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4.41 AVERAGE
4.41 AVERAGE
Holy shit. This was INCREDIBLE.
"And because for all her supposed cleverness, she couldn't see that the dashing hero who saved her was actually its monster."
WOW. OH WOW. Where do I even begin? This book was INCREDIBLE. I enjoyed it SO MUCH MORE than the first installment and it hooked me from the very beginning. The plot, the pacing, the characters, the reveals... all so amazing. I'm SO happy that I continued on with the series, and if the finale is nearly as good as this, this trilogy will go down as one of my all-time favorites!
I'll start by addressing a couple worries I had going into this book. I was apprehensive about having Dara's POV thrown into the mix, because I was seriously not a fan of his in the first book, but it actually was fine. His chapters are sparse and even when he does have a POV come up, they were interesting enough to hold my focus, and it was valuable to get to know Manizheh. One thing that bothered me a bit about City of Brass was the constant time jumps, but although a lot of time was covered in this book (not to MENTION the five-year jump at the beginning), it didn't bother me as much! I felt that I missed less with these small skips and they were handled better.
"You don't stop fighting a war just because you're losing battles, Alizayd. You change tactics."
I was much more invested in the worldbuilding this time around. I felt I had such a better grip on the politics and hierarchies that I was able to enjoy the world so much more. The plot was super thrilling and kept me entertained throughout. There were so many fun interactions and shocking twists that I enjoyed, and the characters were even more magical. Side characters took a much more prominent role. I LOVED Zaynab in this and it was so great to see more interaction between the three royal siblings! Muntadhir… wow. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions with him throughout this book, but I'm SUPER thrilled by where his storyline went! Ghassan was as terrible as ever, I loved meeting Hatset and getting to see her and Ali's relationship. Ali's two new friends were fun, and I even loved getting to see more of Vizaresh, which was a shocking surprise!
OK, on to my favorite part, the ROMANCEEEEEEE! If you read my COB review, you'll know how much I love and adore Nahri and Ali. I love their friendship a lot, but I'm still holding out a very strong hope that they'll end up together at the end of all this. There wasn't much romance in this, since they're still pretty firmly in kinda-sorta-friendship territory, but their relationship grew so much and I was so frickin' pleased with how early their reunion happened and that they spend most of the book around each other. It was so fun and stressful and painful to see their interactions with the thought of Muntadhir in the background, but I was also pleasantly surprised with how Nahri and Muntadhir's relationship grew as well! I think Chakraborty has such a firm grasp on her characters and I love how they're portrayed. Nahri's strength is admirable, Ali's beliefs are unshakable (even tho that boy has a SERIOUS DEATH WISH, LIKE KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP, MY DUDE), and Muntadhir's last few chapters were LEGENDARY. THE LEGEND JUMPED OUT. I just love them all so much. I still don't like Dara much, but he's still a pretty interesting character and I am really looking forward to see where his story ends up!
So yeah, THANK GOD I gave this sequel the benefit of the doubt because I loved it SO MUCH. I'm already gearing up to preorder Empire of Gold so I can have it ASAP. YAY FOR DISCOVERING NEW SERIES TO LOVE!
"And because for all her supposed cleverness, she couldn't see that the dashing hero who saved her was actually its monster."
WOW. OH WOW. Where do I even begin? This book was INCREDIBLE. I enjoyed it SO MUCH MORE than the first installment and it hooked me from the very beginning. The plot, the pacing, the characters, the reveals... all so amazing. I'm SO happy that I continued on with the series, and if the finale is nearly as good as this, this trilogy will go down as one of my all-time favorites!
I'll start by addressing a couple worries I had going into this book. I was apprehensive about having Dara's POV thrown into the mix, because I was seriously not a fan of his in the first book, but it actually was fine. His chapters are sparse and even when he does have a POV come up, they were interesting enough to hold my focus, and it was valuable to get to know Manizheh. One thing that bothered me a bit about City of Brass was the constant time jumps, but although a lot of time was covered in this book (not to MENTION the five-year jump at the beginning), it didn't bother me as much! I felt that I missed less with these small skips and they were handled better.
"You don't stop fighting a war just because you're losing battles, Alizayd. You change tactics."
I was much more invested in the worldbuilding this time around. I felt I had such a better grip on the politics and hierarchies that I was able to enjoy the world so much more. The plot was super thrilling and kept me entertained throughout. There were so many fun interactions and shocking twists that I enjoyed, and the characters were even more magical. Side characters took a much more prominent role. I LOVED Zaynab in this and it was so great to see more interaction between the three royal siblings! Muntadhir… wow. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions with him throughout this book, but I'm SUPER thrilled by where his storyline went! Ghassan was as terrible as ever, I loved meeting Hatset and getting to see her and Ali's relationship. Ali's two new friends were fun, and I even loved getting to see more of Vizaresh, which was a shocking surprise!
OK, on to my favorite part, the ROMANCEEEEEEE! If you read my COB review, you'll know how much I love and adore Nahri and Ali. I love their friendship a lot, but I'm still holding out a very strong hope that they'll end up together at the end of all this. There wasn't much romance in this, since they're still pretty firmly in kinda-sorta-friendship territory, but their relationship grew so much and I was so frickin' pleased with how early their reunion happened and that they spend most of the book around each other. It was so fun and stressful and painful to see their interactions with the thought of Muntadhir in the background, but I was also pleasantly surprised with how Nahri and Muntadhir's relationship grew as well! I think Chakraborty has such a firm grasp on her characters and I love how they're portrayed. Nahri's strength is admirable, Ali's beliefs are unshakable (even tho that boy has a SERIOUS DEATH WISH, LIKE KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP, MY DUDE), and Muntadhir's last few chapters were LEGENDARY. THE LEGEND JUMPED OUT. I just love them all so much. I still don't like Dara much, but he's still a pretty interesting character and I am really looking forward to see where his story ends up!
So yeah, THANK GOD I gave this sequel the benefit of the doubt because I loved it SO MUCH. I'm already gearing up to preorder Empire of Gold so I can have it ASAP. YAY FOR DISCOVERING NEW SERIES TO LOVE!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars rounded up.
What an improvement from the first book !
I was confused about the hype surrounding this trilogy after reading the first book because it was just so mediocre. But this book ? God, I was invested.
I couldn't keep the book down and also the characters grew so much on me. Alizayd is my LOVE !! I love him so much. Nahri on the other hand has significantly grown. She seemed so bland and boring in the first book but the same cannot be said for this one.
And not gonna lie, Dara pissed me off quite a lot in this book. Also, Muntadhir really flipped my emotions for him at the end
“You don't stop fighting a war just because you're losing battles. You change tactics.”
What an improvement from the first book !
I was confused about the hype surrounding this trilogy after reading the first book because it was just so mediocre. But this book ? God, I was invested.
I couldn't keep the book down and also the characters grew so much on me. Alizayd is my LOVE !! I love him so much. Nahri on the other hand has significantly grown. She seemed so bland and boring in the first book but the same cannot be said for this one.
“I've had enough of men hurting me because they were upset.”
And not gonna lie, Dara pissed me off quite a lot in this book. Also, Muntadhir really flipped my emotions for him at the end
Wow!! The first 200 pages of this book were painfully slow and I was very close to quitting, but I'm so glad I stuck it out. The rest was sooo good! On to book 3!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
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:
Yes
4.5 Stars
HOLY SHIT this one was sO fucking intense ajfjskgm I think I liked this one more than City of Brass simply because IT HAD SOOOO MANY GOOD REVEALS!!!! And the tension and anticipation of like.. imminent doom??? Drove me crazy ajgkkwkf also Nahri coming back to her badass roots AND FINALLY THE FALL OF THE TYRANT!!! at last mans is G O N E and also ZAYNAB!! I was so happy she had a MUCH bigger role here
But Shannon is so good at like the whole THEY ARE GONNA DIE!! only for it to be like SIKE THEY SURVIVE !!
Wild to say the least
HOLY SHIT this one was sO fucking intense ajfjskgm I think I liked this one more than City of Brass simply because IT HAD SOOOO MANY GOOD REVEALS!!!! And the tension and anticipation of like.. imminent doom??? Drove me crazy ajgkkwkf also Nahri coming back to her badass roots AND FINALLY THE FALL OF THE TYRANT!!! at last mans is G O N E and also ZAYNAB!! I was so happy she had a MUCH bigger role here
But Shannon is so good at like the whole THEY ARE GONNA DIE!! only for it to be like SIKE THEY SURVIVE !!
Wild to say the least
“I’ve had enough of men hurting me because they were upset.”
The Daevabad Trilogy is a vivid fantasy with political intrigue, a unique magic system, and a memorable cast of characters all while being infused with Islamic mythology and ancient Middle East inspiration. Chakraborty uses an action-packed plot not only to give readers things like betrayals, power struggles, and complex character/relationship development, but also to explore societal and political problems like racism, discrimination, and colonization. Highly recommend this series (so far) for (epic) fantasy lovers!
I can’t wait to dive into Book #3 to see how this trilogy wraps up! Listening via audiobook helped me with pronunciation and the narrator is fantastic. I could, however, see myself rereading in another format to appreciate the intricacies of this world even more.
Also, Nahri is such a badass female main character. I love her!!
The Daevabad Trilogy is a vivid fantasy with political intrigue, a unique magic system, and a memorable cast of characters all while being infused with Islamic mythology and ancient Middle East inspiration. Chakraborty uses an action-packed plot not only to give readers things like betrayals, power struggles, and complex character/relationship development, but also to explore societal and political problems like racism, discrimination, and colonization. Highly recommend this series (so far) for (epic) fantasy lovers!
I can’t wait to dive into Book #3 to see how this trilogy wraps up! Listening via audiobook helped me with pronunciation and the narrator is fantastic. I could, however, see myself rereading in another format to appreciate the intricacies of this world even more.
Also, Nahri is such a badass female main character. I love her!!
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
tense
medium-paced