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A review by readingrobin
Mirage by Somaiya Daud
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
A 3.5 but rounded up to a 4 if you want a full number out of me.
A book about the tyrannical colonization, occupation, and cultural genocide of a people seems especially poignant now. The themes hit hard in several places as Amani tries to navigate through the royal court of her people's oppressors, working as a body double for a cold princess. Amani's perseverance and love of her culture makes her captivating and I was surprised to get so invested in Maram despite her sometimes nefarious nature.
For the majority of the book, the plot is mostly Amani being shuffled around from palace to palace for functions, grand events, posing as Maram and figuring out more about the royal inner circle as well as the resistance towards the colonizers. It doesn't make for a very action-packed story, but the plot focuses more on the social conflicts Amani faces. It gets tense in several moments as her people face numerous threats of violence, including her family. The story at least moves well in between its most dramatic moments, even when the court appearances start to get a little tedious.
The romance felt a little too quick for me, but it was cute enough.
For a sci-fi book, there's not a lot of science fiction that goes on in the story. Other than some space travel and talks of planets there's really nothing that makes it feel very science fictiony. Scrub a few details here and there and it could have passed as a fantasy book, but I don't think that really drags it down too much.
Will definitely check out the sequel to see how things conclude.
A book about the tyrannical colonization, occupation, and cultural genocide of a people seems especially poignant now. The themes hit hard in several places as Amani tries to navigate through the royal court of her people's oppressors, working as a body double for a cold princess. Amani's perseverance and love of her culture makes her captivating and I was surprised to get so invested in Maram despite her sometimes nefarious nature.
For the majority of the book, the plot is mostly Amani being shuffled around from palace to palace for functions, grand events, posing as Maram and figuring out more about the royal inner circle as well as the resistance towards the colonizers. It doesn't make for a very action-packed story, but the plot focuses more on the social conflicts Amani faces. It gets tense in several moments as her people face numerous threats of violence, including her family. The story at least moves well in between its most dramatic moments, even when the court appearances start to get a little tedious.
The romance felt a little too quick for me, but it was cute enough.
For a sci-fi book, there's not a lot of science fiction that goes on in the story. Other than some space travel and talks of planets there's really nothing that makes it feel very science fictiony. Scrub a few details here and there and it could have passed as a fantasy book, but I don't think that really drags it down too much.
Will definitely check out the sequel to see how things conclude.