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_rowantree_'s review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I absolutely loved the first book in this series - I found the characters nuanced and engaging and the world refreshing. I still enjoyed the world in this third instalment but everything else is becoming a cliche love triangle romance series. I’m still holding out that the next two books might realise the initial potential but I’m no longer expecting it to.
My main annoyance with this book was what has happened with the characters.
Kamran is the worst example of this. He felt conflicted and surprisingly relatable in the first book but now he feels annoying and shallow. He seems minimally impacted by most of the events and revelations at the end of the first book, which are only a few days ago at the start of this book. I feel like the book is pretending he never cared about Alizeh and trying too hard to set him up with Huda, rather than giving their romantic interaction a convincing ending.
Regarding Huda, I also liked her in the first book but I feel like she now exists only to deliver exposition and antagonise Kamran.
I do still like Alizeh but I worry she is becoming the romantasy heroine who is too powerful and everyone is in love with.
Cyrus is the character I feel most uncomfortable about. The series is setting him up as the mysterious romantic hero, without ever really addressing the fact that he violently kidnapped the main character. We’re supposed to find it romantic that he dreams of her and thinks about her so much, but he doesn’t actually know her. Their relationship feels closer to stalking than romance. The story tries to get around it with some sort of unexplained magical attraction but simultaneously pretends she didn’t previously have that sort of magical attraction to someone else.
I had expected more from this book than unconvincingly delivered genre cliches.
My main annoyance with this book was what has happened with the characters.
Kamran is the worst example of this. He felt conflicted and surprisingly relatable in the first book but now he feels annoying and shallow. He seems minimally impacted by most of the events and revelations at the end of the first book, which are only a few days ago at the start of this book. I feel like the book is pretending he never cared about Alizeh and trying too hard to set him up with Huda, rather than giving their romantic interaction a convincing ending.
Regarding Huda, I also liked her in the first book but I feel like she now exists only to deliver exposition and antagonise Kamran.
I do still like Alizeh but I worry she is becoming the romantasy heroine who is too powerful and everyone is in love with.
Cyrus is the character I feel most uncomfortable about. The series is setting him up as the mysterious romantic hero, without ever really addressing the fact that he violently kidnapped the main character. We’re supposed to find it romantic that he dreams of her and thinks about her so much, but he doesn’t actually know her. Their relationship feels closer to stalking than romance. The story tries to get around it with some sort of unexplained magical attraction but simultaneously pretends she didn’t previously have that sort of magical attraction to someone else.
I had expected more from this book than unconvincingly delivered genre cliches.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual harassment
readingelli's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
manaledi's review against another edition
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
3.75
I think this was my favorite of the books so far. I have a soft spot for tragically misunderstood MMCs and the band of misfits is quite entertaining. I do feel like alizeh is too perfect sometimes but what's a fantasy world without a Cinderella princess. Other nitpick is just how much plot resolves around misunderstanding and miscommunication and bad assumptions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexual content
destdest's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Yes, wade through the rivers of purple prose with me. Two books in and nary a liberation to be found. The men here are all in-universe handsome and mystified by Alizeh. We’ve got a tortured sad boy who originally wanted to be a magical nun vs conceited narcissist who thinks everyone is beneath him. Alizeh is still unremarkable. She is kindhearted but not much else.
People are always on the brink of death here but never actually dead. Cyrus is strung out akin to a drug addict for Alizeh. If she bats her eyes at him, he loses 75% of control over his entire body. Her putting a hand on his chest had him seconds from exploding.
BUT this book series is entertaining, so who are me to judge? I did rate this lowly due to the sheer repetitiveness of dialogue and character monologue. So much of this filler could’ve and should’ve been cut.
Also,you just know a woman is writing this lol. In Cyrus' deepest desires/wet dreams, he fantasizes about eating Alizeh's kitty poetically so.
2 stars
People are always on the brink of death here but never actually dead. Cyrus is strung out akin to a drug addict for Alizeh. If she bats her eyes at him, he loses 75% of control over his entire body. Her putting a hand on his chest had him seconds from exploding.
BUT this book series is entertaining, so who are me to judge? I did rate this lowly due to the sheer repetitiveness of dialogue and character monologue. So much of this filler could’ve and should’ve been cut.
Also,
2 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Torture, and Gore
Minor: Xenophobia
kassidyreads's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Blood, and Sexual content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death of parent
pizzamyheart's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
Awwww Cyrus. 💔
I thought this was a trilogy and was concerned with the pacing. Turns out there's more! Which is good because I need more but also ugh! Because I want the rest and now have to wait until who knows when.
Also, Kamran can go jump off a cliff. Ugh.
I thought this was a trilogy and was concerned with the pacing. Turns out there's more! Which is good because I need more but also ugh! Because I want the rest and now have to wait until who knows when.
Also, Kamran can go jump off a cliff. Ugh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Sexual content
leahegood's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.0
3 stars for story telling.
2 stars for personal preferences on language and romantic content.
1 star for the level of "romantic" content in a book marked, on Amazon, for readers ages 13-17.
Summary
Nothing is as it seems. Alizeh is increasingly suspicous that Cyrus, the young king of Tulan, is not as wicked as he allows people to believe. The potential that a kind heart hides behind his terse exterior only makes her path forward more difficult. Whatever the truth is about Cyrus, his offer to give her his kingdom--and his life--in exchange for her hand in marriage, is her best option to serve her people well. Her people must come before all else.
