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abigails_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
CW: mention of rape, violence, death, abandonment
"Before his curse, all daevas were the same. We looked similar, spoke a single language, practiced identical rites...When Suleiman freed us, he scattered us across the world he knew, changing our tongues and appearances to mirror the humans in our new lands...
Daevastana...the land of the Daevas...it was said to be a violent, terrifying time. Most people embraced their new tribes, clinging together for survival and forming within the tribes caste groups determined by their new abilities. Some were shapeshifters, others could manipulate metals, some could conjure up rare goods, and so forth. None could do it all, and the tribes were too busy fighting each other to even consider revenge against Suleiman...But brilliant as he might have been, Suleiman failed to consider the consequences of giving my people solid, mortal bodies."
Wow, I loved this book. From start to finish I was mesmerized by the colorful, descriptive magic Chakraborty details in The City of Brass, the debut novel in The Daevabad Trilogy.
The book is split into two narrators: Nahri and Ali, who live very different lives but end up entangled in each other's worlds soon enough. At the start, we're introduced to the Nahri, an Egyptian con-woman who uses her healing abilities to get by on the rough streets of Cairo, until one day she accidentally summons a being she didn't believe existed—a Daeva, or Djinn, as known to humans—and she soon learns that she is also a Daeva.
Spirited away on a journey with her protective Daeva—Dara—Nahri learns about the magical world around her, and the history of her long-lost family, the Nahid's—who were all murdered, the last of them when she was born 20 years ago. Nahri and Dara return to the city she should have been raised in, the city that was once ruled by her family, Daevabad, where she walks into the political divides between the six tribes of the Djinn, struggles to understand her own heritage and that of the usurpers that now rule the city.
There she meets Ali, the second son of the now-King of Daevabad, who we are now familiar with as a narrator. While Ali is a prince, he can never marry and is expected to be Qaid, or the head of his brother, Muntadhir, and future king's, protective guard. Ali has trained his entire life to be the ultimate fighter with his zulfiqar, a weapon unique to his tribe—but he also wants a better life for the Shafit, a group of people who have mixed Djinn and human blood, who are at the bottom of the class system and suffer under the city's reign. Ali is a deeply conflicted character, struggling against his family duty and what he believes to be right, all the while developing a friendship with Nahri, the last of the Nahid's, his ancestral enemy.
"Deadly and swift, it was nonetheless easily cured by a single visit to a Nahid. Except there weren't any more Nahids...There was no substitute for a Nahid healer, and that was a dark truth that most people—Ali included—tried not to think about."
Magic, politics, beauty, love, class, fear, and violence are all key features in this book and I loved every page. The myth of the Djinn brought to life was so much more fantastical, mesmerizing, and real than I ever thought it would be. Nahri was such a fantastic heroine to follow along with—feisty and powerful and unwilling to be taken advantage of by any of the men that attempt to do so. And while she and Ali seem to be on different ends of a political spectrum, they are actually so similar. Their friendship and the subsequent thin lines between what is right and what is political are so powerfully told in this story. The love story is complex and left me wanting more, even till the last page's ultimate cliffhanger. I cannot wait to pick up the rest of the story in The Kingdom of Copper.
"You're my Banu Nahida. This is my city...Nothing will keep me from either of you."
Rating: 5/5 stars
"Before his curse, all daevas were the same. We looked similar, spoke a single language, practiced identical rites...When Suleiman freed us, he scattered us across the world he knew, changing our tongues and appearances to mirror the humans in our new lands...
Daevastana...the land of the Daevas...it was said to be a violent, terrifying time. Most people embraced their new tribes, clinging together for survival and forming within the tribes caste groups determined by their new abilities. Some were shapeshifters, others could manipulate metals, some could conjure up rare goods, and so forth. None could do it all, and the tribes were too busy fighting each other to even consider revenge against Suleiman...But brilliant as he might have been, Suleiman failed to consider the consequences of giving my people solid, mortal bodies."
Wow, I loved this book. From start to finish I was mesmerized by the colorful, descriptive magic Chakraborty details in The City of Brass, the debut novel in The Daevabad Trilogy.
The book is split into two narrators: Nahri and Ali, who live very different lives but end up entangled in each other's worlds soon enough. At the start, we're introduced to the Nahri, an Egyptian con-woman who uses her healing abilities to get by on the rough streets of Cairo, until one day she accidentally summons a being she didn't believe existed—a Daeva, or Djinn, as known to humans—and she soon learns that she is also a Daeva.
Spirited away on a journey with her protective Daeva—Dara—Nahri learns about the magical world around her, and the history of her long-lost family, the Nahid's—who were all murdered, the last of them when she was born 20 years ago. Nahri and Dara return to the city she should have been raised in, the city that was once ruled by her family, Daevabad, where she walks into the political divides between the six tribes of the Djinn, struggles to understand her own heritage and that of the usurpers that now rule the city.
There she meets Ali, the second son of the now-King of Daevabad, who we are now familiar with as a narrator. While Ali is a prince, he can never marry and is expected to be Qaid, or the head of his brother, Muntadhir, and future king's, protective guard. Ali has trained his entire life to be the ultimate fighter with his zulfiqar, a weapon unique to his tribe—but he also wants a better life for the Shafit, a group of people who have mixed Djinn and human blood, who are at the bottom of the class system and suffer under the city's reign. Ali is a deeply conflicted character, struggling against his family duty and what he believes to be right, all the while developing a friendship with Nahri, the last of the Nahid's, his ancestral enemy.
"Deadly and swift, it was nonetheless easily cured by a single visit to a Nahid. Except there weren't any more Nahids...There was no substitute for a Nahid healer, and that was a dark truth that most people—Ali included—tried not to think about."
Magic, politics, beauty, love, class, fear, and violence are all key features in this book and I loved every page. The myth of the Djinn brought to life was so much more fantastical, mesmerizing, and real than I ever thought it would be. Nahri was such a fantastic heroine to follow along with—feisty and powerful and unwilling to be taken advantage of by any of the men that attempt to do so. And while she and Ali seem to be on different ends of a political spectrum, they are actually so similar. Their friendship and the subsequent thin lines between what is right and what is political are so powerfully told in this story. The love story is complex and left me wanting more, even till the last page's ultimate cliffhanger. I cannot wait to pick up the rest of the story in The Kingdom of Copper.
"You're my Banu Nahida. This is my city...Nothing will keep me from either of you."
Rating: 5/5 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, War, Slavery, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Rape
dracorum's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Slavery
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Rape
readergonewilde's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Medical content, Slavery, and Violence
mads_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Abandonment
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