3.75, rounded up to 4

My feelings about this book are not so easy to distill into "I liked it" or "I didn't like it" but....I'm okay with this!!

This character-driven story was truly unpredictable in the best ways. I could guess PARTS of what a character would do, but never how it would unfold or the far-reaching consequences. I saw the parallels between this story and the Persephone myth that the story is "loosely based on" and let me tell you it is LOOSE. Don't go into this expecting another Hades and Persephone retelling (notice how Hades was left out of the comp?) but DO go in expecting the same level of messy court politics and manipulations that the Greek Pantheon has given us in the original myths.

I was really torn on giving this the full 4 stars, but in the end I didn't connect with the main character enough. That's not so much the fault of the writing though, I think it's more on me. Some plot developments felt a little TOO out-of-nowhere as well, but when included in the larger picture still made sense. Overall I would recommend this to people who like myth retellings from Female POVs, messy but real court drama, and those who are interested in a story set in pre-colonial West Africa!

Masquerade was one my most anticipated releases of the year, I’ve been so excited for it ever since I first heard it pitched as “loosely based on the myth of Persephone but set in reimagined 15th century West Africa”. That was all I needed, and it did not disappoint.

To be clear, this isn’t a romance. It’s a book about women and power, and how our main character Òdòdó learns to wield it. There’s adventure, drama, political intrigue as we watch Òdòdó go from a naive village girl to a powerful woman in her own right and not just as the wife of the king. The writing was incredibly strong, I was amazed that this was a debut novel.

Definition of I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs 😌

This was a beautifully written story set in a time and place that does not get much exposure in modern Western Literature. When we think of historical fiction we usually tend towards Europe and visions of knights, castles, and princely romance. This, however, was an amazingly brilliant book set in 15th century Africa. It shed light on how women of a specific class were viewed by society and how little they could do to change it. It did much to make me rethink how someone of this time and place could have lived and what that might have looked like before European colonization took hold of the continent with Christianity and the slave trade.

I enjoyed this one but I feel as if Tor mismarketed this book quite a bit. It's comped to The Woman King and marketed as a fantasy and didn't fully have the vibes of historical fiction often using words that wouldn't fit the time period. I would say Ododo is less badass woman and more a naive girl who wants power but just believes it will be handed to her. Which causes her to be duped by the people around her constantly. So the ending when she does finally claim her power is hard to swallow. It's more of a court intrigue story and that along with the audiobook and constant twists is what kept me invested.

BOOK: MASQUERADE
AUTHOR: O.O SANGOYOMI
PUB DATE: JULY 2024
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REVIEW: 4.5 stars
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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First of all, I want to appreciate the author for this wonderful history lesson I got from this book. I loved loved learning about the rich history because it's something I've been lacking. This historical aspect was the favorite part of the bookm Technically, this is my history, yet I know very little about it. So, I appreciate this golden opportunity. I hope this author writes more books like this, I'll definitely read it.
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Now, the book. The story of how Alale Ododo became a Queen from a blacksmith. In Yorubaland, women of the lowest order were blacksmiths and called witches. They do a lot of work but they are treated like scum. Ododo caught the eye of the Alaafin and she was able to escape that life.
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Throughout the book, I read how Ododo grew from the naive blacksmith to the strategic queen that led battles. There was a hint of romance, but it was realistic
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I liked this book, the author's writing style, the rich culture, but I didn't really like the characters, although I give kudos to the author for how realistic they were. The characters were ruthless and ambitious, and they didn't really care about the innocent ones. I didn't like them, but they were realistic, especially for that precarious time.
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This book was amazing, and I can't wait for the author's next works. This book is phenomenal
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3.5 rounded up. At first, I found this book hard to gather my thoughts on. By the end of it, I definitely enjoyed it, so let’s start with the good. This is definitely a celebration of Yoruba culture and West African history. I would consider this more a book of historic fiction rather than mythos or Greek retelling. The author has a strong, clear, and passionate prose when it comes to transporting you to this time. Everything feels so vivid and lively. By far, my favorite part of this read was the setting.

