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toggle_fow's review against another edition
3.0
This was an ending in line with the rest of the series, which is to say, mostly unremarkable.
I liked the first installment for its unique mix of old western themes and djinni magic, but from there the books just got longer and more dull. A big problem is that Amani herself doesn't inspire much interest in me, and there doesn't seem to be much to her other than thoughtless brashness and overusing the word "desert" as an adjective. Her romance with Jin is similarly tedious, and the fun dynamic their group of rebels should have just never seems to really vibe.
There are a few points of passing note. Things like Amani constantly frustrating the evil djinni by using his gifts in wrong ways. And her finally getting to talk to her father, if briefly. But there's just way too much of the rest to really have fun with this book.
I liked the first installment for its unique mix of old western themes and djinni magic, but from there the books just got longer and more dull. A big problem is that Amani herself doesn't inspire much interest in me, and there doesn't seem to be much to her other than thoughtless brashness and overusing the word "desert" as an adjective. Her romance with Jin is similarly tedious, and the fun dynamic their group of rebels should have just never seems to really vibe.
There are a few points of passing note. Things like Amani constantly frustrating the evil djinni by using his gifts in wrong ways. And her finally getting to talk to her father, if briefly. But there's just way too much of the rest to really have fun with this book.
darcey_orchid's review against another edition
4.0
A fun and interesting series that I enjoy rereading from time to time. I read it a while ago but I realised I never marked it as ‘read’ so I’ll do it now. However, I don’t think I should write a review because I haven’t read it recently. Though I’ll probably reread soon :)
Also this review will be the same for the other 2 books in the series because I’m lazy XD
Also this review will be the same for the other 2 books in the series because I’m lazy XD
l4uraaa's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
4.75
“belief was a funny thing, foreign to logic”
“God above, you’re beautiful,’ he breathed.
‘You don’t believe in God,’ I reminded him, my voice low.
‘Right now, I think I just might.”
“Once there was a boy from the sea who fell in love with a girl from the desert”
““This sounds like a terrible idea, given how many sins I have.’
‘We should get going then,’ Jin said, clapping Sam on the back jovially. ‘You can count them on the way.”
In the desert, the boy would never be nameless again”
“The stories might tell that we loved each other. But the stories would never remember what that felt like. They would never know that when we lay together in his tent the night before we died, he traced the small scar along my collarbone. That when he kissed me, he smiled against my mouth. Or what it sounded like when he said my name. We contained our own stories. A thousand tiny parts of the story would die with us”
“He didn’t believe in heavens or hells or worlds after. Just in this world. Just in now”
“And I think that the dust that was me will spend until the end of time trying to get as close as possible to the dust that was you out in that vast desert.”
“long after our deaths, men and women sitting around a fire would hear that once, long ago, before we were all just stories, we lived”
😭😭😭😭
hbusarah's review against another edition
5.0
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS OFFICIALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE SERIES OF ALL TIME!!!! this book was everything i wanted and it had me on the verge of tears multiple times (which is super rare for me). i already want to reread it so i can annotate it with all my favorite parts.
n30wn3ko's review against another edition
4.0
This book is just so amazing. And the love between the characters especially *Amani and Jin* is so adorable. The whole series is amazing. I’m in love with the desert and world that the author build. It’s spectacular to read and learn to adore the desert. The book makes me wanna go to the desert and see the beauty of it with my own eyes. I read the so book fast that it only took me 2 days and I read past midnight because I was so attached to book.
keerbatchu's review against another edition
5.0
It has been a long time since I took the time out of my life to finish a book in a single day. I finished Traitor to the Throne the day before and I just had to know how the series ended. I have seen so many first person female characters destroyed in the third book (Katniss, Tris etc.) and I was so worried that this would happen to Amani.
Alwyn Hamilton has managed to create a world of fire and magic, drawing you in with every word. The way she writes reminds me of the old storytellers of Persia weaving a tapestry out of fire and smoke, watching the sparks dance in the eyes of the listeners, enthralling us at every turn. It works extremely well, and her play with the 'legend says...' interludes is the best part of the book. It gives the readers a chance to question the truth, only to have it confirmed by Amani.
Not only is the world building extensively amazing, rivalling Leigh Bardugo's construction of her Grisha filled world, Hamilton's characters are flawed and human through and through, making you root for even characters you wouldn't have known long. In Six of Crows, the mythology of the Grisha was enough to draw the readers in, and the characters kept us (even though it still had that grim, black humour filled 3rd person narrative style that I'm not sure I like). Rebel of the Sands made the amazing choice of having a protagonist who cannot lie, which meant that we believed Amani every step of the way. We felt her ups, her downs, her doubts, her passions, her anger and her love. We saw her love for the foreign stranger, drinking in his words with her curiosity and giving all of herself to him. We saw her choose a sister at the edge of the world, choosing to save her instead. We saw the other Demdji's fears and struggles mirrored in her own eyes, and her reckless desire to keep everyone safe. Above all, we saw her grow into a leader willing to throw herself for a cause she believes in, for a Rebel Prince who can save her country.
The magic undercurrent in this series isn't just present in the Djinn powers running through Miraji, it is woven in the bonds between Amani and Jin, Delila, Ahmed, Rahim, Imin, Hala, Izz, Maz, Tamid and Sam. The consequences were never overplayed or downplayed, and the magic was never a deux ex machina swooping in to save the day. Traitor to the Throne was such an amazing sequel in that it set the Sultan up in Amani's (and our) minds as someone who may be right, and the palace politics as something that's not that bad, but then turns it around and solidifies our fear of the main villain. That's not something I have seen done in the second book of a trilogy in a LONG time.
