Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi - ADVISABLE

Onyebuchi,Tochi. Beasts Made of Night. 296 pages. Razorbill (Penguin), 2017. $17.99. 

Language: G (1 swear); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13.

Taj is a seventeen-year-old aki, a killer of sin-beasts.  A mage summons the sin from a person and it becomes a beast.  The aki then kills the beast and takes the guilt of the sin, as well as a tattoo appears on their skin of the beast.  Because of the guilt and dangerousness of the job, aki’s don’t tend to live very long or if they do, they go mad.  The sin-spots, or tattoos, fade from the all the other aki’s except for Taj.  He fights a terrifying sin-beast for a member of the royal family.  Taj is given a place in the castle and fine clothing.  But he will have to decide where his loyalties lie and which sins he’s willing to fight for.

Author Tochi Onyebuchi does an excellent job of worldbuilding and providing a history and mythology to go with it.  Taj is a strong protagonist with his own sins and mistakes, which makes him relatable to teens.  The plot moves quickly throughout and ends on a cliffhanger.  Recommend to boys (or girls) looking for a unique fantasy experience.

MS/HS-ADVISABLE.  Samantha Hastings, MA, MLS.