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bruhbruh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ce deuxième livre est aussi bien que le premier, il est devient même drôle. On ne s'ennuie pas à un seul moment, les 700 pages sont avalées sans aucun accrochage (on peut également féliciter la traductrice). Le monde est clarifié dans celui ci et on découvre de nouveaux aspects.
Pour les personnages, alors que je les appréciais dans le précédent, iels deviennent carrément attachants. Le développement de Nahri est fabuleux. Elle se prend enfin en main. Il y a beaucoup de femmes présentes dans celui ci, ce qui manquait dans le premier. Ali est encore plus engagé dans sa lutte anti classe à Daveabad. Dara commence à utiliser son cerveau et son bon sens tout en restant un ennemi terrifiant.
Hâte de lire la suite !
Pour les personnages, alors que je les appréciais dans le précédent, iels deviennent carrément attachants. Le développement de Nahri est fabuleux. Elle se prend enfin en main. Il y a beaucoup de femmes présentes dans celui ci, ce qui manquait dans le premier. Ali est encore plus engagé dans sa lutte anti classe à Daveabad. Dara commence à utiliser son cerveau et son bon sens tout en restant un ennemi terrifiant.
Hâte de lire la suite !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Genocide, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Slavery, Classism, Blood, Death, Trafficking, Misogyny, Hate crime, War, Violence, Alcohol, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Alcoholism and Homophobia
singalana's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Even though I listened to it as an audio, I had to SLOG through this book!
It has been about a year since I listened to the first part of the trilogy. It was a huge mistake to wait that long because I spent about the first 20 % of the book wondering who that character was, what that word meant and what happened in the last book.
After I got over that, the book started dragging for a different reason: NOTHING MEANINGFUL HAPPENS! It feels like there are no stakes, and so much time is spent on describing the most meaningless things. As one reviewer pointed out, everything that the characters try to do is thwarted by someone more powerful.
About 60 % in, I realized that I do not care about any of these characters. Except maybe for Dara, because he is at least a little bit interesting. There’s no real feeling of danger, and I knew nothing bad would happen to the characters. The main character, Nahri, is insufferably righteous, the same as Ali. As one reviewer put it: 99 % of the characters are magical racists, religious fanatics or war criminals. Not exactly a likeable bunch.
Spoilers!
But in all seriousness, I could not give a damn about any of these characters, especially since they are all so infuriatingly dramatic all the time. It sucks out any real impact a really dramatic scene should have when the characters are gasping and staring in shock about half of the book. If the author succeeded in something, it was when in the first book, I started to like Dara, even though he is practically a war criminal. Then, in the second book, I’m supposed to root for the Qahtanis, I guess?
In addition to that, this book is all over the place about the shafit, the “mixed-bloods”, who are part human. The shafit are treated as something to be saved, and when they lash out for being treated like cattle, they are suddenly wild animals.
This book has way too many elements, it’s way too slow, and everything is so damn dramatic all the time. I’m so glad this is over. Let’s see if I pick up the last part of this series in a year or so after I have forgotten how messy and frustrating this was.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Blood, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Slavery, Alcohol, Classism, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, War, and Xenophobia
erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Wading back into the fraught and politically interwoven world of the Daeva, could begin to get overwhelming. I was very interested to see what happened to my favourite characters though.
This book finally sees people talking about what happens when the heir to the kingdom, Muntadhir, falls in love with a man art arms. Dammit why can't you all just let them be happy! And wait, in the last book didn't we find out that Jamshid has even more secrets about his person that even he is probably unaware of...? I had to find out more, and I do wish it took less that 20 chapters to unfold! But there is so much to unfold in a place where you arrange marriages for political reasons, and when everyone is lying to each other - things get messy in a great bit hurry.
Meanwhile back in the small desert town of Bir Nabat, the exiled prince finally seems to have stopped getting regular visits from assassins. He's knuckled down in serious service to the community as an irrigator and well builder and is starting to bring prosperity to a place that was dwindling into the dust. Less said about magical water powers the better, but everyone close to him knows that he doesn't come up for air nearly enough to seem.. normal, and he's awfully good at falling asleep in random places and accidentally waking up having "found" a brand new spring.
