Sylvia Xamanka wastes no time in establishing atmosphere and complex characters in The Hood of Aalayfa, and she continues to do so throughout the story; the book is basically one gigantic build-up to…something. While at first the non-stop action and perspective switching were exhilarating, they grew to be tiresome as the web of the world developed into something more complex and intense, and as the wonder and awe of the conceptual themes wore off. By the final pages, I felt too disoriented and overwhelmed to effectively grasp the purpose of the story; I had to refer back to the summary to put the pieces of what I read back together.

To put it generally, The Hood of Aalayfa doesn’t feel complete. All of the elements of an Epic story are within, but those elements are just not fleshed out enough to convince me of the different rules, figureheads, species, and customs within the reality created by the author. Most of the book was spent trying to work out my confusion and sense of place as well as the characters’ positions within the story, while also trying to process some of the profound statements being made. Thoughtful discussions about power, self-reflection, fear, death, religion are being had by almost every character, but ultimately it all was overshadowed by an unraveling plot and an ever-moving pace.

Additionally, the misogyny is nearly unbearable to read. The women (deities? royalty? figures?) are described to be the ones from whom the world gets its energy and life, but giving energy and life is all for the sake of a male figure who is the all-powerful God/God figure. The women are supposed to revel in and enjoy their power, but also celebrate their submissiveness to this higher power (man). If it wasn’t for the borderline preachy tone of the book, this aspect might have been worthy of dissection.

So with less of a sanctimonious tone and more fleshed out aspects of the world and its inhabitants (in far more pages), this would have been the book for me. Unfortunately it brought me very little satisfaction.

this was a lot of fun to read, I loved the mix of modern day and the use of mythology. The characters were great and the world building was really well done.

I enjoyed this book, I found it to be one of those easy reading books that you have to read every now and then.

I like the mix of myth and legend and how it all played out.

Not one I would usually read but I did enjoy it