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A review by dragonwriter
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Priya barely escaped being burned on the pyre with her fellow temple children, escaping to the city with her temple brother to beg for survival. When her brother falls ill, he takes her to Bhumika, another surviving temple child, who takes her in to her household as a servant. Now, Priya has returned to the temple, to serve the imprisoned princess, Malini, who refused to walk into her own sacrificial pyre. Though loyal to Bhumika and trying to protect the people relying on them, Priya finds herself sympathetic toward and falling for the princess, who is being slowly poisoned by her vengeful caretaker. As Malini gets sicker and rebels seek to take the temple and steal the secrets of its magic waters, Priya must decide which of the three sides to give her loyalty: the rebels who want to retake her land, the princess who wants to escape her prison, or Bhumika, the temple sister desperate to keep what few people she can safe.
This book was much longer than the books I usually read, and was targeted for a older audience. That gave it the time to go deeper with the world building and character development, and there were several characters that benefited! I especially loved Rhuk, the little beggar boy Priya saves, and Bhumika. I did like Malini, and how she fought to keep herself through the poisoning and the manipulation and isolation.
The religious misogyny was absolutely frightening! The emperor’s fetish of burning women alive to purify them was terrifying! Especially at the end, when he’s daydreaming about burning his sister 😱 it’s disturbing.
I will say there were three different religions mentioned/explored in the book, and I thought that level of variety was pretty cool! My favorites were definitely the tree-spirits of Priya’s religion, though they were quite terrifying in their own way.
CW: blatant misogyny, religious trauma, childhood trauma, family trauma, horrific death, plague
This book was much longer than the books I usually read, and was targeted for a older audience. That gave it the time to go deeper with the world building and character development, and there were several characters that benefited! I especially loved Rhuk, the little beggar boy Priya saves, and Bhumika. I did like Malini, and how she fought to keep herself through the poisoning and the manipulation and isolation.
The religious misogyny was absolutely frightening! The emperor’s fetish of burning women alive to purify them was terrifying! Especially at the end, when he’s daydreaming about burning his sister 😱 it’s disturbing.
I will say there were three different religions mentioned/explored in the book, and I thought that level of variety was pretty cool! My favorites were definitely the tree-spirits of Priya’s religion, though they were quite terrifying in their own way.
CW: blatant misogyny, religious trauma, childhood trauma, family trauma, horrific death, plague
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Misogyny, and Pandemic/Epidemic