I’ve gone back and forth on whether I wanted to rate this book 3.5 stars or 4, but I decided to round up for the purpose of goodreads and my review. I think that Forged by Blood had a ton of potential. The story was so unique and the characters were well thought out and developed. The biggest problem that I found was that there was a lot of information delivered in a very curt way and I was having to backtrack quite a bit to figure out exactly what was going on and why it was happening. I am still a bit confused as to the difference between Oluso and Oyo Oluso and I got a bit turned around with some of the terms, especially in the spirit realm. I do believe that this duology has a ton of potential and I’m hoping that the finished copy has a glossary of terms to streamline the reading experience. I did already preorder a copy and I’m looking forward to the next!

Beautiful and powerful are two words I'd use to describe this book. It was original and written wonderfully. I rooted for the main character until the last page, and now Okosun has me begging for the next book.

Absolutely loved the Nigerian mythology. I think learning about that in the beginning made me way more into the beginning compared to the end but I’d be curious if rereading would change that.

"Forged by Blood" started strong for me. I thought it was going to be a 5⭐️ read; however... I really struggled from 30-70% of this book. There is a love triangle that is unnecessary and a lot of the world building felt... jumbled. You know the animation where a cartoon has scribbles above their head? It felt like that for me.

I think I'm interested enough to read the next in series, but at the same time, I'm not really interested. 😂 Confusing, I know. Honestly, it sums up my feelings for the book perfectly.

This is a brand new fantasy, the first to a duology and it’s inspired by Nigerian mythology. It’s following a strong female centered character who is on a path for revenge. She loses her mom early on because both of them have healing magic, and they got discovered so she’s on a journey to make right all the atrocities that have happened to her. She gathers some friends to kidnap the prince because they think that is the quickest way to get in the back door essentially. I love the idea of a character having healing magic, we don’t see that too often and it didn't disappoint.
Full review to come on YouTube.

Forged by Blood is a solid debut with good writing, creative use of Nigerian mythology, and engagingly fast pacing, but is regrettably yet another victim of the blurred line between YA and adult in publishing. Much of this book's faults - in my eyes - lie in its miscategorization. From the narration to the tropes to the pacing, this book reads as a YA manuscript despite its adult billing. Though the themes of colonial violence are certainly mature, there's a juvenile tone in Demi's narration not helped by the first-person POV that creates an end product less mature than the sum of its parts. This added with the fated mates element of the romance did not have any of the emotional depth and complexity I would expect from adult fantasy.

Ultimately, Forged by Blood is a good debut but simply meant for a much younger audience than me, and I fear this may be a common theme among those expecting something other than what they'll get.

2.5 stars rounded up.

I'm honestly not sure why the publisher listed this book as "epic fantasy" when it's clearly just YA fantasy. Because of that, I expected so much more. I'm glad at least Goodreads was correct (for once) when it came to labeling this book as YA fantasy.

Anyway.

Forged by Blood is your typical YA fantasy with all its tropes and plot points. The characters are older teens/young adults. The worldbuilding and magic weren't fully developed. The FMC was very impulsive and extremely short-sighted. Nothing screamed "epic fantasy."

Honestly, it read like a rough draft instead of a final draft because nothing really made sense logically. It felt like the author threw in a bunch of YA tropes hoping that it would make a story. There were so many deus ex machina solutions to every single problem, so nothing really felt high stakes.

The only thing that stood out to me was the Nigerian folklore and mythology. That was done really well. You could feel yourself immersed in a Nigerian-inspired fantasy world, especially during the sequence in the spirit world with the spirit beings.

But everything else was so lackluster. The worldbuilding made no sense. You could tell that the author wanted to touch on colonization, but it felt wishy-washy. The Eingardians/colonizers were the bad guys, but yet the FMC was super cool with teaming up with their prince? (I haven't even touched on her decisions at the end of the book.)

The politics were weirdly convoluted in an attempt to make it more adult/epic fantasy. I had to wait until 85% through (when the bad guy explained everything) for me to understand wtf was going on. (Turns out it was partly family drama that included a not! Luke Skywalker reveal. Wtf lol)

The magic system was also underdeveloped. I had the sense that certain people had certain magic skills, like healing, teleportation, clairvoyance, etc. But the FMC had elemental powers AND healing? I was so confused, but there was no other choice but to roll along with it.