And then one of his rich cousins turns up with a year's worth of taxes in cursed salt, that only someone with their bloodline can return to Daevabad, and if it doesn't get there then there might be military retribution so .. he's wrangled back to his home city, consequences be damned.
Seems that everyone is preparing for the biggest festival in decades, and also that everyone who ever wanted to attack anyone is waiting for that time to do all their "plans".
Nahri petitions her father-in-law Ghassan, to bankroll a rebuild of the hospital her people once used, and to be able to treat the half-blood Shafit there as well as anybody else. She and Ali are working to try and patch up relations within the city, but their idealism can only get people so far..
Civil unrest is at an all time high, and meanwhile, plotting in the background Manizheh has her own plans, and central to them is re-re-resurrecting Darayavahoush. Again. Poor b*stard. We get to find a bit more about the history and magic of the land, the nature of Ifrits and the Marid.
Oooh this gets messy. I'm not a super fan of battles, but I do like big reveals. It's tense and frustrating when you have enough information to cobble together what's going on, but the characters haven't been told yet. Why do revolutions have to be so messy!!? That poor library. That tower... hey people were using that! I might ned a bit of a break before I delve into future volumes.
This book finally sees people talking about what happens when the heir to the kingdom, Muntadhir, falls in love with a man art arms. Dammit why can't you all just let them be happy! And wait, in the last book didn't we find out that Jamshid has even more secrets about his person that even he is probably unaware of...? I had to find out more, and I do wish it took less that 20 chapters to unfold! But there is so much to unfold in a place where you arrange marriages for political reasons, and when everyone is lying to each other - things get messy in a great bit hurry.
Meanwhile back in the small desert town of Bir Nabat, the exiled prince finally seems to have stopped getting regular visits from assassins. He's knuckled down in serious service to the community as an irrigator and well builder and is starting to bring prosperity to a place that was dwindling into the dust. Less said about magical water powers the better, but everyone close to him knows that he doesn't come up for air nearly enough to seem.. normal, and he's awfully good at falling asleep in random places and accidentally waking up having "found" a brand new spring.
And then one of his rich cousins turns up with a year's worth of taxes in cursed salt, that only someone with their bloodline can return to Daevabad, and if it doesn't get there then there might be military retribution so .. he's wrangled back to his home city, consequences be damned.
Seems that everyone is preparing for the biggest festival in decades, and also that everyone who ever wanted to attack anyone is waiting for that time to do all their "plans".
Nahri petitions her father-in-law Ghassan, to bankroll a rebuild of the hospital her people once used, and to be able to treat the half-blood Shafit there as well as anybody else. She and Ali are working to try and patch up relations within the city, but their idealism can only get people so far..
Civil unrest is at an all time high, and meanwhile, plotting in the background Manizheh has her own plans, and central to them is re-re-resurrecting Darayavahoush. Again. Poor b*stard. We get to find a bit more about the history and magic of the land, the nature of Ifrits and the Marid.
Oooh this gets messy. I'm not a super fan of battles, but I do like big reveals. It's tense and frustrating when you have enough information to cobble together what's going on, but the characters haven't been told yet. Why do revolutions have to be so messy!!? That poor library. That tower... hey people were using that! I might ned a bit of a break before I delve into future volumes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
rinku's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I’m gonna be honest: If I didn’t spend 15 € on The Kingdom of Copper, I wouldn’t have finished it. I just didn’t care about anything happening or any of the characters because many of their motivations were so unclear, and the main plot progressed just too slow for my taste.
