Scan barcode
soundlysmitten's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
The Jasmine Throne takes place in a lush fantasy world inspired by India. It tells an utterly feminist story complete with intriguing magic, masterful scheming, unlikely allies, and a sliver of sapphic romance.
It took me about a month to get through this book. To be a fair, I’m a hopelessly slow reader. The pace is also admittedly slow to start, but I don’t actually see that as a flaw. There’s a lot to learn about this new world, its intricate culture and magic, its history and politics. As the first installment in a trilogy, The Jasmine Throne lays its framework down thoroughly. But more than that, beautifully. You just have to be patient—take time to absorb it all—in order to fully appreciate the story and the eloquent language used to tell it.
Told in third-person past tense with multiple narrators, The Jasmine Throne is an impressively woven tale. The main POVs belong to our hidden priestess, Priya, and captive princess, Malini. But there are a number of other secondary POVs that contribute to the full scope of the political landscape. I appreciated being given a glimpse into the minds of other players in the conflict/seeing how they interpret the world and their role in it. All of the characters are authentically complex and the author provides interesting insight regarding their motives, revealing their different faces as the story unfolds. As for the romance, it takes a backseat to Priya’s personal development and the action of the overall plot. But I found that realistic considering the circumstances.
The theme that struck me most deeply is the pursuit of liberation for an oppressed people. Parijat’s aim to obliterate Ahiranya—in livelihood and identity—is heavy, and I feel emotionally invested in seeing things made right. Another theme that struck a chord with me is the untangling of the twisted way those in power warp religion to support flawed and wicked agendas. And I absolutely loved the hopeful way the book ends.With three formidable women stepping up to replace their evil, misguided, inept male counterparts.
Who runs the world? ;)
It took me about a month to get through this book. To be a fair, I’m a hopelessly slow reader. The pace is also admittedly slow to start, but I don’t actually see that as a flaw. There’s a lot to learn about this new world, its intricate culture and magic, its history and politics. As the first installment in a trilogy, The Jasmine Throne lays its framework down thoroughly. But more than that, beautifully. You just have to be patient—take time to absorb it all—in order to fully appreciate the story and the eloquent language used to tell it.
Told in third-person past tense with multiple narrators, The Jasmine Throne is an impressively woven tale. The main POVs belong to our hidden priestess, Priya, and captive princess, Malini. But there are a number of other secondary POVs that contribute to the full scope of the political landscape. I appreciated being given a glimpse into the minds of other players in the conflict/seeing how they interpret the world and their role in it. All of the characters are authentically complex and the author provides interesting insight regarding their motives, revealing their different faces as the story unfolds. As for the romance, it takes a backseat to Priya’s personal development and the action of the overall plot. But I found that realistic considering the circumstances.
The theme that struck me most deeply is the pursuit of liberation for an oppressed people. Parijat’s aim to obliterate Ahiranya—in livelihood and identity—is heavy, and I feel emotionally invested in seeing things made right. Another theme that struck a chord with me is the untangling of the twisted way those in power warp religion to support flawed and wicked agendas. And I absolutely loved the hopeful way the book ends.
Who runs the world? ;)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia
azrah786's review
4.25
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: Explicit violence including immolation and self-immolation, gender-based violence (this does not include sexual assault), homophobia and internalised homophobia, suicidal ideation, self-mutilation, abusive family dynamics, child murder, death, xenophobia, body horror (plant-based, cosmic), forced drug use and depictions of addiction/withdrawal
Tasha Suri is back with her entrancing storytelling, badass leading ladies and all the desi vibes.
The Jasmine Throne introduces us to nation colonised by an empire heavily swathed in patriarchal ideals. It is a land where religion has been twisted into a tool of subjugation, where a magical plant malady is plaguing the population and where murmurs of rebellion against those in power add to the unrest. We primarily follow a princess who is condemned to imprisonment in the Hirana, the ruin of an ancient temple, after she refused to submit herself to a sacrificial burning, and a maidservant with secrets of her own and a past that is linked to the Hirana who is tasked with serving her.
