#Ehigbor Okosun

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

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[bookcoversonly]

Title: Forged by Blood | Author: Ehigbor Okosun | Publisher: Harper Voyager (2023)

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Fiction, Adult, Fantasy

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Content Warning: Death of parent, Violence, Racism, Slavery, Death, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy

Summary:

A brilliant new voice brings a brilliant new debut author Ehigbor Okosun’s first book in an action-packed, poignant duology inspired by Nigerian mythology—full of magic and emotion and set in a highly atmospheric, complex world in which a young woman fights to survive a tyrannical society, having everything stripped away from her, and seeks vengeance for her mother’s murder and the spilled blood of her people. In the midst of a tyrannical regime and political invasion, Dèmi just wants to to avoid the suspicion of the nonmagical Ajes who occupy her ancestral homeland of Ife; to escape the King’s brutal genocide of her people—the darker skinned, magic wielding Oluso; and to live peacefully with her secretive mother while learning to control the terrifying blood magic that is her birthright. But when Dèmi’s misplaced trust costs her mother’s life, survival gives way to vengeance. She bides her time until the devious Lord Ekwensi grants her the perfect opportunity—kidnap the Aje prince, Jonas, and bargain with his life to save the remaining Oluso. With the help of her reckless childhood friend Colin, Dèmi succeeds, but discovers that she and Jonas share more than deadly secrets; every moment tangles them further into a forbidden, unmistakable attraction, much to Colin’s—and Dèmi’s—distress. The kidnapping is now a joint to return to the King, help get Lord Ekwensi on the council, and bolster the voice of the Oluso in a system designed to silence them. But the way is dangerous, Dèmi’s magic is growing yet uncertain, and it’s not clear if she can trust the two men at her side. A tale of rebellion and redemption, race and class, love and trust and betrayal,  Forged by Blood is epic fantasy at its finest, from an enthusiastic, emerging voice.

*Opinions*

This is going to be a long review with a number of spoilers so I wanted to make a disclaimer at the top. I did not like this novel and found myself frustrated with it a number of times, but I also don’t want to be mean to a debut author. If you do not like negative reviews turn back now. That put me in a bit of a bind because I want to be honest in my review but also don’t want to dissuade people from giving this a try. So I will say this, a number of the parts of the novel did not work for me, but this is all subjective and I recognize that there might be parts of the novel that I am not understanding. This novel also came to me in a book subscription box, so I went in knowing very little. If you were interested in this, look for other reviews of individuals who did like this book, especially from POC reviewers.

One of the most frustrating things about this novel is that there are glimmers of a story that I could have really enjoyed, but the characters dragged it all down for me. Forged in Blood follows Demi, an Oluso who is hunted for her magical abilities, and finds herself entwined with a plot to kidnap the Prince in hopes of giving leverage to provide more protection for the Oluso. However, as Demi ventures further into the world, she learns that a lot of the things she thought she knew as fact are more complicated than she could have ever imagined. Not only are the rules of her magic and world expanding, but she is also stuck between the affections of a childhood friend and the Prince that she has kidnapped, a Prince who is responsible for her mother’s death. As things turn deadly, Demi has to decide if she can trust anyone, including herself. 

The first two chapters of this novel really felt like an info dump, which I would have probably been able to ignore if it was not for the fact that the reason Demi was telling someone all this information made no sense. On one hand, I understand that she is an eight-year-old child who has never had a friend before and anyone not looking at her in fear would be a nice change. However, if I had seen multiple people killed or taken away from the guard for being accused of using magic, I would not be showing it off to a boy that I just met whose guardian had already treated myself and my mother with suspicion and threatened to have us killed. Demi tells us multiple times that her mother wants her to keep her magic secret, yet she does a whole show and tells him the minute her mother leaves. Given the way Edith is portrayed, I can’t say that everything that happens after is Demi’s fault, she would probably have gotten the guard anyway, but it was aggravating to watch her make the wrong choice multiple times in a short period and then be surprised when there were poor outcomes. Especially given that Demi herself tells the reader that very few people have ever been kind to her, why did she expect this random boy to be different? Again, I get that she is a child but it made no sense. 