Matters are further complicated when Prince Kamran storms into Tulan. Kamran is bent on revenge, wants to marry Alizeh, and is completely blind to his perpetual attitude of entitled arrogance. With Kamran comes a gaggle of unlikely allies.
My Thoughts
I'm rather annoyed at this book. The writing style is good. The storytelling is good. There are even really good themes about self-control, sacrifice, and not allowing discomfort to prevent you from fully engaging in life.
The characters are also, in my opinion, compelling. Alizeh is a bit of a Mary Sue, but I still like her. The chemistry between her and the triangulated male leads is even good for what it is. But this book, more than the previous two, is filled with moments where it feels like the story hits pause in order for some steamy, lust-driven attraction, before once again resuming ... including an open-door bedroom dream scene which, though not fully explicit, was much too far for a book targeted at 13-17 year olds in my opinion. I think the story would be better marked as New Adult instead of Young Adult. The hyper-focus on the "romance" also slowed the story down by repeating elements of attraction we've already been hit over the head with repeatedly.
Content
Romance: See my mini rant above. Chemistry is good, but interrupted by lust-driven attraction that often did not, in my opinion, even seem to fit the character development. Also one open-door bedroom scene.
Language: Infrequent but consistent swearing, including a few f-bombs.
Violence: Characters are injured, though descriptions are not overly graphic. Cyrus is tortured by the devil.
Religion: The devil is an infrequent character that strongly impacts the storyline and is portrayed in negative light. The diviners seem to be the positive mirror to the devil.
2 stars for personal preferences on language and romantic content.
1 star for the level of "romantic" content in a book marked, on Amazon, for readers ages 13-17.
Summary
Nothing is as it seems. Alizeh is increasingly suspicous that Cyrus, the young king of Tulan, is not as wicked as he allows people to believe. The potential that a kind heart hides behind his terse exterior only makes her path forward more difficult. Whatever the truth is about Cyrus, his offer to give her his kingdom--and his life--in exchange for her hand in marriage, is her best option to serve her people well. Her people must come before all else.
Matters are further complicated when Prince Kamran storms into Tulan. Kamran is bent on revenge, wants to marry Alizeh, and is completely blind to his perpetual attitude of entitled arrogance. With Kamran comes a gaggle of unlikely allies.
My Thoughts
I'm rather annoyed at this book. The writing style is good. The storytelling is good. There are even really good themes about self-control, sacrifice, and not allowing discomfort to prevent you from fully engaging in life.
The characters are also, in my opinion, compelling. Alizeh is a bit of a Mary Sue, but I still like her. The chemistry between her and the triangulated male leads is even good for what it is. But this book, more than the previous two, is filled with moments where it feels like the story hits pause in order for some steamy, lust-driven attraction, before once again resuming ... including an open-door bedroom dream scene which, though not fully explicit, was much too far for a book targeted at 13-17 year olds in my opinion. I think the story would be better marked as New Adult instead of Young Adult. The hyper-focus on the "romance" also slowed the story down by repeating elements of attraction we've already been hit over the head with repeatedly.
Content
Romance: See my mini rant above. Chemistry is good, but interrupted by lust-driven attraction that often did not, in my opinion, even seem to fit the character development. Also one open-door bedroom scene.
Language: Infrequent but consistent swearing, including a few f-bombs.
Violence: Characters are injured, though descriptions are not overly graphic. Cyrus is tortured by the devil.
Religion: The devil is an infrequent character that strongly impacts the storyline and is portrayed in negative light. The diviners seem to be the positive mirror to the devil.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Torture
cannoli1116's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
Honestly? I am *SICK* after what Tahereh Mafi did to me with this book! 🥵🤭😫
Cyrus is such a daddy & Tahereh continues to mother me by making me an absolute sucker for Cyrus’ angst & pining?!?! Alizeh is really torn between her feelings for Cyrus & what she feels she needs to do for her people as the Djinn queen. However, I am here for her just giving into those desires honey bun!
Anyway, this review sucks & has zero substance but that’s because all I can think about is how much of a slut Cyrus is for Alizeh & much like him, I can’t focus on anything else! It’s taken up so much real estate in my mind! THAT DREAM SEQUENCE?! SHOOK ME TO MY CORE!
Anyway, I cannot believe Tahereh did this to *me* (because everything is about me, duh) & that I now have to wait for book four 🫠
Honestly? I am *SICK* after what Tahereh Mafi did to me with this book! 🥵🤭😫
Cyrus is such a daddy & Tahereh continues to mother me by making me an absolute sucker for Cyrus’ angst & pining?!?! Alizeh is really torn between her feelings for Cyrus & what she feels she needs to do for her people as the Djinn queen. However, I am here for her just giving into those desires honey bun!
Anyway, this review sucks & has zero substance but that’s because all I can think about is how much of a slut Cyrus is for Alizeh & much like him, I can’t focus on anything else! It’s taken up so much real estate in my mind! THAT DREAM SEQUENCE?! SHOOK ME TO MY CORE!
Anyway, I cannot believe Tahereh did this to *me* (because everything is about me, duh) & that I now have to wait for book four 🫠
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: War
katievallin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The writing in this series is BEAUTIFUL. Moderate sexual content, though, which I think is inappropriate for YA, but it wasn’t graphic. Alizeh didn’t get a lot of POV time, which was disappointing. Kamran needs to go away, please. I liked finding out more about Cyrus and getting his POV.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Body shaming, and Sexual content
Minor: Body horror, Grief, and Cursing