Now, just reading it by itself without the audiobook, I initially found it really hard to connect with the characters. I felt that Òdòdó represented so many parts of women that we love to see in main characters. She has a past that’s tricky. She has a love story that is seemingly misunderstood. She is a woman who also craves power and is often put in impossible situations. I think most people will love this main character’s rootedness in herself and her purpose, no matter the sacrifice, choice, or consequence. This book is definitely a long game, but again, 1000% the audiobook made this experience for me. I have to give so much praise to Macmillan Audio and the care they took into the delivery of this narrative. Ariel Blake was vibrant and captivating in a way that I just didn’t necessarily feel just having the book in hand.

Separate from just the story, I think this book is a case of marketing taking a chance and being willing to face the consequences. The marketing for this book is essentially saying it’s a loosely based retelling of a Nigerian retelling for the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades. This just seemed like a way to widen the audience to those who would not normally read books focusing on Black characters in this space. As well as labeling it as fantasy or mythology. I think you will have readers who are either completely swept into the story with the comparison to the mythological retelling, or you’ll have people who recognize that this book could’ve stood on its own without that comparison being made. The same way, you will have people who were hoping for more fantastical elements and recognize that there weren’t many there, or any at all, to be honest. So, I think this is also a case of the marketing team behind this book willing to take that chance because they knew they had a very strong FMC. And who doesn’t love reading about a strong woman standing by her decisions and existing in the morally gray?

Now onto not necessarily the bad, but the things that left me kind of questioning. I found myself wondering what the point was. I also felt more connected to the setting and all the emphasis put into everything else going on politically than what was happening with the character herself. At first, I was like, OK, I get it. She is hoping to see her mom. She’s holding out to be connected to her mom, but then I was also thinking, what happens when she does get her mom back? It’s obvious the mom’s not just gonna live there. Well, I guess it’s obvious to everyone but her. And so when that happened and her mom just pops up at the hut and she quickly ran out after her mom wasn’t ready to settle into this new life with her, it just kind of shined a light on how passive Òdòdó was. She approached other situations with more grace and patience. So then I said, OK, was she motivated by this power, this want to have a better life for herself, as we see in the conversation she has with her mother. But we also acknowledge that she would not have this position had she not been kidnapped. This is where I felt some of the ideas were clashing.

There were also some points where the pacing felt weird and the book would drag more than others. I fell asleep and would have to pick back up and rewind or flip back pages. But I’m very glad to have finished and heard Òdòdó’s story told so well via audiobook and written so eloquently. I wondered if this could’ve been marketed as a YA read, but again, I think marketing made the choices they made for broader audience purposes. Regardless, I know this will be a compelling read for many. As we see Òdòdó finding her sense of self and purpose, the way in which it highlights different female relationships and aspects of the feminine form, it’s beautiful in prose and detailed portrayal of 15th-century West Africa. Along with the journey of Òdòdó not only stepping into the light of her own path but the meaning of her stepping from behind the shadow of a man.

Thank you to Forge Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this digital ARC and listen.

This was very good! I really enjoyed the author’s writing style. The prose was lyrical and it kept me engaged with the story. I did feel that this read more YA than adult and I found some parts of the story to be repetitive.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

This was a great debut novel!

I love reading about history and other cultures, and this story provided me with a lot of amazing insight into pre-colonized Africa. This story was lush and immersive, and I found myself feeling like I was right in the middle of it all.

Pacing could use a bit of work - there were some time jumps that made it feel like a lot of time had passed when it hadn't. I love good political intrigue and this book has that in spades. I also love when women take their crappy situations and use them to turn into a veritable badass.

Amazing book. I'm excited for more from this author.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book. The different tribes and their various customs, the discussion of the expansion of the central kingdom and nuanced thoughts on that, as well as the varied political manuvering was really interesting and well done.

