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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
A lot of Star Wars vibes, which I LOVED. The world was so unique that we rarely see in a fantasy take and heavily inspired by Moroccan culture, which was beautiful and rich. It lost me with the romance and I felt like there was a lot of lost potential when it came to the dynamic between Amani and Maram.
So it took me like 2 months and change to finish this. Not because it was long but because I was highly underwhelmed by Mirage. I wanted to like it so much but I honestly...hated it. The more I read, the more annoyed I got.
I can't tell how much time is passing by but everything seems to have happened quite fast. Amani meets and falls in love with the Princess's betrothed Idris almost as soon as she meets him and at that point, I was over it. I put it down for a month and came back thinking that I would get a new take from it but I literally dreaded coming back. Not only that, I was...bored. I couldn't wait to get down to the last few pages and say that I was finished reading it.
You know how when you're reading a good book and you can finish and kind of relax with a nice squeal knowing that you just read something that you loved? I feel the opposite of that. I'm annoyed that I read the whole book and I kind of feel like I wasted my time. I don't feel like I accomplished a thing.
The character that I feel for the most is maybe Maram. I feel no connection with Amani or Idris. I feel like there were a multitude of characters that were irrelevant to the story and I hate how naive Amani is.
I could have done without the romance between Amani and Idris period. I think that actually made the story that much worse for me.
I have to say that I was a fan of the poetry and the cultural tidbits but that's really about it.
As a muslim, I also felt kind of uncomfortable because certain passages of poetry distinctly reminded me of Quran. Not that they were but that it kind of seems like they were meant to be identical and sound as if they were taken from a religious text. Example: "For We have sent unto you a sign. See it and take heed."
Despite my dislike of Mirage, I did have a favorite quote: "You are not defined by the men in your life, no matter how powerful. You lived before them and you shall live after them. You can't let them determine your path."
I would not read it again but I probably would read the next book in the series to see if things pick up. Despite my heavy boredom while reading this, I do think that I would recommend it to someone who liked character driven fantasies.
I can't tell how much time is passing by but everything seems to have happened quite fast. Amani meets and falls in love with the Princess's betrothed Idris almost as soon as she meets him and at that point, I was over it. I put it down for a month and came back thinking that I would get a new take from it but I literally dreaded coming back. Not only that, I was...bored. I couldn't wait to get down to the last few pages and say that I was finished reading it.
You know how when you're reading a good book and you can finish and kind of relax with a nice squeal knowing that you just read something that you loved? I feel the opposite of that. I'm annoyed that I read the whole book and I kind of feel like I wasted my time. I don't feel like I accomplished a thing.
The character that I feel for the most is maybe Maram. I feel no connection with Amani or Idris. I feel like there were a multitude of characters that were irrelevant to the story and I hate how naive Amani is.
I could have done without the romance between Amani and Idris period. I think that actually made the story that much worse for me.
I have to say that I was a fan of the poetry and the cultural tidbits but that's really about it.
As a muslim, I also felt kind of uncomfortable because certain passages of poetry distinctly reminded me of Quran. Not that they were but that it kind of seems like they were meant to be identical and sound as if they were taken from a religious text. Example: "For We have sent unto you a sign. See it and take heed."
Despite my dislike of Mirage, I did have a favorite quote: "You are not defined by the men in your life, no matter how powerful. You lived before them and you shall live after them. You can't let them determine your path."
I would not read it again but I probably would read the next book in the series to see if things pick up. Despite my heavy boredom while reading this, I do think that I would recommend it to someone who liked character driven fantasies.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had high hopes for this novel when I began listening to it, but I was soon disappointed. Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes series has all the virtues of this novel - and then some - and none of the shortcomings. I found Mirage too transparent and predictable and too much moving in parallel with the real world for a fantasy book (I wouldn't call it a science fiction). There is an ambush of underdeveloped details on the one hand and a regular repetition of already established ones on the other. All the same, this seems to be Ms. Daud's debut novel, and I think it is promising enough to hope that she'll get much better in the future.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Likeable main characters, and an interesting setting.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I have been waiting for so long for this book I was afraid I had set my expectations too high but there's no such thing with this author. I read the whole book once through to find out what would happen next, but I need to read it again just to properly appreciate the wonderful language used throughout. I loved how a lot of stuff happened in this but it was still very much about character development and interactions. I liked how this was science fiction but it felt like fantasy. I loved how the culture infused every bit of it and I also really loved all the descriptions of dresses. Also, shallow, but the cover is gorgeous and I didn't realize there'd be little illustrations before each section too. They're great this book is great, read it love it, wait with me excitedly for Mirage 2!
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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
While the storyline is an old one (double body for a royal), the world is interesting and beautifully described, drawing on the author’s Moroccan heritage. It is both fantasy and science fiction in a blended unique way, telling the story of colonialism and occupation. The narrator is great but also has a single intense tone that I found grating sometimes. I’m invested but not overly drawn into the characters. They’re likeable enough, but the romance is a little fast and overwrought, which can make it hard for me to enjoy.
I set this aside at page 28 or so, and would probably not have gotten back to it except that I found myself without a book and it was still in my bag, unattended. And it turns out that the first pages, which left me very meh about the book, were not the best pages, and that it gets better and better as it goes along (until the end, which was a little bit of a letdown for me.) It's kind of hokey, and kind of cliche in plot, and I kind of don't care at all. The book is quick and fun, the characters are likable (even the hissable princess, as you learn more about her) and the weird super-future/primitive world is almost planetary romance in style, and that was great. I am really looking forward to the sequel.