The writing was easily readable, very lyrical, although not over the top by any means, the plot was decent and I'm glad it didn't fall into the trap of being formulaic and boring, although it was quite predictable. I wouldn't say it's as unique as everyone else seems to be saying, but it is at least somewhat different to the majority of newer YA fantasy that is releasing. The African folklore was well integrated into the story, but I found the worldbuilding to be a little too sparse for my liking and I didn't really care about any of the characters. I think I'm halfway through so many series now that if I didn't give the first book at least a 4 star rating or see a lot of potential in where the story will lead then I shouldn't continue on, despite there only being one book left to read. Initially I was definitely going to give this a four star rating, but I think it's more of a three as I've realised that I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought as my real thoughts were hidden by the beautiful writing. I will read more from this author outside of this series in the future as Ifueko's writing style is brilliant.