Koffi has been taken by the god of death, who plans on using her and her newly acquired splendor to bring about the end of the world. After seeing his new friend (and perhaps something more) disappear before his very eyes, Ekon is determined to get her back. Luckily, he runs into Koffi’s grandmother, who is much more than she appears. With her help, there’s a chance that he’ll be able to find Koffi before it’s too late.

When Koffi awakens, she finds herself in a place with many others like herself, able to manipulate splendor. They’re trapped by a mist, however, and anyone who ventures into said mist never returns. Koffi must find a way to free herself and her new allies before her new power is used for evil.

I received an advanced reading copy of Beasts of Ruin in exchange for an honest review.

Beasts of Ruin is a young adult fantasy novel by Ayana Gray. It’s also the sequel to Beasts of Prey, which I just read. I was so thrilled to get my hands on the sequel right after I finished the first book! I definitely needed to know what happened next!

Speaking of what happened next, fair warning that this review will probably contain spoilers for the first book in the series.

I dove into Beasts of Ruin excitedly, since the last book pretty much ended on a cliffhanger. I had to see what would happen to Koffi and Ekon next! And, I have to say, I was very surprised by their journeys!

From the beginning, I do want to say that they spend a significant portion of the book apart. After all, Ekon’s main goal here is to find Koffi and rescue her, while Koffi’s is to escape. As in the first book, their goals are related, but also opposites, and I have to say I love how Gray keeps putting them together and using that to set them apart. They are so different in how they act and what they do, and it really comes out as they interact with other characters.

This book certainly has plenty of new characters too! First, we have the grandmother, but we also have many more people that Koffi meets in the place she’s trapped in. I thought this book actually did a great job of introducing more about the splendor to us. In Beasts of Prey, we got the bare bones of how the magic of this world worked, but in Beasts of Ruin, we start getting more and more detail. I really enjoyed reading about the different gifts people could have, and even if two technically had the same gift, how differently it could manifest! Koffi’s own discovery of her powers was also fun to watch. Sure, she already knew she had them, but we learn so much more about them in this book specifically!

One other part I enjoyed was that we learned so much more about Koffi’s mother in this book. In the previous book, I was always curious about her. Unfortunately, since she was injured fairly early on, it was hard to really get to know her, but here, we got a deep dive into her motivations, and through these moments with the mother, we got a much better understanding about the history of this world, and how the people here treated each other. Ugh, I just love it when a world has such a rich history, and here, it really changed a lot about how the characters acted and reacted.

Beasts of Ruin might have many action sequences, but I actually appreciated the quiet moments more, where the characters bonded with each other, and specifically, I enjoyed watching Ekon and Koffi bond to the people in their new surroundings. I have to admit, I enjoyed Ekon’s chapters a bit more in this book, but he had such a difficult journey ahead of him that I couldn’t help but root for every step he took! Also, I feel like he had more to grow here.

By the time I was approaching the end of Beasts of Ruin, I was getting worried. Would Gray manage to tie up the remaining plot points in the last few pages? If not, what would that mean? And then, a few massive twists were thrown onto the page, I audibly gasped once, and the book ended with a promise for a third. My only question is: when? Because I need it now!

Beasts of Ruin was an exciting follow-up to Beasts of Prey. It never struggled from middle-book syndrome, as it had its own self-contained plot, and I had such a great time following these characters on their journeys. I would recommend this to any fantasy lover, and I look forward to reading the conclusion of the series hopefully next year!

Beasts of Ruin will be released on July 26. You can preorder your copy from G.P. Putnam’s Books for Young Readers here.

BEASTS OF RUIN was a really fun follow-up to BEASTS OF PREY, a debut I really loved. It's been sometime since I read book 1 so it took me a minute to really get on track when I picked up book 2 a year later. BOR picks up right where BOP leaves off, with Koffi taken by Fedu and Ekon working to save her. Pacing wise, this book was really good. It hit the ground running with fresh new characters, more immaculate, expanded world-building, and a lot of really wonderful moments of joy. It was nice to see different sides of Koffi and Ekon in this book in that they were able to build new relationships and bonds and find small moments of happiness even in high-stakes situations. Character development in this sequel really was top notch, especially for Koffi embracing her power as a daraja after repressing it for so long. In some ways, this book felt like a different book than BOP, but that wasn't a bad thing. I also for some reason thought this was a duology as opposed to a trilogy or series, so the cliffhanger caught me off guard, but I am glad that we are getting more of these characters and these books!

Check out the aesthetic video I made for this book on TikTok & Instagram @katherinebichler. Here are the links ⬇️

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR2GAvhP/?k=1

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cf3x4i...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5/5 STARS

This is the sequel to Beasts of Prey (YA fantasy). It was one of my most anticipated reads of the summer and it did not disappoint. It picks up right where the first book left off. It is fast paced and imaginative like Beasts of Prey.

It follows Ekon’s journey to find Koffi who was taken by Fedu. It does have a little of that middle book of the series transition feel, but it is still very good and didn’t bother me. There are not as many beasts as the first book because the jungle is not the main setting, but the new world building is very good. I do miss the Shetani… my favorite character from Beasts of Prey.

It does end with a cliffhanger and I wish I had the next book to read now! 🐊🐘💚

Thank you to Penguin Teen for an advance reader copy!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Beasts of Ruin picks is the second installment in Ayana Gray's Beasts of Prey series. We follow our heroes, Koffi and Ekon, as Koffi finds herself imprisoned by the god of death, and Ekon fights to find and save her.