One big problem I had with the novel is that it was too long, it could’ve been easily 100 or even 200 pages shorter. One of the reasons the book dragged a lot was the five-year time skip. After the disappointment that Locklands was, I’m really sceptical when it comes to long time-skips, and here, it wasn’t well executed. We spend the first hundred pages only with explaining what has happened in this time and how certain relationships have developed which was so boring. Nahri had to marry Muntadhir, the other prince of king Ghassan, and lives now at the court of Daevabad. Ali lives in a random village and now can control some kind of water magic, and Dara is just there and planning something. Even though there’s so much time spent with explaining and characters talking to each other and nothing more, I still didn’t get all the alliances, the different cultures and the reasons for their grievances.
Most of the time, I was just waiting for anything to happen because for at least half of the book, nothing that is happening has any relevance for the overarching plot, and I’m still not sure what this overarching plot is. The focus is on some hospital that should be rebuilt but I don’t know why I should care about this at all, it was just boring. Besides this, there’s barely any action and even less magic which was unfortunate as well. But we know something will happen at one point because in Dara’s POV, he’s planning a war with some people. It took me again such a long time to understand who’s he in an alliance with and what they have against their enemy. The problem I see with his POV is that it takes some of the tension away since we already know what will happen and what the plans of the bad guys(?) are. If we didn’t, the things happening would’ve been way more shocking.
Only like the last hundred pages were quite good and dramatic and the reason that I didn’t give this The Kingdom of Copper only one star. Even though there were some moments I still didn’t understand, like where the random rebellion against the king came from or why Nahri was arrested, even though she obviously hadn’t to do with it , or some that were predictable, like Nahri’s mentor dying , it was still interesting. The was so creepy and a true threat and I loved to see how Muntadhir, Zaynab and Nahri worked together towards the end; it would’ve been so great if they did so earlier .
Like I’ve said above, the biggest problem I had with the characters were that many of their motivations were not clear which led to me just being irritated because of their behaviour. For example, I thought that Ghassan would hate Ali and wanted him to die when he exiled him, but he’s so worried about him here which confused me so much. This should probably show that he’s a grey character, but this didn’t convince me. Another character I couldn’t understand at all was Nahri herself. Her extreme stubbornness annoyed me so much, just like her resentfulness towards Ali which I couldn’t understand at all – she seemingly forgot that Dara killed him as well. Talking about Dara, I don’t like him at all, and he annoyed me with his self-pitying since I just don’t care for him. I even had problems understanding the motivations of some side characters, like Jamshid. The only characters I kinda liked were Muntadhir and Zaynab, but that’s it.
The Kingdom of Copper wasn’t even a disappointing read for me since I had no expectations for it, it was just boring and confusing. This is so sad, considering that Chakraborty has such a detailed world and obviously cares quite a lot for it. I already bought the third book – I probably didn’t if I’ve read The Kingdom of Copper before – and I’ll find out how the series will end, I suppose.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Death, Violence, Blood, and Hate crime
Moderate: War, Child death, Torture, Genocide, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Infidelity
Minor: Misogyny and Sexual harassment
brynalexa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was consistently shocked through the entire book. The story never goes where you’re expecting it to. Somehow a cast of treacherous characters making terrible decisions works. Brilliant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Racism, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Stalking, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Medical content, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Suicide, War, Miscarriage, Slavery, and Torture
laurenkimoto's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Torture, Xenophobia, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexism, Slavery, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
ok7a's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Infidelity, Child death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Self harm
googlegirl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Murder, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, Alcoholism, and Misogyny
lorie336's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A whole different vibe from the first book, this was depressing, political, gray characters, but we learn more about our three main perspectives. There is still adventure especially the last 100 pages, the author knows how to write an epic fantasy world.
I loved learning what happened to our characters and we are thrust 5 years into the future where Nahri discovers more about her past yet she is trapped in the royal walls while Prince Ali was exiled and no longer wishes to return to Daevabad, but something or someone may force him. Again this was unputdownable and again this author creates relatable characters, issues that matter, politics, and a beautiful landscape. I am looking forward to reading the third installment of this trilogy.
