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ferlefur's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: War, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Suicide, and Homophobia
Minor: Torture
jessiereads98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I think partially I just wasn’t in the right headspace to read this book as I normally would. It took me longer to get through than books usually do.
Overall, I enjoyed this. It’s a complex story with complex characters. I really enjoy the unique magic system with multiple gods coming into play and in conflict with each other. I also appreciate the feminist themes woven beautifully into the story.
I did find the pacing in the first half of the book to be a bit slow and like it took a little long to get to things. It felt at times like the story was meandering and dragging its feet on getting where it was going. The pacing did pick up for a much more satisfying final half-third of the book.
I don’t fully enjoy Priya and Malini’s relationship. The power imbalance and Malini’s constant use of Priya and expecting Priya to always do what is best for her makes me somewhat uncomfortable. While I enjoy the relationship as one that is toxic and compelling and narratively interesting, I am not sure if that is the author’s intention or if I as a reader am meant to simply root for them as star crossed lovers. I understand the idea is for there to be a lot of moral greyness and none of these characters are perfect, nor would I want them to be. However, there are times where I find Malini’s treatment of Priya going past moral greyness to this is just an imbalanced power dynamic of a woman from a lower class being expected to serve one of a higher class and I don’t find it romantic.
Overall, I enjoyed this. It’s a complex story with complex characters. I really enjoy the unique magic system with multiple gods coming into play and in conflict with each other. I also appreciate the feminist themes woven beautifully into the story.
I did find the pacing in the first half of the book to be a bit slow and like it took a little long to get to things. It felt at times like the story was meandering and dragging its feet on getting where it was going. The pacing did pick up for a much more satisfying final half-third of the book.
I don’t fully enjoy Priya and Malini’s relationship. The power imbalance and Malini’s constant use of Priya and expecting Priya to always do what is best for her makes me somewhat uncomfortable. While I enjoy the relationship as one that is toxic and compelling and narratively interesting, I am not sure if that is the author’s intention or if I as a reader am meant to simply root for them as star crossed lovers. I understand the idea is for there to be a lot of moral greyness and none of these characters are perfect, nor would I want them to be. However, there are times where I find Malini’s treatment of Priya going past moral greyness to this is just an imbalanced power dynamic of a woman from a lower class being expected to serve one of a higher class and I don’t find it romantic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, War, Blood, Gore, Murder, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Grief
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Abandonment, Child death, Cursing, and Kidnapping
reading_for_pluto's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Xenophobia, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual content, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny
mlovesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
5.0
Tasha Suri, you've done it again. When can I get my hands on the third book?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Death, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia
wordwilderness's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
After the conclusion of The Jasmine Throne, I knew the tone and plot of The Oleander Sword were going to be different. At the end of The Jasmine Throne Malini escapes her imprisonment and begins her quest to overthrow her brother Chandra, the emperor of Parijatdvipa. Meanwhile, Priya remains in Ahiranya to rule alongside Bhumika as temple elders. With the separation of our two main characters and the expansion of the plot beyond Ahiranya, The Oleander Sword promised high stakes and a bloody battle for the Parijatdvipan empire.
Plot & Story Focus
One of my favorite parts of The Jasmine Throne was the development of Malini and Priya’s relationship, so I was worried about how their separation would affect my enjoyment of the sequel. I was also curious to see how the overall feel of the story would change as the focus moved from the characters’ relationships to the war for the empire. It turns out my worries were unwarranted. The Oleander Sword continued to revolve around its characters and their conflicts, even as the plot expanded.
Although The Oleander Sword continued to develop its characters and relationships, there’s no doubt it drifts further into epic fantasy than The Jasmine Throne with its widespread worldbuilding, epic battles, and the introduction of world-ending conflict. In my opinion, The Jasmine Throne toed the line between epic and high fantasy, because even though the conflict and worldbuilding spanned across an empire, most of the focus was aimed at Priya and Malini’s budding relationship. The story was always going to expand, but it does give The Oleander Sword a different feel than The Jasmine Throne.
Malini’s path of conquest was the main source of conflict in the story. I’m going to be honest, I usually don’t pay attention to large battles far beyond “swords, yay!”, and The Oleander Sword delivered in that area. What I loved most about this plotline was getting to see the conflict and tension between Malini and her allies.
Malini wasn’t the first in line for the throne, and unlike Chandra, she didn’t have powerful priests to back her claim to the throne. The only way she had any chance of defeating Chandra was by gaining powerful allies. We learn in The Jasmine Throne that Malini spent her time before being banished gathering allies, and The Oleander Sword is really where we get to see the results of her networking. Unfortunately, the promises she made to gain those allies were the promises of an emperor. Throughout the story, Malini must plan assaults against her brother’s armies while placating the allies she needs to defeat him. The tension this created made for an exciting story. I loved seeing the decisions Malini was forced to make, and the different side of her character it brought out.
