Deka's life in her village is a structured one - especially for girls. She knows what she's allowed do, how she should behave - all of this is strictly observed in order to satisfy the tenets of her religious culture. All of the restrictions culminate in the ritual of purity - when Deka will know if she is to live the life she so desires or if she'll be deemed impure and sentenced to death.
When right on the cusp of her ceremony her world falls apart, Deka has to make a choice - to stay in her village and face the consequences or decide to join other girls like her and fight in a war that's even bigger than Deka can imagine.
I guess I have a lot of thoughts about this book. There's a LOT in here. Yes, there are several young adult tropes in play, which isn't bad, just IS. Girl lives in restrictive society. Girl finds out she's special but doesn't know how or why. Girl faces obstacles but overcomes with Friends and Love Interest. I'm not trying to mock it, at all, just that that it's formulaic - a formula that WORKS, it just makes it a bit predictable. There were things about the world building that were confusing to me, especially as things came to light at the end. One plot twist I did NOT predict but it also required a lot of suspending my disbelief to piece it all together. What I DID love was this fantasy African setting that was filled with strong and capable women. Granted, these women were subjected to incredible violence and the book is a bloody one, to be sure. I did like the feminist lean of the book as Deka figures out how restricted her life was and that she and her fellow girls deserve better than that.
I acknowledge that I have gripes about about it but I also want to note that I listened to this one super fast, it definitely kept my attention.
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