Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. I didn't read the synopsis before reading, and had assumed this would be another young adult romance novel. I was pleasantly surprised that this book is full of action and appeals to the male audience as well. The first half of the book was cleaner than the second half, but the violence and semi-foul language picks up. I loved the outer story, even though it was not the focus of the book, but it brings the Western high school appeal into the book. While not a religious book, the adult in me enjoyed pondering over the brief discussions of faith and God, and I thought those are good side-discussions for readers. I was okay with the portrayal of Moroccan/Algerian culture and setting, and while I did not understand the politics, I did not feel offended. I felt like the ending was just made up, some details were missing (like how did they rescue Laila again?), and the ending was just unexpected and did not do justice to the theme of doing what is right. While I felt the characters gradually lost their moral compass through the course of the story, I would recommend this book for my school library because of its action, light fantasy (talking animals), and adventure appeal.

My thanks to NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for this advance copy.

The setting of this novel was the greatest attraction, but I certainly didn’t bargain on what was in store: Dihya the Berber warrior-queen and seer who led her people against the Arab Invasion of North Africa in the 7th century CE, Ferrous the Bear and Cleo the snake!

This is an intriguing love story of two 16 year old Algerians from very different backgrounds. It is an intelligent novel, allowing the reader to drift into a make believe world but travel from the Atlas Mountains to the northern Moroccan cities appreciating the changing landscape. A fast paced, easy read with humour.