Review: Beasts of Ruin (Beasts of Prey #2)

Beasts of Ruin (Beasts of Prey #2)
By Ayana Gray

Published By: Penguin
Publication Date: July 1, 2022
Date Read: May 13, 2023
Genre: YA – Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback
Pages: 496

From Goodreads:
The powerful and magical sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller BEASTS OF PREY, perfect for fans of AN EMBER IN THE ASHES, SHADOW AND BONE and THE GILDED ONES.

‘A fast-paced, rip-roaring ride that grabs you by the throat and never lets you go. A masterpiece of magic’ – Namina Forna, New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Ones on Beasts of Prey

Koffi, gifted with powerful magic, has saved the boy she loves – at a terrible price. Now Koffi is a servant to the god of death, and must choose between the life she once had, or the life she could have if she truly embraced her power.

Ekon is on the run from the ancient brotherhood he betrayed, and desperate to find Koffi: the girl who saved his life. But as he treks into the greater wilds of Eshoza in search of her, he must also contend with secrets his ancestors never wanted him to know.

Separated by land, sea, and gods, Koffi and Ekon will have to risk everything. But the longer they’re kept apart, the harder their loyalties are tested.

An extraordinary adventure inspired by Pan-African mythology, from New York Times bestselling author Ayana Gray.

“Strange is relative.”

Beasts of Ruin has been sat on my shelf unread for about a year. I picked this one up at YALC last year after really enjoying the first book in this series, Beasts of Prey. I absolutely loved the concept of all of these really interesting creatures and animals, and I was really excited to read the next book in the series. I went into this one with pretty high expectations, and I really wish this book had met them, but honestly I was just left really disappointed with this one.

Beasts of Ruin picked up right where book 1 left off, with Koffi and Ekon separated. They are separated throughout almost the entire duration of this book, and they are both on different journeys throughout this one. I actually enjoyed Ekon’s perspective the most in this one. I found his journey so much more interesting. Maybe it’s because he was fighting to find Koffi and travelling throughout the kingdom. Koffi was trapped in the same place so I didn’t find that perspective quite as interesting.

Honestly, I found the entirety of this book really slow going. I’d found the first book really slow but put that down to the worldbuilding. I was really hoping the pacing of this one would be much faster, but unfortunately I found it was even slower than book 1. It took me 3 and a half weeks to read this book, and for a 450-ish page book that is a really long time for me. I was just really bored. I ended up skim reading the final 200 pages as I was just so bored and was so ready for this book to be done.

The ending of the book was exciting. The most exciting part of the book in fact. I will read book 3 as I am dying to see how it all ends, and I’m hoping I will love it again now that Ekon and Koffi are back together. I will probably do this via audiobook as I am much more patient when listening to audiobooks than I am when I am reading physically. It was an okay book, but definitely suffers from middle book syndrome.

“She hadn’t realized how powerful a thing hope could be until she’d almost lost it.”