BEASTS MADE OF NIGHT
by Tochi Onyebuchi
~Book Review~
*WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS!*
GUILT. RESENTMENT. SHAME. Our past mistakes can make us sick, and in Taj’s world, actually take the form of sin-beasts, shadowy creatures of nightmare that wage destruction. The city of Kos uses magicians to draw out the sin from the rich and makes the lower class sin-eaters destroy the sin-beasts, imprinting a memory of the sin in their skins.
Taj is the most talented of sin-eaters, who has withstood even the colossal sins that take on the forms of dragons. However, his skills and uncanny ability to connect with the sin-beasts earns royal attention and draws him into a plot to destroy Kos…
The idea at the foundation of Beasts Made of Night is excellent. Taj feels wholly organic, born from the city and does all he can to survive with cocky flair without ever sacrificing his loyalty to the community he’s grown up with. There were quite a few unique characters. With a bit more time and restructuring, this book has potential to be a truly exceptional book.
However, the execution fails it. The idea of “sin” manifesting as guilt that can make a person physically ill is so fascinating, but it’s never explored. For example, what is considered a sin in this world? There is a passing reference of a council that defines morality, but it is never articulated. If “sin” only comes from feeling guilty, then why the heck are so many of the rich upper class the ones with the most extravagant sin-beasts? Are they shaving their guilt over decisions they make for the city, and if so, why don’t we see more of that awareness battling within them? What about people who are sociopathic or psychopathic and don’t feel guilty about committing actions like murder? Is sin even the best word to describe what’s going on with these beasts?
While I was trying to figure this out, the story moved along at a lurching pace that just couldn’t find its plot. There were a couple key relationships that really stood out: Taj’s relationship with Bo, who is his lifelong friend and fellow sin-eater, and surprisingly, a meeting halfway through the story with the mysterious Zainab, an experienced sin-eater with a spider tattoo on her face. Honestly, I felt that in that meeting between Taj and Zainab, that’s where the story should have started. There was incredible potential there with the pitying look she gave him and her no-nonsense approach to training that could have organized the story in a more coherent way.
However, that’s a bit of the issue with this novel—there are many ideas circulating and too many characters, and the result is a discordant plot. If it was just a focus on these characters + Azru (loved the scene with the peppers!) and Aliya, who also had unique relationships with Taj, that would have been enough to unpack right there.
As it is, the book ends in a confusing battle, and although I wasn’t surprised by the “true” villain—can’t trust those overly sweet characters!—the impact fell flat since there hadn’t been any time spent on developing the villain’s motivations on a more complex level.
All in all, really excited to see what this author does in the future. The imagination and characters are fierce, but there needs to be more fine tuning in the execution.