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: Explicit violence including immolation and self-immolation, gender-based violence (this does not include sexual assault), homophobia and internalised homophobia, suicidal ideation, self-mutilation, abusive family dynamics, child murder, death, xenophobia, body horror (plant-based, cosmic), forced drug use and depictions of addiction/withdrawal
Tasha Suri is back with her entrancing storytelling, badass leading ladies and all the desi vibes.
The Jasmine Throne introduces us to nation colonised by an empire heavily swathed in patriarchal ideals. It is a land where religion has been twisted into a tool of subjugation, where a magical plant malady is plaguing the population and where murmurs of rebellion against those in power add to the unrest. We primarily follow a princess who is condemned to imprisonment in the Hirana, the ruin of an ancient temple, after she refused to submit herself to a sacrificial burning, and a maidservant with secrets of her own and a past that is linked to the Hirana who is tasked with serving her.
“…some men dream of times long dead, and times that never existed, and they’re willing to tear the present apart entirely to get them.”
Having read Empire of Sand I was already familiar with the author’s slow burn style of writing and the subtle influences from Indian cultures and mythology that she vividly weaves through her world-building. The pacing and whispers of magic seamlessly absorb you into the atmosphere of the tale and I was honestly in awe of how masterfully all the layers of the story came together. There is an equal balance of character driven storylines and a complex overarching plot. A comprehensive magic system and history that is gradually revealed, as well as compelling politics entwined with family drama that will keep you hooked.
“There is power that is showy and fierce. And there is power grown slowly, and stronger for the time spent braiding its ancient strength.”
As expected from a Tasha Suri book there is a fascinating cast of characters and all the women are totally badass!
Princess Malini and the maidservant Priya, are both such well written, multi-faceted individuals and the story delves deep into their pasts and inner conflicts, unfolding their somewhat noble yet quite often astute motivations. Their relationship, one of reluctant allies to something more, is also beautifully developed.
Bhumika, a noblewoman of the province where the princess is being held, is another character whose story I really loved following. All three of these women show inspiring perseverance against the prejudices constantly thrown at them and incredible strength in fighting for what they believe in.
“I don’t believe that is the way things are… That we have no choices. And if fate must be star-burned into us, then I don’t believe we can’t bend to the needs of our times and turn from our prescribed path.”
There are also perspectives from Rao, a prince of a neighbouring nation determined to secure the princess’ freedom and Ashok, a rebel leader who is also the brother of Priya, as well as the odd chapter from minor side characters. The use of multiple points of view really helped to enhance the narrative by giving us further glimpses of the patchwork of cultures, lifestyles and hierarchies that form this extensive world.
Along with the themes of power, misogyny and the effects of imperialism there is also a big focus on familial relationships, both related and found family, and how they shape us which was brilliantly explored.
Where this first instalment rounds off has me super excited for where this story will take us and its characters, I can’t wait for the sequel!
Final Rating – 4.25/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, and Death
Moderate: Xenophobia, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug use
qtdinh's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book really hits every single sweet spot for me when it comes to fantasy (especially as a character driven reader who loves complicated, morally grey, angry women) except for the worldbuilding.
The only reason why I could not give it the full 5 stars is because I cannot ignore the way the author used Indian culture (one that has been specifically filtered through a Brahmin lense) as a crutch when it comes to building the world for the book, borrowing from Hindu texts when it conveniently adds dimensions and layers of meaning to certain thematic threads that the story is shading to pad out the world but without doing legwork of adding the complicated cultural context that underpins those concepts in Indian society. While I myself am not an own voice reviewer, the issue was pointed out to me in a dialogue I had with friend of mine who is (and with whom I was buddy-reading the book), and once I noticed it, I can no longer ignore it.
