A Song of Wraith and Ruin is a beautifully written tale of Malik and Karina, two souls who go through seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Malik and his sisters come from a poor village and travel to the city of Ziran to make a new start as the Solstasia celebration begins. As they try to enter the city, the encounter magic that they never dreamed was possible. Maliks youngest sister ends up trapped with an evil spirit. In order to save his sister, he must become a Solstasia champion to get close to Karina, heir to the throne, and kill her. Karina on the other hand is dealing with great loss herself. Many years ago, her sister and father were killed in a fire, now, her mother has also been killed. She must rule without anyone knowing of the death of the queen. Karina’s desperation and belief that she would not make a good queen leads her to find a way to resurrect her mother, but in order to do that she needs the heart of a king. She offers the Solstasia champions a prize. Whoever wins the competition will marry Karina and become king. Malik and Karina’s fate will intertwine in unexpected ways as they watch the world that they know morph into something sinister.
This book is so well written that by the end, I felt strongly for both Malik and Karina. In a book where the main characters have such contrary goals, there is usually one that I root for more than the other. In this case, both characters felt so real that I wanted them both to succeed. Malik’s struggle with overwhelming anxiety that dictated his every move was incredibly relatable for me. It was interesting watching him learn different techniques and try different things to keep himself from completely succumbing to the panic. He became stronger with every chapter and every challenge with the help of those around him.
Karina was also fascinating to watch as she learned ways to deal with her own trauma and the loss of her family. Her strength and self confidence grew in ways that you could see mirrored in Malik. It made their interactions feel very purposeful and fulfilling. The descriptions of her own insecurities, especially after the death of her mother, were beautifully written. The fact that her pain manifested itself in both physical (with terrible migraines) and mental ways (with self doubt and insecurity) brought depth to Karina in ways that I don’t often see in characters.
While the myths and lore behind this story were unfamiliar to me, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. The plot was complex and incredibly well thought out. At no point did it feel overwhelming, even though there was an entire magic system and entire history being explained. I enjoyed that I got to learn more about the world along with the characters themselves as Malik and Karina both branch out from their comfort zones. The connections that were made blew my mind and I found myself surprised at many different times throughout the book.
I won’t get into it too much, because I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, but that ending was incredible. So many surprises, and so well set up for the next book. I just started A Psalm of Storms and Silence and they blend seamlessly. I am already loving watching this world being built.
5/5 Stars
The Novel Llama 