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lolajh's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Body horror, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Violence, Homophobia, Medical content, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Blood, Gore, and Torture
abarnakwn_ourcolourfulpages's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Body horror, Abandonment, Violence, Grief, Gore, Physical abuse, Murder, Classism, Blood, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Genocide, and Death
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Homophobia
Minor: Sexism, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
stellar_hunt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Body horror, Violence, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail
hanarama's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Good:
• Complex world building
• Wlw represtation
• Strong commentary
The Bad:
• Hard to keep track of characters
• Some PoV characters sound too similar.
• Very slow start
You Might Like This if You Like:
• Political intrigue
• Morally gray characters
• Slow burn romance
• The Daevabad trilogy
The Jasmine Throne features a wide number of PoV characters, though it primarily follows three women. Priya, Malini, and Bhumika. Malini is the exiled sister of the emperor. Refusing to ritualistically immolate herself for her brother, Malini is imprisoned in the Hirana, a ruined temple that houses an ancient power. Priya and Bhumika are former temple daughters, those that tended the Hirana before the emperor had the temple sacked. Priya agrees to serve as a maidservant to Malini, and inadvertently reveals her hidden strengths. Sensing an opportunity, Malini seeks to grow closer to Priya, and their fates become interwoven. Meanwhile, Bhumika deals with the growing political unrest and struggles to keep her people safe.
Outside of the three main women, it can be easy to mix up the other PoV characters. Many of them only have a couple chapters. Without very distinct voices, it's hard to remember who's narrating a particular chapter.
Despite this, Suri creates very evocative imagery. The setting is lush and inviting, with a lot to uncover. The world building is gradual, with more revealed throughout the novel.
In general, The Jasmine Throne is very slow burn, with everything building in intensity over time. In some regards, this is fine, but in others it can make it hard to get into the story. For the central romance, it works well, allowing the characters to build a connection before the romance begins. The slow pace of the plot outside of this though, makes it feel as though very little is happening.
Overall, an interesting story with a great setting. Because the first book was mainly set up, I'm interested to see how things pay off in the sequel. In particular, Malini and Bhumika are both set up as charismatic leaders, so I'm expecting them to clash in the future.
Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexism, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury
runpinkyrun's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
redthistle's review
- 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
My favorite thing about this book is the exploration of strength in women in multiple facets.
The main three female characters are amazing. Each woman demonstrates incredible strength in the face of a world that is very sexist and misogynistic. Their strength, however, is not all the same. Each one finds a different way to survive in a world which wants to destroy them, whether it be through physical strength to fight, emotional strength to do what is hard, or strength in cunning to manipulate perceptions to protect oneself these women are awesome.
I also found the relationship between
The final thing I loved from this book was the world that Tasha Suri created. I found it really engrossing and fascinating. The magic system is really cool and the richness of the culture which is woven into the high fantasy setting that she creates is beautiful. I am so excited to read further in this world.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Violence
monkymarzipan's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, War, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Terminal illness, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Grief
Minor: Vomit and Suicide attempt
kkulhannie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Confinement, Colonisation, and Blood
Moderate: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Addiction, and Vomit
qtdinh's review
- 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
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
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