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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
*Thank you to Raincoast Books for sending me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.*
I was not expecting to enjoy Mirage as much as I did, but it surprised me in so many ways!
What I immediately loved about Mirage was the atmosphere. It is so culturally diverse, both in characters and in setting, and is crafted so well that I truly felt transported while reading. The author uses vivid detail in describing the buildings and landscape, which gave me serious Arabian vibes. She also depicts Amani’s culture so well, with descriptions of their traditions as well as popular dishes and poetry. I was completely in love.
Another favourite of the story was Maram, the cruel princess Amani is brought in as a double for. Maram has so many layers and her inner struggle behind her villainy is so realistic and well-representing. A child of political intent between the respective rulers of the colonizers and the colonized, her struggle with identity and belonging is so important and I have so much respect for her as a villain figure. It made me very happy to watch the relationship between Amani and Maram develop.
As much as I enjoyed this story and highly anticipate the sequel, there were two small things that I had problems with. First, for a story that centres around the necessity of a body double for a princess whose life is threatened, it seemed to be lacking the amount of action that description suggests. While the citizens’ hate for Maram was evident, there was only really one instance where it seemed necessary that Amani be present as a body double.
Secondly, the romance in the story felt a little bit like an insta-love to me. While I enjoyed the pairing and the realistic base it was formed on, I felt as though the sparks were flying a little bit quicker than they should have been.
All in all, I highly recommend Mirage if you’re looking for a unique story in a complex and diverse world!
I was not expecting to enjoy Mirage as much as I did, but it surprised me in so many ways!
What I immediately loved about Mirage was the atmosphere. It is so culturally diverse, both in characters and in setting, and is crafted so well that I truly felt transported while reading. The author uses vivid detail in describing the buildings and landscape, which gave me serious Arabian vibes. She also depicts Amani’s culture so well, with descriptions of their traditions as well as popular dishes and poetry. I was completely in love.
Another favourite of the story was Maram, the cruel princess Amani is brought in as a double for. Maram has so many layers and her inner struggle behind her villainy is so realistic and well-representing. A child of political intent between the respective rulers of the colonizers and the colonized, her struggle with identity and belonging is so important and I have so much respect for her as a villain figure. It made me very happy to watch the relationship between Amani and Maram develop.
As much as I enjoyed this story and highly anticipate the sequel, there were two small things that I had problems with. First, for a story that centres around the necessity of a body double for a princess whose life is threatened, it seemed to be lacking the amount of action that description suggests. While the citizens’ hate for Maram was evident, there was only really one instance where it seemed necessary that Amani be present as a body double.
Secondly, the romance in the story felt a little bit like an insta-love to me. While I enjoyed the pairing and the realistic base it was formed on, I felt as though the sparks were flying a little bit quicker than they should have been.
All in all, I highly recommend Mirage if you’re looking for a unique story in a complex and diverse world!
I'd heard so many good things about this book and I really, truly tried to give it a fair chance, but I just didn't enjoy it. I did manage to finish it, and I enjoyed exactly one character (Maram) which is why it gets 2 stars.
This reads like a first draft rather than a polished novel. This is surprising to me, since it's a debut novel, and although I know very little about the publishing world I would have thought that debuts would be strictly edited before being deemed worthy of release. But this copy suffers from glaring grammatical errors and poor word choices that, in one particular chapter, were so distracting that I honestly considered keeping a record of the errors and forwarding on a list of corrections to the publisher (is that a thing people do?).
For such a compact book (my edition is 308 pages) this story is incredibly repetitive and uneventful. The main character, Amani, often spends time pondering things at length and coming to certain (usually wrong) conclusions; and then a couple of chapters later will discuss the same issue with another 'character' and end up coming to the exact same conclusions, always seeming surprised by her 'new' revelations. The resulting impression is that the author wrote certain scenes out of chronological order and had simply forgotten about them, so they managed to sneak their way into the final edit. There are many examples of this.
The one thing about this story that is marginally well-done is Maram's character and the development of the relationship between her and Amani: but again, here I am more struck by the potential than by the reality of what's presented to me on the page. Amani has the same 'realisation' about Maram so many times that I actually began to count them (final count is FIVE).
