There is so much to love about this story, but the absolute highlight for me was the FMC, Naborhi! She is so unique and fierce, and I completely understood her intense zest for adventure and her desperate desire to escape a constrained life.

While I really enjoyed the story, I have to be honest, some areas of the pacing felt a bit off to me. A massive amount of emphasis was placed on the long, grueling journey to Ewuare and I quite enjoyed the adventure. But once they arrived, things felt a bit too convenient. They quickly find out the mysterious boy is a Prince, and they somehow find and easily creep into the abandoned temple where he is being held hostage right there in the same city. It left me wondering: why didn't his father, King Ide, and his entire army of guards comb through the city and sniff them out first? As much as I love our main characters, it felt highly unrealistic that teenagers with barely any combat experience were able to completely incapacitate two elite assassins from the "Order of the Hidden Blade" It was a tough battle though, and Obasi was on Naborhi's side, so I guess their advantage was supernatural. The Prince is said to be only ten years old, but he certainly didn't speak like one! I understand he is a prince and was groomed for leadership all his life, but his dialogue still felt overly mature. It was never fully explained why the god Obassi specifically chose our FMC for this mission. You mean to tell me there was no one in the entire Oron Queendom he could have summoned? He just chose an ordinary girl from a faraway land who doesn't even worship him? Also, I kept forgetting that Naborhi's sister, Tega, is a girl! I think I've read other stories where that name was given to a male character, so my brain kept mixing it up! 😂

Asides from all these critiques, I genuinely really enjoyed this story! The adventure was thrilling, and Naborhi is a protagonist worth rooting for. And I'll recommend this for lovers of African fantasy.