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A review by imaant
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
3.0
4 stars for the unique fantasy world Willow Wilson created
3 stars for the characters and plot (I’m looking at you Alif)
An average of 3.5 stars for this novel
It’s a rare fantasy novel that’s based in the middle-east. It shows the diversity in the Muslim world, and doesn’t follow the western narrative of portraying Muslims as terorrists (who would’ve thought). I guess it’s this reason that makes this book popular because even though the protagonist (Alif) is a mysoginistic idiot, it takes back the Muslim narrative, creates a unique fantasy world and represents the middle eastern culture - the good and the bad - honestly.
I found the characters to be a bit mechanical, and some parts of the plot to be random.
All in all, I would recommend this book because it’s a lovely alternative to the western based fantasy novels we have atm but beware of the plot-holes and the flat characters.
3 stars for the characters and plot (I’m looking at you Alif)
An average of 3.5 stars for this novel
It’s a rare fantasy novel that’s based in the middle-east. It shows the diversity in the Muslim world, and doesn’t follow the western narrative of portraying Muslims as terorrists (who would’ve thought). I guess it’s this reason that makes this book popular because even though the protagonist (Alif) is a mysoginistic idiot, it takes back the Muslim narrative, creates a unique fantasy world and represents the middle eastern culture - the good and the bad - honestly.
I found the characters to be a bit mechanical, and some parts of the plot to be random.
All in all, I would recommend this book because it’s a lovely alternative to the western based fantasy novels we have atm but beware of the plot-holes and the flat characters.