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n0elle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, War, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
dragoninwinterfell's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.0
The Jasad Heir is a solid debut novel and first installment of a series. Though it has a slow start with too much info dumping, once the story gets going and the characters are firmly introduced, the book is engaging.
The protagonist, Sylvia, is a morally grey heroine with a tragic past filled with loss and abuse. Having lost her family and status as a princess during a war, she lives as a commoner, hiding her identity as well as her restrained magic. I really loved the complexity of Sylvia's character and following her through each difficult choice and harsh revelation from her past. She felt very real.
While I'm not usually a fan of enemies to lovers romances, the dynamic between Sylvia and Arin is the best example I've seen of the trope. They are natural enemies as he is the son of the man who overthrew her family and the way their relationship progresses is authentic.
I'm really looking forward to the next installment of this series.
The protagonist, Sylvia, is a morally grey heroine with a tragic past filled with loss and abuse. Having lost her family and status as a princess during a war, she lives as a commoner, hiding her identity as well as her restrained magic. I really loved the complexity of Sylvia's character and following her through each difficult choice and harsh revelation from her past. She felt very real.
While I'm not usually a fan of enemies to lovers romances, the dynamic between Sylvia and Arin is the best example I've seen of the trope. They are natural enemies as he is the son of the man who overthrew her family and the way their relationship progresses is authentic.
I'm really looking forward to the next installment of this series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Police brutality, Violence, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and War
soniajoy98's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Torture, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Incest, Rape, Child death, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and War
ellierumoo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
5.0
I absolutely devoured this book. I thought the plot was compelling, the characters were inescapably loveable, and I felt a stomach lurching sadness as I flipped closer and closer to the end of the page count. I anxiously awaited this book release, and I already can't wait for the next one!
I think you'd like this book if you like:Zuko (ATLA), Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice), The Hunger Games, Enemies to Lovers Tropes, ACOMAF, Iron Widow, and complex morally grey characters
I think you'd like this book if you like:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Genocide, Gore, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Body horror
Minor: Confinement, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
Minor horror elements, and war themes present throughout. No torture or SA on page, but lots of pain and violence.bittersweetcritiques's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.0
“It wasn’t a choice based on practicality..."
To have loved and loathed a character in such equal measure and to have been constantly unsure of where innocence ended and betrayal began, I have found myself completely consumed by The Jasad Heir. A story so well spun it will take ages to unravel all the various plot threads.
To have loved and loathed a character in such equal measure and to have been constantly unsure of where innocence ended and betrayal began, I have found myself completely consumed by The Jasad Heir. A story so well spun it will take ages to unravel all the various plot threads.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Violence, and War
maaikereadsbooks_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Many thanks to Little, Brown Books and Sara Hashem for the advanced copy of The Jasad Heir via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.
A solid fantasy series beginning!
Although slow to start, and perhaps following a slightly predictable format, Sara Hashem uses excellent world-building techniques to create an intriguing society with mysterious factions hiding in spooky forests, questionable spectres hiding in the protagonist’s mind, holding entire conversations, and power-hungry politicians stepping on the lower classes to get what they want (where have we seen that before?!).
I did get lost at times with all the new words, deities, etc in the five languages featured in the books, it didn’t hamper the reading process.
I am a character reader and there was plenty of character-building and development in this book, but not at the detriment of the development and pacing of the plot.
It took a while to really get into the book, but once I did, I was hooked, and I found that, the more engaging the book became, the more the pace picked up. The pace varied from slow in the beginning to fast in the end, so I’ll even the overall pacing in my ratings to ‘medium’.
There is a romantic element but it’s very slow burn and suitable for younger teens as the spice only goes up to kissing with no mention of anything beyond this.
Overall I recommend this book, especially to those who enjoy a fantasy series with explained magic systems.
Tropes: enemies/friends to lovers, forbidden love, forced proximity, lover(s) in denial, orphan, peril, secret royal
Spice: 1/5
Trigger warnings: Blood/Gore, Death, Death of a family member, Genocide, Grief, Poisoning, Violence, Weapons
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Genocide
meltingpages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
This did take a little bit for me to get into, there's a lot of world building thrown at you right away so it took a little bit of time for me to figure out what was going on. Once I got everything straight in my head though I really ended up enjoying this! I loved Sylvia as a character, she's so complex and how she feels about her culture is so fascinating. She also goes through a lot of growth and you can see her coming to terms with her past and what her future should and could be. The trials Sylvia competes in were a surprise, as they weren't really mentioned in the synopsis past mentioning a game, which I took to be a game of political intrigue, not a literal game. I'm all for Sylvia getting revenge for her people and taking her kingdom back and making it better than it was before. I'm all for morally gray characters, and Sylvia and Arin are the epitome of that. I also ended up really loving the Egyptian inspired world, with all the history and culture. I will say though one of the downsides to reading the arc is that you don't get the map, which I always use to help center myself and get an idea of what the world actually looks like and where all the locations are in reference to each other, especially in a book like this where they're travelling around from one kingdom to another. Overall though, I'm so excited about this book, and I'm even more excited for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation
vohak's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
4.0
Whew, what a book! Jasad Heir started a little slow with Sylvia, an orphaned chemist's apprentice who lives in a small town. Unfortunately she's also the heir to a magical neighboring nation that was destroyed when she was a child, it's citizens hunted ever since. We follow Sylvia and another dangerous royal, Arin, as they prepare for a tournament, encounter resistance groups, battle their own demons, and fight with/for each other.
This book surprised me several times, made me laugh out loud, made me cry, and made me hope. My only problem is that now I have to wait for the sequel.
This book surprised me several times, made me laugh out loud, made me cry, and made me hope. My only problem is that now I have to wait for the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, War, Torture, and Child abuse
alienor's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
5.0
Review to come closer to release date but I LOVED IT SO MUCH
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Physical abuse, War, and Death
Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual assault
fms2000's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
the Jasad Heir was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and not only did it live up to every expectation, but it also went far beyond. this book wrecked me and consumed me—Hashem’s story ideas, writing, and storytelling is absolutely incredible. I’m so in love with Sylvia and Arin—both together and as individual characters—they were written to perfection with a perfect sprinkling of all the best enemies to lovers tropes. in that regard, all of the characters are epic and dynamic and their own wonderfully developed individual people that you feel you get to know over the course of the story. this book was devastating (in the most perfect way you hope the best books to be) if slightly incomplete. the political intrigue was incredible, the motif of love throughout the story was felt so deeply, and I’m so excited to see how these journeys continue in book two. my one piece of feedback about the story at large is that the pacing is a little messy throughout which makes it harder to follow the plot in some places. for example, there are times when a plot point or twist is revealed vaguely and based on the character’s reaction to that event it can be hard to tell if as a reader I missed important context or if the intention was to keep this content more concealed. because of this pacing challenge sometimes the plot fell through as it lacked clarity, and at times the story jumped around (with little insight into character’s reflections) more when I wanted it to linger, and where lingering might have served the storyline better. the uneven pacing makes the world building a little hard to understand in some places, but doesn’t take away from the content or overall quality of the book. I can’t believe I have to wait so long for book two! I will be a faithful reader of all Sara Hashem’s books from here on out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Suicide
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