Kingdom of souls

Title:

Kingdom of souls

Author:

Barron, Rena, author.

Personal Author:

Barron, Rena, author.

ISBN:

9780062870957

Physical Description:

485 pages ; 24 cm

Abstract:

Born into a family of powerful witchdoctors, Arrah yearns for magic of her own. But each year she fails to call forth her ancestral powers, while her ambitious mother watches with growing disapproval. There’s only one thing Arrah hasn’t tried, a deadly last resort: trading years of her own life for scraps of magic. Until the Kingdom’s children begin to disappear, and Arrah is desperate to find the culprit. She uncovers something worse. The long-imprisoned Demon King is stirring. And if he rises, his hunger for souls will bring the world to its knees… unless Arrah pays the price for the magic to stop him.

Geographic Term:

Africa, West -- Social life and customs -- Fiction.

Genre:

Fantasy fiction.

Young adult fiction.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

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Summary

A girl with no gifts must bargain for the power to fight her own mother's dark schemes--even if the price is her life.

Crackling with dark magic, unspeakable betrayal, and daring twists you won't see coming, this explosive YA fantasy debut is a can't-miss, high-stakes epic perfect for fans of Legendborn, Strange the Dreamer, and Children of Blood and Bone.

"Magnetic and addictive. This book is black girl magic at its finest."--New York Times bestselling author Dhonielle Clayton

Heir to two lines of powerful witchdoctors, Arrah yearns for magic of her own. Yet she fails at bone magic, fails to call upon her ancestors, and fails to live up to her family's legacy. Under the disapproving eye of her mother, the Kingdom's most powerful priestess and seer, she fears she may never be good enough.

But when the Kingdom's children begin to disappear, Arrah is desperate enough to turn to a forbidden, dangerous ritual. If she has no magic of her own, she'll have to buy it--by trading away years of her own life.

Arrah's borrowed power reveals a nightmarish betrayal, and on its heels, a rising tide of darkness that threatens to consume her and all those she loves. She must race to unravel a twisted and deadly scheme... before the fight costs more than she can afford.

Set in a richly imagined world inspired by whispered tales of voodoo and folk magic, Rena Barron's captivating debut is the beginning of a thrilling saga about a girl caught between gods, monsters, and the gift and the curse of power.

"Masterful." --SLJ (starred review)

Reviews (2)

Horn Book Review

Arrah was born into a family of powerful witchdoctors, though magic has always evaded her. But when children are abducted and omens of death appear in the market streets, Arrah doesn't need magic to know that evil is looming. Fortified by her desire to save the children and live up to her exacting mother's standards, Arrah trades years of her life in order to possess magic that will liberate the kingdom from the threat. When the trade is complete, she discovers that secrets lie around every corner, people are not as they seem, and gods and demons exist alongside humanity. Barron includes high-stakes reveals, breathtaking world-building, complicated female characters (who are both heroes and villains), and an ill-fated romance in her intricate fantasy novel. Narrated by Arrah, the story is fast paced, with vignettes written from other characters' points of view breaking up the tension and adding new details to the plot. Fans of Black fantasy stories based in African traditions (e.g., Akata Witch, rev. 5/11; Children of Blood and Bone, rev. 5/18) should welcome this volume; additionally, its commitment to a story line filled with violence and harbingers of death cause the tale to teeter between fantasy and horror in innovative ways that differentiate it from others that came before. S. R. Toliver November/December 2019 p.84(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

A teenage girl ashamed of her lack of magic must step up when she discovers evil at work in her kingdom.Privileged Arrah has never wanted for anythingexcept magic. Though she comes from powerful magical lineages on both her parents' sides, when she turns 16 without developing any gifts, she must finally admit she won't be blessed with magic. Heartbroken, Arrah throws herself into discovering who's behind the recent child abductions in her kingdom. The magic needed to accomplish such a task has a high cost, and her discovery of the culprit proves to be a devastating revelation. In Arrah's West African-based world, there are orishas as well as other gods and demons, and orishas are able to converse directly with humans. Arrah, aided by her friends (including love interest Rudjek), must mine hitherto unknown depths in herself in order to stop the ascension of the Demon King, who supposedly was vanquished by the orishas long ago. Though the pace is sometimes slow and the page count perhaps higher than needed, Arrah's a compelling heroine, relatable in her fallibility, and her story is intriguing. Most characters are black; Rudjek is biracial (his light-skinned mother and a handful of other characters hail from the north).An imperfect but promising series opener. (Fantasy. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.