Another HUGE issue I had were the deus ex machina solutions to every single problem. Our heroes would be in trouble but ofc, they'd be saved somehow.


***SPOILERS AHEAD***

Around the midpoint, when the FMC and other Oluso are about to be burned at the stake, her adopted family just shows up to save them? What? How? They're not even in the same part of the country/territory.

I had so many issues with the ending... What was the author even trying to say?? The FMC didn't believe in Ekwensi and the Oluso's cause, so she stayed with the prince and the Eingardians in order to find a diplomatic solution? Even though the Eingardians wouldn't recognize her as queen and the FMC didn't fully trust the prince, but since they were ~fated mates, it was totally okay? So we're cool with colonizer romances these days?

Also, the final battle made absolute ZERO sense. The FMC is fighting the king, who's a trained soldier, and she's not supposed to use her magic in order to make it an even match. But how tf does she even know how to use a sword? This was never hinted at or alluded to at all.

So she breaks her iron bracelets in order to use her magic to defeat the king, which didn't make sense because at first, she didn't want to "cheat" using her magic, but now she realizes that it's totally fine to use her magic because she's about to die?

Also her dead(?) father's spirit appears out of nowhere during the death match to give her a weapon? And I'm not sure she even used that weapon? What was the point of that scene???

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

***END SPOILERS***


I was so lost. I finished this novel a few days ago and I'm still lost.

I'm definitely not picking up the sequel.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this arc.

Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun is unlike anything I have read before. Ms. Okosun creates a refreshing and entertaining story through her use of Nigerian mythology, stories that I guarantee most readers are unfamiliar with. These myths are entrancing in their unfamiliarity, and I want to learn more about them.

This vibrant Nigerian mythology sets the stage for a more familiar plot about magic, power, race, and class. While the story elements are recognizable, Forged by Blood retains its air of unfamiliarity because of a few key points. First, the forbidden magic Dèmi and her people must hide is unusual, as no two people have the same powers. They fit into generic categories regarding the origins of their magic. However, each user has a different power among people in their category.

The second aspect that keeps Forged by Blood from feeling familiar is Ms. Okosun's use of Nigeria to create her fictional world. Ms. Okosun uses real-life Nigerian city and town names for all the places Dèmi, Colin, and Jonas visit. I can only assume that she also uses their topography as well. Still, there is no doubt that the kingdom Dèmi is trying to save is fictional. The result is an unsettling, otherworldly feeling which throws the story off-kilter, making the familiar unfamiliar and bringing to mind the idea of multiverse possibilities.

I finished Forged by Blood and immediately wanted more of the story. Dèmi is so sweet and naive but also very angry and determined. I love characters with fiery tempers, and Dèmi fits that bill to a tee. Plus, her relationship with Colin is bittersweet but still fun to see. As for Jonas, I need answers there. Ms. Okosun threw a bomb during the last chapter that had me scrambling for as much information as I could glean from the pages.

Forged by Blood is an epic fantasy with everything you love about the genre plus the bonus of being told by a BIPOC author. Ms. Okosun's use of Nigerian names, places, and mythology is a refreshing change from the Greek/Irish/Viking mythology that tends to dominate the genre. Plus, her use of race and class as part of the overarching conflict creates great discussion topics. Fantasy fans would be remiss to ignore Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun. I have a feeling hers is name you are will see often in the future!

FANTASY REVIEW: ★★★★★
Absolutely phenomenal. I loved this beautiful new world. The world building is as nuanced and layered and beautiful and culturally rich as any P. Djeli Clark novel. The magic system, so interesting. The different groups in the society had me wanting to learn more about these people. The action scenes? I couldn't put it down. The ending was such an intense, wild ride.

ROMANCE REVIEW: ★
What the hell was this? Not every book needs romance and this book would've been so ELEVATED without the mess these characters were put into. Not only is there a LOVE TRIANGLE but mixed in with that is fated mates, “forced” proximity, AND enemies to lovers. These characters were such a hot mess that beyond our FMC messing around with them both, there never really was any character development. They all remained flat outside of the plot and this poorly done romance. The FMC also was a ’my way or the highway’ main character and never really chose to see outside of her own thoughts until the plot forced her to, which made for an uncomfortable reading experience at times. In the end this unnecessarily complicated mess of a 'romance' made my reading experience of what could've been an absolutely fantastic & immersive novel nosedive into what is at most, an overall 3-star experience.

