Tochi Onyebuchi

After he eats the sin of a royal, Taj, a talented aki, or sin-eater who consumes the guilt of others whose transgressions are exorcised from them by powerful but corrupt Mages, is drawn into a plot to destroy the city, and he must fight to save the princess he loves and his own life.

Beasts Made of Night

Colleen

3.5 Stars

The synopsis for Beasts Made of Night immediately captured my attention. I love stories about mythology and folklore especially those that are not used often in mainstream literature. So a story inspired by Nigerian mythology and culture was a must read for me. Not to mention how eye-catching that cover is! My enthusiasm waned a little when I realized that this book is written in first person, present tense. I mention this often in my reviews, but I am a strong supporter of third person, past tense. First person, especially in present tense, always feel ungainly to me and pulls me out of the story rather than attracting me. But other people don't seem to be bothered by it.

This is the story of Taj, an aki or sin eater who lives in a city named Kos. Magic abounds and sins have the power to make sinners gravely ill. So people pay to have sin eaters take their transgressions away. When the sins are magically taken from their bodies, they take corporal forms of animals called inisia. The aki must defeat the inisia before absorbing the sin into their own body where they will appear on their skin like tattoos. The worse the sin, the biggest and fiercer the beast and the more it robs you of your soul. I loved the symbolism that went into the inisisa and aki.

  "The inisisa is formed of shadows so dark that it seems to suck all the light out of the room, even taking the glow from the daga in my hand. Its claws, inky tendrils of black, click against the floor tiles as it settles back on its enormous haunches. Sin made into living, breathing flesh by dark magic."
 The premise was amazing and there were some great elements to this story. However, it felt a bit like a rough drafts at times. The parts that delved into the Nigerian influences were stronger whether it was the mythological elements or the descriptions of traditional food. Those were the parts that came alive.

  "The sorrow that rakes my skin. The guilt that grips my mind. The cold that pierces my bones and freezes my marrow. And I want to cry out, but my throat is full of sin, and the moment stretches out like a piece of rubber being pulled and pulled and pulled until finally it snaps."
 The plot had strengths and weaknesses. It kept me engaged, but the ending felt rushed. It needed a bit more fleshing out. The world building was also confusing at times. Some things were well explained but other elements were only alluded to. But the main drawback was that the character development needed more oomph to it. I cannot pinpoint a specific lack just that it needed more. The outlines were all there and some aspects were emotional, but the attempted romance was flimsy.

Despite all of that, I was very absorbed while reading this book. I don't think Beasts Made of Night deserves all of the bad ratings that it is getting. But I am not often in agreement with the hive mind. After all, they looooved that other recent YA fantasy debut, Caraval, which I thought was terrible, full of obnoxious characters, and possessing an abundance of plot holes. (ducks for cover) So Beasts Made of Night is not a story that will appeal to everyone. But if you like original combinations of mythology and fantasy, give it a try. It is a good debut, even with the rough parts, and I look forward to reading more of Onyebuchi's work in the future.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

Nicole Dykeman

This sounded so cool when I picked it up at the library. I really wanted to like it, and I’m hella disappointed. The magic system is awesome—sins coming to life as magical beasts, and aki who slay the demons and eat them, bearing the guilt and pain on behalf of that other person. The premise is freaking awesome. Everything else is not. 

Every single character is undeveloped. I know nothing about Taj except his job and what he does. He’s quite a boring narrator because he basically doesn’t feel anything. This is written off as a character trait (distancing himself from emotions so that the guilt of the sins doesn’t get to him) but it makes for a dull protagonist who lacks any real motivation. 

The side characters are literally just there to move the plot along. Omar? Bo? The other aki? Arzu? Tell me more about them and maybe I’ll be more invested in their relationships with Taj. The princess and Taj are the worst case of insta-love I’ve seen in quite a while. They literally shared like 4 pages together before Taj declared his attraction to her and it made NO SENSE because he doesn’t FEEL THINGS remember? That was probably my least favorite part of the book. 

I would say I wish this book was longer and delved into the world and characters more, but I’m honestly glad this was short because I was literally bored the whole time. The writing feels choppy, like it’s definitely missing pieces—the time skips, especially toward the middle/end of the novel, are unclear and kind of pointless. 