Hero at the Fall was en emotional rollercoaster. I felt raw and hurt every time Amani faltered. I desperately wanted Ahmed and Shazad and Rahim to survive, they were such compelling and different characters. I felt the fire Amani and Jin had for each other, and the pang that came with wanting someone like Jin around. I felt the unbridled happiness of the twins, the easy jokes of Sam, the grief of loyalty of Hala and the quiet kindness of Imin. And every step of the way I felt Amani's thoughts, her confused wants and needs and her connection with the Man in the Mountain.
In all honesty, there were SO MANY different predictable outcomes I had envisioned in my head that it took all of me to not just skip ahead to have it confirmed, and I AM SO GLAD I WAITED AND READ. Except for the tent-scapade Amani and Jin had (still fanning myself btw), the book was filled with so many plot twists. This is a rare series that doesn't glorify war, doesn't glorify the ancient times and fills it with real crimes and consequences, subtly hinting when necessary and forcing us to bear the full force of it at other times.
I'm rambling at this point. I cannot believe we have come from a Blue-Eyed Bandit and the Foreign Stranger at the end of the world in a shooting contest to a full fledged Rebeliion. The ending was just perfect. Not too drawn out, just enough to keep our imaginations alive, and enough to soothe the pain of the previous few chapters.
All I know is that I'm glad the Foreign Prince who was cool as the sea set himself on fire and the Blue-Eyed Bandit who burnt like the sun drowned herself for him.
Alwyn Hamilton has managed to create a world of fire and magic, drawing you in with every word. The way she writes reminds me of the old storytellers of Persia weaving a tapestry out of fire and smoke, watching the sparks dance in the eyes of the listeners, enthralling us at every turn. It works extremely well, and her play with the 'legend says...' interludes is the best part of the book. It gives the readers a chance to question the truth, only to have it confirmed by Amani.
Not only is the world building extensively amazing, rivalling Leigh Bardugo's construction of her Grisha filled world, Hamilton's characters are flawed and human through and through, making you root for even characters you wouldn't have known long. In Six of Crows, the mythology of the Grisha was enough to draw the readers in, and the characters kept us (even though it still had that grim, black humour filled 3rd person narrative style that I'm not sure I like). Rebel of the Sands made the amazing choice of having a protagonist who cannot lie, which meant that we believed Amani every step of the way. We felt her ups, her downs, her doubts, her passions, her anger and her love. We saw her love for the foreign stranger, drinking in his words with her curiosity and giving all of herself to him. We saw her choose a sister at the edge of the world, choosing to save her instead. We saw the other Demdji's fears and struggles mirrored in her own eyes, and her reckless desire to keep everyone safe. Above all, we saw her grow into a leader willing to throw herself for a cause she believes in, for a Rebel Prince who can save her country.
The magic undercurrent in this series isn't just present in the Djinn powers running through Miraji, it is woven in the bonds between Amani and Jin, Delila, Ahmed, Rahim, Imin, Hala, Izz, Maz, Tamid and Sam. The consequences were never overplayed or downplayed, and the magic was never a deux ex machina swooping in to save the day. Traitor to the Throne was such an amazing sequel in that it set the Sultan up in Amani's (and our) minds as someone who may be right, and the palace politics as something that's not that bad, but then turns it around and solidifies our fear of the main villain. That's not something I have seen done in the second book of a trilogy in a LONG time.
Hero at the Fall was en emotional rollercoaster. I felt raw and hurt every time Amani faltered. I desperately wanted Ahmed and Shazad and Rahim to survive, they were such compelling and different characters. I felt the fire Amani and Jin had for each other, and the pang that came with wanting someone like Jin around. I felt the unbridled happiness of the twins, the easy jokes of Sam, the grief of loyalty of Hala and the quiet kindness of Imin. And every step of the way I felt Amani's thoughts, her confused wants and needs and her connection with the Man in the Mountain.
In all honesty, there were SO MANY different predictable outcomes I had envisioned in my head that it took all of me to not just skip ahead to have it confirmed, and I AM SO GLAD I WAITED AND READ. Except for the tent-scapade Amani and Jin had (still fanning myself btw), the book was filled with so many plot twists. This is a rare series that doesn't glorify war, doesn't glorify the ancient times and fills it with real crimes and consequences, subtly hinting when necessary and forcing us to bear the full force of it at other times.
I'm rambling at this point. I cannot believe we have come from a Blue-Eyed Bandit and the Foreign Stranger at the end of the world in a shooting contest to a full fledged Rebeliion. The ending was just perfect. Not too drawn out, just enough to keep our imaginations alive, and enough to soothe the pain of the previous few chapters.
All I know is that I'm glad the Foreign Prince who was cool as the sea set himself on fire and the Blue-Eyed Bandit who burnt like the sun drowned herself for him.
pantsreads's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
Wholly satisfying ending to a wonderful trilogy. (Maybe the best book of the three?) I'm going to miss the adventures and magic of this series quite a lot.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
Wholly satisfying ending to a wonderful trilogy. (Maybe the best book of the three?) I'm going to miss the adventures and magic of this series quite a lot.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
sheepishly_sarah's review against another edition
5.0
I can't remember if I've ever binged a series fresh. That is I hadn't read any books in the world before reading them all straight through. I've certainly reread books in preparation for the final book so I could refresh my memory but this was an entirely different experience. I loved just fully immersing myself in this amazing complex world and reading Amani's story straight through! In the second book, Traitor to the Throne, it's made clear that Hamilton has no problem killing main characters and destroying everyone's happiness. It's made clear very early on that this is no different in this book and I got teary-eyed while reading multiple scenes. I don't really want to talk too much about what happens in the books since it's the final installment but I was very satisfied with the ending. There's a new character I loved because they were so terrible and I was incredibly happy that we finally got to see where a certain Demji half-sibling ended up after they disappeared in book one.
linde99's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the series and I highly recommend the audio book