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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
LITERALLY THE TWO MAINS NASIR AND ZAFIRA ARE THE MOONS OF MY SOUL <3 I LOVE THEM SO GODAMN MUCH I DONT KNOW HOW TO MOVE ON I CANT WAIT TO DIEEEEEE IN BOOK 2 AFTER HOW BOOK 1 ENDED.
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:
Yes
Ach. I‘m somewhat upset. I really liked A Tempest of Tea, and so I was looking forward to reading this. I should probably make allowances, because this is the author‘s debut oeuvre, so an extra half point, maybe. Anyway.
This was disappointing. I actually liked the world-building. Sure, the names of places are extremely on the nose, but I‘m not mad about it. I like the Arabian Nights setting, and any new take will always interest me. The world shown here really has immense potential.
Which is promptly ruined by the characters. Yes, this is YA. I understand. But the implication in a story like this is always that these 19 year olds, that have had to grow up fast because of outside factors, are, in fact, a different kind of 19 year old than your average high school/college kid. But the immaturity is not even what I‘m so upset about, it‘s the general whininess. If I have to hear/read* the novel‘s equivalent of „oh my god“! one more time, I will probably throw up. Yes, yes, you are too young to bear such burdens! The world is most unfair! Nobody has suffered as you have! Except the reader.
Worst of all, there is absolutely zero reason for the protagonists to believe themselves in love. Zero. Either one of them had better chemistry with literally any other person they met.
* I half listened, half read this book, and I have to say, I hate the female voice actor‘s performance with the heat of Sharr‘s own merciless sun. The whimpering. The slight catch, the subtle break in the voice, even in situations where there was nothing to be upset about. I was close to doing my head phones a violence. The guy actor? I simply didn‘t care.
The twists, while none too twisty (I hate it when I figure out „the mystery“ before the characters do), were acceptably intriguing. And the secondary characters are actually interesting. Again, there is just so much wasted potential.
This is the first book of a duology, and it ends in a cliffhanger. And while I am somewhat interested in finding out how it all ends, I don‘t see myself actually reading a whole second book. So, if anybody wants to give me a rundown of what happens in the second book, feel free to tell me!
This was disappointing. I actually liked the world-building. Sure, the names of places are extremely on the nose, but I‘m not mad about it. I like the Arabian Nights setting, and any new take will always interest me. The world shown here really has immense potential.
Which is promptly ruined by the characters. Yes, this is YA. I understand. But the implication in a story like this is always that these 19 year olds, that have had to grow up fast because of outside factors, are, in fact, a different kind of 19 year old than your average high school/college kid. But the immaturity is not even what I‘m so upset about, it‘s the general whininess. If I have to hear/read* the novel‘s equivalent of „oh my god“! one more time, I will probably throw up. Yes, yes, you are too young to bear such burdens! The world is most unfair! Nobody has suffered as you have! Except the reader.
Worst of all, there is absolutely zero reason for the protagonists to believe themselves in love. Zero. Either one of them had better chemistry with literally any other person they met.
* I half listened, half read this book, and I have to say, I hate the female voice actor‘s performance with the heat of Sharr‘s own merciless sun. The whimpering. The slight catch, the subtle break in the voice, even in situations where there was nothing to be upset about. I was close to doing my head phones a violence. The guy actor? I simply didn‘t care.
The twists, while none too twisty (I hate it when I figure out „the mystery“ before the characters do), were acceptably intriguing. And the secondary characters are actually interesting. Again, there is just so much wasted potential.
This is the first book of a duology, and it ends in a cliffhanger. And while I am somewhat interested in finding out how it all ends, I don‘t see myself actually reading a whole second book. So, if anybody wants to give me a rundown of what happens in the second book, feel free to tell me!
adventurous
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
I picked this up after I saw the live-action Aladdin because I was in the mood for some Arabian fantasy (and lucky for me, Owlcrate had coincidentally just sent out an Arabian fantasy novel). Sadly, I found myself underwhelmed. I feel like there's a lot of potential here, but the plot and world-building were meh and the characters never quite made it past caricatures of YA tropes I've seen a thousand times before. I wanted so badly to be invested in the zumra, but the group dynamics fell a little flat. Nevertheless, I did make it to the end, so there must have been something going right that kept me reading.
adventurous
mysterious
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
I'm pretty sure the author didn't intend for Zafira and Yasmine's relationship to be read romantically, although there were some scenes I was like she for sure knows what she's doing, but it felt so obvious to me that they were in love.
Promise me," Yasmine said softly, "that if you die, you will die fighting to return to me."
Zafira struggled to smile. "I would kiss you goodbye, but your husband wouldn't like it."
It was honestly very confusing to read lol. Everyone had chemistry except the characters that were actually supposed to get together. I did not like the romance between Zafira and Nasir. I didn't so much like Nasir in general, but specifically the way the romance was handled bugged me. It was enemies to lovers where they were supposed to not like each other, but also obviously supposed to like each other despite not liking each other. Regardless of how I felt about the development of the romance (poorly),
I felt the same about the zumra. Supposed to be reluctant allies, but the only way that was portrayed was with superficial bonding and then fighting. The emotions of the characters seemed to flop back and forth, so anything any of them ever said or did felt random.
There were some aspects of the main character disguising herself as a man that made me uncomfortable. It was emphasized so much that she had a hard time tricking people because she was so "womanly" and then describing what those features were, made me feel dysphoric.
Reading into every interaction between Zafira and Yasmine was pretty much the only thing I liked about this book. The writing was very beautiful when describing the setting, and I did enjoy the world-building, but all that kinda dissipated halfway through, and this book is so long.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-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:
Yes
I’d like to thank me for gathering the strength and determination that was needed for finishing this book. A weaker person (and also someone who didn’t own the sequel and felt it was needed to at least finish the first book before selling them on Vinted) would’ve given up.