I first heard about The Lies of the Ajungo when Lashaan reviewed it over at his blog and the novella sounded so good (plus it’s available on Libby) that I borrowed it immediately! It also helps that it’s a short read so it was easy to fit into my reading time.

There is no water in the City of Lies. In order to survive, the citizens of the City of Lies cut off their tongues once they turn thirteen and give them to the Ajungo. In return, the Ajungo gives them a meagre amount of water. For twelve-year-old Tutu, the thought of his mother dying of thirst is enough to propel him to leave the city and do what no citizen has been able to do before: find water and return a hero.

Since this is a novella, I won’t say anything more of the plot and spoil it. Instead, I want to talk about what I enjoyed about the novel:

1. The worldbuilding – I’m fascinated by the city (and its political system), the examination of how extreme deprivation of one necessity can affect societal relationships, and the magic system of the world. There is a lot covered in the book and I have a feeling that we’ve only uncovered a small bit of this fascinating world.
2. The characters – Tutu and the people he meet are fascinating. Tutu, in particular, was a great protagonist as we could see him learning from his experiences. He doesn’t become “perfect” by the end but I do think we the readers can see how his past shaped his decisions.

On the other hand, I did think that the plot could be developed more. Becaues it’s a relatively straightforward style, I managed to guess one big secret of the story about halfway in, before the characters even realise what’s happening. The ending was also a little bit rushed for me. These two things didn’t ruin the reading experience, but given the richness of the world, I think the book could have done a lot more with the plot as well

Overall, though, this was an excellent debut novella. While the story is simple, the writing is beautiful, the worldbuilding rich, and the characters complex enough that the book as a whole was a delight (as delightful as a dystopian world is, but you get the idea). I think there’s a lot of potential to go deeper into the world that Utomi has created and I look forward to seeing what else he writes!