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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
I wanted to love this, but it was a tough read since the main character spends most of the book trapped in a religious cult with an abusive leader.
One concept I would have loved to see more of: the guardswomen. In this highly gender-segregated society, the high-ranking women have female guards for protection, because it is forbidden for a man other than their father/brother/husband to look upon them. These guards are obviously therefore trained in combat and weaponry... and the men in the society are OK with this? So what happens if the guardswomen decide to rebel?
One concept I would have loved to see more of: the guardswomen. In this highly gender-segregated society, the high-ranking women have female guards for protection, because it is forbidden for a man other than their father/brother/husband to look upon them. These guards are obviously therefore trained in combat and weaponry... and the men in the society are OK with this? So what happens if the guardswomen decide to rebel?
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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:
Yes
Tasha Suri has quickly become one of my favourite writers! This book was yet again absolutely wonderful.
I've read The Jasmine Throne and The Oleander Sword before this one, and it's really cool to see Suri's writing develop into something even more beautiful in those later books. That said, this book is already really, really well done.
The prose is magical and poetic, but not too flowery. The pace is great. Mehr is established very solidly as her own person in her own circumstances before the plot winds take her.
The worldbuilding is wonderfully done; it feels like a big, expansive world that functions in a very real way. Whatever the reader needs to know about it is introduced very organically -- there are no lore dumps or overwhelming, difficult to understand information.
I love Mehr. She feels real. Her worries and shortcomings are so human and understandable. I especially loved how she admits to herself that even though she wants to think she seeks out company with the mystics because she'll use them in clever ways, it's actually because she's just lonely. I love that even during the darkest moments where Mehr has no control over her life, she looks for ways to give the chains that bind her meaning, and to find hope and joy by making her own choices.
Generally, Suri writes excellent, diverse characters. I always feel like extra care is taken in creating strong, very different female characters, which I appreciate very much.
I'm weak to slowburn romances, but god this one is so good. The buildup of it is just -- chef's kiss. So well done. Really natural development of relationships, and so lovely. I adored Amun, too.
All in all, very happy to have closed 2022 off with such a beautiful book.
I've read The Jasmine Throne and The Oleander Sword before this one, and it's really cool to see Suri's writing develop into something even more beautiful in those later books. That said, this book is already really, really well done.
The prose is magical and poetic, but not too flowery. The pace is great. Mehr is established very solidly as her own person in her own circumstances before the plot winds take her.
The worldbuilding is wonderfully done; it feels like a big, expansive world that functions in a very real way. Whatever the reader needs to know about it is introduced very organically -- there are no lore dumps or overwhelming, difficult to understand information.
I love Mehr. She feels real. Her worries and shortcomings are so human and understandable. I especially loved how she admits to herself that even though she wants to think she seeks out company with the mystics because she'll use them in clever ways, it's actually because she's just lonely. I love that even during the darkest moments where Mehr has no control over her life, she looks for ways to give the chains that bind her meaning, and to find hope and joy by making her own choices.
Generally, Suri writes excellent, diverse characters. I always feel like extra care is taken in creating strong, very different female characters, which I appreciate very much.
I'm weak to slowburn romances, but god this one is so good. The buildup of it is just -- chef's kiss. So well done. Really natural development of relationships, and so lovely. I adored Amun, too.
All in all, very happy to have closed 2022 off with such a beautiful book.
Hoo boy, this one was a bit dark and depressing. It gets better by the end, but coupled with the relatively slow pacing you end up spending a lot of time in some pretty dark places. It would have been better if I had read this at a different time, but regardless I can acknowledge that this was one heck of a story.
adventurous
emotional
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:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Very 2010s YA
I found the book a little underwhelming and riven with cliches, but that might entirely be because I young adult is not the genre for me right now.
The book does explore a few interesting themes, full of strong women characters and soft
The book does explore a few interesting themes, full of strong women characters and soft
I really enjoyed this. The world building was fascinating.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated