Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Jasmine Throne

personally, i found the romance to be mediocre, but the way this book handles culture, religion, and colonialization is fantastic. some of the best ive ever seen. the only thing i found disappointing was [mild spoilers]

the religion revolves around nature and the forest, but actual descriptions of nature and the forest are vague and nondescript. we have no idea what the wildlife here is like, and the main character who practices this religion doesn't seem interested in learning.

it's the one area where the world feels flat. hopefully this will be addressed in the next book.

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ryankaybee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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delvainy's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book. Wow. Usually, it takes so much for me to get into high fantasy books since there’s so much to learn of the world, but I didn’t have that issue with this one. I think it’s because I so instantly fell in love the the characters that I was immediately down for learning the politics and religions of this world. It was a beautiful story, and I can’t wait to buy a physical copy and have it on my shelf.

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minervacerridwen's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

This book drew me in right away. None of the characters are purely "good" or "evil", and their motives become very clear in the story. It was a fast read, considering the length of the book, helped by the fact that almost every chapter ended in a cliffhanger - but near the end, that was also what started to bother me. Some of the emotional moments in the story could have used a little more time to breathe, but didn't get a chance because the writing style demanded you to read on, on, on. But aside from that small annoyance (I mean, it's not the worst thing to have to say about a book :P), I adored the intricate worldbuilding and the magic, and the way even plants brought both beauty and destruction.

The only thing I still don't quite know how to picture (maybe it's a fault of my own imagination or I missed something?) is the climb of the Hirana. It returned several times, but somehow my mind remained undecided on how it would look, and that distracted me a little.

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