A review by rays_reads
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Pre-read: So I've read the prologue and.... why have I not read this sooner? I want to finish off 2024 reading things on my physical tbr but the SECOND it turns to 2025 I will be eating this series up.
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Overall Rating: 5/5

My first 5 star fantasy book in 2025.

Let's go lesbians! :D

This book is amazing. The amount of political conflict, feminine rage, and character intrigue I sat through made me get through this big mama of a book within TWO DAYS.

If you love women taking power back from the men who have wronged them... then this is your book 100%!!!! The author takes us through multiple POVs so it maybe a bit daunting but each POV had their own story to tell and I had a familiar experience when reading GRRM's Game of Thrones book. It felt like Suri was weaving all the POVs to match one grand storyline that weave off onto their own side plots that plan to reconnect and disconnect characters throughout the series. I loved it and surprisingly each POV kept my attention even tho the most compelling was probably my main girls, Priya and Malini.

Now Priya and Malini were some of the best FMCs I've read about in a while as both their strengths and flaws were written in such a way that made them so morally grey! They were like opposites attract and a good depiction of what enemies to lovers should be... when I was reading about Priya's crush I felt like a school girl kicking my feet up and down and shit...

I haven't felt this giddy about a couple in a while and the amount of yearning and complex emotions the two had for one another left me wanting for MOREEEE... LIKE GIMME MOREEEE... I'm so glad this is a finished series because I plan on reading through the entire trilogy in 2025.

Going onto them separately we can see kinda why they're attracted to one another as they both have the same feelings of being taken advantage of by the men in their lives and loosing their power... Malini more than Priya tbh but with Priya.... her memories have been locked away and she's trying to figure out who she is
meanwhile her abusive brother comes back making demands for her to harness her Hirani open the way to the dark waters(?)/river(?) (tbh I can't remember what it was officially called and until I get a physical copy I won't remember :D)
whereas for Malini, she's desperate to escape the prison her brother threw her in after he failed to make her submit to her fate
and after some casual acts of treason, of course.
. Both women are fighting for themselves and desperate for the things that they want which is why I think they were so drawn to one another.

Now onto the magic system and worldbuilding. Ughhhh it was so fleshed out. We have the 3 different religions, an Indian-inspired world, and elemental magic. The religion of this world was probably my favorite thing about this book because of how it affected the conflicts of the story.
You have Malini who was affected by her kingdom's religion "mothers of flame" and despite it's name, the irony of it is Malini's brother uses it as an excuse to execute women and subjugate them into being submissive and obedient versions of themselves... god forbid they be anything else then they'll be burned at the stake or drugged... *cough cough* reminds you of Christianity doesn't it? *cough cough* Whereas for the Yaksa, with Priya, everything seemed to be about rebirth within these magical waters and using them and the temple to connect with the gods... but when a new generation became more powerful than the elders and a strange rot appeared in correlation to the colonization of Ahiranya, the elders allowed their people to be slaughtered in efforts to keep the new generations from becoming "monsterous"... and lastly we have the most mysterious religion which involves the the nameless gods... I don't know much about this religion per say but from what I read it seems everyone has their fate and name told to them when they're born and it supposed to be sacred so not anybody can just say their own names. Malini's eldest brother became a priest of the religion after a "epiphany" or something and left her asshole abusive brother the throne... I felt like this religion kinda tells the story of negligence and being chained by ones fate instead of making your own path as Aditya (prince turned priest) was ignorant to his sisters hurts and too ignorant to see just how much of a monster his younger brother was... either way it turned to Malini's favor as there's a prohecy which explains she should be the ruler of their kingdom, Parijatdvipa, so I won't argue against it.


As for the politics... it's so ingrained into a misogynist society (as are all things) that the three main POVs are women taking back the power that was kept from them in order to right the wrongs of their predecessor. For Priya, it's helping her people in Hirani magic since she's not into politics. For Bhumika, the wife of her colonized country's regent, it's gaining some portion of her independence back along with her country's separate from the Parijatdvipa empire. And for Malini, it's undoing her tyrant brother's mistakes and taking back the power and position she lost.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this and am glad to read more lgbtq+ stories! One thing I loved about this was just how opposite Parijatdvipa and Ahiranya are in terms of lgbtq values... one has stories of same-sex marriage and loves whereas the other it's forbidden and seen as "unpure." I assume it'll become a bigger conflict in book 2 & 3 and I'm excited to see what the author plans to do.

I predict this series will def make it to my top ten reads of the year xD and it's only January...