why didn’t i start this book earlier? this was excellence upon excellence - in the acknowledgments, utomi described this as “attack on titan in north africa” and the vibes were correct! this was an action-packed, emotionally intense story that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

i’ll keep this review short and sweet, but the last thing i wanted to add was the first paragraph of the acknowledgments, when utomi mentioned how he is a child of immigrants, which means he lives in two realities that is each fully real and worthy of pride, as he states. but in both of those realities, he is an outsider - and with that pain of being excluded, there is also power in the distance. the acknowledgments just touched my heart because i understood the exact feeling he put the words to. just excellent writing from this man, what a wonderful and exhilarating journey this was. i am very excited to read more from this author!