Brilliant! Gbessa was an excellent character and the story, while harrowing, was stunningly rendered. The POV in and of itself was remarkable. I really enjoyed Moore’s writing and will be on the lookout for more

3.5 stars. A compelling story about the founding of Liberia, and Gbessa is such an interesting protagonist to tell it. I feel like the complexities of transplanted society and their inevitable troubles were well portrayed here between the resettled former slaves from America, free Islanders from the Caribbean, and the native populations that had been living there for generations. The biggest downside for me is that the other two protagonists - Norman Aragon and June Dey - were not interesting enough to justify their places here in the story. I know they represented the two other facets of newly cobbled together Liberian society, and their associated magical powers were important for the climax at the end of the book, but so much time was spent on Gbessa that the two of them felt woefully neglected in terms of characterization. June Dey had a touching emotional climax near the end, but it still wasn't enough for me.

It's not often that I pause a book because I got too emotionally engaged while reading it. "She Would Be King" from Wayétu Moore joined that club multiple-time. Leynes shared a great in-depth review (beware, spoils) if you want to know much more, however, don't hesitate to plunge into it without knowing anything other than the genre is historical fantasy, there is magic, and the setting is pre-Civil War.

Three people are born into the world in the nineteenth century. They all have the world against them but each of the three is born with a gift. Gbessa is born in a West African village on the day that a terrible event has occurred, therefore she is cursed and exiled from her people. She cannot be killed. June Dey, is born to two people who both foster paranormal powers, both parents die when he is young. His power is super strength which he uses to survive in a Virginia that is known for its plantation slavery. Lastly, there is Norman, his father was a British Colonizer in Jamaica who took advantage of his Maroon slave, Norman's mother. Norman shares the same powers as his mother, he can disappear. They all come together in Monrovia to use their gifts to fix the rifts that are held between the African American settlers and the native tribes. There were three main characters and they all felt like main characters. Each and every one of them felt important to the story and they were all equally interesting. A lot of books have that issue when there are multiple point of views, where it is obvious the author had a favorite character and did not build as much on the others. That is not an issue with 'She Would Be King', Moore did a fantastic job at making sure all the characters had depth to them and that they developed throughout the story. Another thing that I would like to point out is that their powers did not define them, they had something to them other than their gifts. The reader really gets immersed into this story. I do not know what did it, I think maybe it was just the history and a world that I did not know much about. I like that our characters all came from different backgrounds but yet were still similar and you could see how they can relate to one another. Even though their walks of life were all so different. This plot reminded me a lot of One Hundred Years of Solitude, with it being magical realism and then the story has a location building around it. In the case of this novel it is a country rather than a village. I am so happy that all our characters did have to come together as well. I hate when you read a novel with multiple view points but they never connect, the reader will not get that here. I learned so much here. I have, of course, heard of Liberia but I honestly do nothing else behind the name and location. I have zero idea why we did not learn this in school. I think it is important to American history to learn how freed African Americans made their way back to Africa to start a country of their own. Very interesting. My one complaint is that the ending was not satisfying. It is open-ended. I feel like maybe we, the readers, can have a sense of hope or worry about what might happen to the characters. If this is what they were made to do, if this is how they are supposed to end. We don't know but maybe that is poetic in a way. I enjoyed this novel as it opened so many doors of research for me. Trust me, I will be on my phone all night researching this time period, cultures in Africa, and the history of Liberia as a country. I learned so much, that is something I always want to get out of reading and life in general. I want to learn everything there is to know. I want to gain some bit of knowledge out of everything that I do and I gained a lot of that with She Would Be King. I will be adding any other work by Wayetu Moore onto my to be read list as I do think she is a good writer. I recommend this book to all of you! 3.5 star rating. Check out the full review on my blog: https://izzyreads.blog/2021/03/19/she...