The way that information was provided in general was odd. There was no hint as to why Demi’s 18th birthday was important so when she said “I am going to be killed” I blinked at the page for a couple minutes. That would be on someone’s mind a lot leading up to their birthday and to have that kept from the reader felt as if it was something the author threw in a later draft and then didn’t work into the story leading up to that. Especially because these large stakes are given and then removed within a couple of pages. Not only that, when it is relieved that Demi thought she was going to die at 18, all her decisions up to that point made no sense because they were the actions of an individual who thought she was going to live. While I loved all the history, mythology, and everything around the Aziza, they seemed like an afterthought throughout the rest of the novel. Perhaps they will have more of a presence in the second book in the duology, but here they just felt like a stop on the road to give Demi more time with Colin and Jonas. 

The biggest issue I had with this novel is that we are told from the very beginning of the story that the use of magic will result in death, yet every single Oluoso in this novel uses their magic in the open without any hesitation. First, it is just Demi and Colin, which I would forgive as they are young, but then every other Oluoso also does it in full view of the enemy and then just go about their day as if there aren’t going to be repercussions. Demi thinks constantly that she wants to protect Will and Nana, yet calls them into a battle with a garrison full of soldiers and the woman who killed her mother without any thought to their safety or being tracked down and killed. It just…it made no sense. 

Even with all my annoyance with the plot, there are glimmers of a great story buried in everything that I didn’t like. The history of the Oluoso and how they have all taken their oppression differently. No one in this novel that has power is “good” which is truthful to how those with grand designs, for better or worse, operate. There a number of different cultures mentioned that have been taken into the kingdom that I want to learn more about. The myths and magic are also beautifully done. It was obvious that Okosun had thought about it for a long time. I love a good quest story and I don’t mind a romantic subplot, even a love triangle if done well, but it all was so disjointed that it was more aggravating than enjoyable. 

As I mentioned at the top of the review, the characters were really what dragged this story down for me. Demi was so hypocritical, rash, and contradictory that it was hard to root for her. Demi would think something and then the very next instant would do something that completely contradicted what she stated previously. Now I understand that sometimes characters do not have a clear picture of who they are as a person, but it was very grating to me. Especially for an adult novel and not a YA novel. I am not saying that a heroine needs to be perfect, but her character was consistent enough for me to get a clear picture of who she was other than rash. An example that really stuck out to me was when she described Colin as fearless and compulsive while she was always watching from the sideline. At this point in the series, Demi has freed two children using magic without a plan, making it so that she had to kidnap Jonas in the first place, which resulted in other people dying. She had even been called reckless by other characters on the page, so what do you mean you are always sitting on the sidelines? Also, her inability to hear others when they told her to leave others behind or take time to develop a plan was aggravating. She stands around arguing and gets hurt, and others are killed or captured because she only acts and doesn’t think. It also felt out of character for a character who professes again and again that she doesn’t love or trust anyone, yet she will risk everything to save a few people. To see Demi make the same mistakes again and again and then blame everyone else when it went wrong was extremely frustrating. While there is some development of her character at the very end, I was already so done it didn’t matter. 

Another issue was that none of the emotions that Demi feels seem anchored to the events around her. Now, I guessed that the reason for why that is with Jonas the minute that mates were mentioned I knew what was going to happen in that relationship. As with any enemies-to-lovers romance, there is one person who isn’t listening and another who is telling them again and again that they aren’t their enemy. The time that grated on me the most was her insistence that Jonas wanted to kill her at every turn and fight him when it was not the appropriate time to do so. I understand she cannot trust him even though the reader can see that he never betrayed her, but she always reacts at the worst possible time and fucking runs to the wrong conclusion as fast as possible. After the second or third time, it just got old and annoying. At one point her hands are bound and Jonas shows up with Colin to help her escape, she takes precious seconds to accuse him of setting them up and attacking him, as if Colin would let him live if he had. Not to mention there is numerous guards attempting to kill you and you want to go have Jonas right now when he is helping you? It was infuriating. Another is when she has multiple broken ribs and can barely walk, but is down to have sex until her partner accidentally hits one of her injuries. I can NOT. 

The relationship between Jonas and Demi also was flat. The whole relationship is built through the mating bond and not between them on the page. Demi and Jonas have maybe two uncontentious conversations in the whole 400-page novel, but we are supposed to believe the feelings between them at the end. They also were intimate at the most inappropriate times, kissing in the middle of a crowded ballroom when the whole point was to keep her hidden in plain sight before helping her escape. I didn’t believe in their relationship, or her and Colin for that matter, so I didn’t care about any of that. In fact, I wouldn’t have cared if any of these characters died. 

