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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Book one, of what I can only assume, will be a trilogy. The story has a strong female lead who has complex and difficult relationships with her family, her culture, her country and her own identity. I liked that the story had more than the standard heroine-meets-evil-undercover-hero storyline. She has genuine affection for her friend's brother and mourns him sincerely. He has a painful relationship with the woman is not meant to have loved. They both have a painful pasts that is referenced during their interactions quite fluidly.
Frustratingly, in the end most main characters somehow end up related to each other. It's very Bollywood high-drama, but still forgivable. The mythology of the story is intricate and sometimes difficult to follow, but the characters are multidimensional and believable. You understand the impact the belief system has on them, if not the system itself. I would definitely read this if you're tired of the current paranormal romance formula.
Frustratingly, in the end most main characters somehow end up related to each other. It's very Bollywood high-drama, but still forgivable. The mythology of the story is intricate and sometimes difficult to follow, but the characters are multidimensional and believable. You understand the impact the belief system has on them, if not the system itself. I would definitely read this if you're tired of the current paranormal romance formula.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked this, but I did have to come back to it a second time around, as the first listen to didn't really vibe with me or I zoned out/literally fell asleep while listening (honestly great while travelling). I'm glad I came back to it, but I'll be circling back to the next in the series when I have more brain capacity.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- With the premise being "People lived because she killed. People died because he lived." you would think there is no way this is boring, but damn it is… I considered DNFing this, it feels like I finished this for the sake of finishing it tbh.
- By the time I am writing this review, I read this 3 months ago and haven’t thought about it once so it’s safe to say I won’t even pick up that second book. I am sooo over famous duology to end up being a disappointment to me, I won’t waste my time like I did last year lol
- I think at the beginning this was a cool concept but it quickly turned into something I don’t like, that last 30%? was HARD to finish (I literally fall asleep lmao). I didn’t care at all about either the girl or the boy. To begin with, this would’ve been better if they were in their 20s! But sure it had to be a 16yo girl because only she would’ve seen her best friend being killed and still have this stupid tension with the mysterious boy and fall for him.
- Looking back, how the hell did I even finished this when EVERYTHING was telling me to DNF lmao the youtube reviews said they loved it but they were so vague as to WHY exactly they loved it, the goodreads reviews were mixed and the first one I saw was a one star…
- I wasn’t even paying attention to this by the end, I have no idea what happened most of the time (and I didn’t care), bye.
- Anyways, 2 ⭐ I guess! Which I hate because I promised myself I would not rate anything lower than 3 stars this year because if the book was bad I would’ve DNF it… and yeah, this definitely goes in my should’ve DNF category lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Murder
Moderate: Misogyny
I thought this book was lovely! The setting is beautiful and it’s refreshing to see a developed, rich fantasy world based on Middle Eastern culture. I didn’t LOVE it as much as I expected to (the plot fell a little bit short for me, and Hafsah’s writing style is less detail-oriented than I tend to favor) but it was still a delightful read. I enjoyed the characters, especially Nasir, and I’m looking forward to the second book.
adventurous
medium-paced
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The pacing at the beginning was really slow and things didn’t seem to pick up until page 130ish where they actually embark on the journey. I got some serious Katniss vibes from Zafira and I really liked it to be honest. I love female characters that don’t give a single fuck about what men want her to do but in a believable way that doesn’t feel like pandering. I liked the world building and it felt like a new place that was different than what I’m used to seeing in YA. I also really liked the romance. I thought there was juuuust enough tension and “forbidden” element to it. However, if Zafira thought he killed Deen then I’m not sure I understand how she could even continue traveling with him. She may not have wanted to marry him and he’s the “easy choice” and totally meant to die from the start but I feel like she loved him enough in other ways to want revenge more than to share longing glances with his possible killer. YA tends to throw aside reason for romance which can be true to life but not when it comes to the murder of someone you love right in front of your eyes that traumatizes you so much you see them in the ifrit I feel like that shit can’t slide. I did like the assassin prince and his cool newfound powers of darkness and I loved seeing his monster to man transition. He was claiming himself the same way Zafira was. I also really liked the rag tag group of travelers that ended up joining together for this quest. I liked how each one of them had a tiny piece of the puzzle and had their own intentions and drive.
I loved the world and the characters and the plot enough to overlook the slow pacing in the beginning and tropey romance and I will definitely continue reading this series!
I loved the world and the characters and the plot enough to overlook the slow pacing in the beginning and tropey romance and I will definitely continue reading this series!
I probably would have liked this more if i was more in the mood for ya action/romance, alas i was not.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-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
I really liked this. It was different than I was expecting but I'm not mad about it. The vibes are somewhere between the daevabad trilogy (expected) and the winternight trilogy (unexpected) though definitely not as good as either of those... I hate to say it that way but those are two of my all time favorite trilogies and while this was super good and I really enjoyed it, I am not obsessed the way I was with those books. I am looking forward to book 2 though and who knows, maybe it will raise the bar and this duology will be a new fave. Time will tell.