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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Buddy read with the lovely Anouk ♡. First of all thank you Anouk for being strong with me until we finished this book. You are absolutely right, we need a trophy for simply finishing this...
To say it simply : absolutely nothing happens in the book. There is no world-building, no events, nothing. The only thing keeping me from rating this book a 0 is Hazan's character (who isn't even a main character) and the beautiful world even if we barely know anything about it.
Unfortunately Mafi keeps this story very shallow. She never dives deep enough to give us more. Everything is topical, from the conversations, to the events even the world-building. The book was also missing characters. Why does such a "big" fantasy world only have like 4 important people to talk about?
The addition of Cyrus's character was interesting although he only does 1 thing.
There was so much purple prose: basically poetic writing that leads nowhere. Which makes me believe Tahereh Mafi can write beautifully but she chose to tell a shallow story...
The second part of this review will probably be full of SPOILERS so bear with me.
Alizeh, the girl with ice in her veins was really odd in this book. She was a completely different character than in the first book. First of all, she was completely smitten by Kamran and now suddenly she is down bad for Cyrus? She NEVER once mentions Kamran? Like how did you forget about him so quickly? Like COMPLETELY forget his existence.
Isn't Alizeh supposed to be this POWERFUL jinn that will unite Clay and Fire and Wove a kingdom. She is supposed to be a badass, yet the only thing she is is a dramatic girl who is lost in the sauce?
On the other side, Kamran is ONLY thinking of Alizeh. He wants to travel to Tulan to find her. To do what? No one really knows.
Kamran is supposedly the king now. Does he act like it? NOPE. We never have a coronation scene. It just gets swept under the rug like everything else. He just continues being melodramatic and mopping around. The only thing he has thought or talked about since the first page is how to get back to Alizeh. Who, mind you, has forgotten his existence...
In the beginning of the book Kamran gets stabbed by his mom who wasn't present in the first book. He knows it's her because of her special dagger. He freaks out for a little while and then no one mentions anything about it at all? Like what's happening there?
Then we have Cyrus who we find out is completely in love with Alizeh but he saw her only once prior to this book. Furthermore, Cyrus is being tortured by the devil for 70% of the book? Yet we don't really know why. We know he owes the devil a great deed and the only way to pay it back is by forcing Alizeh to marry him. He wants her to marry him, then kill him and take his kingdom. How does that make sense? If you wanna die why do you care so much about repaying the devil?
I was so sure we would find out why Cyrus killed his father, why he thought he was unfit to rule etc.
Then, we are introduced to his mom who wants Alizeh to plot revenge and kill Cyrus for her. We also don't really know why except that she is mad Cyrus killed his dad. We never have another scene between Alizeh and his mom. So she expects Alizeh to just go do terrible things for her but not talk to her anymore?
Anyway, that book was a chaotic mess and I am ending my rant here or I won't shut up.
Mainly I can't fathom how this book has a 4.23 avg rating.
If you made it this far, thank you!
To say it simply : absolutely nothing happens in the book. There is no world-building, no events, nothing. The only thing keeping me from rating this book a 0 is Hazan's character (who isn't even a main character) and the beautiful world even if we barely know anything about it.
Unfortunately Mafi keeps this story very shallow. She never dives deep enough to give us more. Everything is topical, from the conversations, to the events even the world-building. The book was also missing characters. Why does such a "big" fantasy world only have like 4 important people to talk about?
The addition of Cyrus's character was interesting although he only does 1 thing.
There was so much purple prose: basically poetic writing that leads nowhere. Which makes me believe Tahereh Mafi can write beautifully but she chose to tell a shallow story...
The second part of this review will probably be full of SPOILERS so bear with me.
Isn't Alizeh supposed to be this POWERFUL jinn that will unite Clay and Fire and Wove a kingdom. She is supposed to be a badass, yet the only thing she is is a dramatic girl who is lost in the sauce?
On the other side, Kamran is ONLY thinking of Alizeh. He wants to travel to Tulan to find her. To do what? No one really knows.
Kamran is supposedly the king now. Does he act like it? NOPE. We never have a coronation scene. It just gets swept under the rug like everything else. He just continues being melodramatic and mopping around. The only thing he has thought or talked about since the first page is how to get back to Alizeh. Who, mind you, has forgotten his existence...
In the beginning of the book Kamran gets stabbed by his mom who wasn't present in the first book. He knows it's her because of her special dagger. He freaks out for a little while and then no one mentions anything about it at all? Like what's happening there?
Then we have Cyrus who we find out is completely in love with Alizeh but he saw her only once prior to this book. Furthermore, Cyrus is being tortured by the devil for 70% of the book? Yet we don't really know why. We know he owes the devil a great deed and the only way to pay it back is by forcing Alizeh to marry him. He wants her to marry him, then kill him and take his kingdom. How does that make sense? If you wanna die why do you care so much about repaying the devil?
I was so sure we would find out why Cyrus killed his father, why he thought he was unfit to rule etc.
Then, we are introduced to his mom who wants Alizeh to plot revenge and kill Cyrus for her. We also don't really know why except that she is mad Cyrus killed his dad. We never have another scene between Alizeh and his mom. So she expects Alizeh to just go do terrible things for her but not talk to her anymore?
Anyway, that book was a chaotic mess and I am ending my rant here or I won't shut up.
Mainly I can't fathom how this book has a 4.23 avg rating.
If you made it this far, thank you!
2.5 stars
People who think These Infinite Threads was too slow are probably just desensitized by the thousands of other books that rely on instant-love or instant-lust storylines. What this book does exceptionally well, better than any other romance I’ve read this year, is build genuine chemistry between the two main characters. Their dynamic is electric, emotional, and addicting (all too bad that it happened during such a short span of time tho).
