Publication Date: 2 June 2022

The Blurb

When Zo decides to run away from home, she isn’t scared – she knows the forest like the back of her hand, after all. But, as she journeys through the once-familiar landscape, she encounters terrifying creatures and a warped version of the mythology of the island. With a beast on her heels, and a mysterious abandoned facility at the heart of the forest drawing her in, can Zo unravel the secrets of the forest before she is lost in them forever?

The Review

Sci-fi meets myth in this heart-stopping race for survival in the Trinidadian forests.

Fed up of feeling pushed out of her own family, Zo is determined to get her Da to come back from New York and rescue her from the boredom of Samaan Bay where the only excitement comes from the weekly Friday Market. What starts as a plan to hide in the forest for a few days quickly becomes a desperate journey to get home to her family as Zo finds herself in a landscape she should know with creatures she definitely doesn’t.

Bold, brave and resourceful, Zo uses the knowledge she has gained from trips camping with her Da to plot a course back to civilisation. Following the river, she rescues a boy, one who everyone in Samaan Bay has been searched for months ago. As they weigh each other, and their situation up, both open up revealing more about themselves and their characters. Both are steadfast in their resolve to get back to their own family knowing this will take them on different paths.

Fear and fate intervene to keep them together as mutant creatures and mythical beings dog their every step back to civilization. Alake’s writing brings the lush, northern mountain forests to life as Zo and Adri crash through them as their journey becomes ever more dangerous. From vegetation and fruit trees to butterflies and tapirs, all that they pass is beautifully described without ever slowing the fast paced story. I could taste the pois doux and balata, and smell the undergrowth.

Not for the faint-hearted, this is a nail-biting thriller that doesn’t let up from them moment Zo strikes out on her own, and I cannot wait for the second book in this duology to answer the questions pinging around my head!

Great for fans of:

• Boy X by Dan Smith
• The Unmorrow Curse by Jasmine Richards

Huge thanks to ed. Public Relations and Knights of for sending me an early review copy and inviting me to take part in the blog tour. Do make sure you check out all of the other stops.