Disclaimer straight up: the co-author, Clarence A. Haynes, has also worked as my developmental editor on two books. I hold him in the utmost respect, and therefore approached this book with faith that it'd be excellent.... and it is. My copy is signed by Omar Epps and was purchased at Pearl's Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Nubia: The Awakening is a fast, breathless read, spinning familiar tropes about futuristic high inner city high schools all around. The climate apocalypse occurred, the mass flooding and weather changes overturning governments and destroying countries entirely. Many well-off people have 'Ascended,' living in cities up on high. The former financial district of New York City has become a slum mostly for refugees from Nubia, a land utterly lost in the disaster. The cast largely consists of Nubian teens, each a distinct personality, each with different ways of trying to survive, from martial fitness to scholarship to dealing drugs. And when these kids have incredible powers awaken... well, that is by no means a ticket to the easy life.

The characters are fantastic, but as someone who loves deep world-building, wow did I love what was created here. This future world feels eerily, horribly plausible. I'm really glad the next book will be released soon because I want to know what happens next! ( )

I really enjoyed this cultural urban fantasy tale. Climate change, racism, social classes, political corruption, abuse, death, friendship, family ties, ancestry, magic and more. It had just enough and never too much.
Nubian’s had to evacuate their country after a storm destroyed destroyed their lands. They landed in NY where the are segregated to the swamp aka slums. The rich live in high towers with all the extras money can buy, the Nubians have nearly nothing. It’s a classic tale of the rich vs the poor, with oppression, racism, and hatred, but there is a twist that makes this so much more. The once great Nubian’s get some of their history reborn. This will be the change of everything.
Cliffhanger ending ( )

This book has an interesting blend of teen struggles, dystopian future fraught with class division and the devastating impact of climate change, the fears and hopes of immigrants raising their children in a new country, the challenges of keeping their culture alive, and newfound supernatural abilities being used to help their community and abused by outsiders with power. I found it very easy to empathize with the three main characters (Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho) and their individual situations and challenges. Additionally, the main and supporting characters were realistic and even those who were presented as more antagonistic had reasons behind their behavior, even if those reasons didn't necessarily justify their actions. The book addressed the issue of trust, between the young characters themselves, trust in the adults around them, and trust in outsiders who offer a chance at a different life. These young adults have to make big decisions that have a broader impact on their families and community, at an age where they are often just discovering themselves and what they want from life. The supernatural Awakening of abilities experienced by the refugee community's new generation also raises the issue of responsibility to others. I finished the book wanting more, not only of the current story but of the history of the Nubian people. ( )

TW/CW: Violence, death, domestic abuse, brief mention of sexual assault

RATING: 4/5

REVIEW: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Nubia: The Awakening takes place in New York in 2098. Climate change has made a good bit of the world uninhabitable and the rich live in a city in the sky while the poor live in a New York that is only barely protected from rising sea levels by a leaky seawall. The area closest to the wall is inhabited by the Nubians – refugees who barely escaped the destruction of their own land. They live in grinding poverty, most barely getting by. That is, until a group of Nubian teenagers start realizing they can do things that nobody else can do…that they have powers – and that those powers can change everything.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, interesting, and had a story that keeps the reader captivated. It makes important points about discrimination, poverty and race, truly, it’s an integral part of the story and makes it that much more powerful. It is very much the first book in a series – it ends, but not completely and there is still a lot left to be done when this book is finished.

I recommend this book to fans of sci-fi/fantasy and YA novels. ( )