I loved learning what happened to our characters and we are thrust 5 years into the future where Nahri discovers more about her past yet she is trapped in the royal walls while Prince Ali was exiled and no longer wishes to return to Daevabad, but something or someone may force him. Again this was unputdownable and again this author creates relatable characters, issues that matter, politics, and a beautiful landscape. I am looking forward to reading the third installment of this trilogy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
n_asyikin_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The City of Brass was one of the best fantasy I've read, & The Kingdom of Copper cemented my view on this absorbing trilogy! In the sequel, the tense political games continued as both Nahri & Ali dealt with the increasing tyranny of Daevabad's ruler Ghassan. The matter was made more complicated as trust was lost between friends, siblings & family while lives were put on the edge.
With evocative & sensuous world-building, the story drew you in as a reader with detailed descriptions so vivid that you could almost feel them with the tips of your fingers. The action scenes were as thrilling as they were cinematic; some highlights includeNahri summoning a sandstorm to put out the fire when the Daevas were under attack during the Navasatem procession, & Ali controlling the water from the lake & atmosphere to help defeat unexpected enemies when Daevabad was under attack.
Aside from its captivating settings, you'd be just as invested in the emotional roller coaster the characters will put you through. Often limited by their perspectives, the issues rooted in prejudices would likely leave you cursing them for the lack of insights & humanity. But, it made the confrontation by those from the community made marginalised in this world, like Dr Subha's & Aqisa's unforgiving criticisms , some of the most satisfying I've read. The tyranny of Ghassan was matched by the coldness of Manizheh; where the former had an immediate impact to the storyline, the latter acted as an external source of danger that foreshadowed doom.
You'd also ache from the destruction & reconstruction of trust in familial, platonic & romantic relationships. You'd come to sympathise with them in one part, vilify them in the next. Mostly, you'd hope that they could look beyond their insecurities (caused not by each other, but common enemies) & be a better person. Because you've fallen for them & don't want (begged!) to come to hate their moral failings. Basically, Chakraborty brilliantly led the readers to fester on frustration & fear, heartaches for yearning, before moving you with acts of devotion & love. I think Ali's relationship with Muntadhir exemplified this perfectly. (Despite their complicated relationship, the Qahtani siblings are my favourite!)
I don't think I have sufficient words to rave over this book & series. Chakraborty's writing was effectively visceral to me that despite months after I read the 1st book, I still remember it clearly; I suspect Kingdom of Copper will be no different. I'm excited (& also fear) to read the final book of the trilogy!
If you're interested in incredible world-building with fascinating magical creatures rooted in North African & Asian myths set against political intrigue & intimate connections, the Daevabad series will give you the adventure you need!
With evocative & sensuous world-building, the story drew you in as a reader with detailed descriptions so vivid that you could almost feel them with the tips of your fingers. The action scenes were as thrilling as they were cinematic; some highlights include
Aside from its captivating settings, you'd be just as invested in the emotional roller coaster the characters will put you through. Often limited by their perspectives, the issues rooted in prejudices would likely leave you cursing them for the lack of insights & humanity. But, it made the confrontation by those from the community made marginalised in this world,
You'd also ache from the destruction & reconstruction of trust in familial, platonic & romantic relationships. You'd come to sympathise with them in one part, vilify them in the next. Mostly, you'd hope that they could look beyond their insecurities (caused not by each other, but common enemies) & be a better person. Because you've fallen for them & don't want (begged!) to come to hate their moral failings. Basically, Chakraborty brilliantly led the readers to fester on frustration & fear, heartaches for yearning, before moving you with acts of devotion & love. I think Ali's relationship with Muntadhir exemplified this perfectly. (Despite their complicated relationship, the Qahtani siblings are my favourite!)
I don't think I have sufficient words to rave over this book & series. Chakraborty's writing was effectively visceral to me that despite months after I read the 1st book, I still remember it clearly; I suspect Kingdom of Copper will be no different. I'm excited (& also fear) to read the final book of the trilogy!
If you're interested in incredible world-building with fascinating magical creatures rooted in North African & Asian myths set against political intrigue & intimate connections, the Daevabad series will give you the adventure you need!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Xenophobia
Moderate: Misogyny and Blood
Minor: Homophobia