Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi Book Review
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi is a historical fiction story with fantasy elements that takes place in 15th century Africa. It combines politics, danger, and power struggles.
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Masquerade
Author: O.O. Sangoyomi
Narrator: Ariel Blake
Pub. Date: July 2, 2024
Genre: Adult Historical Fantasy
Pages: 13 hours 39 minutes / 352 pages
Rating: 2.5 stars
Spice: 1 heart
Content Warnings: murder, kidnapping, blood, gore, sexual assault, fire, injury, child death, animal death, & suicide
Synopsis:
Òdòdó’s hometown of Timbuktu has been conquered by the warrior king of Yorùbáland, and living conditions for the women in her blacksmith guild, who were already shunned as social pariahs, grow even worse.
Then Òdòdó is abducted. She is whisked across the Sahara to the capital city of Ṣàngótẹ̀, where she is shocked to discover that her kidnapper is none other than the vagrant who had visited her guild just days prior. But now that he is swathed in riches rather than rags, Òdòdó realizes he is not a vagrant at all; he is the warrior king, and he has chosen her to be his wife.
In a sudden change of fortune, Òdòdó soars to the very heights of society. But after a lifetime of subjugation, she finds the power that saturates this world of battle and political savvy too enticing to resist. As tensions with rival states grow, revealing elaborate schemes and enemies hidden in plain sight, Òdòdó must defy the cruel king she has been forced to wed by reforging the shaky loyalties of the court in her favor, or risk losing everything–including her life.
Book Review
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi. All opinions are my own.
Before this book, I had never read any books set in this time period or region of Africa. The story sounded interesting, so that’s why I wanted to read it.
While this book is marketed as more of a fantasy, I would say that it is historical fiction with a few fantasy elements.
There are quite a few rave reviews for this book so far, but this book just wasn’t for me at all. There were too many issues with it for me to enjoy it.
Thoughts
Here’s what I did like:
I loved the setting and how not only was the geographical location cool, but I enjoyed the magical elements of this place as well.
The audiobook narration was great! The narrator had an accent that fit the character but was still easy to understand (even at 2.5x speed!). I was also impressed with all the hard names she had to pronounce and how effortless it seemed.
The author did a great job keeping my attention throughout the story with enough tense and fast-paced moments to keep me wanting to read more.
However, my main issue with this book was the main character. Òdòdó had questionable motives and made a lot of poor decisions. The romance was weird considering her circumstances. She didn’t seem to think it was a big deal in how she got together with the love interest, but in my opinion, it was really toxic and messed up.
Also, the decisions she made outside of her relationship made no sense to me!
Maybe it was because of the time in which this story took place, but there seemed to be a lot of unnecessary deaths. Also, be warned that there are a few graphic scenes that I hated.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I just felt angry after finishing the story. I wasn’t really satisfied with how things turned out, and a lot of the plot just didn’t make sense to me. I do think some people will really enjoy this story, but this just wasn’t my kind of book.
Where to Read & Purchase
You can purchase a copy of this book at the following retailers:
Bookshop.org (supports independent book stores) [affiliate]
Libro.fm (audiobooks that support independent book stores) [affiliate]
→ get a free audiobook when you start a membership
Chirp (get 30% off your first purchase with code: JESS30)
Amazon [affiliate]
Books a Million (BAM) [affiliate]
AbeBooks [affiliate]
You can also find this book on:
Everand (30-Day FREE Trial)
Have you read Masquerade?
I would love to hear your thoughts! Comment down below.
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