Writing Style
I was incredibly impressed by how well Tasha Suri continued to weave together all her characters’ motivations and stories into the narrative. I enjoyed the multi-pov style in The Jasmine Throne, but I think The Oleander Sword is a much better example of how this writing style can bring empire-wide plotlines to life. While The Jasmine Throne mostly focused on Malini’s imprisonment with a few “side” plots, The Oleander Sword follows multiple conflicts that will determine the fate of the Parijatvipan Empire.
Tasha Suri also has a very vivid and elegant writing style that gives her stories a magical feel. It makes the story flow at a very gentle pace without getting boring. I also love how her depiction of certain scenes makes them linger in my mind like my own memories. When I think back to my favorite moments in the book, it feels like I was actually there.
When I finally decided to pick The Oleander Sword back up after classes ended, I decided to get the audiobook because I thought Suri’s writing would be best to listen to. I was right. Listening to The Oleander Sword audiobook was like being wrapped in a warm blanket and being told a bedtime story (albeit, a very dark and bloody one). After I finished listening to The Oleander Sword I decided I needed to go back and read the series from the beginning as audiobooks.
Characters
In terms of characters, The Oleander Sword continued with The Jasmine Throne’s themes of unlikely allies, the sacrifices it takes to gain power, and the development of our favorite sapphic power couple: Priya and Malini. There really wasn’t much room for improvement, in my opinion, but one difference between the first and second books was that the side characters felt more compelling. Bhumika was an especially interesting character to follow as she faced the consequences of seizing the power she needed to reclaim Ahiranya. I also really enjoyed seeing more of the relationship between Rao and Aditya. I wasn’t expecting there to be such a close, loving bond between the two, so it was a pleasant surprise. Whenever I reread the series, I want to pay more attention to Rao’s perspective because I missed some of their relationship dynamics just because I wasn’t looking for them. I was more focused on Priya/Malini, Priya/Bhumika, and Priya/Sima.
Speaking of, I loved getting to see more of Sima in The Oleander Sword. She got sidelined in the first book, but she has a lot of potential as a character. In this sequel, Sima demonstrated that she is exceptionally loyal and charming. One of the saddest parts of the book for me was seeing Sima struggle to hold on to her relationship with Priya as Priya continued to become more powerful and untouchable. Sima wanted to be the one to protect Priya, but how can you protect one of the most powerful humans in the empire? As the series continues, I’m really interested to see how Sima changes as a result of Priya’s choices. I think she has the potential to become a key player in the third book of the series.
Series Flow
Another thing that stood out to me in The Oleander Sword was just how perfectly it acted as the second book for a trilogy. This sequel reached an exciting climax for the original conflict while seamlessly weaving in new antagonists to set up the finale. In my experience, sequels often transition the original conflict to the third book for the finale or they only focus on setting up new conflict for the finale. In both cases, the second book in a trilogy can become dull because all it does is act as a transition between the first and third books. But The Oleander Sword managed to set up the final conflict without taking away from its own plotline.
You’ll Like This Book if You Enjoy…
- Epic fantasy
- Multi-POV books
- A large cast of characters
- Compelling and conflicted relationships
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Abandonment, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Misogyny, Violence, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Self harm, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
holyschmitz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.75
In this thrilling sequel to The Jasmine Throne, three main characters must reckon with the high cost of power. Dark secrets wait at the root of a strange and powerful magic; brutal war and waning faith surround the figure of a prophesied rule; new threats arise to challenge a newly freed country. With mysteries that draw readers further into the story and twists that keep them on their toes, The Oleander Sword takes the series in exciting directions. I'm rooting so hard for Priya, Malini, and Bhumika, even as their motives differ and their paths diverge, and I'm so exciting to see where Tasha Suri takes them next.
Themes: the impact of imperialism and war, religion, challenging misogyny and xenophobia within the context of the world, the cost of power and secrets, sapphic romance, complicated characters
Themes: the impact of imperialism and war, religion, challenging misogyny and xenophobia within the context of the world, the cost of power and secrets, sapphic romance, complicated characters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Alcohol, Body horror, Addiction, Racism, Misogyny, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, and War
Minor: Classism, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Animal death, Suicide, Self harm, and Homophobia
serena_hien's review
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Misogyny, Blood, Sexual content, Death, Xenophobia, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia
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