My main issue with the worldbuilding boils down to this: the concept of virtue, purity and pollution is one that is inherently tied to and shaped by caste hierarchy (https://www.sociologyguide.com/social-stratification/Purity-and-Pollution.php). One cannot touch upon these concepts in and Indian setting without ignoring the caste implications, and it’s woven into the very fabric of Indian culture and society — including how literature (especially Hindu symbology) are weaponized by Brahmins to maintain this caste hierarchy. Caste is all encompassing: “a very deeply rooted generational like accumulation of culture and capital, in terms of what u eat, where u live, what job u work on (it's like the same job for a caste), how much money u have, people being trapped in bonded labour generationally, etc. the closest comparison to it is that it's like... apartheid?“, to quote my friend, and every cultural values in India is refracted through and unquestionably charged by this context.
Yet the book transplants this culturally loaded concept of purity and pollution onto the gender & sexuality as well as geographic (as in city-state) axes without engaging much if at all with the in-world stand-in for caste hierarchy (“high-born, low-born”). This is most evidenced in the way the book explores this idea of purity & pollution through the treatment of Mallani and other royal/highborn women, and it is not just exclusive to Parijati either, as we see similar constraints being placed on Bhumika and her weaponization of innocence, yet the same constraints are not placed on Priya and those assumed to be low-born. Here the book basically incorporates one of the primary cultural narratives derived through caste hierarchy and the complex ways it intersects with “the policing of sexuality women of upper caste” (https://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9187:why-are-the-debates-on-menstrual-taboo-one-sided&catid=119:feature&Itemid=132), yet no move was made in the world of the book to extend its thematic critique one step further and actually examines with a critical eye the caste hierarchy that imbued the book’s notions of purity and pollution with its cultural meaning. It also ignores the way upper caste women also discriminate against marginalized lower caste women. You cannot talk about feminism, the marginalization of women, and homophobia in an Indian cultural setting without touching on the way the caste system has shaped all these issues.
In sum, the word of the book presents a view of India (or at least Indian cultural and societal fabric through a fantastical lense) wherein one of the most all encompassing power-structure goes completely unchallenged and questioned. It reads (in my friend’s words, not mine) “like a diaspora author’s romanticization of the homeland and cherry picking of cultural aspects they can dress up and aestheticize as fantasy for the consumption of western eyes, but one that turns a blind eyes the ugly, complex reality of what life in India means when you are not Brahmin and Northern”. Especially when you use the Mahabharata (which is a dominant religious text for the upper caste) as inspiration for your worldbuilding, it is also therefore your responsibility to be keenly aware of the way you might be perpetuating a version of Indian culture that erases the sheer breadth of diversity in the subcontinent. In particular, it erases marginalized women whose identity and politics intersects in complex ways with the Brahmin vision of the world that laid the foundation for the cultural and societal fabric of the book.
While incorporating elements of your own culture into your writing is the right of the own voice author, fully-developed world building aren’t uncritical transplantation of a culture just with a different hat on; in borrowing the societal structure and putting it into a fantasy world to make something new of it, you would HAVE to by nature of the exercise of developing worldbuilding to re-examine who have power and how that power dynamic wormed its way into the cultural fabric that held your fantasy society together. Anything else is an erasure. It’s making the minority culture palatable to a western audience, at the expense of the in-groups who live this reality in the homeland
The only reason why I could not give it the full 5 stars is because I cannot ignore the way the author used Indian culture (one that has been specifically filtered through a Brahmin lense) as a crutch when it comes to building the world for the book, borrowing from Hindu texts when it conveniently adds dimensions and layers of meaning to certain thematic threads that the story is shading to pad out the world but without doing legwork of adding the complicated cultural context that underpins those concepts in Indian society. While I myself am not an own voice reviewer, the issue was pointed out to me in a dialogue I had with friend of mine who is (and with whom I was buddy-reading the book), and once I noticed it, I can no longer ignore it.
My main issue with the worldbuilding boils down to this: the concept of virtue, purity and pollution is one that is inherently tied to and shaped by caste hierarchy (https://www.sociologyguide.com/social-stratification/Purity-and-Pollution.php). One cannot touch upon these concepts in and Indian setting without ignoring the caste implications, and it’s woven into the very fabric of Indian culture and society — including how literature (especially Hindu symbology) are weaponized by Brahmins to maintain this caste hierarchy. Caste is all encompassing: “a very deeply rooted generational like accumulation of culture and capital, in terms of what u eat, where u live, what job u work on (it's like the same job for a caste), how much money u have, people being trapped in bonded labour generationally, etc. the closest comparison to it is that it's like... apartheid?“, to quote my friend, and every cultural values in India is refracted through and unquestionably charged by this context.
