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fishy27 's review for:
The Ashfire King
by Chelsea Abdullah
adventurous
emotional
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:
Complicated
The Ashfire King was a really great sequel to its predecessor!
The Ashfire King does a lot of things well: I really enjoyed the character development for Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha.
Loulie is forced to confront the relationship she has had with Qadir and reckon with the lies and secrets both of them have told themselves and each other for the years they’ve been together. Although I felt Qadir’s absence in the narrative of this book, it was absolutely necessary, I think, for Loulie to embark on her journey across the jinn realm without him. I also really appreciated that she was put in situations where she wasn’t able to default to letting him save her. She had to either rely on herself more heavily or, more interestingly, let Mazen help her. She is put into a situation where she must learn to trust, even if she’s not sure she wants to, and confront some really difficult questions.
Mazen’s character was well developed in the first book, and I liked how his conflicts are handled in this book. He has already come so far from the boy we met at the beginning of this book, and it’s wonderful to see him grow into being a storyteller, a leader, and just a young man who’s trying to decide who he wants to be. He’s letting himself fall for Loulie, and although he’s scared, it’s great to see how the heart on his sleeve is serving as an advantage rather than the weakness he was always taught it was.
Aisha and her jinn’s relationship is explored so much in this book, and Aisha is also forced to confront her feelings of betrayal and loyalty. I thought her character had some really interesting dilemmas being posed, and I think the end of this book leaves her at a brilliant jumping point for the next story.
On the flip side, I think this book struggled with balancing the three POVs. It struggles to maintain pace and stakes because of the fact that Loulie & Mazen are together in one place, while Aisha is in a completely different place doing something totally different. This book could have been great if we removed one of the storylines, but that obviously wasn’t the story that Abdullah wanted to tell. It was hard for me to stay invested in Aisha just because of how easy it was to forget about her, but once I was immersed in her POV, I had a great time.
Just as in the first book, I loved the tale interludes we got. They are so immersive and add so much to the world building. It was a great idea to format the stories this way.
As for the plot, this book did feel rather YA (appropriate) in that it was a series of Event after Event. I appreciate the way that Abdullah cares for her characters amidst the Events, but this was heavy on the plot-drive, which isn’t always my favorite.
Overall, this was such a magical installment! I was worried that I had overhyped the initial book, but I think that I’d still enjoy it on a reread. I’m looking forward to finishing this series, and I hope the author continues her commitment to the magical feeling and character arcs that she’s already demonstrated.
The Ashfire King does a lot of things well: I really enjoyed the character development for Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha.
Loulie is forced to confront the relationship she has had with Qadir and reckon with the lies and secrets both of them have told themselves and each other for the years they’ve been together. Although I felt Qadir’s absence in the narrative of this book, it was absolutely necessary, I think, for Loulie to embark on her journey across the jinn realm without him. I also really appreciated that she was put in situations where she wasn’t able to default to letting him save her. She had to either rely on herself more heavily or, more interestingly, let Mazen help her. She is put into a situation where she must learn to trust, even if she’s not sure she wants to, and confront some really difficult questions.
Mazen’s character was well developed in the first book, and I liked how his conflicts are handled in this book. He has already come so far from the boy we met at the beginning of this book, and it’s wonderful to see him grow into being a storyteller, a leader, and just a young man who’s trying to decide who he wants to be. He’s letting himself fall for Loulie, and although he’s scared, it’s great to see how the heart on his sleeve is serving as an advantage rather than the weakness he was always taught it was.
Aisha and her jinn’s relationship is explored so much in this book, and Aisha is also forced to confront her feelings of betrayal and loyalty. I thought her character had some really interesting dilemmas being posed, and I think the end of this book leaves her at a brilliant jumping point for the next story.
On the flip side, I think this book struggled with balancing the three POVs. It struggles to maintain pace and stakes because of the fact that Loulie & Mazen are together in one place, while Aisha is in a completely different place doing something totally different. This book could have been great if we removed one of the storylines, but that obviously wasn’t the story that Abdullah wanted to tell. It was hard for me to stay invested in Aisha just because of how easy it was to forget about her, but once I was immersed in her POV, I had a great time.
Just as in the first book, I loved the tale interludes we got. They are so immersive and add so much to the world building. It was a great idea to format the stories this way.
As for the plot, this book did feel rather YA (appropriate) in that it was a series of Event after Event. I appreciate the way that Abdullah cares for her characters amidst the Events, but this was heavy on the plot-drive, which isn’t always my favorite.
Overall, this was such a magical installment! I was worried that I had overhyped the initial book, but I think that I’d still enjoy it on a reread. I’m looking forward to finishing this series, and I hope the author continues her commitment to the magical feeling and character arcs that she’s already demonstrated.