AVERAGE / OVERALL RATING: ★★★

This book was intriguing to me from the start. A beautiful, eye-catching cover with an initial hook that led me to have high expectations for what was to come. I appreciated the premise and overall lessons within the story, however it did seem a little young for my typical taste. The main character being young and inexperienced herself led to this overall feeling while reading.

I think I would’ve been happy to read this book without any romance element, but again I’m not typically a fan of love triangles.

I rated this story 3 stars because it was a world I was glad to experience, but would recommend it for young adult readers.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC!

I really loved the description of this book when I first got an ARC copy of it through net galley. I wanted to first thank Harper Voyager for also sending me a finished copy before release date for an honest review. I enjoyed the initial plot of this book. What I loved about it was the world building and the unique magic system. I also loved the main characters Demi and and the strong ethics and morals that she had throughout the book. I also loved the main plot line of Demi taking the steps to fight the oppression in plaguing her world but I think I am a bigger fan of Ekwensi because I think realistically his mindset is where I am at when it comes to fighting oppression. The I think that the love triangle between Demi, Jonas, and Colin was not necessary, I think that the book would have been more enjoyable if the focus was on the relationship between Jonas and Demi. Overall the world building was spectacular. The last 30% of the book there is a lot of info dumping that was rather enjoyable and increased the drama of the book. I do recommend reading this book if you love books with great world building, and breaking down oppression, and also a little bit of romance.

Thanks to NetGalley & Avon and Harper Voyager for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I DNF'ed at 20%.

I was really annoyed at how this book had really cool worldbuilding but the MOST BORING romance. Why is there even a romance in this fantasy dystopian world?! I was hoping for a more straightforward fantasy adventure with a protagonist toppling society but instead, it was just blah blah about who likes who. and fated soulmates...judging by other reviews there seems to be a love triangle deeper into the book. Snore.

Weird romance aside--the pacing was really off too. The protagonist immediately trusted the Eventual Love Interest despite her mother warning her not to and gee what happens...ha. I was also getting really confused with how much time had passed--due to strange pacing--it felt like only seconds passed by but apparently, it had been longer than that.

Despite it all I can tell this author really has great ideas for worldbuilding--I just hope they fix the pacing issues in their next book.

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=3? | 😘=2.75 | 🤬=2 | ⚔️=5 | 14+; T

thoughts: this is fine?? I’m not super impressed and nothing really stood out to me I guess. just meh.

***Thank you to Harper Voyager for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

I struggled so much with this book, but there were some things that I really loved. The mythology and culture were fascinating, and I really enjoyed learning about it over the course of the story. The exploration of themes related to colonization, racism, and colorism was thought-provoking and gut-wrenching. The author painted a vivid, grim picture of what life is like for those who face systematic persecution at the hands of a colonizer. I also appreciated the nuanced examination of revenge versus justice and the difficulties inherent in deciding how best to change a corrupt system.

Despite having some great themes and an impressive backdrop, the execution of the story was rough. I was hooked in the beginning and completely invested for the first few chapters. Then the nine year time jump happened, and I hated it. All the momentum of the first chapters came to a screeching halt, and it felt like I was back at the beginning of the story. Everything just sort of meandered around from there until the climax at the end. The pacing was all over the place with so many lulls my eyes glazed over. The end was okay and set up some interesting conflicts for the next book, but all of the supposedly shocking backgrounds and connections between the characters just left me unsatisfied and a little bit confused. I came away from it all not really caring what happens next, largely because I can sort of guess how it will go. So, I don't think I'll pick up the sequel.

Now on to the thing I disliked the most about this book: the characters and their relationships. I didn't hate the main character, Dèmi. She was fascinating and had a life full of trauma she was attempting to overcome. She just wanted to do what was best for her people, and I really liked how her character was used to explore the ethics of revenge and justice. The problem was the boys, Colin and Jonas. They dragged her character down into a stupid love triangle, and I hated it, especially since both of the boys lacked depth. Fated mate pairings can be riveting, but this book did that trope dirty. Everything was so obvious and insta-love. I was cringing. The sad thing is Jonas could have been used to explore class and race privilege in such fascinating ways because of his unique position. Instead we got a bit of shallow lip service to that topic, and he and Colin were largely reduced to making googly eyes and fighting over Dèmi. It felt juvenile and was so frustrating to read.