However, I struggled to root for the main character. She was very naive, which made sense since she was an illiterate teenager kidnapped by a king, but the speed with which she just shrugged and accepted her captivity, even falling in love with her captor no matter how many truly heinous things he did to her and others, really felt super frustrating and was hard to connect with. The plot felt fairly predictable which made it all the worse when the main character is just sipping poisoned offerings from her enemies, hanging out alone with people she knows want to harm her over and over, and absolutely fawning over the world’s worst dude. I didn’t really even see anything redeeming in him at all. And maybe that’s the point? But if so, why was so much of the text and also the main character character’s thoughts consumed with pleasing this guy?? I wish she had been more strategic all along.

I did, however, enjoy the ending.

O.O. Sangoyomi’s debut novel Masquerade is “loosely based on the myth of Persephone” according to the publisher, but that’s slightly misleading; although some plot elements echo the legend, and the protagonist believes in divine spirits (òrisàs) and has a few significant dreams, this book really isn’t what I’d call fantasy. It’s an interesting work of alternate history in which a naive young girl has to grow up fast when she is abducted and installed in a foreign court as the intended bride of a warrior king. Ignorant at first, Òdòdó learns fast that kindness can conceal cruelty, and tenderness can be a distraction from tyranny; eventually, she learns how to make allies and take control of her own life, and more.
The book opens in Timbuktu with the execution of a Songhai general after the city’s takeover by Yorùbáland. Òdòdó witnesses this, then returns to the blacksmith compound where she and her mother work; in this reimagined West Africa, all forge work is done by women, but these smiths are shunned as witches, a necessary and thus barely tolerated evil. Òdòdó crafts a daffodil from silver and gives it to an engaging tramp, but her mother drives away the beggar and slaps and scolds Òdòdó for talking to a strange man. Later, when she visits the market to sell more metal flowers, she is tricked, drugged, and kidnapped. She expects to be sold as a slave to work in a mine, but instead, she is transported to a life of luxury, for the stranger she’d been kind to turns out to have been the Yorùbá warrior king, Àrèmo the Alǻàfin. (Alǻàfin is a title that every Yorùbá king takes, like Pharaoh in Egypt.)
Initially, I was very puzzled as to why the king wouldn’t have just married Òdòdó through normal means, like offering a dowry. Did he literally “sweep her off her feet” as a grand gesture? He does like making those, but it turns out to be a lot simpler: The Alǻàfin just takes what he wants, whether it’s a person, slaves, or territory. But he is magnificent, and Òdòdó is dazzled by her new lush life, and she agrees that she’ll marry him as soon as he rescues her mama from poverty, too. That reunion is postponed for much of the book, though, because most blacksmiths disappear from the land, apparently in a sort of strike, soon after Òdòdó’s abduction.
Not having been raised to understand subtlety, Òdòdó gets tricked fairly frequently, at least in the beginning. She has many enemies at court, from a general who thinks she must have bewitched his ruler, to the king’s mother who thinks nobody is good enough for her son, to a complicated relationship with her husband’s first wife (a purely political marriage). But she quickly learns the value of information after her suitor is impressed by the utility of some gossip she repeats to him, and later she deliberately creates an information network.
Despite her quickness in learning, and the intelligently creative solutions she offers at the advisory council meetings, most people dismiss her, and she constantly has to strive, submit, and scheme to keep her place in the court and in her suitor’s heart. It’s repeatedly driven home to her that despite her high status, she has very little power … until she finally learns from Àrèmo how to take what she wants for herself.
Òdòdó turns out to be fairly ruthless, having scrabbled for survival, making some very hard choices, and eventually deciding to stop at nothing to achieve her goals. She does try kindness at first, but this brings her few rewards. However, when she finally finds her footing, it looks like she’ll be making good long-term decisions, helping the blacksmiths find fairer treatment and working to develop trade relationships instead of warring for more territory.
You don’t have to know anything about the Persephone myth to enjoy this book, but it’s interesting to pick up on the resonances: Abduction, mystically significant cowpeas instead of pomegranate seeds, the blacksmith strike/disappearance being like Demeter’s withholding of crops. Some things end up very differently from the myth, though, so be prepared for that.
I’ll admit I’m still a bit puzzled by the title of Masquerade. Does it refer to the king’s initial disguise as a pauper? The false faces some people wear at court? Òdòdó’s pretence of being submissive while she bides her time and builds her own power base?
I did suspect for a while that since the Alǻàfin always wears a mask and elaborate layers of clothing in public and at council meetings, Òdòdó might actually be planning to masquerade as him, but that didn’t happen after all. So readers, if any of you figure out the title, please let me know!

Content warnings: Violence, brutality, many deaths, including of an animal; negatively portrayed sexism, discrimination, and oppression.
Disclaimers: I received a free ebook for review.

I really enjoyed this debut novel! I appreciated this story of precolonized west Africa. The journey of the main character was powerful and believable, both figuratively and literally. This history fiction transported me to the 25th century and gave me a glimpse of life during that time. The dynamics between her and the king were reminiscent of Hades and Persephone and I was throughly entertained. Would definitely recommend.

eARC Review: Masquerade by O. O. Sangoyomi 🐘

This was a wonderful merging of the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone with Nigerian mythology in an alternative medieval West Africa! The setting was atmospheric and the court politics all encompassing to the point where even I was left scratching my head as to how I missed it all. 🤔

The story follows Òdòdó, a blacksmith in Timbuktu who finds herself whisked away to the glittering Yorùbá court. I enjoyed her rise to power as the Àlaafín’s bride and her descent into darkness. Her love of Àremo (can’t get the special accent marks on my phone) was an interesting show of how obsessive love can start out on the best of terms (if not incredibly questionable ones), but soon descend into utter chaos. At times, I was rather confused by her decisions and why she made them, but man did I love her last one! 😳

One other thing that made me scratch my head a bit were the time jumps that made me feel like larger periods of time passed when they didn’t. That and I do wish we had a deeper look into the gods of Nigerian mythology/the Yorùbá people; I just felt like they had too small of a scene in the book and would’ve liked a more clear reason as to why they showed up when they did. 🙁

Other than that, I had a great time with this wonderful reimagined historical retelling with a sprinkling of fantasy. Big thank you goes out to Forge Books and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this stunning debut in exchange for an honest review; and to the author, Sangoyomi, for crafting such a beautifully dark depiction of the Persephone myth set in medieval West Africa. ❤️

Publication date: July 2!

Overall: 4.5/5 ⭐️

A blacksmith from Timbuktu, Òdòdó faces hardship under the oppressive rule of the Yorùbá king. Abducted and taken to the capital, she discovers her captor is the king himself, who desires her as his wife. Suddenly thrust into a world of power and intrigue, she navigates the treacherous court, forced to choose between her own survival and the fate of her people.

I loved this! The writing style is beautiful and immersive. Òdòdó is strong, resourceful, and resilient. Despite the dangers she faces, she never loses her humanity.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Sangoyomi set out to create a historical novel that highlights African exceptionalism, pre-European colonization and exploitation. In a world of warriors, craftsmen, and a few war elephants, Sangoyomi succeeds. This is a fun and relatively fast paced novel, with a lot of interesting details from West Africa.

If we just hit the general plot points the BookTok Girlies should be all a twitter. Nineteen year old illiterate, underfed, hardworking and beautiful Ododo is a skilled blacksmith who is kidnapped by the ruler of the empire that has just seized control of her home city. As his captive and potential bride she is instructed in history and strategy, where she quickly becomes a master tactician. After a failed attack, her captor instructs her in the arts of war, which she also excels at. As love blossoms, Ododo denies her king his right to marry, but does fight alongside him becoming a famous warrior woman. She even rides an elephant in a single saddle with her king at her back. Sound familiar? Not as spicy as a Maas novel, and with less connection to her steed than a Yarro, but this has the feel of one of those romantasies, except it isn’t a fantasy although we do have some interactions with the Gods.

The plot has a lot going on, and while entertaining, we do lose some of the character development that would really drive this story home for overly complicated layers of plot. There is also some weird dismissiveness between Ododo and her attendants that seems very strange, but necessary for the plot to move forward. Still fun, but not as well executed as I would like for a full recommendation. This is still a solid read, especially if you are looking for something that is not a European or American setting and fast paced without going too deep.

