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sunny_r's review
4.0
4.0 - a few gaping plot holes pissed me off, but overall a solid, enjoyable read (I mean, did she really think she was SO special and amazing that she could go into the palace to kill the caliph with no plan?!) honestly, I’m still smarting over how much I enjoyed this book considering the oftentimes questionable narrative and the ever-annoying love triangle (barf).
kaikai1618's review
4.0
4 stars
**SPOILS***
My enjoyment of this book was very high but I have to question some of the origins of this relationship for ethical reasons. It's morally grey and yet somehow the book's writing was very captivating to me. Still questionable though.
Things I liked:
- I love Shazi's character. I think she's able to be extremely resilient while not being reckless and has strong morals but is able to do things with strategy. I thought she was a convincing compliment to Khalid since she constantly challenged him and never backed down. Unlike other headstrong characters I've seen, she's more cunning and intelligent to me. (for the most part. sometimes she'd make a dumb decision and I would yell at my book)
- the writing was easy to get through and there were many descriptions that were not cliché or overdone. it was lyrical and beautiful writing that sucked me in and embodied the setting and world completely
- diverse with POC and basically no white people which was extremely refreshing. it was nice to see POC represented by and own voices author as beautiful, powerful, and dynamic
-the other dude in the love triangle was not demonized and wasn't made into a complete asshole in the end
Improvements:
- the side characters were consistent but I think they should have been fleshed out more. I think books revolving around a romance are very caught up in the people within the romance that other character are barley given a spotlight. they should have been more dynamic
- insta love. there is a lot Shazi is sacrificing. For Khalid it makes sense why he would fall for her I get that. she, unlike the others had intentions to kill rather than survive. But for such a strong motivation she changes her mind pretty quickly. I just think she would need to learn a lot more before she decided he could be forgiven for killing two people who were closest to her for a lifetime.
-why did they have to consummate. I don't think that's part of the deal with the balance of the world. If these women have be murdered I don't think "have sex" is a part of that. But okay I get that it's part of the marriage. If it had to be there why was it so briefly glossed over? Shazi is doing this even though she doesn't want to. You can't gloss over that to make the rest of the relationship look better. that's messed up. Did she do it only because she had to? Did she feel awful or in control in that moment? To be honest I wasn't even sure if they had sex when I read this tiny paragraph about the consummation. I had to go back and reread. WHY.
-questionable beginnings to a relationship. He still killed all those women and is responsible for it. I'm not sure how morally sound that is for the beginning of a relationship but I also kind of understand. I think Khalid is a very interesting character who believes he needs to sacrifice himself and his soul for the greater good but dude did some really sketchy things. And Shazi, for such a stubborn and assertive character did a huge 180. She went from wanting to kill him and vengeance to being in love with him and defending him to her own loved ones. If some broody dude killed my best friend and he was a compassionate guy who wanted to sacrifice for the greater good it doesn't change the fact that he killed them. Even if I'd accept that he was doing it for reasons that made sense, every time I'd look at him I'd see my dead friend like wtf
Anyway, the book is very easy to get into and enjoy, but these aspects of it make me incapable of giving it 5 stars. It's one of those books I loved reading while I had it in my hands, yet realized some issues after I put it down.
**SPOILS***
My enjoyment of this book was very high but I have to question some of the origins of this relationship for ethical reasons. It's morally grey and yet somehow the book's writing was very captivating to me. Still questionable though.
Things I liked:
- I love Shazi's character. I think she's able to be extremely resilient while not being reckless and has strong morals but is able to do things with strategy. I thought she was a convincing compliment to Khalid since she constantly challenged him and never backed down. Unlike other headstrong characters I've seen, she's more cunning and intelligent to me. (for the most part. sometimes she'd make a dumb decision and I would yell at my book)
- the writing was easy to get through and there were many descriptions that were not cliché or overdone. it was lyrical and beautiful writing that sucked me in and embodied the setting and world completely
- diverse with POC and basically no white people which was extremely refreshing. it was nice to see POC represented by and own voices author as beautiful, powerful, and dynamic
-the other dude in the love triangle was not demonized and wasn't made into a complete asshole in the end
Improvements:
- the side characters were consistent but I think they should have been fleshed out more. I think books revolving around a romance are very caught up in the people within the romance that other character are barley given a spotlight. they should have been more dynamic
- insta love. there is a lot Shazi is sacrificing. For Khalid it makes sense why he would fall for her I get that. she, unlike the others had intentions to kill rather than survive. But for such a strong motivation she changes her mind pretty quickly. I just think she would need to learn a lot more before she decided he could be forgiven for killing two people who were closest to her for a lifetime.
-why did they have to consummate. I don't think that's part of the deal with the balance of the world. If these women have be murdered I don't think "have sex" is a part of that. But okay I get that it's part of the marriage. If it had to be there why was it so briefly glossed over? Shazi is doing this even though she doesn't want to. You can't gloss over that to make the rest of the relationship look better. that's messed up. Did she do it only because she had to? Did she feel awful or in control in that moment? To be honest I wasn't even sure if they had sex when I read this tiny paragraph about the consummation. I had to go back and reread. WHY.