All in all, this book was not for me. It had such a vividly imagined setting, but the story was a let down. The tropes were just a little too tropey, and the annoying love triangle had me rolling my eyes so much. I'm going to be generous and rate this 3.5 out of 5 stars because I appreciate what it was trying to do even though I didn't love it.

This debut was easy to read, filled with complex characters and rich in magic. This book takes a first person point of view following our main character Demi. She is a strong, impulsive and heroic female main character learning to deal with her grief and anger. Her childhood friend Colin, is reckless and hopelessly in love with her while prince Jonas is full of secrets.

The plot in this book was riveting as we try to unravel all the secrets and stumble into magical realms of the different spirits. There are strong themes of oppression and survival along with great twists. Some tropes included are love triangle, fated mates, second chance romance and childhood friends.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fantasy that takes place in an African inspired world or a fantasy read more about secrets and crazy plots. I would not recommend this to someone looking for romance as I felt that the romance was a bit lackluster and took a backseat to the complex plot elements.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing me with a digital ARC for my review.

an action packed journey as Demi ventures to kidnap the king's nephew to save her people, she gets more than she thought she would. I think that this book's strengths lied within it's magic, I was entranced by how it interacted with the world and am excited to see how it develops through the series.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. The concept was emotional and impactful, despite being one that I have read in other books. The pacing kept my interest and I was always eager to keep reading or pick it back up again after having to put it down. I thought the writing was very well done, not too wordy or overly complicated in concept, but also not overly simplified. I would say this did read a little on the YA side for me, but I wasn't turned off by it at all. The content and storyline felt mature but not overly so. The characters had depth and the connections that were made between them felt genuine and lasting. I felt emotions for these characters and I love when I can experience that while reading.

I found myself really appreciating Dèmi's character. Her fierceness and determination is something that I always enjoy reading in an FMC. But at the same time she maintained her empathy and passion for those she cares about and loves, and for those that she seeks to protect. Her people are so important to her and that theme carries through the entirety of the story. She doesn't compromise in her values, even when it is not in her best interest to do so. This makes her character so much deeper and her arc so much sweeter, because her quick temper and wit evolves into something more mature by the end of the book. I also really enjoyed the dynamic between Dèmi and Jonas. I loved how he continually wanted to learn from her and typically kept trying to put her first despite everything they were going through. Colin's character annoyed me from the beginning...he just always seemed so pushy and selfish, both towards Dèmi as well as relating to other things later in the book that I can't really go into without spoiling things. There was a small amount of steamy tension in this book, but nothing explicit. Very, very tame. I would have loved more spice (I love my spice), and I think that's what these characters are calling for, so maybe we will see more in the next book?? Fingers crossed *smiley face*

I thought the magic system, as well as the background on the gods and spirits was very fascinating and interesting, although at times I felt like I didn't fully grasp the depth of the magic system or what all it entailed. I would have liked to have had a bit more background on what capabilities different people had. It seemed to be based on elemental abilities, but I'm still not entirely sure. That could also just be my own ignorance and lack of comprehension while reading too. I was also a little confused on who was actually still alive and who was deceased by the end of the book. I don't feel like I can go into too much detail, because I don't want to spoil anything. But I felt like some things still weren't clear. My arc was also missing the "Dramatic Personae" section (it had the page for it at the end, but no content), so I may have been missing some appendices information that could have answered some of those questions(??). A family tree or something describing the lineages of families prior to the events of this book would have been super helpful when trying to figure out who was who and their connections to each other/the story.

The events leading up to the end felt a little on the chaotic side. But it also felt quite intense in a good way! There was just so much happening! I almost wish it had been a little bit longer and things had been a little more drawn out in order to give the reader more clarity about why things were happening the way they were or what all had actually occurred outside of Dèmi's perspective/life leading up to the ending events. Some things felt a little rushed and not fully explained. For one example, what the heck was the deal with Mari and the king??? Was she in love with Yetundé as well, or just hella jealous of her?? I was confused about some things. Again, that could have just been me missing some points made previously. I also am a big fan of thick fantasies so I love longer books in general. The more details and background, the better for me. It can be done well.

