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marigold_faye's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia and Suicide attempt
Minor: Death of parent and Physical abuse
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Body shaming, Blood, and Sexism
Minor: War, Genocide, and Cultural appropriation
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Classism, Colonisation, and Gore
fremzz's review
adventurous
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
ummmmmm This was AMAZING????
Giggling, screaming, running laps, on the floor, sobbing, squeaking.
I need the sequel. Now.
Now I’m not going to rate more books 5 stars because how will they compare to this masterpiece?
Giggling, screaming, running laps, on the floor, sobbing, squeaking.
I need the sequel. Now.
Now I’m not going to rate more books 5 stars because how will they compare to this masterpiece?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Classism and Physical abuse
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Review can also be found at Snow White Hates Apples.
As someone who loves mythology and retellings, I was very excited for This Woven kingdom as it’s marketed as “Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people—bestselling author Tahereh Mafi’s first in an epic, romantic trilogy inspired by Persian mythology”. But, boy oh boy, the clashing empires and Persian mythology aspects? Misleading AF because the reality is that the empires aren’t clashing yet but they will start after 400+ pages. And, the Persian mythology part? Why, it’s only the presence of Iblees (also known as Iblis, a well-known supernatural entity found the Quran and a few other manuscripts) and jinn, and that’s it. Everything else in this book is a Cinderella story all over again.
And, I’m sorry, but it’s not even a good Cinderella story. Alizeh, our female protagonist is destined to be Queen, a jinn and hiding as a servant for her own safety. But, despite the hardships she has faced, Alizeh has little common sense and is poorly developed as a character. She runs her mouth the moment she feels a little comfortable (for which, she can be declared enemy of the empire because those comments are treacherous). She, as educated as she is and as much as she was raised to be the rightful Queen, doesn’t even know how to observe quietly before voicing out her opinions.
Kamran, on the other hand, is just as poorly developed, if not worse. He’s a ball of anger issues, misogyny, thinks he’s better and smarter than most, and loves to complain about the fine clothes he has to wear. Most of this, I can close an eye to because he’s the crown prince and allergic to the gold in his clothes, but the paragraphs detailing his anger and complaints concerning everything else is a chore to read.
Admittedly, I knew what I was going into when I saw the forbidden romance tag on this book so I wasn’t bothered by the insta-love, the typical romance plot and how Alizeh and Kamran couldn’t stop pining over each other. But, I’m also going to come out and say that all of the romance could’ve been better had the characters not been so flat. (Out of all the relationships here, I think that the best written one is the one between Kamran and his grandfather—and they aren’t exactly on the best of terms with each other too.)
Moreover, the narrative for This Woven Kingdom is so rich in purple prose that those moments of longing become ridiculous. In fact, the deeply rich purple prose eclipsed the plot, the characters and the romance. On one hand, I appreciated the strong imagery. On the other, I couldn’t lose myself in the typicality of forbidden romance because the purple prose was just very strong, much long-winded, so wow. I got so bored and basically skimmed all the dialogue-less paragraphs after the halfway mark.
Anyway, I did like that the action picked up in the final quarter of the book and that the betrayals and revelations were written well. I could do without the majority of the waffling but then again, it’s not like I didn’t just skip those parts while reading. Everything considered, This Woven Kingdom is an alright read. Nothing new or fresh, though as long as you don’t expect too much, it’s not bad. I look forward to the sequel and seeing what happens next after the cliffhanger here.
As someone who loves mythology and retellings, I was very excited for This Woven kingdom as it’s marketed as “Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people—bestselling author Tahereh Mafi’s first in an epic, romantic trilogy inspired by Persian mythology”. But, boy oh boy, the clashing empires and Persian mythology aspects? Misleading AF because the reality is that the empires aren’t clashing yet but they will start after 400+ pages. And, the Persian mythology part? Why, it’s only the presence of Iblees (also known as Iblis, a well-known supernatural entity found the Quran and a few other manuscripts) and jinn, and that’s it. Everything else in this book is a Cinderella story all over again.
