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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
did not finish. quit at 5-10%. poly's not my thing, but if that's what you're into this could be the book for you!
A beautiful fantasy world where everyone's pansexual/bisexual and polyamorous and nobody bats an eye *dreamy sighs* Tbh this book is more like a collection of short stories revolved around characters living in Tavamara. It's wholesome and sweet. And I love that everyone gets along with everyone. I wish I could have more stories about Shah and his harem though especially now that he has Kiah. Those little short stories don't feel enough for me. And they all have a great dynamic too. I just wish it wasn't so SHORT.
None of these stories were very interesting and the writing style just didn't work for me.
emotional
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The King's Harem is a collection of short stories, some of which tie together to be a novella.
The biggest part of the book is, as the title says, about the men in the King's Harem and how they came to be there, thus switching between past and present about when they first met the king and how their relationship is like years later. The main characters are Shahjahan, the king of Tavamara; Nandakumar, a talented musician with a conspiring family; Beynum, a former pirate with unexpected loyalty; Aikhadour, who grew up in a temple and leaves it for the first time to visit the palace; Witcher, a bastard prince and commander of a foreign nation turned hostage, and Rakiah, a young noble and horse trainer.
The other three stories are vaguely related, some playing before and others after the events:
One is about Fahima, the queen and how she came to be Shahjahan's wife. The second is about Rook, a military stratetigst who lives with the desert tribes and can't seem to find his place, and the tribes' commander, and the third is about the future king's advisor who meets the love of his life on the famour Tavamaran market.
Overall the stories are nice and easy to read, but they all have one thing in common: insta love. Everyone is smitten and deeply committed on first sight (ok, second sight in one case) and I missed the development in the relationships.
There were also a handful of scenes that made me very uncomfortable with the way characters expressed their desire/possessiveness.
The biggest part of the book is, as the title says, about the men in the King's Harem and how they came to be there, thus switching between past and present about when they first met the king and how their relationship is like years later. The main characters are Shahjahan, the king of Tavamara; Nandakumar, a talented musician with a conspiring family; Beynum, a former pirate with unexpected loyalty; Aikhadour, who grew up in a temple and leaves it for the first time to visit the palace; Witcher, a bastard prince and commander of a foreign nation turned hostage, and Rakiah, a young noble and horse trainer.
The other three stories are vaguely related, some playing before and others after the events:
One is about Fahima, the queen and how she came to be Shahjahan's wife. The second is about Rook, a military stratetigst who lives with the desert tribes and can't seem to find his place, and the tribes' commander, and the third is about the future king's advisor who meets the love of his life on the famour Tavamaran market.
Overall the stories are nice and easy to read, but they all have one thing in common: insta love. Everyone is smitten and deeply committed on first sight (ok, second sight in one case) and I missed the development in the relationships.
There were also a handful of scenes that made me very uncomfortable with the way characters expressed their desire/possessiveness.
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a 5 chapter novella and 3 short stories in one book. But really it's 8 short stories since the novella is 5 discontinuous short stories.
Okay, sadly this was not my cup of tea. I really wish it was. I wanted something light and carefree and romantic and fun but this was a lot of tropes, cliches, boring straightforward plots, even some hetero stories. Most of them read like what a child imagines romance or politics looks like. Far too much "and then every stood up and clapped" material. I'm disappointed and annoyed and wished I still loved Derr's stories as much as when I discovered them.
One thing I have to say I am really starting to be annoyed at is authors who include POC but then constantly refer to them as "cinnamon" or "caramel" or "coffee" colored. Can we stop using food words to describe humans please?
Anyway, aside from that, let's talk about the stories. The King's Harem introduces each harem member and how they got there. I have to say the title sounds far more scandalous than the stories are. Mostly the stories are quite dull, normal fantasy backstories. Pretty forgettable for the most part. There's not much room here for depth or anything much of interest. In a way they read like DnD character backstories. I hate to say it, since I usually love Megan Derr's characters, but these needed more page time or something!
The other 3 novellas are mostly chaste (fade-to-black if there is anything more than kissing hands or cheeks) people finding True Love. I think. There's not a lot of details on backstory, other potential suitable partners, or even detail in general. The second to last story was especially boring traditional toxic masculinity wrapped up in "I'm a savage beast from the desert tribes" cliches. Most of the stories in this book suffer from savior complexes. By the end I was only reading to finish the book and mark it down as Not For Me.
Will I read more Derr? I don't know. I'm not happy with her early publications and feel like I should stick to everything post 2018 or nothing at all.
Okay, sadly this was not my cup of tea. I really wish it was. I wanted something light and carefree and romantic and fun but this was a lot of tropes, cliches, boring straightforward plots, even some hetero stories. Most of them read like what a child imagines romance or politics looks like. Far too much "and then every stood up and clapped" material. I'm disappointed and annoyed and wished I still loved Derr's stories as much as when I discovered them.
One thing I have to say I am really starting to be annoyed at is authors who include POC but then constantly refer to them as "cinnamon" or "caramel" or "coffee" colored. Can we stop using food words to describe humans please?
Anyway, aside from that, let's talk about the stories. The King's Harem introduces each harem member and how they got there. I have to say the title sounds far more scandalous than the stories are. Mostly the stories are quite dull, normal fantasy backstories. Pretty forgettable for the most part. There's not much room here for depth or anything much of interest. In a way they read like DnD character backstories. I hate to say it, since I usually love Megan Derr's characters, but these needed more page time or something!
The other 3 novellas are mostly chaste (fade-to-black if there is anything more than kissing hands or cheeks) people finding True Love. I think. There's not a lot of details on backstory, other potential suitable partners, or even detail in general. The second to last story was especially boring traditional toxic masculinity wrapped up in "I'm a savage beast from the desert tribes" cliches. Most of the stories in this book suffer from savior complexes. By the end I was only reading to finish the book and mark it down as Not For Me.
Will I read more Derr? I don't know. I'm not happy with her early publications and feel like I should stick to everything post 2018 or nothing at all.
This is a collection of short stories about the Tavamara Harem as well as other people connected to it. Quite the collection of very fascinating stories. While the first few stories are a little tamer, the farther you progress the hotter they get.
There was only one thing that irked me a little - I couldn't find a sentence in the book that really explained the dynamics of the harem: that the Queen and King could both have mistresses which are of the same sex. The reader can figure it out but there was no explanation of it anywhere in the book.
There was only one thing that irked me a little - I couldn't find a sentence in the book that really explained the dynamics of the harem: that the Queen and King could both have mistresses which are of the same sex. The reader can figure it out but there was no explanation of it anywhere in the book.