A Song of Wraiths and Ruin Review: Whoa

Author: Roseanne A. Brown
Published On: June 2, 2020
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: Fiction, YA, Fantasy
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Synopsis:

For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.

But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.

When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?

“First, a story ends when it ends, and not a moment before. If you are unhappy with this ending, make a new one.”

So, before I get started on my Reading Rush reading for today (Howl’s Moving Castle – yay!), I wanted to finally finally get this late blog post up.

I read A Song of Wraiths and Ruin about a week ago, and I really, really enjoyed it. I’ve been wanting to get back into reading YA Fantasy for awhile, I feel like I’ve been on a huge contemporary kick. However, I’ve been missing my fantasy worlds and badass characters, and this book was the perfect solution.

Things I liked:

• Karina! Karina is such a baddie and one of my new favorite heroines. She’s clearly going through a ton of trauma in this book (for good reason!) and is struggling to reconcile her current situation with what she always expected from her future. She’s got some super interesting things developing, and I can’t wait to see where her story goes!
• The intricacy of the plot: There were so many things going on in this book. Usually, I’d be nervous that the confusing storylines and plot twists would throw me off and deter me from reading, but this did quite the opposite! Karina and Malik were both working towards their own goals, and while they both had many motivations and reasons for doing what they did, I think Brown did a great job of weaving these together to create a cohesive plot.
• The magic/belief system: SO. Cool!! In this book, every day of the week is aligned with a god/goddess. So, for example, Monday is Sun Day, Tuesday is Moon Day, Wednesday is Wind Day, etc. Whatever day of the week you were born on is what you align with. In my case, I was born on a Wednesday, so I’m Wind Aligned (so is my bestie Karina, coincidence? 😉)! If you’re curious, Epic Reads actually posted an article where you can find your horoscope and alignment here!
• The West African storytelling: I just adored how this book had such a heavy focus on the art and creation of stories. Malik grew up an avid fan of stories and his character and that passion develop in a really cool and unique way. I also enjoyed how Brown interwove West African culture and customs through the storytelling and the atmosphere – I thought it was a really neat setting and I can’t wait to get back to it!

Things I disliked:

• The relationship between Karina and Malik: I’ve heard this book pitched countless times as “enemies to lovers x2”, and I feel betrayed. This just felt super….instalove-y?? I mean they spent what, four actual scenes together?? I just didn’t buy that they had this super deep connection and that they’d both throw away their (super pressing, by the way!) goals for each other. I’d actually love to hear other peoples thoughts on this aspect, because I feel like I haven’t seen too much about it in reviews.
• The confusing ending: I actually said “what?” out loud while reading the last forty or so pages. Things get….intense. It feels like there’s so much happening and being squeezed into the final pages, but for most of it I didn’t understand what was going on! There were moments when I reread a scene five or so times, decided there was no way I was going to understand any of it, and moved on. I felt like things just got really random and jumbled in Brown’s haste to explain her plot twists. Maybe this is a “me” problem, but I will admit that I’m probably going to have to reread before the next book comes out.

Overall, this was exactly what I needed to launch myself back into YA fantasy. It was a really great book with likable characters, a rich and intricate world, and a gripping plot that makes you want to consume the entire book in one sitting. If you’re looking for your next solid YA fantasy, I highly recommend!

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