I could continue, but I think you get the general idea. This is a 1.5-star read rounded up to a 2. 

[biblionerdreflections]

ARC Review - Forged by Blood

Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing a recent release, Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun. The beautiful cover drew me to this one on NetGalley, along with the inclusion of Nigerian mythology. Did I love it? Read on to find out! Continue reading Untitled

[richincolor]

There are many books coming out this month, and I thought it would be fun to highlights five of them with gorgeous covers that caught my attention. Have any of these caught your eye yet?

Damned if You Do by Alex Brown Page Street

Seven years ago, Cordelia Scott’s abusive father left without a word, and life has been normal ever since. The seventeen-year-old spends her days stage managing the school play (which is going great, if anyone asks), pining over her best friend, Veronica, and failing one too many pop quizzes. She’s never been sad that her father left, but she knows something is...missing. When her school guidance counselor, Fred, reveals during a session that he’s actually a demon, she learns that something is indeed missing: a piece of her actual soul. Why? She unwittingly made a deal with him to make her father disappear – then bargained to have the memory erased. To make matters worse, Fred is here to make another bargain: Help him with a “little” demonic problem, or she’s doomed to spend eternity in Hell with her father. The deal? Help Fred neutralize a rival demon, who means to do more harm in her hometown than your average demon deal. --Cover image and summary via Goodreads

The Dark Place by Britney S. Lewis Disney Hyperion

Seventeen-year-old Hylee Williams didn't ask to disappear. But she did disappear, and not only that, but when she vanished from our world, she materialized in a dark, twisted version of the night that changed her life forever: the night her older brother went missing. Just as Hylee realizes this moment could be the key to unraveling the truth about her brother, she's yanked away from the dark place back to our world. Craving a sense of normalcy, she goes to a party with her best friend--where she meets Eilam Roads. Tall, handsome, and undeniably, inexplicably familiar, Hylee can't help the pull she feels towards him. It's a classic teen girl-meets-boy situation, until it happens again. She disappears, right in front of him. Together, Hylee and Eilam investigate the truth about time, space, and reality, with Hylee increasingly convinced her time travel holds the key to saving her brother. But the more they learn, the more Hylee begins to see darkness lurking in her world--and in herself. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Forged by Blood (The Tainted Blood Duology #1) by Ehigbor Okosun Harper Voyager

In the midst of a tyrannical regime and political invasion, Dèmi just wants to survive: to avoid the suspicion of the nonmagical Ajes who occupy her ancestral homeland of Ife; to escape the King’s brutal genocide of her people—the darker skinned, magic wielding Oluso; and to live peacefully with her secretive mother while learning to control the terrifying blood magic that is her birthright. But when Dèmi’s misplaced trust costs her mother’s life, survival gives way to vengeance. She bides her time until the devious Lord Ekwensi grants her the perfect opportunity—kidnap the Aje prince, Jonas, and bargain with his life to save the remaining Oluso. With the help of her reckless childhood friend Colin, Dèmi succeeds, but discovers that she and Jonas share more than deadly secrets; every moment tangles them further into a forbidden, unmistakable attraction, much to Colin’s—and Dèmi’s—distress. The kidnapping is now a joint mission: to return to the King, help get Lord Ekwensi on the council, and bolster the voice of the Oluso in a system designed to silence them. But the way is dangerous, Dèmi’s magic is growing yet uncertain, and it’s not clear if she can trust the two men at her side. A tale of rebellion and redemption, race and class, love and trust and betrayal, Forged by Blood is epic fantasy at its finest, from an enthusiastic, emerging voice. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea Henry Holt and Co.

There will be blood. Ace of Spades meets House of Hollow in this villain origin story. Laure Mesny is a perfectionist with an axe to grind. Despite being constantly overlooked in the elite and cutthroat world of the Parisian ballet, she will do anything to prove that a Black girl can take center stage. To level the playing field, Laure ventures deep into the depths of the Catacombs and strikes a deal with a pulsating river of blood. The primordial power Laure gains promises influence and adoration, everything she’s dreamed of and worked toward. With retribution on her mind, she surpasses her bitter and privileged peers, leaving broken bodies behind her on her climb to stardom. But even as undeniable as she is, Laure is not the only monster around. And her vicious desires make her a perfect target for slaughter. As she descends into madness and the mystifying underworld beneath her, she is faced with the ultimate continue to break herself for scraps of validation or succumb to the darkness that wants her exactly as she is—monstrous heart and all. That is, if the god-killer doesn’t catch her first. From debut author Jamison Shea comes I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me , a slow-burn horror that lifts a veil on the institutions that profit on exclusion and the toll of giving everything to a world that will never love you back.

Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim Knopf Books for Young Readers

One sister must fall for the other to rise. Channi was not born a monster. But when her own father offers her in sacrifice to the Demon Witch, she is forever changed. Cursed with a serpent’s face, Channi is the exact opposite of her beautiful sister, Vanna—the only person in the village who looks at Channi and doesn’t see a monster. The only person she loves and trusts. Now seventeen, Vanna is to be married off in a vulgar contest that will enrich the coffers of the village leaders. Only Channi, who’s had to rely on her strength and cunning all these years, can defend her sister against the cruelest of the suitors. But in doing so, she becomes the target of his wrath—launching a grisly battle royale, a quest over land and sea, a romance between sworn enemies, and a choice that will strain Channi’s heart to its breaking point. Weaving together elements of The Selection and Ember in the Ashes with classic tales like Beauty and the Beast, Helen of Troy, and Asian folklore, Elizabeth Lim is at the absolute top of her game in this thrilling yet heart-wrenching fantasy that explores the dark side of beauty and the deepest bonds of sisterhood. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

[notetaeker]

24 books in 2024

taged by @peregrination-studies 💞 thank you!! I'm definitely checking out your list and stealing some titles from there

I'm trying to be more 'go with the flow' and pick up random books like I used to do as a kid instead of planning books beforehand (which brings out my need to research the book into oblivion to try to figure out if I would like it) So I think I'll do the challenge differently where I'll just add books on here as I read them! 24 is a lot though for me asdkjfl last year I think I read? 5? All year.

My interests these past few years have been memoirs, grief, animals, fantasy, classics and studying the genre of middle grade fiction

Done Reading (my rating in parenthesis)

The Reign of Wolf 21 - Rick McEntyre (9/10)

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (8/10)

I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy (7/10)

Watership Down (Graphic Novel) (10/10)

The Last White Man - Mohsin Hamid (6/10)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham (7.5)

Forged by Blood - Ehigbor Okosun (Randomly picked up from the library- seems great so far!)

The Heirloom - Beverly Lewis (6/10)

Salt Houses

The Joy Luck Club

Charmed Life - Diana Wynne Jones

DNF

H is for Hawk - Helen McDonald (writing is great but there’s too many parts that read like a biography of TH white which I didn’t sign up for 🥲)

Empress of All Seasons - Emiko Jean (fast paced but fast paced to the point where it’s skipping the stuff the book is supposed to be about ajsdjdd)

Currently reading

The Phantom Toll Booth - Norton Juster

Am I There Yet - Mari Andrew

My First and Only Love - Sahar Khalifeh

The Lives of Christopher Chant - Dianne Wynne Jones

The Noh Family - Grace Shim

tagging: @dontwannastudybutihaveto, @stuhde, @nuuralshams

[thefatbookwitch]

march 20

- started my period

- drank raspberry leaf tea

- ranted against men in my head

- read forged by blood by ehigbor okosun & dramione fanfiction (remain nameless by heyjude19)

- baked lemon bars and prepped more spring food for the equinox

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

Young Adult Book Releases: August

🦇 Good afternoon, my bookish bats. No TBR is complete without a few young adult novels, and there are plenty coming out this month! Here are a few YA releases to consider adding to your shelves this August.

✨ Bring Me Your Midnight by Rachel Griffin @timesnewrachel ✨ I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea @wickedjamison ✨ Damned if You Do by Alex Brown @madethisforlu ✨ American Royals IV: Reign by Katharine McGee @katharinemcgee ✨ Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings @mazeyeddings ✨ Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun @okosunreads ✨ Foxglove by Adalyn Grace @authoradalyngrace ✨ Forty Words for Love by Aisha Saeed @aishacs ✨ Guardians of Dawn: Zhara by S. Jae-Jones @sjaejones ✨ Unexpecting by Jen Bailey @j.leigh.bailey_author ✨ The Brothers Hawthrone by Jennifer Lynn Barnes @authorjenlynnbarnes ✨ House of Marionne by J. Elle @authorjelle ✨ A Tall Dark Trouble by Vanessa Montalban@vvmontalban ✨ Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim @elimpix ✨ A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole @authortilliecole

[bajoop-sheeb]

Gladly! The books on this list aren’t limited to specifically anti-colonial science fiction and fantasy, but they do center related and relevant topics, themes, etc.