The 'science fiction' elements of this book seem like simple gimmicks in order to make it more unique. There was no real reason for Amani's homeworld to be a moon, and the droids which act as servers and handmaidens don't do anything particularly droid-like (on the flip side, Amani's human handmaiden is so incredibly bland that she might as well be a droid). In one of the final chapters of the book one of the characters is mentioned to be carrying a 'phaser' and I was incredibly surprised because I had genuinely forgotten that that was something that could exist in this world (phasers are never mentioned again and any other weapon that is seen is a conventional one). The book also can't really decide what sort of timeframe it exists in. In one scene Amani is impressed by an 'ancient' city with architecture that reveals itself to be "probably a thousand years old" because of its obvious antiquity (the roads aren't wide enough for carriages to pass); in another scene she unashamedly boasts (twice!) about a library that was standing for "two hundred thousand years" before being sacked by invaders.
I'm being harsh, yes, but only because I had such high hopes and it was painful to see them summarily dashed over and over again. I won't be continuing with the series.
This reads like a first draft rather than a polished novel. This is surprising to me, since it's a debut novel, and although I know very little about the publishing world I would have thought that debuts would be strictly edited before being deemed worthy of release. But this copy suffers from glaring grammatical errors and poor word choices that, in one particular chapter, were so distracting that I honestly considered keeping a record of the errors and forwarding on a list of corrections to the publisher (is that a thing people do?).
For such a compact book (my edition is 308 pages) this story is incredibly repetitive and uneventful. The main character, Amani, often spends time pondering things at length and coming to certain (usually wrong) conclusions; and then a couple of chapters later will discuss the same issue with another 'character' and end up coming to the exact same conclusions, always seeming surprised by her 'new' revelations. The resulting impression is that the author wrote certain scenes out of chronological order and had simply forgotten about them, so they managed to sneak their way into the final edit. There are many examples of this.
The one thing about this story that is marginally well-done is Maram's character and the development of the relationship between her and Amani: but again, here I am more struck by the potential than by the reality of what's presented to me on the page. Amani has the same 'realisation' about Maram so many times that I actually began to count them (final count is FIVE).
The 'science fiction' elements of this book seem like simple gimmicks in order to make it more unique. There was no real reason for Amani's homeworld to be a moon, and the droids which act as servers and handmaidens don't do anything particularly droid-like (on the flip side, Amani's human handmaiden is so incredibly bland that she might as well be a droid). In one of the final chapters of the book one of the characters is mentioned to be carrying a 'phaser' and I was incredibly surprised because I had genuinely forgotten that that was something that could exist in this world (phasers are never mentioned again and any other weapon that is seen is a conventional one). The book also can't really decide what sort of timeframe it exists in. In one scene Amani is impressed by an 'ancient' city with architecture that reveals itself to be "probably a thousand years old" because of its obvious antiquity (the roads aren't wide enough for carriages to pass); in another scene she unashamedly boasts (twice!) about a library that was standing for "two hundred thousand years" before being sacked by invaders.
I'm being harsh, yes, but only because I had such high hopes and it was painful to see them summarily dashed over and over again. I won't be continuing with the series.
It took me a while to get a handle on all the unfamiliar names and terminology but otherwise it was a really enjoyable read. I'll definitely be trying the sequel
This was a novel at its finest, with a strong plot and an amazing world. But, the potency of the events in the book was just not enough for me. There was not enough to enrapture me demand that I pay attention. However, the characters were definitely interesting and I am excited to see where the journey they partake.
3.5/5
3.5/5
I really wanted to like this and I felt like there was a lot of potential but it just didn’t work for me. I spent most of this book waiting for ~anything~ to happen. I also just wasn’t in the mood to read it but tried to power through it anyway, which was probably a mistake.
I like the world building but wish it was actually sci fi instead of fantasy that just happens to be set in space. I liked the dynamic between the MC and the princess but didn’t care about the love story at all. I liked the commentary about colonialism but thought she was waaaayyy too trusting and decided to flip into a rebel and trust total strangers at the potential cost of her life much too quickly and easily.
I like the world building but wish it was actually sci fi instead of fantasy that just happens to be set in space. I liked the dynamic between the MC and the princess but didn’t care about the love story at all. I liked the commentary about colonialism but thought she was waaaayyy too trusting and decided to flip into a rebel and trust total strangers at the potential cost of her life much too quickly and easily.
