An exhilarating blend of mythology, action, and self-discovery that kept me hooked from start to finish. The story follows Jess, a seemingly ordinary teenager whose life takes a dramatic turn when she discovers her true heritage and the immense power she possesses.

What I loved about this book is how it seamlessly weaves Indian mythology into a modern-day setting. Ghosh's writing brings the vibrant myths and legends to life, adding depth and richness to the narrative. Jess's journey of awakening and empowerment is both thrilling and inspiring. As she learns about her connection to the goddess Kali, she becomes a force to be reckoned with, and I couldn't help but root for her every step of the way.

The character development is top-notch. Jess is a relatable and strong protagonist, grappling with her identity and the weight of her newfound responsibilities. The supporting characters, including her family and friends, add layers to the story, making it even more engaging.

The pacing is fast and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Each chapter unveils new mysteries and challenges, making it hard to put the book down. The action scenes are well-written and vivid, immersing you in Jess's world.

There were a few moments where the plot felt a bit predictable, but the overall excitement and originality of the story more than made up for it. Some secondary characters could have been explored a bit more, but this didn't detract much from my enjoyment.

"Daughter of Kali: Awakening" is a fantastic read for anyone who loves a mix of mythology, adventure, and strong, empowering characters. Shiulie Ghosh has created a captivating world that I can't wait to explore further in the next installment. If you're looking for a book that combines the thrill of action with the richness of myth, this one is definitely worth picking up

Wow, what a great debut book! Daughter of Kali: Awaking has Kaz wanting to fit in and “be normal.”

Kaz is drawn into a world of magic as everything she thought she knew she’s finding now was a lie. The story was very well written with well-crafted characters. A great read.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this one but wanted to read it based on the synopsis. This was a really fun read that moved at a good pace with serious Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes. Kaz as a character definitely had a lot to adjust to and deal with which is not always an easy thing - but was very compelling, even when her behavior wasn't the best. The side characters also had depth and felt dimensional, which was great to see, especially in a debut. The writing style kept the book moving at a good pace and felt very polished. Overall it was a fun and fast read.

While the book was not terrible, it really wasn't good either. The characters seemed pretty one dimensional and stereotypical rather than anything real or unique. It is one that I probably would recommend in the future to teens who enjoyed similar titles.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This was an interesting tail. I have always loved mythology and stories that mix that to the storytelling. Kaz is a very bold and outgoing character and her friend Em is amazing. This was an unique story of warriors, demons, and goddess playing in the background. I don't want to say too much for I don't want to post spoilers. I might have to read more by this author.

Great book, interesting characters specially Kaz's and her mother. Their relationship was hard to understand at times. There's is one point at the very beginning when Kaz makes a derogatory comment about her mothers English. After reading this I was ready to drop the book, however the story finally pull me in, and I was ready to give Kaz a second chance.

ok wow i love anything to do with gods and myths most of all Kali she has been one to grip me in many ways over the years and this book was no exception at all , the way this story is put together was done amazingly from the way the main characters are written and described to the way her whole world is turned upside down and how she handles it, the main character gave me buffy/Indiana Jones/daisy johnson vibes and I love that about her , you get to watch her grown and overcome so much in this book .
This is one I'm going to re-read a few times I no that and I can't wait to read the rest of this serise.

What an interesting little world we get a look into with this introductory book! There's demons and warriors and all sorts of mythological awesomeness jammed into this story.

Kaz is a typical high schooler. Sure, her mom is a bit of an embarrassment and she's super duper broke all the time, but as a daughter of a single mom, Kaz manages to have a relatively decent life for herself. All of that gets turned on its head when she sees her mom do something impossible. From there, all her "hallucinations" from years growing up start to make sense. She's seeing demons, and they are a little too close for comfort.

Also, what's a good YA read without some love triangle action, right? There's a new boy in school who is everything both Kaz and her BFF could want in a guy, although he's hiding his fair share of secrets, too. Roll all this together and you've got the makings for lots of drama. There's apparently been a secret organization taking kids off the street and training them to defend normal folks from demons. How do we know that? Well, something big is going down and somehow Kaz becomes a key player in this showdown. This book really set this world up nicely and has definitely got me hooked for installment #2!

Daughter of Kali is a urban fantasy that follows the young Kaz as she discovers that all she knew about her world and about her mother are not as they seemed. A world of demons and lies await us in this first installment of this new series by Shiulie Ghosh.

Firstly let me just say that I NEEDED this rep! The reason I was drawn to this book was because, well it's fantasy, and also it is fantasy based on Hinduism! I never see this rep in YA and I was so happy to see that in this book. Shiulie Ghosh gives us a strong young heroin who isn't just the daughter of a Hindu living in England, but is actually mixed race (something that isn't in enough YA either), and I was totally here for that!

The concept of the magic used in this book was really interesting, and I loved all the little snippets of culture that were in this story. I learnt things about the myths and culture of Hinduism I hadn't known I was missing out on and I also got to feel enveloped in a world of crazy fantasy too!

One of the things I enjoy about this book is the combat - I am always here for a bit of combat or combat training in books! I also really liked the complications of family relationships as well as the complication of friendships and romantic feelings.

There were moments that I wasn't particularly in love with, but overall I think it is a fun start to a hopefully exciting new fantasy series.

I'm sorry to say that I decided against losing more reading time with this book, which wasn't bad, but not good either, and didn't offer me what I'm looking for in Urban Fantasy.

The setting is interesting and original but after a good beginning is quickly lacking in subtlety. The relation between the heroine and her mother was promising, but not enough to make up for the poverty of characters' development in general (the bestie, who's supposed to be a "genius" and has no personality to speak off, behave stupidly girlie most of the times and is a lame geek stereotype!).

What finish me off was the abondance of tools used: demons, gods, magic, pseudo science-fiction, reading-minds beings, and so on. Nothing is impossible, everything is possible, no strict framework where to weave a solid story; what makes an imaginary world interesting and credible is its limits, if there aren't any, the sense of wonder is null: to much wonders kills the wonder.

I was waiting for adult UF (not in terms of violence and sexe but of general tonality) ; this book sounded to me YA, very young adult, and not the kind which can fascinate and enthusiasm adults (like Jonathan Stroud series for instance) but the kind which can't face up to more exigeant readers.

Still, some seasoned reviewers have liked this book, so it's just maybe my expectations that are unreasonably high...

I went into this book expecting nothing, the last few book I read in this genre disappointed me big time, but I was pleasantly surprised by this.

It was fast paced and the characters were like able and compelling, I actually WANTED to know what would happen to them.

I think my favourite part of this book was the Hindu mythology, I’ve never read a book that uses Hinduism as a base before, so I really enjoyed that..

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.