Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun

Welcome Back, Booklovers! There's been a few fantasies out in the past couple of years with Black women and Blood Magic and those are buzz words for me so when I heard about Forged by Blood I was intrigued. I received a copy from Harper Voyager to review because I was a fan of The Blood Trials.

Forged by Blood is set in a fantasy version of Nigeria where familiar cities like Ife and Benin City make an appearance. People who practice Yoruba have special powers an are hunted down by the colonizer ruling class. Nine years after witnessing her mother's death, Demi has the power to seek her revenge when she is blackmailed into kidnapping the prince who played a role in her mother's death. Things don't quite go as planned and Demi alongside her friend/future intended Colin find themselves on a cross-country race against time. 

Forged by Blood's biggest strength is it's world building with characters that are straight out of West African mythology. Okosun vividly describes the people, their traditions, and their mouth watering food. The magic system showcases a range of different powers without making characters feel too overpowered.

At times the pacing was a problem with lulls in between action that would break up the momentum. There is a lot that goes on during this journey but sometimes readers are able to soak it all in and other times it's quickly moved past. Multiple shocking revelations were made at once towards the end that had my attention but I would've liked some of them to happen earlier. 

Though this book is published as an adult fantasy it leaned very young adult and not just because main character Demi is a teenager. The messaging about colonialism and colorism is very heavy handed throughout and it took a very straightforward approach when it came to the idea of who the heroes were and who the villains were. Demi stays strong in her convictions that violence is not the answer but hopefully the sequel will also explore the side that is for fighting to take back what was stolen from them. One of the nice things about adult fantasy is that there's more opportunity to play around with morally grey characters.

There is a love triangle here that made for an interesting dynamic with some funny moments, but instead ended up going the more predictable route. If you've ever read a YA fantasy you'll immediately know who Demi chooses and it would've been nice to see Okosun go in a different direction there. 

Forged by Blood  has potential to really be a standout series if it takes a little bit more risk.