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joliendelandsheer 's review for:
Mirage
by Somaiya Daud
Here's what I loved about this book: it's a YA science fiction novel that is incredibly easy to get into and read. You'll find yourself flipping pages at a high speed simply because it's a captivating and atmospheric read. And YA sci-fi with PoC characters that is also #ownvoices? Yes!!
It has a lot of aspects I love in SFF: body doubles, court settings, intergalactic war, rebels... Sounds amazing, right? It also discusses oppression, having your culture become illegal and how it alters the lives of the people who remember life before the oppression as well as their children - who don't.
What I loved most? The Arabian setting. I'm so glad to read a sci-fi novel that is diverse, well-written and atmospheric! I sometimes struggle with the settings and atmosphere of sci-fi books, especially those set in space. It combined my favorite elements of fantasy novels (world building) with science fiction.
Here's my biggest issue with this novel: it doesn't make any sense. Amani is abducted and brought to the Princess of the Vath - the people who conquered her people and are ruling over them/oppressing them. She's pretty much the princess' body double, and will be trained so she can take the princess' place in high risk situations after attempts on her life have been discovered.
Okay, that I can understand. Here's where it starts making zero sense:
- you don't actually see anything of Amani's training, but she's supposedly become good enough to take the princess' place at a ball
- while Amani studied everyone who would be present at the ball, she doesn't know anything about the relationship between the princess and her fiancé
- so she has to pretend to the person who knows the princess best/spends the most time with her, without knowing anything about their relationship, the way they talk to one another, etc
- how can she possibly be convincing???
- at no point did she actually seem like a convincing version of the princess
- at no point were attacks on her life actually made??
It has a lot of aspects I love in SFF: body doubles, court settings, intergalactic war, rebels... Sounds amazing, right? It also discusses oppression, having your culture become illegal and how it alters the lives of the people who remember life before the oppression as well as their children - who don't.
What I loved most? The Arabian setting. I'm so glad to read a sci-fi novel that is diverse, well-written and atmospheric! I sometimes struggle with the settings and atmosphere of sci-fi books, especially those set in space. It combined my favorite elements of fantasy novels (world building) with science fiction.
Here's my biggest issue with this novel: it doesn't make any sense. Amani is abducted and brought to the Princess of the Vath - the people who conquered her people and are ruling over them/oppressing them. She's pretty much the princess' body double, and will be trained so she can take the princess' place in high risk situations after attempts on her life have been discovered.
Okay, that I can understand. Here's where it starts making zero sense:
- you don't actually see anything of Amani's training, but she's supposedly become good enough to take the princess' place at a ball
- while Amani studied everyone who would be present at the ball, she doesn't know anything about the relationship between the princess and her fiancé
- so she has to pretend to the person who knows the princess best/spends the most time with her, without knowing anything about their relationship, the way they talk to one another, etc
- how can she possibly be convincing???
- at no point did she actually seem like a convincing version of the princess
- at no point were attacks on her life actually made??