Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

75 reviews

misoreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense 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

3.5

WOMEN—
Tasha Shuri has written some of the strongest, wittiest and most morally grey women I've read and I love them for that. Bhumika, Malini and Priya are amazing characters and hard carry the story on their wise, fearless, ambitious shoulders. I love them so very much and would literally die for them 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Murder, Sexism, and Homophobia

Minor: Child abuse and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

freya_amber's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Confinement, Death, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: War, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Grief, and Genocide

Minor: Suicide attempt and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

librarybookscene's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Torture, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, and Death

mcgildey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Lives up to the hype! Gotta love stories with angsty gay ladies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, War, Vomit, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Gore

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent

mar's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Body horror, Colonisation, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Blood, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

stellar_hunt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Body horror, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really enjoyed this book. I just didn’t love it as much as I wanted to.

The worldbuilding is fantastic. I loved the way the different cultures played off of each other. The plant magic was intriguing. The different creation myths were fascinating. The use of language and geography and food was rich and realistic.

And Priya and Malini’s relationship was such a strong centerpiece to this book. I loved how they played off of each other, and I loved how balanced their relationship felt even though one of them always had more power than the other.

The pacing was rough at times. I know this is a controversial opinion, but I didn’t like all of the extra character POVs. I don’t think they added anything, and in fact I think that repeatedly meeting minor characters and getting a chapter from their POV

only for them to die at the end of that chapter

ruined the book’s momentum and made those scenes much less impactful than they would have been from the perspective of Priya, Malini, Bhumika, Rao, or Ashok. 

Also, why did no one warn me that the magical cure trope was such a big part of this book? It’s an ableist trope that I’ve definitely seen handled worse but that certainly wasn’t handled well in this book, and I’m disappointed in the dozens of reviewers I’ve seen recommending this book for the sapphic romance without mentioning any other aspect of it.

Overall, I would still recommend this book, and I look forward to the sequel, but I wish I’d loved it more.

EDIT: Looking back on this book a year after reading it, I still think that the characters and the worldbuilding are fantastic. However, my interest in reading the sequel has dropped to almost nothing because this book put me off of high fantasy for several months with how rough the pacing and use of point of view were. I know that this is an unpopular take on this very popular book, and that's fine. I just found it to be such a struggle that I honestly would not recommend it to anyone who pays a lot of attention to craft and pacing issues while reading. If you're only there for the sapphic aspect and the interesting lore, you'll definitely like it better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Additional content warning for immolation because a LOT of women are specifically burned to death in this book and I think it’s important to know that going in.

unwise_samwise's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

It was hard for me to read as I am afraid of fire but it was definitely a great book and I'm glad I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Death

Moderate: Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Confinement, Pregnancy, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

Minor: War, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Murder

kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

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? No

4.0

My final and favorite of last year's sapphic trifecta. The magic system was interesting and the characters were dynamic and complex. Good stuff 👍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

Minor: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

thewordsdevourer's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

i rly wanted to like this book, but ultimately we just didnt click. one thing i highly value in my reading experience is a book's ability to make me feel things, and unfortunately the jasmine throne lacks in this department.

while this book is suffused w/ much needed and appreciated diversity, whether it be in terms of south asian-influenced worldbuilding, characters, AND sapphic characters (desi sapphics, cmon!!!), i didnt feel connected to the characters: even when they were in peril, i didnt feel too affected, knowing that they would be fine eventually (idk if this is bc of the third person pov, but other similar books worked fine for me??). this might also be borne from a lack of urgency and any sense of danger--i just felt disconnected from it all, like i was being bouyed by the ocean wave that was the book, but didnt rly care where it took me. 

and while the worldbuilding is lush and at times unique (esp the hirana-related magic, sangram, the rot, etc.), it feels incomplete, and esp small for a supposed epic fantasy, and the maps certainly dont help. my issue is the scale of  parijadtvipa isnt clear; we dont know how far each city-state is from parijat and one another, and rn it feels like the empire is composed of 5 cities, which idek whether is the case bc everything feels incongruent and unexplained. although the history and lore of the world are strong, i wouldve liked a clearer picture of the empire's scale itself. 

nevertheless, i do like the feminist take on this, and its exploration of issues, like how religion is wielded to  further ppl's own ends; the patriarchal and misogynistic view of the montrosity and mediocrity of women; fate vs independent action; means vs ends, etc. the desi sapphic rep is also much appreciated. i truly wish i liked this more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, and Sexism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Injury/Injury detail