a lot of the worldbuilding could've been incorporated into the plot instead of being presented as what more or less amounted to an info dump. Even worse, the worldbuilding doesn't necessarily make a ton of sense. For example, the "sins" are determined by lawmakers, which, just...how? And then...the magic follows the lawmakers wishes? Is it even magic? I'm not really sure. More will likely be revealed in the next installment as this book ends on a massive cliffhanger, but unless it gets amazing reviews, I probably won't be there to check it out.

Another issue for me was the lack of character development. We learn a lot about Taj, but little about anyone else, and so when side characters died, I found myself feeling pretty apathetic. There was also immense potential for development of the villains, but all was unrealized. A lot of plotting and scheming had to be happening behind the scenes, but as Taj was neither privy to nor interested in it, we don't get to see the villains' machinations, which could have been really interesting. Part of this, I think, was to hide a twist at the end, but as that twist could be seen from about a mile away, I don't think the decision to keep the villains' motivation a secret was worth the payout.

There's not a lack of action in this book, so I can see a certain reader really enjoying it. For me, there was too much wasted potential - the action and the cool worldbuilding didn't make up for the absence of plot and character development. This book could've been great, and I wish that it had undergone a few more drafts in the writing process. As it was, it was just ok. 2 stars.

I received an electronic advanced reading copy from Netgalley and Razorbill for review consideration. This in no way affected my opinion or the content of my review. Beasts Made of Night will be available on 31 October.

The world building is interesting, and the ending obviously leaves room for a sequel. A bit predictable at times in terms of who will betray him in the end, but there are several interesting characters who I would like to meet in the next book.