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holyschmitz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Themes: the impact of imperialism and war, religion, challenging misogyny and xenophobia within the context of the world, the cost of power and secrets, sapphic romance, complicated characters
Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Alcohol, Body horror, Addiction, Racism, Misogyny, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, and War
Minor: Classism, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Animal death, Suicide, Self harm, and Homophobia
grimdark_dad's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual content, War, Violence, Blood, Death, and Alcohol
izzy_reads's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: War and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Body horror
serena_hien's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: War, Violence, Misogyny, Blood, Sexual content, Death, Xenophobia, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia
lolajh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
For the same page length as the first book in the series, this book was just so much more slow-paced, from start to finish. Throughout reading the book I was continuously waiting for the pacing to change, for the dramatic scenes and tension and plot points to all come together perfectly in the end, but nothing like that really happened at all.
Far too much of this book was Parijatdvipan politics, where Malini “cleverly schemes and manipulates” her subjects, when really what Malini does takes hardly any skill at all. Her character in general throughout this book fell so far down from her development in book 1. She’s just turned into this emotionless, manipulative, one-dimensional and flat character that I can hardly connect to, especially when she still acts so calculating with Priya, who acts like a practical loyal servant to Malini. Their relationship seems so incredibly unbalanced, with Malini blatantly using Priya for her gifts, which is intended, but I still disliked, and Priya is a submissive slave toward Malini, who forgives every bad thing she does and is just absolutely so blind to the darkness of her character. Both Priya and Malini in this book made me like Bhumika SO much more than the both of them; her arc and plot being so much more interesting than the main characters’ definitely says something. If this book was all Bhumika I might have actually enjoyed it more!
It is also implied that Parijatdvipa colonised Ahiranya in the first book, and that was handled so poorly in this book. The colonised (Ahiranya) are blamed and demonised by the majority of Parijatdvipa, calling “Priya’s kind” unnatural, witches, and this kind of stuff is just accepted and not classified as discriminatory and something that needs to be reversed. So adding that plot point and making the main relationship in the book between the colonised and the coloniser as some sort of “enemies to lovers” I am only now understanding after reading this book is just so weird, because, when writing a fantasy novel, you have the very obvious option to not include discrimination, yet this world has so much racism and misogyny that did not need to be added.
And the povs 😫 There were so many unnecessary character perspective chapters, like Malini’s once-mentioned maid, and Chandra, who is obviously an asshole and I didn’t need his chapters to know that. This book just seemed like such a chore to get through, and for it to not even end up being worth it in the end I am just disappointed.
Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Colonisation, Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts
mandkips's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, War, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Animal death, Torture, and Suicide
lucy_shanners's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: War, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Body horror, and Gore
nefariousbee's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Misogyny, Alcohol, Cursing, Gore, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide and Torture
rubyhosh's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation
enchantressreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
While The Jasmine Throne centers on Priya, The Oleander Sword centers on Malini. I don’t want to go into much detail, because The Jasmine Throne is such a beautiful book and I believe one should enjoy it before reading any reviews of The Oleander Sword. So let’s talk about the vibes.
I flew through TJT in only a matter of days, but TOS took me about 10 days. I felt that more action happened in TJT, and TOS kind of fell short, succumbing to second book in a series syndrome. HOWEVER, while it did mostly set up the third book, it was beautifully written, and the yearning that was in the first book continued into the second, maybe even at a higher level. The .25 reduction in rating comes solely from the second book syndrome feeling, because otherwise I loved it and I can’t wait to read the third book.
I have a feeling I’m going to be real hurt or real happy. Tasha Suri sure knows how to do both.
Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for this advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.
CW for death, blood, war, violence, fire, sexism, and animal death
Graphic: Death, Violence, War, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Sexism
Minor: Animal death