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noelleknoxbooks 's review for:
The Ashfire King
by Chelsea Abdullah
Thank you to Chelsea Abdullah, Orbit Books, and NetGalley for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 rounded up
I have been waiting for this sequel, and I was not disappointed! I loved being back with Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha on their adventures. These three characters grew so much in this book. I appreciated that each of them grew in their own ways and that they still have somewhere to go in their development. I also, really enjoyed the development between characters and how their relationships change as they change. I can't wait to see where they end up in the last book!
This book saw our characters entering a new world (the sunken jinn world) and I enjoyed the expansion of magic in this new realm. Some of the new magic was a touch confusing, but overall, I loved the new world-building.
What I loved most about this book was that the good and evil isn't clear cut. We--and the characters--don't always know who the "good guys" are and have to make choices that don't always turn out well. Chelsea uses stories within this story as a mechanic to tell history and lore in the world, and it is such a clever way of complicating the world (in a good way). Characters have their different versions of the same stories based on their own experiences and what they have heard over the years. This creates confusion in who is "right" and who is "good" for Loulie and Mazen. This makes the story all the more exciting!
I listened to the first book in the series and read this one, and the writing in this one seemed a little less tight than the first, but that could be because of the format. Overall, the story was a gripping one that I couldn't put down! A must-read fantasy series for sure!
4.5 rounded up
I have been waiting for this sequel, and I was not disappointed! I loved being back with Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha on their adventures. These three characters grew so much in this book. I appreciated that each of them grew in their own ways and that they still have somewhere to go in their development. I also, really enjoyed the development between characters and how their relationships change as they change. I can't wait to see where they end up in the last book!
This book saw our characters entering a new world (the sunken jinn world) and I enjoyed the expansion of magic in this new realm. Some of the new magic was a touch confusing, but overall, I loved the new world-building.
What I loved most about this book was that the good and evil isn't clear cut. We--and the characters--don't always know who the "good guys" are and have to make choices that don't always turn out well. Chelsea uses stories within this story as a mechanic to tell history and lore in the world, and it is such a clever way of complicating the world (in a good way). Characters have their different versions of the same stories based on their own experiences and what they have heard over the years. This creates confusion in who is "right" and who is "good" for Loulie and Mazen. This makes the story all the more exciting!
I listened to the first book in the series and read this one, and the writing in this one seemed a little less tight than the first, but that could be because of the format. Overall, the story was a gripping one that I couldn't put down! A must-read fantasy series for sure!