Beasts of Ruin

By: Ayana Gray

Narrated by: Keylor Leigh, Benjamin Charles, Yinka Ladeinde

Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

In this much anticipated follow up to New York Times bestselling Beasts of Prey, Koffi’s powers grow stronger and Ekon’s secrets turn darker as they face the god of death.

After having promised to use her new powers to serve Fedu, the cunning god of death, and assist in his plans to remake the world, Koffi finds herself a prisoner in Thornkeep—a luxurious mansion with well-manicured gardens. But Fedu’s beautiful realm is a lie. Koffi and many other darajas are trapped there by a deadly, inscrutable mist, making escape impossible. But something within the mist calls to Koffi, igniting her magic. It soon becomes clear that the very thing imprisoning her could be the key to not only her freedom, but finally unlocking the remaining mysteries of her own magic, allowing her to fight the god of death and perhaps even win.

While Koffi attempts to decipher the secrets of the mist and learns to wield her own deadly power, Ekon is determined to make his way to Thornkeep to fight alongside her. But leaving Lkossa is easier said than done. Ekon, once a promising soldier, is now a wanted man on the run from those he once called brother. He’s forced to make new, uneasy alliances to flee Lkossa and turn his back on everything he once believed. And each day he draws closer to the realm of death, so too does Ekon draw nearer to a long-hidden truth about himself that could change his loyalties forever.

Koffi and Ekon—separated by both land and gods—risk everything to reunite. But the longer they’re apart, the more they will have to reckon with changing destinies and, maybe, changing hearts.

©2022 Ayana Gray (P)2022 Listening Library

Critic reviews

“This stellar sequel deepens these beautifully realized main characters and keeps you wanting more stories in this world.” —Buzzfeed

“Readers will be entranced as themes of heritage, betrayal, and erasure are brought to life with vivid details in this riveting, fast-paced volume that lives up to its predecessor. . . An absorbing story with tantalizing hints of more to come.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Well-crafted and engaging. . . Beasts of Prey and Beasts are Ruin are riveting reads that should hold great appeal for teenage readers, especially fans of Black Panther and The Hunger Games.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

better than expected

the expanded world building was memorizing in this installment. the voice acting was memorable and consistent.

Great!!

I absolutely loved this book. I hope that it inspires a great imagination to everyone who read and listens to both books.

amazing story

I need more! When is the next book? I am so deep in this story!

Fantastic Lore

This sequel is everything you could have hoped for in a “next chapter”. The gods are interesting, the background and culture is rich, and don’t get me started on the BEASTS! I love everything about this story.

The narration seemed rushed. Often names were inconsistent and the male narrators interpretation of Ekon differed greatly from the first book and was hard to listen to. The male narrator has such a great voice, but listening to Ekon and Themba speak was rough.

Good story. VA of Koffi has to go

Overall, the story was pretty good. there were some parts where I thought there was too much explaining, as if talking to a 5th grader and over explaining things that could be easily implied. also, the author loves to say how a smile or feeling didn't reach someone's eyes.... you can turn it into a drinking game during some chapters. I need her to get a different phase. otherwise the story was really good.

the VA for Koffi... I'm not a fan at all. her voice just doesn't do it for me. the VA for Ekon wad good for the most part however there were rines where he made ekon sound like every sentence his voice was cracking due to pueberty.. but the flipping back and forth between the VAs depending on the chapter was a bit much. towards the end when both VAs voice Fedu in back to back chapters...it was horrible. honestly, the VA for Biti/Rashida was great. and she can do a male voice. if she did the entire book, I would love it.

Loved to story

I loved the story and can’t wait for the final book to be completed.
However the narrator for both Kofi and Ekon was very bad. The reader for Kofi made everyone (boys and girls) sound like 12 year old girls.
The narrator for Ekon made everyone sound the same even women. I just don’t understand if we have both a male and female narrator why can’t the female read all the female parts and the male all the male parts and play with the different voices that would have been fun I think.

I enjoyed this.

I really enjoy the Beasts of Prey series. I listened to this book in one day and I’ve already bought the third book. Good narration as well.

AMAZING STORYLINE!

Had a lot of twists and turns with characters that had interesting gifts, and I love how they intertwined that brawdened and inhance the story. The characters are strong and believable in the way they expressed their emotions. I had problems with the names of all the animals, so I will read the 1st & 2nd book again before the Beasts of War in the series comes out.

Tremendous Continuation

Ayanna Gray does it again with a neat story through both the continuation and extension of Beasts of Prey (Book #1). The creatures, beasts and characters in this story really stand out and made the scenes come to life! A wonderful read!

Good book

Benjamin Charles voice did too much cracking and straining for me. It kind of made it hard to listen to. The story itself kept me listening.