I actually really loved the way this first book of the duology ended. There wasn't this massive cliffhanger that left you wanting to chuck the book across the room because you were left in the dark with a ton of open holes. It concluded the most important and direct things very well (satisfyingly so, in my opinion), but yet also left a lot of open-ended pieces that could easily be picked back up with the next book. It left me sated, yet also enthusiastically desiring to know what happens next.

Congratulations to the author on her debut novel! I would definitely recommend this book, especially to those looking for diverse stories/authors to add to their shelves. I hope you enjoy!

I really wanted to love this book, but it did not work out for me. This novel was incredibly juvenile for it to be marketed as an adult. All of the characters are still very young, and there is nothing really in the book to make it appeal to an older audience. At most, I would market this for New Adults, and even that is a bit of a stretch. The world-building had a lot of promise, but it is never fully fleshed out. At most, we got sections of info-dumping to explain random scenes. The magical element was incredibly confusing. By 25% I still didn't grasp about how the magic system worked and the political turmoil of the countries. On top of this, a love triangle took precedence over everything else. I'm not particularly fond of this trope, to begin with, but in this book, it was unnecessary and felt out of place for an adult fantasy. Overall, a very disappointing debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVoyager for the advance copy! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

**I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher. This is my honest review**

3.5 STARS!

There were a lot of positives for this book, BUT the pacing/transitions made it hard to follow what was happening sometimes. I wanted to love this book but several times I was flipping back through feeling like I had missed something important.

<b>Some things I loved:</b>
The world and magic system is elaborate and engaging.
It is fast-paced.
The magic, creatures, and various fantasy elements are a breath of fresh air after reading so many books with European inspired fantasy.
The overarching theme of colonization was done well. There was so much this story had to offer in surviving as an oppressed people and what it means to rise up against injustice. The internal conflicts/reactions of each of the three characters felt genuine in regards to their part in the political and social issues of this world.
Ehigbor Okosun's writing shows a talent and great potential for wrapping us up into a story. I really enjoyed her writing style. The descriptions don't feel forced or drawn out, the magic system is fascinating and the political/social aspects of the world make you want to read more.

<b>Things that didn't work for me:</b>
We flew through things at times. We'd be dealing with one plot point and suddenly that was resolved and we had skipped through to a totally new conflict in the plot. Normally this would make for a fast-paced book but the transitions made the plot feel disjointed to me. I (on multiple occasions) had to pause and check if I had skipped something or missed an important detail.
I felt like the magic system needed some clarifying. For example, what was essentially a magical leash for Jonas, on several occasions was described as not being able to stretch very far. But then there are times that Demi is a whole room over without concern.
We need a glossary. There are so many terms, words for different types of Oluso, and so much in this world that I had difficulty remembering what was what.
There is a huge cast of characters and we didn't always get enough of an intro about a character for them to stick in my mind the next time they appeared. Again this may be because of the pacing/transition issue for my brain.

<b>Additional Comments:</b>
The love triangle was hard. I didn't feel a lot of chemistry between two of the characters, so it didn't feel so much like a love triangle but more like the MC was just using the characters to relieve some of her trauma/stress through physical affection. This does appropriately fall under romantic fantasy genre, not fantasy romance, as the romance is a subplot.

I believe this is suppose to be marketed as a New Adult or Adult fantasy book. But the characters are young and the way they act makes it hard to read it as adult fantasy. HOWEVER, they are young but dealing with very much ADULT issues. So I am interested in seeing if the second book expands on that idea and matures them. I'd say for the general adult fantasy reader, this book may not be what they're use to because of the immaturity of the characters.

<b>Final Notes: </b>
As a debut novel, Forged by Blood did intrigue me. I will be watching Ehigbor Okosun in the coming years and reading her books because there is amazing potential in her writing. I think that if the transitions and plot pacing wasn't so rough for me, this would have easily been a 4 or 5 star read. It's a solid debut and I can't wait to see what comes next!

This book is definitely YA so go into it knowing that. The FMC was pissing me off majority of the book & not just because I do not agree with her views but because girl grow TF up! She seemed so weak minded. Her magic wasn't what I thought it would be. I appreciate the author taking us through different adventures to give us a view of the world/realms, however, it only seemed to further drag the story. There was no real action & even then it was mid. If this was a trilogy/series I would not continue, but since its a duology I will read the second book just to get closure. This was not at all a bad book. Unfortunately, it just does not stand out against all the other blood magic fantasies that I have read.

I did receive an e-ARC courtesy of NetGalley.