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kindra_demi's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I'm so sad this book didn't live up to the hype I've seen about it. Maybe it's part of the journey, but it felt like this book was 400 pages of exposition and world building, and the story actually began in the last 100ish pages. The TL;DR of my review basically is the complaints stem from this. The fact that not much really happened for so many pages set up so many characters/aspects to not really grow or be developed more.
I get that the characters have 3 books to grow in, but I do wish we saw a bit of growth and change. Yes you see characters who initially weren't going to help because of their beliefs start to help, but their "help" is outweighed with how stubborn/closed off they were still being in other areas. I recognize that Nahri is thrown into a new world and so there is going to be shock and resistance from her, but we barely get a taste of her taking her new life into her own hands (truly and genuinely. Not in a way where she is just trying to figure out the basics of her new life) in the last few chapters.
What had me most excited was that it was a book for those who love politics, and while yes it does have some politics, because of how it was written and the overall progression of the storyline, you just kept getting told the same things over and over again. Most of this book is setting up alliance and rivalries, the background to a couple of those alliances and rivalries, but it's those last 100-150 pages where we see action and the effects of those alliances and rivalries. I will also give that if I wasn't super into political stories, it would get confusing to follow the political world building.
I really hope that the next books are better because I was initially so excited for the trilogy, but this first book isn't meeting what I hoped for it.
I get that the characters have 3 books to grow in, but I do wish we saw a bit of growth and change. Yes you see characters who initially weren't going to help because of their beliefs start to help, but their "help" is outweighed with how stubborn/closed off they were still being in other areas. I recognize that Nahri is thrown into a new world and so there is going to be shock and resistance from her, but we barely get a taste of her taking her new life into her own hands (truly and genuinely. Not in a way where she is just trying to figure out the basics of her new life) in the last few chapters.
What had me most excited was that it was a book for those who love politics, and while yes it does have some politics, because of how it was written and the overall progression of the storyline, you just kept getting told the same things over and over again. Most of this book is setting up alliance and rivalries, the background to a couple of those alliances and rivalries, but it's those last 100-150 pages where we see action and the effects of those alliances and rivalries. I will also give that if I wasn't super into political stories, it would get confusing to follow the political world building.
I really hope that the next books are better because I was initially so excited for the trilogy, but this first book isn't meeting what I hoped for it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Slavery, Gore, Death, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol and Rape
teri_b's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have always been interested into stories that feature djinns and take place in sandy environments.
Now finally, I made it to this trilogy.
Loved to go to Daevabad and discover the many layers of the city and its inhabitants.
Was at the beginning rather lost with all the specific names and concepts that were thrown at me. After a while the story took over and it became a read that just wanted to be finished.
Now, I am curious to see how the story continues.
Now finally, I made it to this trilogy.
Loved to go to Daevabad and discover the many layers of the city and its inhabitants.
Was at the beginning rather lost with all the specific names and concepts that were thrown at me. After a while the story took over and it became a read that just wanted to be finished.
Now, I am curious to see how the story continues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Racism
Moderate: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Torture, Violence, and War
beccadamb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Slavery, and Torture
thereadingshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Trafficking, Violence, and War
Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Sexual assault
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
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
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
THE CITY OF BRASS is a fantasy balanced on a knife's edge, with a prince and a con artist working at occasionally-aligning purposes in a city filled with djinn and Daeva, with the partially human underclass just trying to survive.
This generally avoids infodumps by making sure that, when exposition is necessary, it comes in the form of telling someone information that’s truly new to them. Sometimes that’s a briefing for an unfamiliar situation, other times it’s a story around the fire. A lot of these explanations happen early on, and it seemed like a bit much at first (there are a lot of tribes, for one), but the main narrative only demands consistent recognition of three or four tribal names so it wasn't overwhelming once the story got going. The two main characters have very different lives and knowledge bases, and that works together to give the reader a fuller picture of the world and the secondary characters.
I love the political wrangling and intrigue. Ali is pretty blunt, surrounded by much more subtle players with complicated aims, and there are a few places where people use insider terms to tell him what’s going on but he doesn’t realize that a double meaning is involved. Later when Mahri becomes immersed in it she's a much savvier player with the information she does have, and I'm looking forward to how she handles things as the the trilogy progresses. I love heists and thieves, so having Mahri the con artist as a protagonist is a treat. She's self confident but wary of the situation, and that blend of prowess and uncertainty is truly delightful. There's something great about taking a person highly skilled in one arena and dropping them into a wholly different one that brings out their known and unknown strengths in intriguing ways. Dara isn't a point of view character, and I think that's because he knows too much to be a good narrator. The story is so much richer for his presence, but he's stingy with information, doling it out only when he thinks Mara needs to know something, which is often well after he's acted on the knowledge. This leaves her to pick up the pieces each time, in turns fond of and exasperated by him as he drifts in and out of the scene.
The ending is rather shocking, managing grief and triumph as Mahri and Ali have to deal with sudden changes in the last chapters. It's not a twist of plot as much of the inevitability of consequence, as things that had been a little bit wrong for a while suddenly get out of control. I'm excited for the next one, I need to know what happens now.
This generally avoids infodumps by making sure that, when exposition is necessary, it comes in the form of telling someone information that’s truly new to them. Sometimes that’s a briefing for an unfamiliar situation, other times it’s a story around the fire. A lot of these explanations happen early on, and it seemed like a bit much at first (there are a lot of tribes, for one), but the main narrative only demands consistent recognition of three or four tribal names so it wasn't overwhelming once the story got going. The two main characters have very different lives and knowledge bases, and that works together to give the reader a fuller picture of the world and the secondary characters.
I love the political wrangling and intrigue. Ali is pretty blunt, surrounded by much more subtle players with complicated aims, and there are a few places where people use insider terms to tell him what’s going on but he doesn’t realize that a double meaning is involved. Later when Mahri becomes immersed in it she's a much savvier player with the information she does have, and I'm looking forward to how she handles things as the the trilogy progresses. I love heists and thieves, so having Mahri the con artist as a protagonist is a treat. She's self confident but wary of the situation, and that blend of prowess and uncertainty is truly delightful. There's something great about taking a person highly skilled in one arena and dropping them into a wholly different one that brings out their known and unknown strengths in intriguing ways. Dara isn't a point of view character, and I think that's because he knows too much to be a good narrator. The story is so much richer for his presence, but he's stingy with information, doling it out only when he thinks Mara needs to know something, which is often well after he's acted on the knowledge. This leaves her to pick up the pieces each time, in turns fond of and exasperated by him as he drifts in and out of the scene.
The ending is rather shocking, managing grief and triumph as Mahri and Ali have to deal with sudden changes in the last chapters. It's not a twist of plot as much of the inevitability of consequence, as things that had been a little bit wrong for a while suddenly get out of control. I'm excited for the next one, I need to know what happens now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Torture, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Xenophobia, Racism, Colonisation, Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Death of parent
Minor: Antisemitism, Excrement, and Rape
CW for major character death (graphic).jackiepreston's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Moderate: Rape and Violence
wordrevel's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Trafficking, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Murder, Slavery, and Racial slurs
Minor: Rape and War
chattycali's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-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
4.75
One of my favorite books in a long time. The main characters development is just omg the best thing ever. The ending will make you buy the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Torture, and Xenophobia