A Song of Wraiths and Ruin Book Review

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #1)
By Roseanne A. Brown
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended For: Ages 15+ and readers who love fantasy inspired by folklore, especially folklore from diverse cultures.

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?

Luna’a Top Points:

Stunning world building and insight into West African folklore
Expertly-crafted protagonists with realistic weakness and struggles
Lots of tension maintained throughout
Romance was a bit lackluster
Slow pacing in the first third of the book

The Review:

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is a wonderful mix fantasy and new cultures rarely represented in the genre. The story is told from two perspectives, one, an anxiety-ridden young man trying to find courage so he can save his sister, and the other a Princess thrust into responsibility she doesn’t want after the surprise death of her mother, the Queen. Before the protagonists even meet, they realize in order to achieve their goals, they must kill each other. Based on West African folklore, I found a Song of Wraiths and Ruin filled with beautiful details and ripe with tension.

The aspect of this book that stood out to me the most was the world building, which was also why I was most excited to read it. At the time I’m writing this review in 2021, there aren’t many YA fantasy books based on West African culture, so that, coupled with Brown’s talent at describing the sights, smells and sounds of this rich and beautiful culture made a truly delightful escape. The world and its culture were complex and the way she wove in the history of the kingdom felt very natural.

Characters can make or break a book for me. Luckily, both protagonists were developed and crafted with expert precision. Both Malik and Karina displayed strengths and weaknesses. What I really liked was how different those two things were in each character. Even more so, how well they complicated each other in the scenes they shared. Neither protagonist felt overdone or like a caricature. In each of these characters, we see different kinds of strength. Karina is more fiery and defiant, while Malik is more about overcoming fears and worries. The characterization is very multi-faceted and complex in this novel, and that helped me to relate to both characters and see parts of myself in them.

The stakes are SO HIGH in this story. Honestly, these are some of the highest, most tension-inducing stakes I’ve read in a while. From very early on it’s clear that the protagonists need to kill each other to achieve their goals, and a plot like that is bound to make your insides twist up in knots every time the characters get close to each other. This was an ingenious move on Brown’s part.

However, despite the tension held throughout the story, I still found the pacing slow, especially in the first half. From my perspective, it took a long time for it to feel like something worthwhile was actually happening. My suspicion is that Brown want to create an atmospheric world where the reader felt like they had been dropped into a different world and seeing it through the two protagonists eyes. To successfully achieve this, you have to devote time to world building and character development. But it felt like we almost spend TOO much time in the POV characters’ heads, to the point that it slowed the momentum. However, once it hit the halfway mark, things really started to move and shake and I was much more invested.

Now for the romantic subplot. Oh dear. When I read the synopsis before starting this book I was all buckled up for an amazing love story with so much chemistry I’d be afraid the book would catch on fire. Unfortunately, it fell far short of my hopes. For one, I don’t think enough groundwork was laid to make me root for the main couple or desire them to get together. And it took a while for things to even start to develop between them. There was so much potential with the combination of the plot and their individual personalities, but it failed to produce the sparks I’d normally expect from a story like this. However, where the romance relationships lacked gusto, the familial relationships made up for it. If you are seeking books with strong familial, especially sibling, relationships, this would be a good option.

And all good stories must come to an end, right? Yes, and I thought A Song of Wraiths and Ruin had a very good ending. It struck a perfect balance of tying up lose threads and creating new intrigue to propel you into book 2. Lots of action. Lots of tears. Lots WHAT THE CRAP JUST HAPPENED moments. After a slow start, this book came through with a strong finish.