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queen_melliott's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, War, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Murder, Cursing, Hate crime, Death of parent, Death, Bullying, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders
soniajoy98's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Blood, Classism, and Hate crime
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child abuse
Minor: Child death
s3lin's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Violence
Minor: Suicide
stormywolf's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
5.0
I'm obviously no stranger to Mafi's works, having made my way through her entire 11-part Shatter Me series. But upon finishing the last installment last fall, I noticed a 2-chapter preview of her upcoming fantasy work, This Woven Kingdom, and decided to try it. Having also read through her fantasy books, Furthermore & Whichwood, I knew she'd dabbled in the genre before, but I was interested to see what track she'd take with fantasy, romance, and YA. Needless to say, I was immediately hooked, and was then forced to eagerly await the book's release. A secret queen of a magical people, forced to hide her identity in squalor and servitude, tormented by whispers from the devil, and unknowingly headed toward a forbidden romance—what more could I ask for?
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, this book utterly enchanted me. From its intelligent and passionate main characters, its magical yet logical world, and its promise of even more political intrigue and supernatural twists, this story is absolutely full of things to love and become obsessed by. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in non-European-based fantasy, strong (and memorable) female characters, or a flirty forbidden romance. I'm very curious to know more, both about the characters and story to come, and about its inspiration, as the summary posits, from Persian mythology, and I know I'm not alone. But until the next book decides to magically appear, I'll have to find another series to tide me over.
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, this book utterly enchanted me. From its intelligent and passionate main characters, its magical yet logical world, and its promise of even more political intrigue and supernatural twists, this story is absolutely full of things to love and become obsessed by. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in non-European-based fantasy, strong (and memorable) female characters, or a flirty forbidden romance. I'm very curious to know more, both about the characters and story to come, and about its inspiration, as the summary posits, from Persian mythology, and I know I'm not alone. But until the next book decides to magically appear, I'll have to find another series to tide me over.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Classism, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Child death and Genocide
kristelrose's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
5.0
Altough the first half of this books was rather slow, it picked up nicely in the latter half. The first part was slow because of necessary worldbuilding and character development.
The book is beautifully written, the educated characters in this book actually sound smart through their words.
The book produced some really beautiful quotes.
Also the narrator of the audiobook that I listened along to whilst reading was phenomenal.
The book is beautifully written, the educated characters in this book actually sound smart through their words.
The book produced some really beautiful quotes.
Also the narrator of the audiobook that I listened along to whilst reading was phenomenal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Body shaming
notteson's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD I NEED THE REST OF THIS SERIES RIGHT MEOW. This is my first Tahereh Mafi book, and I am both floored by the beauty of her storytelling and writing and by her intricate worldbuilding and character development. Please give us the rest of this series soon. PLEASE. I need moreAlizeh and Kamran, and my heart won't be able to bear it if she really marries Cyrus . This Persian-mythology-inspired forbidden-romance trilogy is easily going to be one of my favorite book series ever. I just know it.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD I NEED THE REST OF THIS SERIES RIGHT MEOW. This is my first Tahereh Mafi book, and I am both floored by the beauty of her storytelling and writing and by her intricate worldbuilding and character development. Please give us the rest of this series soon. PLEASE. I need more
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Death
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, and Gore
Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Racism
maple_dove's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
The ending 😂
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Grief, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Gore and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
bookwormbullet's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Violence
vicktorea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
city of brass meets cinderella(ish) vibes!!!
ok I really enjoyed this!
Here’s what I loved:
- The writing; it was lush, the imagery was vivid and the plot was adventurous! I never could quite put my finger on what would happen next!
- The characters! Alizheh (our FMC) is smart, resourceful and a badass fighter when she needs to be! Moody, broody, melancholy Kamran (our MMC) oozed angst and tension and I’m still wondering what’s up with two other characters (who shall remain nameless as I don’t want to add any spoilers)!
- the Persian Lore/Mythology; I loved this! This was what reminded me of City of Brass and it lent such an interesting spin on the plot and magic system! There also seemed to be some elements of Cinderella in this and I loved that incorporation!
My criticisms:
-the magic system. I actually liked it, but I didn’t quite understand it; however, I think this is because the character (that we know of) with magic, Alizheh, didn’t quite understand how her magic worked and I hope as the story continues and Alizheh discovers more about herself, the reader will too.
-the romance / pacing. I’m grouping these together because, at times, both felt a little disjointed. The beginning of the book did start out slow and it picked up towards the second half of the book, as expected with most books. But the development and pacing of the romance itself coincided with this. Alizheh and Kamran had met once and afterwards the reader gets his reaction to her, but not so much her reaction to him. By the time they meet again, we know he’s into her but we don’t know what she makes of him so her strong reaction to him during that second meeting felt like it came out of nowhere. Then by the their third meeting, it felt like those feelings just…fizzled? We don’t hear her dialogue of how drawn she is to him like we did during their second meeting and that kind of threw me off - I expected a stronger reaction from her.
These criticisms didn’t take away from the story, I just wish they’d been more fleshed out, but this is a trilogy, so I’m hoping (expecting) we’ll get more in the next book…..
especially bc WHAT TF WAS THAT ENDING???!! 😭 and whose team am i on???? I think I might actually like—you know what lemme not say anything except I need book two asap and I’m so glad I took the plunge and ordered that Bookish Box special edition!
Big thank you to HarperCollins for the ARC!
ok I really enjoyed this!
Here’s what I loved:
- The writing; it was lush, the imagery was vivid and the plot was adventurous! I never could quite put my finger on what would happen next!
- The characters! Alizheh (our FMC) is smart, resourceful and a badass fighter when she needs to be! Moody, broody, melancholy Kamran (our MMC) oozed angst and tension and I’m still wondering what’s up with two other characters (who shall remain nameless as I don’t want to add any spoilers)!
- the Persian Lore/Mythology; I loved this! This was what reminded me of City of Brass and it lent such an interesting spin on the plot and magic system! There also seemed to be some elements of Cinderella in this and I loved that incorporation!
My criticisms:
-the magic system. I actually liked it, but I didn’t quite understand it; however, I think this is because the character (that we know of) with magic, Alizheh, didn’t quite understand how her magic worked and I hope as the story continues and Alizheh discovers more about herself, the reader will too.
-the romance / pacing. I’m grouping these together because, at times, both felt a little disjointed. The beginning of the book did start out slow and it picked up towards the second half of the book, as expected with most books. But the development and pacing of the romance itself coincided with this. Alizheh and Kamran had met once and afterwards the reader gets his reaction to her, but not so much her reaction to him. By the time they meet again, we know he’s into her but we don’t know what she makes of him so her strong reaction to him during that second meeting felt like it came out of nowhere. Then by the their third meeting, it felt like those feelings just…fizzled? We don’t hear her dialogue of how drawn she is to him like we did during their second meeting and that kind of threw me off - I expected a stronger reaction from her.
These criticisms didn’t take away from the story, I just wish they’d been more fleshed out, but this is a trilogy, so I’m hoping (expecting) we’ll get more in the next book…..
especially bc WHAT TF WAS THAT ENDING???!! 😭 and whose team am i on???? I think I might actually like—you know what lemme not say anything except I need book two asap and I’m so glad I took the plunge and ordered that Bookish Box special edition!
Big thank you to HarperCollins for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, and Slavery
Minor: Death of parent
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