Book Review: 'Kingdom Of Souls' by Rena Barron

UK Proof Edition Cover Art

In the lead up to the release of the book, I was seeing a lot of positive buzz about 'Kingdom Of Souls' by Rena Barron, not least because Michael B Jordan's production company has acquired the option rights for the trilogy, and when I won a UK Proof edition (and gold snake pin) through a RT competition on Harper Voyager's UK twitter account (thank you so much!), to say I was very happy was an understatement!

And I was not disappointed. 'Kingdom Of Souls' is the first book in a new trilogy set in a West African inspired world of magic and mythology with a story that had me captivated from beginning to end.

It's the story of a sixteen year old girl, Arrah, born into a family powerful in magic (her father is a witchdoctor and her mother is a priestess), but instead of inheriting the magic from her magical lineage, it seems to have instead passed her completely by, casting her as worthless, especially in her mother's eyes. But when children in the kingdom start to mysteriously disappear and rumblings of an archaic evil force beginning to resurface, Arrah makes a sacrifice that allows her to finally gain magic to combat the evil and to protect the ones she loves.

UK Edition Cover Art

I really liked Arrah. She was somebody that despite her lack of magic, in a world full of magic, and weighed down with the feeling of shame and being a disappointment to her family, was still full of conviction and spirit. You couldn't help but love her! Her character development throughout the story was a real highlight! She felt like a real three dimensional character that was fully realised and fleshed out emotionally as the story focuses on her relationship with magic, or rather lack of, and with her friends. And Arrah's friends, even though they weren't heavily involved in the overall story, seemed like a great group of people to have around. Each had their own distinct personalities, and the relationship Arrah had with Rudjek, which had a Romeo and Juliet feel to it, I thought was very well written - nothing too sugary, but felt like a real relationship, complete with the playful banter and not so playful friction. A very cute couple if I'm being honest. I was also very impressed with how the villains were written, very complex and they actually had a bit of depth to their character, which was some of the best I've read, with their circumstances and personalities forming their motivations, keeping them compelling throughout.

The world building was top notch too. The fusion of African inspired myths and legends into a kingdom that was full of magic and tribal lore, immersed me into the story quickly and I was soon engrossed within the pages. The blend of political intrigue, scheming gods and demons, dark magic, magical battles and some twists and turns thrown in for good measure, made 'Kingdom Of Souls' a really enjoyable read with some well developed characters and excellent, imaginative world building. Worth the hype in my eyes and a great start to the trilogy. I'll be looking forward to reading the next book and seeing where the story goes next.

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