Summary ( From Good reads):
They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City of Lies. They say there are no friends beyond the City of Lies. But would you believe what they say in the City of Lies?
In the City of Lies, they cut out your tongue when you turn thirteen, to appease the terrifying Ajungo Empire and make sure it continues sending water. Tutu will be thirteen in three days, but his parched mother won’t last that long. So Tutu goes to his oba and makes a deal: she provides water for his mother, and in exchange he will travel out into the desert and bring back water for the city. Thus begins Tutu’s quest for the salvation of his mother, his city, and himself.
The Lies of the Ajungo opens the curtains on a tremendous world, and begins the epic fable of the Forever Desert. With every word, Moses Ose Utomi weaves magic.
The Review
This is a review copy granted to me by Tor/Forge via Netgalley all opinions are mine.
It follows Tutu who initially set out into the dessert to find water and save his people in order to become a hero. His people are suffering from a severe water drought and to top it all when one comes to a certain age their tongues are cut off and they become dumb.
Following Tutu on his journey are other characters from the city of lies that have their eyes and ears taken from them in exchange for something. Initially he is weary of them because he has been told ”there are no friends in the city of lies” but he discovers that there is more to this saying. And so the journey morphs from bringing water back to his people to who are the Ajungo? The truth is shocking.
Everything about this book is just A+. The world that Moses built shows the corruption of power and how it is used to deliberately harm the poor in other to keep them in the dark. I loved the friendship he found in the Sahara desert, the girls were protective of him. And even though it was bittersweet, I loved how precious and necessary they were to his growth. In the harshness of the desert, they were his softness (that could still kick your butt and look pretty doing it).
I went into this book expecting great storytelling and i was not disappointed. From the first line’‘There is no water in the city of lies”. I knew i was in for a treat and boy was this an adventure. This 96-page book packed a punch, it was filled with the naiviety of a young boy who grew into the wizened man who had learnt the truth.
I also loved seeing shokologobango a name I had not heard since I was a kid, this made me laugh.
I noticed that in this book you could have all your senses complete and still not understand what’s going on around you. Until you search for the knowledge you will not find it. And that was what Tutu had to do to find the truth. And on the other side of the truth was rage, a justified rage in my opinion.
In conclusion, this book was on my anticipated reads for 2023 and I was not disappointed at all. I look forward to reading more of this author’s work. My rating of this book is a solid 4.75⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️.
I highly recommend this!
As Always,
Nelo- The Booked Unicorn!
The Booked Unicorn 