Anything by NK Jemisin. She is the best speculative fiction writer of her generation and probably the best speculative fiction writer alive. She is easily one of the best writers working right now, across all genres. That’s not hyperbole. She deserves all the hype.

Anything by Octavia Butler. She needs no introduction. Her short fiction is incredible; “Bloodchild” is one of the pieces that inspired me to write.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon. Excellent. Just read it.

The Radiant Emperor duology by Shelley P. Chan. It broke my heart and it'll break yours.

Babel by RF Kuang. You’ve probably already heard of this book because Harper Voyager marketed the shit out of it and was right to do so. Is it subtle? Uh, no. But it’s very good. Kuang writes a compulsively readable story, that’s for sure.

The Unbroken by CL Clark. An exploration of what happens when conscription blurs the line between colonizer and colonized.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo.

So Long Been Dreaming: Post-Colonial Science Fiction and Fantasy (anthology) edited by Nalo Hopkinson.

Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora (anthology) edited by Sheree Renée Thomas.

Severely underhyped books of assorted speculative genres:

The Blood Trials by NE Davenport. Given the chokehold romantasy currently has on the public it’s insane to me that this book hasn’t sold a billion copies.

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez. It’ll change you.

The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera.

The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull.

Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun. Ignore the marketing, this book is YA (maybe NA) and you’ll appreciate it more if you approach it as such.

Read widely. Read diversely. People of the Caucasian persuasion need to stop getting pissy when the story doesn’t immediately center them and they don’t automatically relate to everything the character says and does and is. Just let yourself get swept up in the story—even if it touches on (gasp!) racism—and maybe, just maybe, it’ll reveal something to you.

Or maybe not! Marginalized sff authors do not have to and should not have to educate their readers. But if I see one more white person complain about how Black characters are fundamentally annoying because they complain too much I’m going to fling myself into the sun

Thanks for coming to my ted talk I didn’t want to do it but here I am

PLEASE for the love of the universe read anti-colonial science fiction and fantasy written from marginalized perspectives. Y’all (you know who you are) are killing me. To see people praise books about empire written exclusively by white women and then turn around and say you don’t know who Octavia Butler is or that you haven’t read any NK Jemisin or that Babel was too heavy-handed just kills me! I’m not saying you HAVE to enjoy specific books but there is such an obvious pattern here

Some of y’all love marginalized stories but you don’t give a fuck about marginalized creators and characters, and it shows. Like damn

[sistahscifi]

If you are on our email list, you know that for #BlackFriday/#CyberMonday you will get 15% off when you preorder The Eternal Ones signed by Namina Forna ... the last book of The Gilded Ones saga or order Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun. Discount will appear auto-magically at check out. No code required!

Please celebrate West African YA Fantasy with Sistah Scifi // www.sistahscifi.com.

@Buzzfeed says “Fans of Children of Blood and Bone, Mulan, and the Dora Milaje from Black Panther are going to adore [The Gilded Ones Series].”

#SistahScifi #TheGildedOnes #TheMercilessOnes #TheEternalOnes #NaminaForna #ForgedByBlood #EhigborOkosun #westafricanyafantasy

@penguinrandomhouse

@delacortepress

@harpercollins

@harpervoyagerus

@namina.forna

@okosunreads

[gremlinshatephilosophers]

September reading list!

I read my first book of 1000+ pages last month, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.

The Bone Ships by RJ Barker, Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett, and A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine were my favorites this month.