-questionable beginnings to a relationship. He still killed all those women and is responsible for it. I'm not sure how morally sound that is for the beginning of a relationship but I also kind of understand. I think Khalid is a very interesting character who believes he needs to sacrifice himself and his soul for the greater good but dude did some really sketchy things. And Shazi, for such a stubborn and assertive character did a huge 180. She went from wanting to kill him and vengeance to being in love with him and defending him to her own loved ones. If some broody dude killed my best friend and he was a compassionate guy who wanted to sacrifice for the greater good it doesn't change the fact that he killed them. Even if I'd accept that he was doing it for reasons that made sense, every time I'd look at him I'd see my dead friend like wtf
Anyway, the book is very easy to get into and enjoy, but these aspects of it make me incapable of giving it 5 stars. It's one of those books I loved reading while I had it in my hands, yet realized some issues after I put it down.
books_tea_and_fantasy's review
4.0
4 ⭐️
Characters: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Writing: 7
Plot: 7
Intrigue: 7
Logic: 7
Enjoyment: 7
Characters: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Writing: 7
Plot: 7
Intrigue: 7
Logic: 7
Enjoyment: 7
pomegranate_muse's review against another edition
Sadly, despite wanting to really like this book, I did not. It was very dull.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Murder
cobaltbookshelf's review
4.0
“My soul sees its equal in you.”
Shazi and Khalid enemies to lover and marriage of convenience trope ...mwah
Shazi and Khalid enemies to lover and marriage of convenience trope ...mwah
lmdb's review
dark
mysterious
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
3.0
marni521's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
taylorrev's review against another edition
Boring. Almost 3 hours into the audio and I couldn’t even begin to tell you what’s going on in the book
e_j_cook's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-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
4.0
carmenpeerezm's review against another edition
3.0
3,5/5
Mmmm no sé cómo sentirme con respecto al libro.
Tengo que empezar enumerando los puntos positivos:
- La protagonista me ha caído muy bien, de hecho es el único personaje que realmente me preocupa. Los capítulos narrados desde su punto de vista eran mis favoritos sin lugar a dudas.
- La ambientación es sublime, a mi en particular me llama mucho la atención esta cultura.
- Es súper adictivo osea, SÚPER ADICTIVO. En parte hay que darle méritos a la editorial, pues siempre se me hace muy ameno leer los libros de Nocturna: letra grande, hojas gruesas, no son de un blanco nuclear, los capítulos no son larguísimos.....
- Creo que mejora mucho al final, porque yo al principio pensaba que iba a ser 2 estrellas, pero hey, esos acontecimientos finales me han convencido.
Ahora bien...:
- No me ha gustado el romance, no porque sea tóxico ni nada de eso, de hecho me gusta mucho que se haga hincapié en el concepto de que ella no es de él. Peeeeero, no tiene un buen desarrollo para mi gusto,osea, la tipa pasa de querer matarlo a desearlo en dos días, lo mismo digo de él, que se juega todo por una chica de la que apenas sabe dos cosas. No sé, no es mi estilo, prefiero más conversación y menos “nos miramos y en sus ojos veo su sufrimiento y blablabla”.
- A veces el libro te soltaba unas frases intensas que os lo juro no entendía para nada.
- He dicho que me gusta la protagonista, pues bien, el resto de personajes no me la podrían sudar más.
- Tariq, me da Mal/ Aspen/ Gale vibes.
- Es súper descriptivo con el paisaje e incluso la comida, pero nada con respecto a los sentimientos de los personajes.
En resumen, no creo que sea un mal libro pero definitivamente no es para mi, la verdad es que ya me lo imaginaba antes de empezar a leerlo.
Si te van este tipo de libros seguramente lo ames, porque lo dicho, no es un mal libro para nada.
Mmmm no sé cómo sentirme con respecto al libro.
Tengo que empezar enumerando los puntos positivos:
- La protagonista me ha caído muy bien, de hecho es el único personaje que realmente me preocupa. Los capítulos narrados desde su punto de vista eran mis favoritos sin lugar a dudas.
- La ambientación es sublime, a mi en particular me llama mucho la atención esta cultura.
- Es súper adictivo osea, SÚPER ADICTIVO. En parte hay que darle méritos a la editorial, pues siempre se me hace muy ameno leer los libros de Nocturna: letra grande, hojas gruesas, no son de un blanco nuclear, los capítulos no son larguísimos.....
- Creo que mejora mucho al final, porque yo al principio pensaba que iba a ser 2 estrellas, pero hey, esos acontecimientos finales me han convencido.
Ahora bien...:
- No me ha gustado el romance, no porque sea tóxico ni nada de eso, de hecho me gusta mucho que se haga hincapié en el concepto de que ella no es de él. Peeeeero, no tiene un buen desarrollo para mi gusto,osea, la tipa pasa de querer matarlo a desearlo en dos días, lo mismo digo de él, que se juega todo por una chica de la que apenas sabe dos cosas. No sé, no es mi estilo, prefiero más conversación y menos “nos miramos y en sus ojos veo su sufrimiento y blablabla”.
- A veces el libro te soltaba unas frases intensas que os lo juro no entendía para nada.
- He dicho que me gusta la protagonista, pues bien, el resto de personajes no me la podrían sudar más.
- Tariq, me da Mal/ Aspen/ Gale vibes.
- Es súper descriptivo con el paisaje e incluso la comida, pero nada con respecto a los sentimientos de los personajes.
En resumen, no creo que sea un mal libro pero definitivamente no es para mi, la verdad es que ya me lo imaginaba antes de empezar a leerlo.
Si te van este tipo de libros seguramente lo ames, porque lo dicho, no es un mal libro para nada.