The Gatekeeper's Staff (TJ Young & The Orishas #1) by Antoine Bandele

I was listening to too many serious books that I decided to try one YA or middle-grade fantasy book. It was then I came across "The Gatekeeper's Staff" on Netgalley. I liked the cover and description, on top of that I have listened to one more book by the author, so I applied for the review copy. I got it in exchange for an honest review.

The story is written around boy TJ who belonged to a magician family. Magician in the book is known as diviners. TJ's sister was a child prodigy and was working on a secret project. Though he was from a strong line of magicians, his skill as a magician was nothing but a lucky charm and tingling on the top of his fingers. But the demise of her sister changed everything. He was selected for a camp where wizard kids go for training. Read the book to know more.

When I started the book and heard words like Orisha, Diviner, Ashe I thought the author has taken ideas from Tomi Adeyemi. But later on, I searched on the internet and found that Orisha is mythology and no one has their claim on it. The book is a good mixture of fantasy, mythology, a mystery to give you good company. I will wait for the sequel.

The book deserves a good 4.25 out of 5.

I-Tigress: A letter to humans: A Tribute to Fighting Mothers

I had read 2 books by Syd K before I took I-Tigress. Those who have read the author have taken the best traits from his first book and built his next book based on that. His brilliance in writing stories with animal POV was remarkable. And I am happy that instead of writing about a completely new domain, he went ahead in animal territory again. Last time he wrote about the most respected animal of the jungle, an elephant. And this time he brought out the most feared animal of the jungle, a tiger. 

The book talks about the story from the POV of a tigress, which is very closely followed by a real-time tigress. The story starts with the birth of the tigress to her death. Each stage of the tiger's life their upbringing, their survival as adolescents, their constant battle for dominance of their area, etc. I don't want to spoil readers' experiences.

My observations about the book

1) The book is not just written with Tigress POV, the author has invented vocabulary for the animal kingdom used by tigress

2) You will feel like watching discovery episodes on tiger's life while reading the book

3) Easy language usage makes a smooth experience

4) A read for all above 12 years old

5) Shows harsh realities that affect wildlife due to human interventions

This book deserves 4.5 out of 5.

Book links - Goodreads & Amazon