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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Okay, I'm giving this three stars, but wow am I tempted to drop it to two just because of the ending alone. I'm not going to... I just finished it like four seconds ago and the anger is still hot, so I'm not going to act rashly. But wow.
Here's the lowdown: apparently every YA fantasy heroine from the Fake Middle East is named Amani.
This particular Amani is kidnapped and forced to serve as body double for a very mean and troubled princess. There's kind of a rebel group and colonial unrest involved, but mostly Amani thinks about poetry and falls in love with the princess's fiance. Also, there are robots and space travel in this world, even though in most other ways it resembles ancient Persia or maybe the Seljuk Turks.
This book is what we call "character driven." That means that, even though Amani's literal job is to put herself into the path of assassination attempts and she is also spying for a seditious rebel group on the side, absolutely nothing life-threatening happens until like the last ten pages.
Part of this is good. I'm always complaining about a lack of character time, and this story is the one in one hundred that doesn't suffer from that problem. Instead of rushing headlong from one near-death to the next, we really get to know Maram at the same time as Amani does, and we get to spend time with her family members learning gradually about why everything is the way that it is. Also, Amani gets made as a body double in under 2 interactions with the fiance, which was a relief. I was expecting to spend a lot of time agonizing over the deception as they fell in love, but instead they did it out in the open. Still a little gooey, but better than it could have been.
So yeah. You see I'm not whining about it being slow. Instead, the source of my whining is the fact that there is NO ENDING. This is not a book, this is HALF of a book.
Amani realizes that she cares about Maram, and at the same time Maram learns her secret and the fragile trust they were just beginning to build is broken. This should be the climax, and the whole last chunk of the book should deal with the aftermath. Instead, Amani is under house arrest, having lost all hope, until she sees a divine magic bird. Boom. Done. The end. Stay tuned for book two.
I honestly haven't been betrayed this badly in years. This book is so short, it's not like the author was running out of room! Where's the story structure? The resolution? This isn't a newspaper serial! The concept of a cliffhanger may seem like it keeps readers interested, but is best used very, very carefully. Cheating me of any payoff makes me less likely to come back, not more.
Here's the lowdown: apparently every YA fantasy heroine from the Fake Middle East is named Amani.
This particular Amani is kidnapped and forced to serve as body double for a very mean and troubled princess. There's kind of a rebel group and colonial unrest involved, but mostly Amani thinks about poetry and falls in love with the princess's fiance. Also, there are robots and space travel in this world, even though in most other ways it resembles ancient Persia or maybe the Seljuk Turks.
This book is what we call "character driven." That means that, even though Amani's literal job is to put herself into the path of assassination attempts and she is also spying for a seditious rebel group on the side, absolutely nothing life-threatening happens until like the last ten pages.
Part of this is good. I'm always complaining about a lack of character time, and this story is the one in one hundred that doesn't suffer from that problem. Instead of rushing headlong from one near-death to the next, we really get to know Maram at the same time as Amani does, and we get to spend time with her family members learning gradually about why everything is the way that it is. Also, Amani gets made as a body double in under 2 interactions with the fiance, which was a relief. I was expecting to spend a lot of time agonizing over the deception as they fell in love, but instead they did it out in the open. Still a little gooey, but better than it could have been.
So yeah. You see I'm not whining about it being slow. Instead, the source of my whining is the fact that there is NO ENDING. This is not a book, this is HALF of a book.
Amani realizes that she cares about Maram, and at the same time Maram learns her secret and the fragile trust they were just beginning to build is broken. This should be the climax, and the whole last chunk of the book should deal with the aftermath. Instead, Amani is under house arrest, having lost all hope, until she sees a divine magic bird. Boom. Done. The end. Stay tuned for book two.
I honestly haven't been betrayed this badly in years. This book is so short, it's not like the author was running out of room! Where's the story structure? The resolution? This isn't a newspaper serial! The concept of a cliffhanger may seem like it keeps readers interested, but is best used very, very carefully. Cheating me of any payoff makes me less likely to come back, not more.
really good!! did not expect to like this as much as i did. reading the sequel rn.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a lot of fun to read. The basic plot is very familiar: a young woman living in a dystopian style society joins a rebellion and will eventually become the key to their success. What makes this concept feel fresh is the world the book is set in and its rich religious history. Inspired by Moroccan culture, Mirage provides readers with a detailed religious system and a set of customs that don't often feature in YA novels. We also get a great, complex female friendship (?) at the heart of the story alongside a cute romance. I wish that the romance had been developed a little slower, but I'm not too upset with how it worked out. This was definitely a strong debut with a powerful message about the horrors of colonialism and the eradication of indigenous cultures. I look forward to the sequel next year!
Basically unhinged my jaw and swallowed this up. I'm always pleasantly surprised when a true character-driven SFF tale comes along because it's a genre that's usually so action- and plot-driven. Parts of this messed me UP (in the best way), and the main ship hit so many perfect notes for me. I love that this is almost equally a study in the effects of hegemony and colonialism, and that so much page space/character development is dedicated to exploring the complexity of identity (or loss thereof) for the conquered. Also just lovely prose and beautiful world-building. Will most definitely be reading the next book!!
I'v read a lot of dystopian YA...like, A LOT of it. But I haven't read a lot that veered into sort of the "fantasy" genre. Honestly, in some cases, I've just avoided it. I'm glad I didn't avoid "Mirage." Though it does take place worlds away, it was incredibly relatable and I think that's due mostly to author Somaiya Daud creating such a wonderful protagonist. Amani is strong but vulnerable. She struggles with what's right and what's wrong, and can see the shades of grey everywhere.
I also was surprised by how much I grew to enjoy scenes that included Princess Maram. I liked Idris, too, but I think the book could have stood on its own without a romantic element (though who knows what's to come).
I'm excited for the next book, which is too far away.
I also was surprised by how much I grew to enjoy scenes that included Princess Maram. I liked Idris, too, but I think the book could have stood on its own without a romantic element (though who knows what's to come).
I'm excited for the next book, which is too far away.
This was such a good book and my hands are itching for the sequel! This was such a rich book driven largely by its characters and the lush Moroccan setting. Amani and Maram were my absolute favorites, I loved their interactions so much. Maram is such a complex character who often does terrible things because she was raised that to be a good ruler was to be feared. The more we learned about Maram the more I loved her. I would read the exact same book from Maram's point of view in a heartbeat. For the most part, Amani felt like a very typical YA heroine, she's thrust into a situation because of something she really has no control over and excels at whatever task she's given rather quickly. I liked her though because of her relationships with Maram and Idris, they showed the real person she was beneath the fear. As she got to know them Amani also got to discover herself and her own strength. I also liked that it seems possible further into the book that at least she is not the one true savior so that trope may not be present. I found the complete erasure of the Kushaila culture from the minds of the young like Idris so heartbreaking. The separation from the older generation who still remember to the young was really striking. This book is filled with excellent conversations about colonialism and feminism and agency.