A Fan's Playground

I found the first book in this duology to be a bit uneven but mostly enjoyable and with a lot of promise; I hoped the sequel would see the author grow, but it felt to me like it was still at the same level as the first book. Still uneven pacing and with some heavy-handed elements, and the revolutionary aspects are definitely over-simplified. But I do still care about the main character, Tarisai, and enjoy the worldbuilding. I love getting to read secondary world fantasies that are inspired by cultures other than medieval europe! And Tarisai is very believably a teen in over her head in a difficult situation and making some bad choices but doing her best, and I really felt for her. So overall a worthwhile read, even if it didn't live up to everything I was hoping.

And this duology also does a good job of exploring important themes, like the unhelpful nature of an over-focus on guilt in inspiring a person to actually work to do better, and that there are many kinds of love that are all important, whether romantic or platonic, and that it's bad for power to be concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy families.

I think that if I had read these books as a teen I would have uncritically adored them, and I'm glad they're out there for today's teens to fall in love with!

One of those standard YA fantasy novels about a special girl who is an outsider who must REVOLUTIONIZE her country and also fall in love, but you know, it's a very good one of those! I was invested in the special girl and her efforts to be able to make her own choices instead of following what's expected of her! Also a character who would in a normal one of these books be part of a love triangle with her is instead asexual and totally uninterested and he loves her platonically, and I'm extremely charmed by this.

Also it's a West-African-inspired setting with themes that celebrate diversity over conformity, and I always like seeing that these days the classic YA tropes are now available with this kind of representation. Everyone deserves to have tropey YA that they can see themselves in!

This is a first novel for the author, and I can see that in some uneven pacing in one part of the book, but overall it's very strong writing for a debut, and I'm impressed. Definitely an author to keep an eye on in the future!