The premise of the book - a Hades and Persephone retelling against the backdrop of medieval Central Africa - really sold me in the beginning. We follow a young woman who is part of a guild in Timbuktu as she gets kidnapped by a charming stranger who turns out to be the 'evil' king of Yorubaland and plans to make her his wife. The story has a really strong beginning, with a beautifully descriptive writing style, but started to feel increasingly silly once the kidnapping happened. I found myself very annoyed with how passive the protagonist is and despite the story being told from her POV and there technically being a lot of interiority, it never felt like her emotional state was explained very well. She just accepts her kidnapping way too easily, and apart from the odd offhanded comment about her mother being left behind, she does not seem upset at all and just goes along with everything. For a romance whose origin is at its core very abusive, the emotional impact and nuance is decidedly lacking. As a result, I did not invest in the story at all and ended up DNFing it about a third into the novel.

4.75🌟 I really enjoyed this one. In this story, we meet Ododo, who is a Black Smith (a social outcast), and whose life is suddenly turned upside down when she catches the eye of an influential man, King Aremo. In this new world, she must choose between holding on to her old life or fighting to hold on to this new unexpected upgrade. It's not all smooth sailing. At every turn, Ododo is face with conniving opposition to her presence, and in the end, she is forced to wisen up and use her mental skills to save herself. There were so many times in this book where I was worried for her, but she rose to the occasion and handled her business. Ododo started off so sheltered and naive and evolved into a badass that took no prisoners. I support women's rights and wrongs. The only reason this wasn't a full 5 stars is because there was a huge incident that happened that I felt was kinda brushed away, and that needed a bit more attention!! All in all, this novel was one of my anticipated new releases, and I am very happy with my reading experience. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor publishing, Forge Books, for gifting the e-arc and audio arc.

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and Libro.FM for the ALC. I ended up listening to the audiobook.

This style of book isn't my preferred genre so I think people who really like Historical Fantasy would enjoy it even more. I found the beginning hard to get into as the main character seemed to like her captor too quickly (trying to be vague to avoid spoilers), but the world building was strong. Ultimately there is a lot of courtly intrigue, powerful women, deception and a fair bit of action.

As posted to GoodReads

I was so impressed by this debut! Masquerade is a historical fiction set in 15th century West Africa and is loosely based on the myth of Hades and Persephone. Ododo is a blacksmith who is captured by the warrior king of a rival tribe. The king wants her as his wife, and Ododo is unsure whether to embrace this new life or strive to return home.

This historical fiction had hints of fantasy lore and the world building was incredibly lush. I enjoyed the political intrigue and the development of the main character. Sometimes I felt like Ododo miraculously had abilities she shouldn’t have, conveniently knew what to say, and was able to accomplish things in a way that felt too easy. It was a little “not like other girls” in that way. There was also a point half way through where the story became like a fever dream and I got a little lost. But within a few chapters things picked back up and were action-packed.

Overall it was refreshing to see tropes we know and love (he trains her, he falls first, forbidden romance, secret identity, rags to riches, etc.) being used in a setting that felt entirely unique. Even though the story elements were familiar, I didn’t fell like I read this book before. And the ending was so satisfying! Solid four stars!

This was a satisfying read and the ending was perfect. It takes some elements from Hades and Persephone, but calling it a retelling is a stretch. The first half of the book is slow but once it picked up, I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend the book and audiobook.

I'm not really sure to what to say. Marketing made me think this book was going to be heavier in fantasy elements than it was. I still enjoyed the historical setting, however, but was a bit disappointed when my expectations turned out to be wrong.

The first half of the story was paced in a weird way. The first few chapters with Òdòdó's kidnapping were intriguing, but her extremely quick acceptance of her situation was very odd to me. There didn't seem to be any emotion coming from her aside from passivity and that made it difficult for me to connect to her and her story. An event that was supposed to be tense and scary was just... flat.

The second half did pick up in terms of action, though! I found myself more engaged, if only to figure out what Òdòdó was going to do. I still found the writing emotionless, but the twists were interesting and I appreciated that O.O. Sangoyomi wasn't afraid to take chances with plot twists and the direction the story took. I'll definitely keep an eye out on their future works!