A Song of Wraiths and Ruin Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #1)
Author: Roseanne A. Brown
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: June 2, 2020
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Synopsis:

The first in an fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction.

For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.

But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic...requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.

When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?

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A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is the magical first book in a new young adult fantasy duology that readers are sure to love. There wasn't much I didn't like about this book. I loved getting to know our main characters - Karina and Malik - and I thought they were both incredibly realistic and I connected with each of them right from the beginning of the story. They both have strengths and weaknesses, and definitely flaws (all of which we get to see throughout the book) but they only make them more real. One thing I really loved was that the story is told from both Karina and Malik's perspectives in alternating chapters. I liked seeing things happen from both sides and how each of the characters dealt with everything. The only thing I didn't really care for was the writing style the author chose. The story is told in the third person point of view, which I rarely like when reading. I almost always prefer the first person POV for several reasons and if you've read any of my other reviews you'll know this has a big impact on my reading experience. If the book had been done in the first person, I feel that this would've been an easy five star read for me. Although I didn't get the deep connection that I love with the characters, I really enjoyed the alternating viewpoints.

The plot was intriguing and had a lot of things going on. There's action and adventure, magic (yay!), and even romance. It has just about something for everyone and it weaves together the different genres effortlessly to create a wonderfully crafted story. I felt like I was right beside both characters the entire time, experiencing everything with them - which is something I always love when reading. I can't go into much detail about the story line itself because I don't do spoilers and I wouldn't want to give anything away accidentally. The story itself is layered and touches on universal topics that every reader can identify with. These are lessons that everyone can learn from and the author weaves them seamlessly into the story itself. I'm so glad that this is only the first book in the duology because I definitely want more of these characters and I'm dying to see where the next book will take us. I very highly recommend this book to fans of YA fantasy, magic, action and adventure, mythology, folklore, and romance. 

Roseanne “Rosie” A. Brown was born in Kumasi, Ghana and immigrated to the wild jungles of central Maryland as a child. Writing was her first love, and she knew from a young age that she wanted to use the power of writing—creative and otherwise—to connect the different cultures she called home. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and was also a teaching assistant for the school’s Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program. Her journalistic work has been featured by Voice of America among other outlets.

On the publishing side of things, she has worked as an editorial intern at Entangled Publishing. Rosie was a 2017 Pitch Wars mentee and 2018 Pitch Wars mentor. Never content to stay in any one place for too long, Rosie currently teaches in Japan, where in her free time she can usually be found exploring the local mountains, explaining memes to her students, or thinking about Star Wars.

Win an ASOWAR bookplate, bookmark, two trading cards, and access to the exclusive short story (INT)

Starts: June 2, 2020

Ends: June 16, 2020

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