So Many African Books

And because after two centuries, an Orisa is reincarnated and reborn, Ajagbo’s reward for waiting for many decades is finally here.

Now the virginal woman whose blood is that of a reincarnated orisa and whose blood he must sacrifice to return to the past and get his long-overdue revenge has come of age. Determined and fueled by vengeance, Ajagbo has plans to spill Tundun’s blood on the night of her 21st birthday. That’s if feelings don’t get in the way and he can resist the humanity that keeps hindering his mission.

Review

One of the beautiful things about reading books categorised as romance is seeing how people connect and fall in love, when I can see the growth of attraction and understand the connection that develops amongst them.

Many of the romance novels I’ve read lately didn’t showcase this connection between the main characters, and it left me not caring for them or supporting the relationships they had developed. This is why I’m thankful that the last Nigerian romance book I read this year gave me something different.

Yoruba lore, magic, mystery, thriller and two characters who are opposites, yet can’t help but fall in love with each other despite doing everything they can to deny their feelings.

I liked the main male protagonist because he was such a well-defined character. Over the progress of the novel, I could see changes in his character. Tomilola is such a good writer, it was interesting to read about the events in this book, and how she weaved/connected the happenings. The story is set in Ibadan, Nigeria and is something different from the regular and gives flavour to Nigerian romance.

I didn’t like the main female protagonist Tundun because of how unbright she was. Nothing annoys me more than female characters who should kick-ass but give nothing. You know that character, who keeps jumping from one foolish decision to another, that was her. Gift of insight, but very clueless and unable to think logically, I expected her to show growth but she had no character development. The pacing of the story wasn’t too consistent though, there were instances of places that moved too slow or too fast, these were my only qualms with the book.

One thing I can say is, this story was interesting to read and what is dark about this book is the dabbling with dark magic. But, it wasn’t even that bad, yes the characters have questionable motives but, I consider this book a light read, especially for people craving Nigerian romance featuring Nigerians based in Nigeria.

The story ends on a cliffhanger, so be aware as the final book in this duology, gets released in February 2022. I want to read it because I need to see Tundun finally grow up and grovel. After all, right now, she’s at the bottom of the dirtiest gutter in my mind.

How do you like female characters in books? It can’t be only me that doesn’t like when stories portray women in a manner where a man has to be saving them right?

p.s. I need people to talk about this book with, so either get it from OkadaBooks and Kobo or read it on Bambooks and comment below or slide in my DMs.