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A review by charliauthor
Dancers of the Dawn by Zulekhá A. Afzal
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I found this very immersive and culturally rich throughout which was beautiful. It felt authentic and grounded in its depiction of culture however, it did feel a little vague in parts while super repetitive in others.
Aasira has grown up in a special school for girls with magic who use dance as a sort of conduit for it to fight in a kingdom's army. She has grown up as an outsider within this place because her mother is a supposed traitor to their kingdom. This point was hammered in at every possible occassion and got rather tiresome by the halfway point. We're constantly told about her mother’s betrayal and how much she wants to prove she is not her mother and the depths she will go to to prove this but a lot of the depth of that was just always on the periphery. Constantly being told how her mother's betrayal effects her rather than feeling it through her emotions, actions or words just made it feel a little flat. It took too long to get to any real tension or for her to leave the special school when it was clear she was always going to do just that.
It got interesting when it was clear that her mentor was hiding something from her and once the ball got rolling on that element of the plot it was more engaging. However, as a YA book, it didnt get much deeper than that which is fine but i just would have preferred a bit more danger or deeper reasoning behind the big bad reveal.
Generally its a good YA outing but even though it finishes on an opening to continue in book 2, i have no real desire to do so.
Aasira has grown up in a special school for girls with magic who use dance as a sort of conduit for it to fight in a kingdom's army. She has grown up as an outsider within this place because her mother is a supposed traitor to their kingdom. This point was hammered in at every possible occassion and got rather tiresome by the halfway point. We're constantly told about her mother’s betrayal and how much she wants to prove she is not her mother and the depths she will go to to prove this but a lot of the depth of that was just always on the periphery. Constantly being told how her mother's betrayal effects her rather than feeling it through her emotions, actions or words just made it feel a little flat. It took too long to get to any real tension or for her to leave the special school when it was clear she was always going to do just that.
It got interesting when it was clear that her mentor was hiding something from her and once the ball got rolling on that element of the plot it was more engaging. However, as a YA book, it didnt get much deeper than that which is fine but i just would have preferred a bit more danger or deeper reasoning behind the big bad reveal.
Generally its a good YA outing but even though it finishes on an opening to continue in book 2, i have no real desire to do so.