The way she handled that entire situation left me speechless because I know for a fact, I would have been so mad. Daughters Of Nri explores their epic journey of self-discovery as they embark on a path back to one another. We are able to exist in a world of fantasy untouched by slavery and colonialism and dream of the magic that we could have wielded in an alternate reality. I gobbled up the story of Naala and Sanai, desperate to know where the legends and prophecies would take them next, hoping everything would turn out OK. In other words, when someone treats you badly don’t try to get revenge or even treat them badly because of it – respond to them with kindness or don’t react at all.

We support each other immensely in this world but that doesn’t come easily, it is a journey to get there. The dynamic between Sinai and Meekulu was so palpable and I really enioyed the blossoming love Naala finds in the forest after the village massacre. Her motives are not without reason, but as the book progresses, she learns that she is capable of so much more. I enjoyed the two main characters but there were certain times where each perspective hit a slow patch and I wanted it to speed up a little. I've always thought that repeatedly mentioning the skin colour of characters implies how unusual the very idea of their existence in that particular context is.Overall, it was a 3 star read for me, which isn't bad, and hopefully I will pick up the second book when it comes out. That means that there were just a lot of odd choices I noticed that really took me out of the story and prevented me from being fully taken in. Sinai’s environment seemed more controlled under the watchful eyes of the wealthiest, who seemed to be waiting for her to mess up.

I have a feeling, though, once they learn about their magic (which I’m dying to see more of) this will fix itself. The only thing that frustrates me is that they didn’t meet until the end of the book, I was dying for them to meet already. The nature and people are described colorful, I loved Amayo's writing it made everything spring to life.She doesn't shy away from describing the colours and tones of the skin, nor the way that hair textures and practices differ, and I loved to see this representation as a strong stable of the whole book. About half of this book was world building, I didn’t feel overwhelmed by that at all but sometimes I did want the pace of the plot to pick up slightly. He's just some powerful asshole who fits the role of the necessary antagonist in a sort of remote way. In the end, a solid 3*s for me, a very likeable ready and some very good points, but in terms of the story it's a little predictable and the pacing felt a bit slow overall to me. I decided to do something different for once an added Whispersync to my copy so I could switch between listening to the audiobook and reading the words on my Kindle app.

When her village is attacked in a heartbreaking scene, she’s forced to travel with a new group of people through the forest. Some fantasy novels struggle to set the scene but I was so impressed with the way Amayo managed to drop the reader right into the middle of the action.Though miles apart, both girls share an indestructible bond: they share the same blood, the same face and possess the same unspoken magic, thought to have vanished years ago with the lost gods. The pacing also didn’t entirely work for me, and I personally wished for the main characters to have a little bit more agency over the plot. Considering the ending of this book, I am now curious to see how the story will continue in “Descendants of the First” and I’m hoping to gain a little more in-depth knowledge of the magic and the power the girls can wield, now that … well… you’ll have to read for yourself why I am curious. Overall, Daughters of Nri is a novel inspired by medieval Nigeria that is all parts dramatic and wondrous.