Like all middle books in a series, Beasts of Ruin starts off tense and only goes up from there. This is something I struggle with particularly as a reader, because it can be hard to feel invested in a conflict that I know won't end with this book, and it can be overwhelming to deal with the heavy emotional burden of everything continually going wrong for our main characters.

Fortunately, Ayana Gray combats a lot of what would otherwise be a bit of a slog with interesting twists and thoughtful development. We're treated with reveals and revelations, hidden identities, interesting fights, and spectacular character growth. The plot moves at such a fast clip, it's easy to get swept away in what's happening. I was utterly shocked when I turned the last page and the book was over.

I feel like I ought to have more thoughts, but right now it's mostly just unintelligible screaming. I already can't wait for the next book!!

I was super excited for this sequel and it did not disappoint. Ekon and Koffie are separated after Koffie makes a deal with the god of death and soon they are both fighting for their lives. Both find themselves in communities that feel like home and begin to discover who they are and grow into who they are meant to be. In a world filled with fantastic animal sand gods who walk the earth it is hard not to get lost in their world and travel the rods with them. The cliffhanger has me desperate for book 3 immediately!

Reviews Posted: July 10, 2022
Goodreads
Storygraph

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it did not disappoint. The character growth, I think, is what shined the most. I think the world expansion was done beautifully, and once again, the author pulled me in with her beautiful and magical writing. The only thing that I didn’t love about this book is that it felt like it was really just setting up the next book, so at times I wanted more to be happening.

Koffi and Ekon each have their own journeys in this book, so we got to see them grow and develop apart from each other. I think this helped to see what each of them will contribute to the story in the next book. I also thought it was fun to see how they interacted with the new characters, which showed more of their personalities.

The world-building in this book was more subtle than in the last. I was learning along with the characters, so I never felt overwhelmed by all the new information given to me. I also think that the author did a good job of expanding the world throughout the whole book instead of just piling it on in the beginning. This made the book even more enjoyable to read because I found myself wondering what else I might learn about this world. The way the author describes the world is just breathtaking, and I felt as if I was experiencing it with the characters.

While I had a great time reading this book and love where this story is going, I think this book suffers from a middle book slump. This is setting up the next book for sure, and it seems like we were being told a lot of the information in this book so that more action and plot can happen in the next. This made the book feel longer than it was and slower than it should have been. The end is the only part of the book with much going on. Given that the pacing was off, I do think the plot points that did happen in this book were interesting, and I love the direction everything is going in.

Also, the cliffhanger had me gasping and angry that the next book doesn’t exist yet.

This was a great sequel to Beasts of Prey! I loved following Koffi and Ekon on their individual journeys in the novel. Both of their respective chapters were filled with a ton of suspense and action sequences that kept me on the edge of my seat. Just like in Beasts of Prey, it was pretty thrilling to see the various creatures and mythical beings that both Koffi and Ekon encountered and how Koffi and Ekon worked together with their new friends to beat them. I do think that this book did suffer a bit from "middle book"/"second book in a trilogy" syndrome, but nevertheless I'm still super excited to see how everything goes down in the conclusion to this trilogy!

A fast paced story that picks up right where Beasts of Prey left off. Beasts of Ruin is a roller coaster ride that sailed off a cliff and had me feeling like I was riding a kongamato!
Wow, wow, wow. I'm completely blown away by the word building the author continues to give me. Anytime I look at fog I will be reminded of Mistwood. The weaving of Binti's story into the adventures of Koffi and Ekon gives me more insight into how we ending up in the Night Zoo.

There has to be a 3rd book.

AHHHH this was the best sequel ever! I need the next one ASAP. I didn't think I could like it more than Beasts of Prey, but man was I wrong. This was 10x the magic, the experience, and the tension, and it was so much fun being back in this world. It's such a fascinating and beautiful story and it is every bit the fantasy world you'd ever want to be part of.

Not sure if it was me or this book, but I couldn’t get into it this time. Loved the first book but for some reason this one just wasn’t pulling me in as much. I’ll definitely give it another try at some point because I really liked the first book and the whole idea of the story and the characters.

Overall not a bad book.

Personally I found Koffi’s povs fairly boring. She was just existing kind of finding an escape but it mostly felt like training the whole book.

Ekon’s story I like. He was on a missing getting stuff done.

Binti’s povs we’re absolutely pointless.

The ending had me a little confused but I’m interested to see how it plays into the third book.

WHYYYYYYYY.

This was one of the most second book syndrome books I have ever read. I spent the entire read wondering why in the world the characters were doing what they were. Ekon spent his entire time trying to get to Koffi while she spent the entire time trying to get out of where she was. It made this book draaaaaaaaaag.

Not to mention, we have thrown a love…square? into this. Something like that, I don’t even know at this point. I’m incredibly frustrated. I think this would have been beautiful as a duology and this felt like mostly wasted pages.

I really love these characters. I do. Koffi and Ekon are written incredibly well. Full of strengths and weaknesses and a resilience to take the next step forward. They are the reason I kept going. The beasts are a fun aspect and I love learning the backgrounds on them (from the author’s note) and how they play into the overall scheme of this book.

Juuuuust feeling upset this is how this book went down. It was one of my top fantasy releases for 2022. And you know what? I think book three will be extremely good. This was too middle book for me.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Fantasy
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: animal attacks, loss of loved ones, near death experiences, magical and physical altercations, weapons violence

This picks up right after book 1 and is just as amazing, just as fast paced. I can't wait for everyone to read this and experience the joy, and happiness this book gave me. I love being able to see characters that look like me so well written with a story that sucks you in.