This was fun! I loved the premise of the book – the missing STEM teens – and Shuri’s journey to solve the mystery.

And what they find seems to raise more questions than it answers. While they feel obligated to be sure the girls are safe, two more teenage girls on a rescue mission might not be the best choice. When Shuri discovers coordinates in Ethiopia where the missing girls might be, she and K’Marah scheme for an opportunity to get away and check the place out. Girls from around the world between 10 and 15 years old, all with major STEM skills, have gone missing. And those three girls are just the tip of the iceberg. Then Shuri is hacked by an American girl who also has a missing friend. Then it’s someone her best friend K’Marah knows. First, it’s someone she met on her last adventure. Readers will (obviously) root for Shuri, but they will also find themselves intrigued by her adversary.As Shuri digs into her studies and training in order to earn a trip to a tech conclave with her brother, King T’Challa, she starts hearing rumors of missing teen girls. Not only that, Stone also garners a certain amount of sympathy for the symbiote and its quest. Rather than an “alright, here you go” sort of approach, she teases readers with tidbits that keep them hooked in the action. I enjoyed the way Stone set-up the symbiote’s main reveal.

Readers are privy to some information before Shuri, but they’re still able to unravel the mystery right alongside her. Story-wise, Stone deftly guides readers into the action. Through Shuri, Stone continues to utilize fresh techniques to keep Shuri and readers on their toes. She learns to adapt to a unique situation with clever, out-of-the-box ideas. While readers and the other characters know Shuri’s capabilities, they’re put to the test a bit more this time around. I think it works particularly well with this installment, as now, Shuri’s safety is directly threatened in a way that literally hits home. Readers continue to gain a sense of the exclusion Shuri feels within her own family.

With each book, Stone provides Shuri the chance to prove herself. Despite being the princess (and a brilliant-minded one at that), people primarily view her as a child. One of the recurring motifs through the series is how Shuri feels as though no one takes her seriously. As Shuri begins to search for the intruder - an other-worldly symbiote - she faces a discovery more shocking than she imagined. In Nic Stone’s Shuri: Symbiosis, the third installment of her Shuri trilogy, Wakanda faces another threat: a mysterious intruder who attempts (and succeeds) to break into the royal palace, disappearing just as quickly.

Shuri by Nic Stone