Gr 7 Up—Tarisai has grown up with every luxury imaginable—except for a loving family. Her mother, known as The Lady, has kept Tarisai isolated save for a group of revolving tutors and servants afraid to get too close as she prepares her daughter for a mysterious future. At the age of 11, Tarisai finally learns The Lady's plan when she is sent to compete for a spot on the Crown Prince's Council of 11. Joining the Council will give Tarisai the family she has always craved, but it will also bring her one step closer to completing her mother's magical request: killing the Crown Prince after Tarisai has earned his trust. As Tarisai learns more about the empire, the Crown Prince, and herself, she will have to decide where her loyalties lie and if she is strong enough to choose her own path in the face of her mother's magical compulsion. Ifueko's debut fantasy blends Nigerian folklore with a melange of other influences to create a multicultural world where colonization and imperialism inform the story as much as Tarisai's own choices. Tarisai's first-person narration offers a limited perspective, increasing suspense as she tries to guess The Lady's motives. Large-scale but vague world-building and a plot with far-reaching elements beyond Tarisai's immediate concerns make this story needlessly convoluted at times. VERDICT A dense but promising stand-alone fantasy.—Emma Carbone, Brooklyn Public Library