I'm not a big fantasy reader, but I did enjoy this story and the characters.
Okaayyyyy *cracks knuckles* this has been long over due.
I started this book in February and I finished a couple of days ago, I stopped reading with only 70 pages left ‘cause I just could not handle such a stupid main character.
Every character in this book is inconsistent. I LOVE character development and this murders it, these characters just do a 180 with the simple notion of “some time has passed”. WHAT?!
Amani the MC is the most naive idiot you’ll meet, so much so in fact, that she doesn’t suffer from PTSD after being abducted, beaten, being constantly screamed at, deals with racism from captors and got attacked by a wild bird unleashed on her by her future best friend. She trusts whoever she meets, because who could be cruel during the times we live in, she spills the beans about her orders of playing the princess to Maram’s fiancé right away and then proceeds to tell Maram’s grandmother and cousin. Why not?
Maram, the princess, started as a cold, evil and brutal princess and all of a sudden she turned out to be this poor pitied girl. After years of hating everyone she befriends Amani and starts sharing everything with her. She starts asking her opinion on matters at first after never wanting to hear her speak and she vents to her about her family. I really thought I was going to love her character but she’s as useless to this plot as any other character, because oh yeas! There was basically no plot.
Idris who’s the love interest and plays part in the biggest insta-love game I’ve ever seen is cheesier and cornier than a bowl of nachos. His whole family was killed and he gives Amani a book of poems from his mom to his dad that’s basically smut, and then after crying to her about his dead parents they get their nasty on over this book while still bringing up the fucking dead mom! WHY?
Even after Amani starts working with the rebellion nothing exciting happens. She barely talked to them two or three times. Some plans of attack lay in her lap one time and we’re supposed to believe she’s some secret spy.
There’s literally no world building “we’re in space and there has been a war” that’s all we get. The plot keeps skipping a few week, months and we’re supposed to take that. The two stars was for the good Arab representation (though there were some simple mistakes) But that was not enough to save the book for me.
I started this book in February and I finished a couple of days ago, I stopped reading with only 70 pages left ‘cause I just could not handle such a stupid main character.
Every character in this book is inconsistent. I LOVE character development and this murders it, these characters just do a 180 with the simple notion of “some time has passed”. WHAT?!
Amani the MC is the most naive idiot you’ll meet, so much so in fact, that she doesn’t suffer from PTSD after being abducted, beaten, being constantly screamed at, deals with racism from captors and got attacked by a wild bird unleashed on her by her future best friend. She trusts whoever she meets, because who could be cruel during the times we live in, she spills the beans about her orders of playing the princess to Maram’s fiancé right away and then proceeds to tell Maram’s grandmother and cousin. Why not?
Maram, the princess, started as a cold, evil and brutal princess and all of a sudden she turned out to be this poor pitied girl. After years of hating everyone she befriends Amani and starts sharing everything with her. She starts asking her opinion on matters at first after never wanting to hear her speak and she vents to her about her family. I really thought I was going to love her character but she’s as useless to this plot as any other character, because oh yeas! There was basically no plot.
Idris who’s the love interest and plays part in the biggest insta-love game I’ve ever seen is cheesier and cornier than a bowl of nachos. His whole family was killed and he gives Amani a book of poems from his mom to his dad that’s basically smut, and then after crying to her about his dead parents they get their nasty on over this book while still bringing up the fucking dead mom! WHY?
Even after Amani starts working with the rebellion nothing exciting happens. She barely talked to them two or three times. Some plans of attack lay in her lap one time and we’re supposed to believe she’s some secret spy.
There’s literally no world building “we’re in space and there has been a war” that’s all we get. The plot keeps skipping a few week, months and we’re supposed to take that. The two stars was for the good Arab representation (though there were some simple mistakes) But that was not enough to save the book for me.
Feels like a fresh take on the royalty genre, with a beautifully built world. There are droids and planets, but it's only a light dusting of scifi elements, the rest could read like an alternate-universe fantasy. Characters have depth and and it was a fun read
3.5 stars rounding up to 4. This is slow to start, but I liked how there is so much build up of Imani learning how to play in politics. I want to continue the series to see how Maram’s character continues to develop. I’m a sucker for a complicated “villain” or similar character who is considered evil on the surface but has more to them.