Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx by Dilani Kahawala is a young adult fantasy book that is a breath of fresh air for the genre. It’s full of magic, secrets, and mystery. Our leading lady Tilly must learn to weave her own destiny as she walks a path that seems preordained for her. Ready?
Here we go!
Tilly lives in New York City with distant relatives who took her in after she was orphaned. Their neglect makes her life unpleasant enough, but then she is summoned by the police because her name is found at a murder scene. The murdered man had looked after Tilly when her mother died, and when Tilly snatches some evidence from the scene, her life is turned upside down.
New friends, posing as servants in Tilly’s relatives’ house, soon abscond with her. They take her through a portal to another world, Metra. Tilly learns that her family is Obsidian, part of an ancient line of emperors who ruled the maritime world with magic and cruelty. Tilly is conscripted into the navy, and the fleet that she serves with seeks to help her fulfill her destiny of unearthing old secrets and magic.
But the next blood moon looms, setting a deadline by when the fleet must reach a destination. Tilly possesses the only map to show the way. A villainous, lizard-shaped being, Crom, interferes with the fleet’s plans.
Tilly reminded me of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games in the sense that she is a hero who never wanted to be. Her heart took her down an unexpected path as she journeyed through her destiny. The opening story of Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx is reminiscent of Harry Potter and The Mortal Instrumentsin that an orphaned girl must unravel the hidden secrets of her past.
However, the book knows how to distance itself from the stories that inspire it and go further, creating a very rich world full of magic, secrets, and mystery. Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx also moves away from the clichés of the genre. The book creates a completely new magical world from scratch, including social structure, in true Grishaverse by Leigh Bardugo style.
But apart from the world in which the story takes place, what stands out most about the book is the relationship between Tilly and her team, as well as the myriad of characters involved in the story. Each character has something that makes them recognizable and none is completely bad or completely good, they all have lights and shadows that make them very real.
That encourages you to reflect on them or understand them, even if you don’t agree with their actions. That is, you will not find flat characters in this story, if not full of edges. Also, the friendship between Tilly and her team feels natural and tremendously strong, as it will not falter throughout. Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx, even though certain situations will test it. And that the whole story takes place in a water world only adds points to the rating of this book.
As for the pace of the book, it’s fast, since the chapters are short and it’s easy to read. But above all, Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx surprises you at every turn. Dilani Kahawala has a unique ability to create unexpected plot twists. In fact, when you think you know more or less what is going to happen, something breaks your schemes and you realize that you had no idea about anything.
The ending leaves you wanting more. It’s clearly a call to a second part. That said, Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx also closes almost all threads, in case you want to read just this one volume in the series.
However, the only negative point, is that the magical world created in Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx is so rich means that it’s sometimes difficult to keep up with the characters. But, if you can memorize all the Houses and the intro story of Game of Thrones or House of the Dragonyou will have no problem with Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx. But a small scheme or map would be appreciated to be able to refer to it when you feel somewhat lost.
However, this last point in no way detracts from the great work and dedication that Dilani Kahawala put into Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx. Her hard work and the love with which she created her debut book show on every page. She created a diverse magical world, both dark and full of light if you know where to look, with mystery and secrets everywhere that will keep you glued to the pages of the book until the wee hours of the morning.
Once you start, you won’t be able to stop reading and you’ll want to know what happens next. That’s how addictive Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx and Dilani Kahawala’s pen is.
Blood Moon Prophecy: The Legend of the Nyx is now available to order here.