Reviews

The City of Brass
by S.A. Chakraborty
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow! Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this book. I don't even know where I'm gonna start because there were times while reading, I was hella confused. LOL!

I'm very new to Islamic Mythology. The author of this book is a Muslim by the way. It's really refreshing to delve into other themes and concepts because culture and tradition are explored in great detail. This is what I really love about reading fantasy series. It sets itself apart from other genres because of its sense of adventure, representation, and inclusion. It's also interesting that the author never misses the traditional part because she really wrote it very well from the food, clothes, prayers, behavior, and beliefs.

When I started reading this book, I absolutely didn't have any idea what it was all about. I'm like that with the books I read most of the time in order to avoid spoilers. The start is really interesting because the idea of summoning a djinn and a flying rug excited me so much, plus the cover is really pretty. Not only that, but also I feel like the twist is really gonna be shocking if the evil is actually good and vice versa. That's what I felt which didn't really happen by the way (yet? Hmm) That's what kept me going.

However, when Nahri and Dara reached Daevabad, my excitement slowly dissipated because the pace of the story went down and that's 40ish% in the book. I had to stop reading because I got bored 😭 so what I did, I watched some reviews from other readers in booktok and youtube to bring my excitement back. It didn't really do much but it's enough to motivate me to continue. I understand though because those moments introduce another important character to the story, Ali.

Ali is my favorite character so far. I think it's so much better if he ended up with Nahri. Because to be honest, I cannot feel the chemistry between Nahri and Dara. Their relationship is really sudden for me and it's a little bit cringe. On the other hand, I also think that the story can go on without the romance subplot. But it's still Book 1 though so there might be something more in the succeeding books.

The pace of the book picked up at around 80ish% so half the time I'm reading I was bored 🥹 it also doesn't help that there are some parts of the book I didn't understand so I was confused 😭 it took quiet a time for everything to be cleared. From this part until the end is the moment I decided to give it a 4 star. Gawd! That was definitely one hell of a ride. My mind cannot process the events because many things are happening. The events keep jumping from one to another.

The most significant one that really stuck to me was loyalty and love between siblings and a parent to his children. It was very intense and fierce love that it broke my heart. It's not the romance that made me cry but it was the love of a parent to his children. 🥹