A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

I read this book with a 14 year old's enthusiasm. It reminded me of the series books I fell in love with 15 years ago. I loved Karina and Malik and their relationship to their families and to each other. The magic and the Griot and Commander Hamidou. Even Idir was likable in his own classically misunderstood villainy way. Yes, this book follows almost all of the quintessential YA Fantasy themes, but there's a reason those themes are reused. They work. I'm hooked. This book took me a really long time to read though. The primary reason being that every time the perspective changed between Karina and Malik, there was a slight lull caused by the world building necessary to connect to the previous chapter.
Overall, I really liked this book and I can't wait for the sequel to come out.