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silverscripts's Reviews (131)
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It was an interesting take on a teen royalty piece because Alessandra was never the "I'm gonna help make this kingdom a better place!" YA character. She was a feminist, sure, but she gave zero shits about poverty or murdering people for stealing. I wanted to hate her for it, but I somehow didn't.
I have this classified as "enemies to lovers" but I wouldn't quite call it that. It's a mix between that and fake dating. It gives you a little bit of the best parts of both, though I do wish the book played more upon Alessandra's emotions about falling for someone she had intended to murder.
Also, Kallias is an amazing character, and to be honest, I wish this book had been written in swapped perspectives between both of them. I think this is the perfect kind of plot for that.
Some slight spoilers below:
Alessandra's narration often included a lot of heavy-handed political statements, and while I agreed with them, they felt a bit strange when she stated them outright. I much preferred seeing these play out naturally in the text — like Kallias's comment about the numbers not adding up if women are expected to be virgins at marriage but men can have several partners beforehand, or the way Alessandra encouraged the ladies to gossip about their sexual exploits without fear.
I wanted a bit more world-building. They had electricity and plumbing, but fashion was rather old-school, as were social norms. The Shadow King seemed to be in charge of 5 kingdoms, and I believe there are only 8 in total? I had a good amount of questions about the way this world works. They weren't major, but it was definitely a tad bit confusing at times.
My favorite part of the book was when Kallias found out Alessandra had murdered someone and lost himself laughing. 10/10 moment.
I have this classified as "enemies to lovers" but I wouldn't quite call it that. It's a mix between that and fake dating. It gives you a little bit of the best parts of both, though I do wish the book played more upon Alessandra's emotions about falling for someone she had intended to murder.
Also, Kallias is an amazing character, and to be honest, I wish this book had been written in swapped perspectives between both of them. I think this is the perfect kind of plot for that.
Some slight spoilers below:
Spoiler
Alessandra's narration often included a lot of heavy-handed political statements, and while I agreed with them, they felt a bit strange when she stated them outright. I much preferred seeing these play out naturally in the text — like Kallias's comment about the numbers not adding up if women are expected to be virgins at marriage but men can have several partners beforehand, or the way Alessandra encouraged the ladies to gossip about their sexual exploits without fear.
I wanted a bit more world-building. They had electricity and plumbing, but fashion was rather old-school, as were social norms. The Shadow King seemed to be in charge of 5 kingdoms, and I believe there are only 8 in total? I had a good amount of questions about the way this world works. They weren't major, but it was definitely a tad bit confusing at times.
My favorite part of the book was when Kallias found out Alessandra had murdered someone and lost himself laughing. 10/10 moment.
**listened to as an audiobook**
I probably rate this more like a 2.5. I really wanted to like it, but I just... didn't. I think mostly I just didn't like Soraya's character very much.
Large parts of this plot also just felt like they were caused by miscommunication. If characters bothered to tell each other the truth, multiple aspects of the plot wouldn't have happened to begin with.
Soraya was afraid to say she wanted her poison back, and I know that's a huge part of the book, because she recognizes she gave up the main power that she had. But I almost feel like I lost her sense of character once her power was gone. I really wanted her to make the choice to somehow get the power back, but it kept not happening. Her character felt incomplete to me without the power, I guess.
In many ways, it felt like the plot was happening to Soraya. She was really indecisive and constantly holding back important truths from people.
The real choice she finally makes is to try and get her power back (took her long enough, honestly). I really enjoyed this scene and thought it brought the story full circle and showed Soraya's growth and what she was willing to give up. But then it doesn't work, which I felt took away from that growth, and the book sort of implies that her resulting poisonous garden will somehow be a tool to take down Azad.
But it sort of... isn't? And then she gets her power back anyways? And she isn't even the one to save the simorgh, in the end. Even in the final climax, Soraya is waiting for someone else to solve the problem for her. And even after Parvaneh strips the power from Azad, it isn't even really Soraya who kills him. Yet again, she isn't the one who makes the choice -- her mom does. And while I felt this was good for her mom's character, it yet again had me feeling like the plot could have almost happened without Soraya.
I probably rate this more like a 2.5. I really wanted to like it, but I just... didn't. I think mostly I just didn't like Soraya's character very much.
Large parts of this plot also just felt like they were caused by miscommunication. If characters bothered to tell each other the truth, multiple aspects of the plot wouldn't have happened to begin with.
Spoiler
The thing is, I really liked Soraya in the beginning of the novel. She had a clear goal and was willing to fight for it. But once the big reveal happens with Azad and Soraya loses her poison (quite early on in the book), she sort of loses all of her agency as a character.Soraya was afraid to say she wanted her poison back, and I know that's a huge part of the book, because she recognizes she gave up the main power that she had. But I almost feel like I lost her sense of character once her power was gone. I really wanted her to make the choice to somehow get the power back, but it kept not happening. Her character felt incomplete to me without the power, I guess.
In many ways, it felt like the plot was happening to Soraya. She was really indecisive and constantly holding back important truths from people.
The real choice she finally makes is to try and get her power back (took her long enough, honestly). I really enjoyed this scene and thought it brought the story full circle and showed Soraya's growth and what she was willing to give up. But then it doesn't work, which I felt took away from that growth, and the book sort of implies that her resulting poisonous garden will somehow be a tool to take down Azad.
But it sort of... isn't? And then she gets her power back anyways? And she isn't even the one to save the simorgh, in the end. Even in the final climax, Soraya is waiting for someone else to solve the problem for her. And even after Parvaneh strips the power from Azad, it isn't even really Soraya who kills him. Yet again, she isn't the one who makes the choice -- her mom does. And while I felt this was good for her mom's character, it yet again had me feeling like the plot could have almost happened without Soraya.