Yet the book transplants this culturally loaded concept of purity and pollution onto the gender & sexuality as well as geographic (as in city-state) axes without engaging much if at all with the in-world stand-in for caste hierarchy (“high-born, low-born”). This is most evidenced in the way the book explores this idea of purity & pollution through the treatment of Mallani and other royal/highborn women, and it is not just exclusive to Parijati either, as we see similar constraints being placed on Bhumika and her weaponization of innocence, yet the same constraints are not placed on Priya and those assumed to be low-born. Here the book basically incorporates one of the primary cultural narratives derived through caste hierarchy and the complex ways it intersects with “the policing of sexuality women of upper caste” (https://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9187:why-are-the-debates-on-menstrual-taboo-one-sided&catid=119:feature&Itemid=132), yet no move was made in the world of the book to extend its thematic critique one step further and actually examines with a critical eye the caste hierarchy that imbued the book’s notions of purity and pollution with its cultural meaning. It also ignores the way upper caste women also discriminate against marginalized lower caste women. You cannot talk about feminism, the marginalization of women, and homophobia in an Indian cultural setting without touching on the way the caste system has shaped all these issues.
In sum, the word of the book presents a view of India (or at least Indian cultural and societal fabric through a fantastical lense) wherein one of the most all encompassing power-structure goes completely unchallenged and questioned. It reads (in my friend’s words, not mine) “like a diaspora author’s romanticization of the homeland and cherry picking of cultural aspects they can dress up and aestheticize as fantasy for the consumption of western eyes, but one that turns a blind eyes the ugly, complex reality of what life in India means when you are not Brahmin and Northern”. Especially when you use the Mahabharata (which is a dominant religious text for the upper caste) as inspiration for your worldbuilding, it is also therefore your responsibility to be keenly aware of the way you might be perpetuating a version of Indian culture that erases the sheer breadth of diversity in the subcontinent. In particular, it erases marginalized women whose identity and politics intersects in complex ways with the Brahmin vision of the world that laid the foundation for the cultural and societal fabric of the book.
While incorporating elements of your own culture into your writing is the right of the own voice author, fully-developed world building aren’t uncritical transplantation of a culture just with a different hat on; in borrowing the societal structure and putting it into a fantasy world to make something new of it, you would HAVE to by nature of the exercise of developing worldbuilding to re-examine who have power and how that power dynamic wormed its way into the cultural fabric that held your fantasy society together. Anything else is an erasure. It’s making the minority culture palatable to a western audience, at the expense of the in-groups who live this reality in the homeland
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
liteartha's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
this is the sapphic, morally ambiguous, politically complex epic fantasy of my dreams. hands down my favourite read of the year so far. wow wow wow
the world suri has crafted, drawing on indian histories and epics, is incredibly rich and sure of itself. throughout the novel, the world and magic system within it unfurl so naturally, never feeling particularly info-dumpy despite a somewhat slow beginning.
this book is thrilling, full of tension, and explores everything from its politics to its belief systems to interpersonal relationships with such care and nuance. and the women! three women are at the centre of this book, each of them dramatically different in their strengths and personalities. i love them all, just as I love this book, and i can't wait to see where the series goes next!
thank you to orbit and netgalley for providing this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review
the world suri has crafted, drawing on indian histories and epics, is incredibly rich and sure of itself. throughout the novel, the world and magic system within it unfurl so naturally, never feeling particularly info-dumpy despite a somewhat slow beginning.
this book is thrilling, full of tension, and explores everything from its politics to its belief systems to interpersonal relationships with such care and nuance. and the women! three women are at the centre of this book, each of them dramatically different in their strengths and personalities. i love them all, just as I love this book, and i can't wait to see where the series goes next!
thank you to orbit and netgalley for providing this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Drug abuse
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit
More...