By Meghan Mazzaferro
Content warning: violence, gore, racial discrimination, prejudice
For a review of Beasts of Prey, click here.
Beasts of Ruin is Ayana Gray’s second novel, and it kicks off right where Beasts of Prey left off. Secrets have been revealed, the world has been turned upside down, and Koffi and Ekon are separated. Each isolated and dealing with their own dangers, the two must do what they can to stay alive, make it back to each other, and protect the world from a dark god’s evil plans.
Beasts of Prey was one of my favourite books of last year, and a large part of that is the world of Lkossa and the Greater Jungle, and the relationship between Koffi and Ekon. This book took both of those away, setting our two main characters in new settings and with new people, and I’ll admit I was nervous that it might not work. But I really enjoyed the new characters that were introduced and the way both Koffi and Ekon’s stories broadened the world of Eshōza. While the first book had a set goal, its resolution really opened up the story and this book did a great job of setting the tone for the rest of the trilogy.
I do feel like the pacing of the book wasn’t perfect, and Koffi’s story didn’t keep me quite as engaged as I might have liked, but I am very intrigued by where the story is going. Koffi’s story in this book did an excellent job of exploring the magic system in this world, and what she went through in this book will play a major part in what is to come. Ekon’s story, on the other hand, I found very interesting; I loved the characters that he met along the way, and I found this book really deepened his story and forced him to grow and change in a way that was really compelling. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Ekon is one of my favourite male main characters in a YA fantasy book. He’s complicated and flawed and incredibly compelling to read about. I also really enjoyed the third perspective we got in this book. While I can’t say much about it, I feel like it did a really good job of developing the politics of Lkossa and the struggles of Daraja leading up to the events of book one. This perspective really helped explain the choices of some of the characters in the previous book and laid the groundwork for a lot of character motivations in this series that weren’t explored in book one.
Beasts of Ruin does in some ways suffer from the second book slump, in the sense that there’s lots of travelling and things being explained, but the book does an excellent job of setting up what I believe will be an explosive conclusion to the series. As I said previously, the first book in this series had a particular plot that was concluded at the end of that book, and Beasts of Ruin had the unique struggle of massively broadening the world and magic system of this series. With that particular struggle in mind, the book did a very good job of giving the reader all the information we’ll need for the rest of the series while still being engaging and fun. The groundwork has been laid, and I trust Ayana Gray to bring it all home in book three.
While it didn’t grip me quite as much as the first book, I still really enjoyed Beasts of Ruin. Ayana Gray has created a compelling world and magic system, and it’s impossible not to care about our main characters and the things they are fighting to protect. If you’re a YA fantasy fan, this series cannot be missed!
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.