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bookish_emily's review against another edition
4.0
Fatima is a slave girl born and raised in the harem of the Sultan of Grenada. Hassan, the palace mapmaker with a miraculous gift, is her only true friend. When a Catholic envoy comes to claim Grenada in the name of the Spanish monarchs and discovers Hassan's "blasphemous" talent, Fatima convinces him to escape with her. Aided by supernatural friends, Fatima and Hassan must make their way to safety while being hounded by the Catholics, and in particular a cunning and ruthless woman named Luz who is determined to fulfill her religious calling at all costs.
A story of friendship, love, strength, faith, and perseverance, above all The Bird King is a message of tolerance. Strip away differences such as language and wealth, and at the core we are all human, and faith is not about the trappings of organized religion but about belief and love. This beautifully written journey of self-discovery connects you to each character and through the wondering eyes of Fatima, who has never been outside the palace, makes you appreciate the world anew. Somewhat of a cross between The Alchemist and a fairy tale, The Bird King is perfect for fans of magical realism.
A story of friendship, love, strength, faith, and perseverance, above all The Bird King is a message of tolerance. Strip away differences such as language and wealth, and at the core we are all human, and faith is not about the trappings of organized religion but about belief and love. This beautifully written journey of self-discovery connects you to each character and through the wondering eyes of Fatima, who has never been outside the palace, makes you appreciate the world anew. Somewhat of a cross between The Alchemist and a fairy tale, The Bird King is perfect for fans of magical realism.
rinbee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
carroll79's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
orlion's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
thirdtimesacharm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Death, War, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Medical content
kelalycat's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
deathmetalheron's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Torture
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and Xenophobia
leafblade's review against another edition
2.0
I got an ARC of this book via NetGalley.
As someone with a heavy Spanish family tree, I really wanted to enjoy this book. Most of my Spanish relatives were assholes, rapists, slave-owners and so on, so I wanted to read an accurate historical take on the whole thing. With fantasy elements, of course, because otherwise I'd be reading the wikipedia page for the inquisitions.
But what I encountered in this book, overall, was a mess of elements.
We had the history part, about the muslim not-Spain part of actual Spain and the, uh, Spanish speaking people. And their conflicts, specially evangelization. But it honestly didn't feel well fleshed out at all? It almost seemed like the author got us away from it all because she didn't know how to explain what was going on anymore. Like she had a mess of places and languages and events and she didn't know how to make the characters fit in it except for the premise of the book, so she just made them run away.
The Spanish in this book is not good, and it couldn't have been more than a couple sentences. It's "señora", not "senora". The Ñ sound is WAY different from the N and it's just how the word is written. Just because there isn't a sound for it in English doesn't mean you have to change it for the closest looking letter. And "oido" is not the same as "oído". There are accents in Spanish words for a reason (phonetics), and it always ends up seeming like your Spanish characters don't know how to speak their own language.
Hassan's magic was so so so beautiful and we saw so little of it!!! He's the reason Fatima had to run away, we should've gotten more of it!!
The island part gave me strong Uprooted vibes. It was kinda weird to be honest and it felt like it didn't go well with the first half of the book. Like it should've been a second part, or a different thing altogether. A lot of people were introduced in the last third of the book, and it was confusing af. I didn't even get to know them and they were already dating the MCs or dying!!
I don't think I liked how the gay character was handled, either. He liked every single thing that stood in two legs and had abs, even a half-dog, furry-esque thousand years old jinni. He was jealous of Fatima for kissing/having sex with other men, even though we're told multiple times he has been in relationships before. In the end he gets a boyfriend but makes sure to let her (jealous, obv) bff Fatima that he loves her more. Which would be cute, if he hadn't been the gay best friend trope impersonated. This type of representation is way obsolete in 2019.
(despite all of this he was STILL my fav character)
And last bc I know it's not the author's fault and it doesn't impact my rating: there were many many many italized sentences, but they were like in a different format than the rest of the book? Sometimes they were a bit below the normal sentence they were after, or a bit above, and sometimes they changed lines so you would read (invented example)
"He raised his head and said ' ' with tears in his eyes. Fatima"
So sometimes it seemed like another character was saying it, or that it was a complete different sentence, and it got confusing to read, even more so not being a native English speaker myself. I hope it can be fixed for the actual ebook release.
As someone with a heavy Spanish family tree, I really wanted to enjoy this book. Most of my Spanish relatives were assholes, rapists, slave-owners and so on, so I wanted to read an accurate historical take on the whole thing. With fantasy elements, of course, because otherwise I'd be reading the wikipedia page for the inquisitions.
But what I encountered in this book, overall, was a mess of elements.
We had the history part, about the muslim not-Spain part of actual Spain and the, uh, Spanish speaking people. And their conflicts, specially evangelization. But it honestly didn't feel well fleshed out at all? It almost seemed like the author got us away from it all because she didn't know how to explain what was going on anymore. Like she had a mess of places and languages and events and she didn't know how to make the characters fit in it except for the premise of the book, so she just made them run away.
The Spanish in this book is not good, and it couldn't have been more than a couple sentences. It's "señora", not "senora". The Ñ sound is WAY different from the N and it's just how the word is written. Just because there isn't a sound for it in English doesn't mean you have to change it for the closest looking letter. And "oido" is not the same as "oído". There are accents in Spanish words for a reason (phonetics), and it always ends up seeming like your Spanish characters don't know how to speak their own language.
Hassan's magic was so so so beautiful and we saw so little of it!!! He's the reason Fatima had to run away, we should've gotten more of it!!
The island part gave me strong Uprooted vibes. It was kinda weird to be honest and it felt like it didn't go well with the first half of the book. Like it should've been a second part, or a different thing altogether. A lot of people were introduced in the last third of the book, and it was confusing af. I didn't even get to know them and they were already dating the MCs or dying!!
I don't think I liked how the gay character was handled, either. He liked every single thing that stood in two legs and had abs, even a half-dog, furry-esque thousand years old jinni. He was jealous of Fatima for kissing/having sex with other men, even though we're told multiple times he has been in relationships before. In the end he gets a boyfriend but makes sure to let her (jealous, obv) bff Fatima that he loves her more. Which would be cute, if he hadn't been the gay best friend trope impersonated. This type of representation is way obsolete in 2019.
(despite all of this he was STILL my fav character)
And last bc I know it's not the author's fault and it doesn't impact my rating: there were many many many italized sentences, but they were like in a different format than the rest of the book? Sometimes they were a bit below the normal sentence they were after, or a bit above, and sometimes they changed lines so you would read (invented example)
"He raised his head and said ' ' with tears in his eyes. Fatima"
So sometimes it seemed like another character was saying it, or that it was a complete different sentence, and it got confusing to read, even more so not being a native English speaker myself. I hope it can be fixed for the actual ebook release.
alchaea's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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
ecross_poppy's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I think I'm a little confused on the ending but I had a blast reading it and that's really my goal right now.