The only reasons this is getting 2 stars instead of 1 are a) this book contains minimal (if any) problematic content and b) the magic system is really creative and interesting. But really...don’t recommend this one.

Allison Garrett

As many people have said, the description and world building is pretty, but the story is just so slow. I got through half of it and I wasn't invested in any of the characters or their storylines so I decided to give up.

Karl Ansell

Really good quick, original fantasy that left me eager to read the sequel, borderline YA in some areas which I'm not normally a fan of but actually I was quite impressed by this debut novel

joy cooper

~actual rating 2.5 stars~ i enjoyed the books storyline for the most part but i just could not get into the authors writing style and it took me forever to get through it. cool premise for the story and i want to know what happens in the next book but i won’t be reading it. too hard to get into and only got really worth reading like 3/4ths of the way through.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Razorbill/Penguin! Thanks! All opinions are my own!

Rating: 4/5

Publication Date: October 31st, 2017

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, slight gore, sin)

Pages: 298

Author Website

Amazon Link

Synopsis: In the walled city of Kos, corrupt mages can magically call forth sin from a sinner in the form of sin-beasts – lethal creatures spawned from feelings of guilt. 

Taj is the most talented of the aki, young sin-eaters indentured by the mages to slay the sin-beasts. But Taj’s livelihood comes at a terrible cost. When he kills a sin-beast, a tattoo of the beast appears on his skin while the guilt of committing the sin appears on his mind. Most aki are driven mad by the process, but 17-year-old Taj is cocky and desperate to provide for his family. 

When Taj is called to eat a sin of a royal, he’s suddenly thrust into the center of a dark conspiracy to destroy Kos. Now Taj must fight to save the princess that he loves – and his own life. 

A gritty Nigerian-influenced fantasy.

I had seen this cover in like every book store and I’ve always been so intrigued by it. I will say that the cover very accurately matches the tone and the happenings of the book. The character development in this book is very well done and the plot is interesting throughout the book. I felt like this book was really well written and I think the whole plot was a very interesting concept. 

However, I did feel that there were a lot of characters in this book, some of them with similar names, which made it hard for this reader to keep them all straight in her head. I also feel that this book was a tad too slow paced for me.

Verdict: Overall, a very well written and solid read! Definitely recommend.

Liz Griffin

There are a lot of plot twists that I feel could have been foreshadowed better, and some character names were similar enough that I got confused, but fantastic worldbuilding and fascinating mythology

Niza Contreras

Melissa Railey

Julie Burszan 

"...The beginning of a great saga..." —NPR.org "This compelling Nigerian-influenced fantasy has a wonderfully unique premise and lush, brilliant worldbuilding that will consume you until the last page."—Buzzfeed "...Unforgettable in its darkness, inequality, and magic." —VOYA, Starred Review "...A paean to an emerging black legend."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Black Panther meets Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch in Beasts Made of Night, the first book in an epic fantasy duology. In the walled city of Kos, corrupt mages can magically call forth sin from a sinner in the form of sin-beasts—lethal creatures spawned from feelings of guilt. Taj is the most talented of the aki, young sin-eaters indentured by the mages to slay the sin-beasts. But Taj’s livelihood comes at a terrible cost. When he kills a sin-beast, a tattoo of the beast appears on his skin while the guilt of committing the sin appears on his mind. Most aki are driven mad by the process, but Taj is cocky and desperate to provide for his family. When Taj is called to eat a sin of a member of the royal family, he’s suddenly thrust into the center of a dark conspiracy to destroy Kos. Now Taj must fight to save the princess that he loves—and his own life. Debut author Tochi Onyebuchi delivers an unforgettable series opener that powerfully explores the true meaning of justice and guilt. Packed with dark magic and thrilling action, Beasts Made of Night is a gritty Nigerian-influenced fantasy perfect for fans of Paolo Bacigalupi and Nnedi Okorafor. iBooks Most Anticipated YA Books of the Fall io9’s All the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Keep On Your Radar This Fall BuzzFeed’s 22 YA Novels You’ll Want To Read From Cover To Cover This Fall A 2017 BookExpo Buzz Book A Junior Library Guild Selection