Beasts of Prey

Meet Koffi, a sixteen-year-old indentured to the notorious Night Zoo in the broken city of Lkossa. Her focus is as sharp as a cat's stare—pay off her family's debts and secure freedom. But when the Zoo's cruel master threatens her loved ones, Koffi unleashes a power she doesn't comprehend, turning her life into a wild rollercoaster.

Enter Ekon, second son of a decorated hero, destined to become a Son of the Six—an elite warrior. Fate takes a spin when he encounters not only the Shetani, a nasty monster haunting the city, but Koffi, with powers to ward off the beast. Choosing to let her flee dooms Ekon's warrior dreams, and he's left desperate to redeem himself. The unlikely duo forms an alliance, entering the Greater Jungle—a world show more teeming with wild magic and untold dangers. The hunt begins, and soon, it's unclear who's hunting whom.

Pros: show less

This novel is one of those classified as Young Adult (YA) that should be on adult reading lists. Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray is the first book in a planned trilogy that has the possibility of finding a secure niche in the YA lexicon as a must-read.

What intrigues this reader is how both the good, the bad, and the ugly characters who populate Gray's story are fully realized and interesting. The best of the good characters is Koffi, who can channel the splendor (AKA magic) to do her bidding; the best of the bad characters is the morally compromised Ekon whose worldview has been shaped by an evil priest; and the worst of the bad is Fedu a dark god with ill-intent especially toward humans.

These characters all inhabit the mythical world of show more Eshoza post-rupture, an event that occurred a hundred years previously and shook the continent to its foundation. As you might suspect, present-day Eshoza has hardly improved.

As a reader I was swept into the author's creative concoction of a damaged world, filled with fantastical and, sometimes, dangerous creatures, and gods who either ignore the plight of humans or who are playing a dangerous game of one-upmanship.

As a debut novel, Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray far exceeds any expectation. show less

Beasts of Prey came to me very highly recommended, and I've been looking forward to reading it. The book is a solid debut, with fantastic world building, and even though some aspects of it left me cringing, I think Ayana Gray is a promising new voice!

Content warnings:
- substance addiction
- adding to the above, forced/non-consensual administering of drugs

Representation:
- every character is African
- one MC has OCD and/or possibly autism

Koffi is an indentured worker of the Night Zoo, a place full of dangerous and magical creatures, to help pay off her family’s debts. Ekon is a boy who longs to be one of the Sons of the Six warriors like his brother and father. But a fire at the Night Zoo interrupts his final test. During the chaos, he

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sees the Shetani, the demon who killed his father ... he also sees Koffi, who sends the Shetani away with only a few words. Ekon lets Koffi run from the Night Zoo’s and its bonds of servitude, but it costs him a position as a Son of the Six.

Both Koffi and Ekon need the Shetani: Koffi to pay off her mother's debts, and Ekon to prove himself. They reluctantly team up and hunt the demon, but soon it’s not clear whether they’re the hunters or the prey.

I have to begin by saying the maps before the endpaper are gorgeous! They’re some of the most beautiful maps I’ve seen in a book for a long time. They really helped me get into that thrilled and ready mindset to begin reading. Even if I don’t quite think they were necessary, because I never needed to flip back to them once I got into the book itself. Still cool, though--I’ll never say no to a gorgeous map.

Initially, the writing makes a really good impression. It’s at a much higher quality than a lot of YA I’ve been reading this year. The author’s strengths definitely lie within crafting the world building, and then describing beats and actions. I can picture everything perfectly and vividly. As the book progresses past the halfway mark and beyond, though, there’s a marked decline in the writing (and editing) quality. And the overuse of italics gets old very fast. They take me out of the story and almost make the text sound melodramatic when they’re in every other paragraph. The lines of dialogue or inner monologue by themselves are fine, but with the italics they have a whole different feeling.

Speaking of the dialogue, there are many times where wooden, almost unnatural-sounding lines are … awfully convenient. Meaning, upon a second glance it becomes clear that a certain line is said not because the character would actually say it in that situation, but because the plot or some element of conflict needs it. Like Koffi saying, after a completely unrelated conversation, “Thank god it’s just us going after [the Shetani]. I don’t know what I’d do if this were any more complicated.” The line is said to get a reaction from Ekon, who knows something she doesn’t at this point, but it’s jarring because she wouldn’t know to do that.

I’m not sure if I’ll read the second book. But I’m still so impressed with the story world here, the complexity of the religion and the world building, that I won’t miss whatever Ayana Gray writes next outside of the duology.

