Book: A Song Of Wraiths And Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

Published June 2020 by Balzer + Bray|480 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: A Song Of Wraiths And Ruin #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

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?

The first in an fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction.

I liked A Song Of Wraiths And Ruin!  It took me a while to get through it, and I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would, but I’m still glad I read it.

I liked that Malik cared so much about his sisters.  They are really important to him, and he just wants things to be better for both his family and himself.  I’m not sure how I feel about Karina but I felt for her.  I can understand why she’d want to resurrect her mother- she just didn’t feel ready to step into her mother’s shoes.  It couldn’t have been easy, having to be the heir after the death of her sister, and the unexpected death of her mother.

Things are not what they seem, and Karina learns a lot about what’s really go on, and what’s holding her country together.  Things go very, very wrong, of course, and things are going to change pretty drastically.  But I think they’ll get there.  It makes you wonder what’s going to happen next, with everything that happened in this book.  There were some twists and turns along the way, and those things make me curious about what Karina is really up against, and how it’s going to work out.

There are a lot of different connections in this book- I didn’t see all of them right away, but looking back, they did make sense, and it was something that made me sad for Karina.  It really affected and changed things for her, and to find out who did it and why…it had to have been a shock to be betrayed like that.  I’m kind of wondering what I’d pick up on if I did a re-read of this book but maybe before the next book comes out, I’ll do a re-read.

This was another book I struggled to get through, and this was a book where I found myself reading a few chapters at a time.  I had a really hard time focusing on this book.  It is what it is, and that’s just how it worked out, because I did want to like this book more.  Still, the world is interesting, and like I said before, you can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen next.

Something about it made me think of Children Of Blood And Bone- I’m not sure what it is, but I think, if you really liked that book, you’ll like this one.  They do go pretty well together!  I don’t know if it’s the setting or the magic, or what, but it’s a pretty good read-alike for that book.

3 stars.  I liked A Song Of Wraiths And Ruin, but I struggled to get through it.  Still, I liked the world and I can’t wait to see what happens next.