Where the book falters is whenever the spotlight shifts away from them. Instead, we’re forced to follow Kamran, emo boy gone rogue, for, unfortunately, about half the book. The pacing also feels oddly compressed. More than halfway through, Kamran reflects on the climax of the previous book and casually drops that it happened just a day ago. Characters should be allowed to breathe, letting a few weeks pass would’ve made the emotional stakes more natural.
The “big bad” barely makes an appearance, and the found-family/ragtag group trope tied to Kamran’s plotline feels forced. These characters barely know each other, certainly not enough to form the kind of bond the book tries to sell us after 48 hours together. Honestly, this book suffers because it’s still dragging the weight of a previous installment that was underwhelming at best. Characters from that first book hijack the narrative here without bringing much interest or development.
If I could rewrite the structure: condense the first part of the previous book to maybe 200 pages, drop Kamran’s character entirely, and introduce Cyrus (my beloved YEARNER) earlier. The story would be far stronger for it.
Also, while the prose in this book is beautiful and often alive with feeling, it leans too far into a storybook tone that doesn't quite match the darker, more grounded vibe it’s aiming for.
Kamran's part, 2/5, Alizeh's and Cyrus' nearly a 4/5 had their characters been fleshed out more (looking at you Alizeh) and had the story focused in on their relationship.
People who think These Infinite Threads was too slow are probably just desensitized by the thousands of other books that rely on instant-love or instant-lust storylines. What this book does exceptionally well, better than any other romance I’ve read this year, is build genuine chemistry between the two main characters. Their dynamic is electric, emotional, and addicting (all too bad that it happened during such a short span of time tho).
Where the book falters is whenever the spotlight shifts away from them. Instead, we’re forced to follow Kamran, emo boy gone rogue, for, unfortunately, about half the book. The pacing also feels oddly compressed. More than halfway through, Kamran reflects on the climax of the previous book and casually drops that it happened just a day ago. Characters should be allowed to breathe, letting a few weeks pass would’ve made the emotional stakes more natural.
The “big bad” barely makes an appearance, and the found-family/ragtag group trope tied to Kamran’s plotline feels forced. These characters barely know each other, certainly not enough to form the kind of bond the book tries to sell us after 48 hours together. Honestly, this book suffers because it’s still dragging the weight of a previous installment that was underwhelming at best. Characters from that first book hijack the narrative here without bringing much interest or development.
If I could rewrite the structure: condense the first part of the previous book to maybe 200 pages, drop Kamran’s character entirely, and introduce Cyrus (my beloved YEARNER) earlier. The story would be far stronger for it.
Also, while the prose in this book is beautiful and often alive with feeling, it leans too far into a storybook tone that doesn't quite match the darker, more grounded vibe it’s aiming for.
Kamran's part, 2/5, Alizeh's and Cyrus' nearly a 4/5 had their characters been fleshed out more (looking at you Alizeh) and had the story focused in on their relationship.
well, i started this book today, and i finished it today, so it’s officially the fastest ive ever read a book. wow. i loved this book so much. i love deen, hazan, cyrus, alizeh, omid, and i hate the rest! :)
i loveddd this bookkk
okay but im pissed off at alizeh. why did she say no to cyrus??? why??? it doesnt make sense. cyrus is obviously the right choice and the fact that she doesnt see that physically pains me. omg i felt so bad for cyrus. i almost cried for him. and chapter 29. oh my god chapter 29. my favourite chapter. oh. my. god. the heartbreak, the betrayal, the confessions oh my god i cant i need the next book now
i loveddd this bookkk
okay but im pissed off at alizeh. why did she say no to cyrus??? why??? it doesnt make sense. cyrus is obviously the right choice and the fact that she doesnt see that physically pains me. omg i felt so bad for cyrus. i almost cried for him. and chapter 29. oh my god chapter 29. my favourite chapter. oh. my. god. the heartbreak, the betrayal, the confessions oh my god i cant i need the next book now
Reread the second book to read the third and honestly liked it more the second time around. Nothing happened in this book, but the writing, character development, and world development was so good in my opinion. (I.e. the vibes are so so good) So much information was provided but not in a boring dumping way — no real plot, just vibes and I enjoyed every second. Can’t wait to dive into book 3 now.
(3.5 ⭐️) Tahereh Mafi books (specifically comparing this to shatter me) suffer from two issues
1. Odd pacing and dragging it for too long
2. Repeating tropes
The Kamran and Cyrus situation is Adam and Warner all over again. It’s the same trope. But the characters and story is definitely completely different. I liked kamran’s character and hazan, but in this book it felt different, I preferred it in the first book. I LOVEEE Alizeh but I wish we get to know more from her and not her falling in love with every man bro, even though we did get to know a lot in the first book but still
1. Odd pacing and dragging it for too long
2. Repeating tropes
The Kamran and Cyrus situation is Adam and Warner all over again. It’s the same trope. But the characters and story is definitely completely different. I liked kamran’s character and hazan, but in this book it felt different, I preferred it in the first book. I LOVEEE Alizeh but I wish we get to know more from her and not her falling in love with every man bro, even though we did get to know a lot in the first book but still
2 days passed in this book, i wiiiiish the book was longer as i feel like we only just scrapped the surface of the depth this book could have held! Good times were had nonetheless
4.75 ★
"Then be with me," he said softly. "Let me worship you."
honestly this book was better than the first imo, i loveeeee cyrus!!
"Then be with me," he said softly. "Let me worship you."
honestly this book was better than the first imo, i loveeeee cyrus!!
Cyrussss! He’s so down bad I can’t help but root for him
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Great book. I love love LOVE Cyrus. He’s so UGHHHHH. I am more than excited for the next oneeee