(one more thing: why must the villain do that thing where they tell the MC the reason they've done all these evil things ... by outright saying, "You've [done this for me], so I will tell you." WHY?) show less

Oh my! I am in awe of this book. Not at all what I imagined. First, I should preface, this was another Once Upon a Book Club pick for me. I now find the book cover gorgeous but if I saw a book with a snake on it in my fave indie bookshop I would have kept walking on by. Funny how that works, amiright? I now love it, having read the book.
I don’t remember for sure, but I think this was my first book that has taken place in a jungle. And let me tell you, it was pretty dang awesome.
Ayana Gray writes beautifully! It was a real easy book to read, yet a hard book to put down.
The characters are wonderful – from good to evil and all in between.
This book has magic, crazy animals, beasts, friendships, loss, the aforementioned jungle, show more strong individuals, weak individuals, lore, etc.
The book is classified as speculative fiction. I never heard of this genre before. But I’m a fan!
The only gripe is I have to wait to find out what happens! Book two is not out till late July (2022). It left me hanging – same as “who shot J.R.” (if you know, you know). I wish I had waited to read this book till I had book 2 in my possession. That, however is my only gripe! show less

Slow-paced and plot-driven. The characters felt younger than what they were. I didn't think Koffi and Ekon had any chemistry; they had strictly friend vibes.

But the atmosphere of the Greater Jungle was excellent, eldritch, violent, and mysterious. Very imaginative! A nice debut though it's long-winded.

2.5

Started off Strong

After reading the first look and admiring the gorgeous cover, I claimed a review copy. The initial chapters pulled me into this magical world filled with strange and exciting flora and fauna. I enjoyed Koffi's love of family and friends, her natural abilities to care for the night zoo creatures, as well as her stubbornness.

The jungle setting was my favorite part of this book. The author painted the world on the pages and I felt as if I was traveling along with the characters. The author also tossed in some surprising twists that kept me reading, despite the too slow of pacing/feeling as if the book was treading place or going in circles.

The ending sets this book up to be the first of a duology or series, but after show more finishing reading, I probably won't read the next book because the characters weren't as well rounded as I'd hoped--they seemed to accept new information/ideas without question and always got out of binds by what seemed to be solutions they didn't have to work for. Also, the addition of Adiah's point of view chapters slowed the pacing down because these chapters were too few, far apart, and left me more confused. If these chapters would have been left out, the book would have been stronger for me.

Overall, this was a quick read despite the length and I have no regrets choosing this book to read and review. show less

Thank you to G.P. Putnam and BookishFirst for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Prey is an amazing #ownvoices African-inspired fantasy that will appeal to fans of The Gilded Ones and Children of Blood and Bone. The story revolves around two black teenagers. Koffi is an indentured servant at the Night Zoo, where she communicates with and cares for the animals. Ekon is a candidate to become a Son of the Six, an elite warrior. They're both stuck in bad situations when they decide to team up to track down the Shetani, a mythical creature, in the dense jungle. Will they succeed in tracking down the elusive beast? Will hunting the beast provide the relief that they're seeking? And what other dangers wait for show more them in the jungle?

Here is an excerpt from the Prologue:

"Baba says only wicked things happen after midnight, but I know
better.
I hold my breath, relieved the front door doesn’t creak as I
nudge it open and relish the evening breeze on my skin. This late
its scent is distinct, a sharp blend of ozone and pine. I glance over
my shoulder. In the next room, my parents are fast asleep; Mama’s
snores are gentle, my father’s thunderous. It’s easy to envision them,
two brown bodies curled against each other under a threadbare
blanket, both worn out from a hard day’s work in the harvesting
fields. I don’t want to wake them. Perhaps in the repose of their
dreams, their daughter is different, a responsible girl instead of one
who sneaks out. Sometimes, I wish I was that responsible girl. I
hesitate a second longer before slipping into the embrace of night."

Overall, Beasts of Prey is a thrilling YA fantasy read that is inspired by African fantasy and myths. There are some seriously creepy creatures in the book that made me want to stop reading at nighttime, because I didn't want to get nightmares. The author, who is African American, wrote a very interesting afterword that explains from where she got her inspiration and some of the choices she made while writing as someone who is somewhat disconnected from the country or countries of her ancestors. I found this part fascinating. Although I enjoyed the book overall, I did take off one star because the plot felt too straightforward and middle-grade-ish. There were a few surprises near the end, but they were mostly predictable. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, I highly recommend checking out this book when it comes out in September! show less