Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Taj, the black teenage narrator of Onyebuchi's debut, is an aki, or sin-eatermeaning that he literally consumes the exorcised transgressions of others, usually in the forms of inky-colored animal-shaped phantasms called inisisas that reappear as black tattoos on the akis' "red skin, brown skin." This really isn't his most remarkable trait, however, even as he ingests greater and greater sins of the Kaya, the brown-skinned royal family ruling the land of Kos. What makes Taj extraordinary is the tensions he holds: his blas awareness of his exalted status as the best aki, even as the townspeople both shun yet exploit him and his chosen family of sin-eaters; his adolescent swagger coupled with the big-brotherly protectiveness he has for the crew of akis and, as the story proceeds, his increasing responsibility to train them; his natural skepticism of the theology that guides Kos even as he performs the very act that allows the theologyand Kos itselfto exist. He must navigate these in the midst of a political plot, a burgeoning star-crossed love, and forgiveness for the sins he does not commit. "Epic" is an overused term to describe how magnificent someone or something is. Author Onyebuchi's novel creates his in the good old-fashioned way: the slow, loving construction of the mundane and the miraculous, building a world that is both completely new and instantly recognizable. This tale moves beyond the boom-bang, boring theology of so many fantasiesand, in the process, creates, almost griotlike, a paean to an emerging black legend. (Fantasy. 14-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Taj and his fellow sin-eaters, or "aki," fight and consume sin-beasts to absolve others' transgressions. But the young aki are impoverished outcasts with lives shortened by the sins they shoulder. A coveted sin-eating position in the palace forces Taj to choose between living in luxury or working to improve the circumstances of all aki. Onyebuchi introduces a compellingly built, Nigerian-inspired fantastical world and a tough but compassionate protagonist. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.