And, I’m sorry, but it’s not even a good Cinderella story. Alizeh, our female protagonist is destined to be Queen, a jinn and hiding as a servant for her own safety. But, despite the hardships she has faced, Alizeh has little common sense and is poorly developed as a character. She runs her mouth the moment she feels a little comfortable (for which, she can be declared enemy of the empire because those comments are treacherous). She, as educated as she is and as much as she was raised to be the rightful Queen, doesn’t even know how to observe quietly before voicing out her opinions.
Kamran, on the other hand, is just as poorly developed, if not worse. He’s a ball of anger issues, misogyny, thinks he’s better and smarter than most, and loves to complain about the fine clothes he has to wear. Most of this, I can close an eye to because he’s the crown prince and allergic to the gold in his clothes, but the paragraphs detailing his anger and complaints concerning everything else is a chore to read.
Admittedly, I knew what I was going into when I saw the forbidden romance tag on this book so I wasn’t bothered by the insta-love, the typical romance plot and how Alizeh and Kamran couldn’t stop pining over each other. But, I’m also going to come out and say that all of the romance could’ve been better had the characters not been so flat. (Out of all the relationships here, I think that the best written one is the one between Kamran and his grandfather—and they aren’t exactly on the best of terms with each other too.)
Moreover, the narrative for This Woven Kingdom is so rich in purple prose that those moments of longing become ridiculous. In fact, the deeply rich purple prose eclipsed the plot, the characters and the romance. On one hand, I appreciated the strong imagery. On the other, I couldn’t lose myself in the typicality of forbidden romance because the purple prose was just very strong, much long-winded, so wow. I got so bored and basically skimmed all the dialogue-less paragraphs after the halfway mark.
Anyway, I did like that the action picked up in the final quarter of the book and that the betrayals and revelations were written well. I could do without the majority of the waffling but then again, it’s not like I didn’t just skip those parts while reading. Everything considered, This Woven Kingdom is an alright read. Nothing new or fresh, though as long as you don’t expect too much, it’s not bad. I look forward to the sequel and seeing what happens next after the cliffhanger here.
Thank you so much Pansing for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review! This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi is available at all good bookstores.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, and Misogyny
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Racism, Classism, Eating disorder, and Trafficking
kabrahams's review against another edition
5.0
(Upgraded to a full five stars on reread)
I've been a bit lukewarm with YA fantasy lately, so I went into this not sure if I was going to like it and was immediately hooked. Alizeh is a lowly servant trying to make ends meet by taking up tailoring jobs on the side, however, she is actually the heir to the Jinn throne who it has been prophesied will overthrow the human king who forced the Jinn into submission. She is discovered by Kamran, prince and heir to the throne,who makes his grandfather (the king) aware of her without realizing the full weight of what he's done as he falls in love with her. There's a bit of a Cinderella vibe as the whole thing ends in a ball that Alizeh is mysteriously given a dress and slippers to wear at and where Kamran is supposed to choose his bride. Of course, things go very wrong and this ended with such a crazy cliffhanger that I need the sequel immediately! I want to go back to this lush yet brutal world of magic, political turmoil, and romance!
I've been a bit lukewarm with YA fantasy lately, so I went into this not sure if I was going to like it and was immediately hooked. Alizeh is a lowly servant trying to make ends meet by taking up tailoring jobs on the side, however, she is actually the heir to the Jinn throne who it has been prophesied will overthrow the human king who forced the Jinn into submission. She is discovered by Kamran, prince and heir to the throne,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Physical abuse, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Violence
tahsintries's review
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Child death, Hate crime, and Misogyny
lunalorenne's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I found the male lead to be a bit boring in characterization. His only two traits anger and idolization for the female MC. Hopefully he gets more development in the second book. Overall the descriptions were lush and the cultural mythology interesting even if the pace was pretty slow.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Abandonment and Slavery
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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
I loved this book! Such a great new fantasy series and I can’t wait for the next one!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood
tea_rea's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Murder, Blood, Violence, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Classism
Moderate: Child death and Sexism
Minor: War, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury