Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

56 reviews

alysounbookish's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Blood

bisexualwentworth's review

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really enjoyed this book. I just didn’t love it as much as I wanted to.

The worldbuilding is fantastic. I loved the way the different cultures played off of each other. The plant magic was intriguing. The different creation myths were fascinating. The use of language and geography and food was rich and realistic.

And Priya and Malini’s relationship was such a strong centerpiece to this book. I loved how they played off of each other, and I loved how balanced their relationship felt even though one of them always had more power than the other.

The pacing was rough at times. I know this is a controversial opinion, but I didn’t like all of the extra character POVs. I don’t think they added anything, and in fact I think that repeatedly meeting minor characters and getting a chapter from their POV

only for them to die at the end of that chapter

ruined the book’s momentum and made those scenes much less impactful than they would have been from the perspective of Priya, Malini, Bhumika, Rao, or Ashok. 

Also, why did no one warn me that the magical cure trope was such a big part of this book? It’s an ableist trope that I’ve definitely seen handled worse but that certainly wasn’t handled well in this book, and I’m disappointed in the dozens of reviewers I’ve seen recommending this book for the sapphic romance without mentioning any other aspect of it.

Overall, I would still recommend this book, and I look forward to the sequel, but I wish I’d loved it more.

EDIT: Looking back on this book a year after reading it, I still think that the characters and the worldbuilding are fantastic. However, my interest in reading the sequel has dropped to almost nothing because this book put me off of high fantasy for several months with how rough the pacing and use of point of view were. I know that this is an unpopular take on this very popular book, and that's fine. I just found it to be such a struggle that I honestly would not recommend it to anyone who pays a lot of attention to craft and pacing issues while reading. If you're only there for the sapphic aspect and the interesting lore, you'll definitely like it better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Additional content warning for immolation because a LOT of women are specifically burned to death in this book and I think it’s important to know that going in.

schnaucl's review against another edition

dark sad 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

4.0

It was an interesting read and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.  

It wasn't a surprise that Malini will end up ruling the empire rather than the brother who has no interest in it.  In a way it's a nice change away from the idea that the only people who should rule are people who don't want to do so in part for the reasons articulated in the book.  She has a vision for her empire, her brother does not.  I also did not miss that her hallucinated friend pluralizes the brothers that Malini will kill on her way to securing the throne.

So how do the followers of the nameless god learn their names when it's three pages of irrigation techniques?  Do they have to keep going back to the temple to memorize it?  It seems like the kind of thing that wouldn't be written down anywhere. This may have been mentioned and I just don't remember it.  The idea that people's names are prophecy is interesting.   

I like Rao, I hope we see more from him.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Addiction, Misogyny, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pregnancy

kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.0

My final and favorite of last year's sapphic trifecta. The magic system was interesting and the characters were dynamic and complex. Good stuff 👍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

Minor: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

lillulu's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Way slower than I would have liked but it would be a crime to give this less than 4 stars, and even that feels harsh given how lush the writing was. What can I say.

I’m soft for sapphic stories and good world-building - bonus points when religion/spirituality is intertwined with nature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Gore

angelfoodcakes's review against another edition

adventurous 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

2.75

I adore the world building in this book, though I will say it focuses pretty heavily on politics which does occasionally get boring and confusing. 

I have high hopes for this series, though, and I’m excited to see what’s in store for the next book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

imds's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: War

andromeda_1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The jasmine throne is one of the books from my Illumicrate book box subscription. And it’s one of those books that I was really hyped for. I expected a great deal since it started to gape on TikTok and well they aren’t wrong. It’s a great book, with a big fantasy setting, a lot of representation and a great story. 

The characters 
This book has multiple pov’s but it focuses the most on Malini and Priya. I really enjoyed these characters. They are strong female leads with a bit of a morally gray side to them. One thing I liked less though is that is didn’t really ship them. I shipped Priya more with Sami. But that is just my opinion. 

Plot 
The story is fun to read but a bit predictable at some points. Not that that is a bad thing persé but I would have liked more plottwists. 

Worldbuilding 
The worldbuilding is beautifully done. The world is rich with magic, beautiful history and mythology and it is really detailed. We haven’t learned everything this world has to offer so I’m waiting for the next book in this series. The book is slow in the beginning though. It picks up the pace at around 150/170 pages.  I have to admit that this is one of those books I almost put down, which would have been a shame. 

Storytelling 
This book is beautiful written, but to the point. It has some magical quotes but the beginning of the book felt really dry to me. 

Recommendations 
I would recommend this book to lovers of the unbroken and the deavabad trilogy. Check the triggerwarnings before reading! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Body horror, Blood, Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Torture

Moderate: Pregnancy and Lesbophobia

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

this was such a great read. I really enjoyed the world and if I am correct, the huge Indian history/mythology element to the fantasy, it was very refreshing and written beautifully. 

the characters were super complex and nuance and I just loved their motives and development. I really liked their sweet/side romance, it was a good touch to the story, not over powering nor ridiculous (no insta love thank god). 

the pacing was definitely slow and it felt like the book kept going, instead of being less of a plot book because it was slow, it just kept having a new event but I also really enjoyed all of the events, so I can't complain that it kept going.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny

starccato's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Terminal illness, Slavery, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Torture, Child abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, War, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia