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emilyplun's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
(warning for very general spoilers, nothing specific)
I loved the world/setting, but the book overall left me frustrated. The whole story is full of "mysteries," but half of those are the main character just not knowing the basic workings of the magical world or its society, or an event in magical history that every other character is aware of. There are a lot of "who's behind this event?" mysteries too, but it's hard to get into that when the reader is only given a tiny trickle of info about how anything works. The ending was frustrating-- many mysteries weren't solved (which is fine) but a few that were solved weren't satisfying, and then more questions were introduced. I felt like I was drowning in things I didn't understand. As a reader, I wanted to know at least the basic facts that are relevant to a situation (like how x magic works, what happened during x event that everyone keeps referring to), even if the main character doesn't know.
This is really unfortunate since I love the world-building and the basic plotline. I might have to read the plot somewhere and intentionally spoil myself so I can read the sequels.
I loved the world/setting, but the book overall left me frustrated. The whole story is full of "mysteries," but half of those are the main character just not knowing the basic workings of the magical world or its society, or an event in magical history that every other character is aware of. There are a lot of "who's behind this event?" mysteries too, but it's hard to get into that when the reader is only given a tiny trickle of info about how anything works. The ending was frustrating-- many mysteries weren't solved (which is fine) but a few that were solved weren't satisfying, and then more questions were introduced. I felt like I was drowning in things I didn't understand. As a reader, I wanted to know at least the basic facts that are relevant to a situation (like how x magic works, what happened during x event that everyone keeps referring to), even if the main character doesn't know.
This is really unfortunate since I love the world-building and the basic plotline. I might have to read the plot somewhere and intentionally spoil myself so I can read the sequels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Hate crime, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Trafficking
Minor: Rape and War
emma985's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Religious bigotry
Moderate: War and Slavery
Minor: Rape
cameronreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
Y'all this book! I haven't read a book with such a complex cast and plot in a while. The characters were so immensely developed; each with their own complex backstory and motivations, all of which were thoroughly believable. The worldbuilding was amazingly done, and the politics and history was rich without being too complicated or hard to read. I loved the writing and the plot, and was completely gripped from the moment I read the first sentence to the epilogue. It was incredibly unique, unpredictable, and exciting. I did have a slight issue with the ancient immortal x young woman trope, as well as the mild queerbaiting (which I hope will be confirmed in the sequel), but otherwise I adored this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Torture, and War
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, and Slavery
dracorum's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Slavery
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Rape
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
The City of Brass is a refreshing YA fantasy story. This is one of those series that has garnered so much hype over the last few years, and it is well-deserved. There are still a lot of familiar (and tired) tropes, but the world is different and the magic excellent… and I really enjoyed the way Chakraborty slowly peeled back bits and pieces of the land’s history.
Nahri is an interesting protagonist. She has some snark and big dreams and is surviving by her wits alone – fairly common in a YA fantasy heroine. She’s likable enough, but I think that The City of Brass benefits from being multiple POV.. I think on their own, both Nahri and Ali would have gotten tiresome, especially in such a long books. Ali is pretentious but kind. He has spent most of his life training to guard his brother, who will someday be the king of Daevabad. Nahri has lived on the streets in the human world most her life until she accidentally raises Dara. The two together compliment each other well – one with a well of understanding about the world and one who is slowly learning it.
As is to be expected in YA fantasy, there is a love triangle. I found it fairly inconsequential and annoying – it neither added to the story nor took away from it too much, although that may change as the trilogy goes on. If you don’t particularly care for the romance, it’s easy enough to ignore up until near the end where it becomes pretty important for a few scenes. The action took a long time coming, but I really liked the way Chakraborty developed Nahri’s magic. Unlike most characters in her position, Nahri struggles to pick up the art and makes major mistakes. It’s refreshing to see a Chosen One style character treated in that way – not everything came to her perfectly.
It’s the world of The City of Brassi that captured me most as a reader. This novel uses Arab mythology and tradition to build a world that starts in Cairo, Egypt and expands to a djinn city. Chakraborty explores legends around the djinn in a new, refreshing light while weaving in modern issues. There were a lot of things introduced in this novel that I’m hoping will be expanded upon and revisited as the story goes one.
If you have been sitting on The City of Brass, I highly recommend giving it a read. The world is interesting and alluring. Even though thesis of the book may be off-putting, the story itself captures the imagination and it’s easy to get invested.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Genocide, Racism, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Racial slurs
achingallover's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Genocide, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Violence
moooooshell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Murder, Racism, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Sexism
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
3.0
This book was recommended on booktok, and I love stories incorporating mythologies from different cultures, so I decided to give it a shot...but honestly it fell a bit short for me. The premise was interesting and I enjoyed the beginning, but the middle and end of the story lost me a bit. There were a lot of characters and families and backstories that I had trouble keeping track of (though I know that’s partly because I was listening to the audiobook rather than reading it). For the most part, I liked Nahri and Ali as characters, but the prejudices and feuds between all the different groups became frustrating and tiring to read. Booktok recommended this as having enemies-to-lovers trope, but I’m still honestly not sure which couple it’s supposed to be (I’m hoping for Nahri/Ali because I didn’t like the other guy). I assume it’s developed more in the other books in this series. The book held my attention just enough for me to get through this book, but I don’t know if I’ll finish the rest of the series.
Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe):This is only the first book I’m the trilogy, so of course the ending isn’t a neat wrap-up, and it’s definitely not happy.
Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe):
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Genocide, and Death
Minor: Cursing and Rape
tahsintries's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Chronic illness
totallyshelfaware's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Religious bigotry, Grief, and Genocide
Moderate: Gore, Child death, and Torture
Minor: Rape