The Bone Ships [The Tide Child Trilogy: 1] - RJ Barker

Tread of Angels - Rebecca Roanhorse

City of Last Chances - Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Blacktongue Thief [Blacktongue: 1] - Christopher Buehlman

The Fifth Season [The Broken Earth: 1] - N. K. Jemisin

Forged by Blood [Tainted Blood Duology: 1] - Ehigbor Okosun

Even Though I Knew the End - C. L. Polk

The Bone Shard Daughter [The Drowning Empire: 1] - Andrea Stewart

Empire of Sand [The Books of Ambha: 1] - Tasha Suri

A Memory Called Empire [Teixcalaan: 1] - Arkady Martine

The Way of Kings [The Stormlight Archive: 1] - Brandon Sanderson

He Who Drowned the World [The Radiant Emperor: 2] - Shelley Parker-Chan

Empire of Exiles [Books of the Usurper: 1] - Erin M. Evans

Call of the Bone Ships [The Tide Child Trilogy: 2] - RJ Barker

Ashes of the Sun [Burningblade & Silvereye: 1] - Django Wexler

Summer Sons - Lee Mandelo

The Ninth Rain [The Winnowing Flame Trilogy: 1] - Jen Williams

Foundryside [The Founders Trilogy: 1] - Robert Jackson Bennett

The Surviving Sky [The Rages Trilogy: 1] - Kritika H. Rao

[reviewsthatburn]

*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book. 

DNF 24% in.

The worldbuilding is pretty dense and frequently relies on descriptions of visual details in a way that’s hard for me to process due to my aphantasia. Ultimately it didn’t work for me, so I’m stopping.

Full review at link

[whatsheread]

Refreshingly new fantasy

[lovelyloveday]

An enchanting tale...  Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun  https://bit.ly/47lVDpI 

[sophilozophy]

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📚 2023 Book Releases, Part V

A gothic thriller, graphic novel about a girl who embraces her natural curls, fantasy inspired by the history and folklore of South America or literay fiction on the bizarre ways a current heated political moment manifests in daily life. Like a box of pralines, I can choose whatever I'm in the mood for with the added benefit that I don't have to keep myself in check 🍫😊

▫️House of Roots and Ruin, Erin A. Craig ▫️Immortal Longings, Chloe Gong ▫️The Sun and the Void, Gabriela Romero Lacruz ▫️Forged by Blood, Ehigbor Okosun ▫️How to Care for a Human Girl, Ashley Wurzbacher ▫️Bloodguard, Cecy Robson ▫️Frizzy, Claribel A. Ortega & Rose Bousamra ▫️Sanctuary of the Shadow, Aurora Ascher

[richincolor]

With summer on its way out, I thought it would be fun to highlight three books you might have missed! Have you read any of them yet?

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron Bloomsbury YA

This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street. Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business. But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected? -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom by Shannon C.F. Rogers

Packed with voice, this is a powerful coming-of-age YA novel about a Filipina-American teen who tries to figure out who she really is in the wake of her mother's death. Some girls call their mother their best friend. Marisol? She could never relate. She and her mom were forever locked in an argument with no beginning and no end. But when her mother dies suddenly, Marisol is left with no one to fight against, haunted by all the things that she both said and didn’t say. And when Marisol sleeps with her best friend's boyfriend—and then punches said best friend in the face—she's left alone, with nothing but a burning anger. And Marisol is determined to stay angry. After all, there’s a lot to be angry about. But as a new friendship begins to develop, Marisol reluctantly starts to open up to her, and to the possibility there’s something else on the other side of that anger—something more to who she is, and who she could be.

Forged by Blood (The Tainted Blood Duology #1) by Ehigbor Okosun Harper Voyager

In the midst of a tyrannical regime and political invasion, Dèmi just wants to survive: to avoid the suspicion of the nonmagical Ajes who occupy her ancestral homeland of Ife; to escape the King’s brutal genocide of her people—the darker skinned, magic wielding Oluso; and to live peacefully with her secretive mother while learning to control the terrifying blood magic that is her birthright. But when Dèmi’s misplaced trust costs her mother’s life, survival gives way to vengeance. She bides her time until the devious Lord Ekwensi grants her the perfect opportunity—kidnap the Aje prince, Jonas, and bargain with his life to save the remaining Oluso. With the help of her reckless childhood friend Colin, Dèmi succeeds, but discovers that she and Jonas share more than deadly secrets; every moment tangles them further into a forbidden, unmistakable attraction, much to Colin’s—and Dèmi’s—distress. The kidnapping is now a joint mission: to return to the King, help get Lord Ekwensi on the council, and bolster the voice of the Oluso in a system designed to silence them. But the way is dangerous, Dèmi’s magic is growing yet uncertain, and it’s not clear if she can trust the two men at her side. A tale of rebellion and redemption, race and class, love and trust and betrayal, Forged by Blood is epic fantasy at its finest, from an enthusiastic, emerging voice. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads