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novelheartbeat 's review for:
Mirage
by Somaiya Daud
While this one fell flat for me, I strongly believe that this is going to be a favorite for a lot of readers, and a hit fantasy of 2018!
The world was beautiful, but the places were really overwhelming for me to keep up with. There was no map (there will be in final copy - something that sucks about reading ARCs) so I had trouble sorting all the places out. I also didn't understand the conflict between the different places because I was overwhelmed by all the them and couldn't tell if they were cities, or countries, (planets??) etc. I wasn't sure what places were part of other larger provinces (or maybe even other planets). I don't necessarily think it's a lack of world building on the author's part - I just really like to look at a map, and in this one it's important. I do have a complaint about the world building, though - the occupation. I would have liked to have more information about it, other than it being what they call the Vathek invasion. I think that could have gone a long way toward helping understand the world and places as well.
While there were fantasy and sci-fi elements, this wasn't really a fantasy or a sci-fi. I loved the idea of the Dihya (their deity), the Tesleet (a mystical bird that is seen as a blessing from Dihya), and the droids (who were bodyguards for the royalty). Other than that, there wasn't really anything fantasy or sci-fi about this one other than the setting. It's kind of a blend consisting of sprinkle of high fantasy, a dash of sci-fi, and a heaping dose of romance. I loved the Arabian feel this one had; but at its core, this book is a romance.
Which brings me to what ruined it utterly for me. The romance. It moved WAY too fast - which could be partially because this book is only a little over 300 pages - but it was basically instalove, which I despise with the fire of a thousand suns. Amani and Idris only had two real interactions before they were kissing and suddenly making proclamations of love. Gag me with a spoon.
I was really enjoying this book in the first half. Like I mentioned above, this is an Arabian story, so I looooved the culture and the feel of the world. The prose was also beautiful. I was intrigued from the start, and I quite liked the idea of a girl getting stolen from her home and forced to play the body double of a Princess. The introduction of the romance was where I lost interest. After that I felt like all the exciting things I loved about it in the beginning disappeared in favor of the romance. It became a romance-driven story, and thus I became bored. The second half was a serious struggle for me, to the point that I almost DNFed it. Which is pretty bad, considering how short the story was.
I can't say I really cared about the characters much. I didn't care about Amani or Idris, or even Tala. I did, however find Princess Maram very interesting (which may make me a horrible person because she's kind of the villain?) because she was a multi faceted character and it felt like she was the only one that had real depth. I found myself craving catharsis between Maram and Amani, and I loved the kind of sisterhood they shared! I wish that relationship had been a focal point instead of the horrible romance.
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I don't know if I'll continue this series, but I think it has potential so I may try to pick up book 2, who knows!
This review was originally posted on Novel Heartbeat. To see a breakdown of my assessment, please visit the full review here.