Black as Diamond, U.M. Agoawike (Review by Omonivie Williams)

Rating: 4.0/5 Stars

U.M. Agoawike’s debut, Black as Diamond, starts off action-packed, and manages to maintain its momentum over the course of nearly 500 pages. We follow four characters, each with their own goals and grievances, through a world Agoawike has clearly crafted with painstaking detail and love. Throughout their journey, we see how each of their past shapes their present and begins to catch up to them in the future. Agoawike does not often give us clear answers or satisfying ends, reflecting the complexity of life. In the end, everything ties together neatly in a twist; Agoawike brings us to a wholly unexpected and altogether refreshing end not usually found in YA novels.

The characters are clearly close to Agoawike’s heart, but they do not establish a connection between the reader and the characters before launching into the story. They fail to convince the reader of their affections before we are confronted by their weaknesses, leading to instances of frustration. Nevertheless, Agoawike’s characters are complex and quite grounded in reality. It was particularly heartwarming for me to see the portrayal of queer characters of color. Each character has their own raison d’être that they must uncover, contend with or work towards throughout the novel as the world around them changes. Asaru, the cursed warrior, Wren, the ailing healer, Palenisa, the ousted fighter, and Rishé, a wanderer with a purpose. The four uncover long-held secrets about their world and must attempt to fight fate. All while continually being drawn into each other’s world and slowly forming a sort of found family. But something much greater than them is threatening the already-unstable peace of their world.

Agoawike writes in incredible detail about a mystical world that is entirely different from our own, allowing us to be intimate with it. Still, we can recognize our own lives in the persistent, underlying tension between peoples and the long history that Agoawike reveals to us. Black as Diamond is clearly the product of years of love and attention.