bimeariver's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
ignoring how i fell off the wagon with this book for a good few days, this was a highly intense adventure that i was wholly fascinated with from start to finish. once i picked this story back up again, i tore through it in less than a day and it was an experience of a lifetime.
the same 4.5 that i gave to amastan's story is quite different compared to the 4.5 that i've decided to rate thana's story. what both cousins share in common is there fierce loyalty to their city and it's that level of dedication that makes for such wonderfully crafted characters with clear motivations. beyond that, however, they are very different and it is in how careful & methodic amastan is when it comes to planning, when it comes to observing every piece of the puzzle before jumping into action. as a result, his story translated into what ultimately felt like a slow-burn murder mystery with splices of action in between--and i loved it a lot. with thana on the other hand, she's much more impulsive and filled with a burning passion that makes her fumble at times but doesn't tire her out, instead pushing her even further to her goals. for that, this story--her story--burned really fast and moved at a lightening pace filled with incredible marvels that were just as exciting as they were very terrifying.
this journey thana goes through is intense in all the best ways--with characters like mo & heru who get swept up in the sands and use their individual talents to add just as much splendor to this story as thana does. there's so much that goes on in this book, it's difficult to unpack just about everything but for one, there is necromancy, which is what primarily puts the "impossible" into this contract that throws thana into this mess of a quest. there's dust storms, ravaged cities, and death-defying actions made that put all these characters into quite a tumble and i was absolutely gobsmacked at how well-written all of it was. if i may be honest, the plot itself felt much more complex and ambitious than the first book and so could just as easily have twisted upon itself and yet it was actually impressively done. while there were a couple details that fell through the cracks, a character with as fierce a spirit as thana made this story as sweepingly genius as it is.
we meet her in amastan's story as what i believed to be a meek young girl with an incredible amount of weight that was soon to be (if not already) weighed on her shoulders as the Serpent's daugher. here, thana is much older, and much more passionate when it came to fulfilling that weight of expectations she's placed on herself in her family. the role of the assassin was something so intriguing to me from amastan's eyes, and here with thana, it felt much more razor-sharp and unpredictable because that is exactly what's part of the job. we see that alluded to at the beginning of this book, and even in a bittersweet reveal in the last book, and so it only made the evolving events of this story make sense. what was tricky, however, was seeing how thana was going to navigate what should've been a calculative kill that only just ended up to become a race across the sands into the heart of the Empire; all in the quest for information that is bound to unveil an incredible darkness well beyond her original mark.
within all that danger & mystery, the root of the story lied in the characters--and it was quite amusing thinking back to how different the dynamics were between them all. as a group--thana, mo, and heru--had their moments where it brought a lot of charm to what's otherwise a pretty grim adventure that they've found themselves caught up in. the author balancing this kind of charm with a grisly narrative was really interesting, and i enjoyed seeing how this pack worked together--just as much as i enjoyed when thana & heru broke ranks and slyly tried to best each other in death. seeing how they fail--multiple times--was what added to the charm, and even more so when thinking about how mo seemed the most level-headed of them all. adding onto that, mo became very important to thana in a way that made me smile because it was a classic kind of dynamic--the fire that bursts in thana's chest cooling as the comfortable weight of mo's connection to water comes near. i really loved this quote, just to say:
There was something about Mo's quiet yet firm demeanor, Mo's compassion for others, and Mo's delightful laugh that had wrapped around Thana and ensnared her. Like her cousin Amastan, Mo was serious enough for the both of them. But unlike him, there was a yearning for more.
this series places much more weight into the fantastical, into history, into adventure, above all else--but seeing the way that these relationships hold the seal to keep these characters tethered to their stories is a very significant thing. not just seeing how mo & thana are like with each other, but also getting to see how even off-page, amastan is seen to be a source of reason & comfort for when thana feels herself drowned in self-doubt. there's little interactions to be seen between this specific pair in the first book with amastan so caught up in this big mystery that was killing his own cousins; but here, in all the years that passed between both books, amastan & thana look to each other for support & guidance and you can't miss it.
ultimately, thana does learn how to stand on her own two feet and make her own decisions--whether or not it would seem best to her family, it's even better to see what she's capable of from making her own judgments with her own skills. yes, she's rash and still has much to learn but she's also quick on her feet and that leads her to make some unthinking calls that save mo & heru's lives at some points. i think even with how much her & heru clash in this story--heru for all that he represents (as revealed in this story) and also because he's such an academic, it would be absolutely fascinating if it wasn't for all the action & gory scenes that occur most often--they were another pair that worked well when the plot called for it, and even when they didn't, it added a depth to their characters that made them interesting to read about.
this book was very interesting to read about, and i am glad i finished it when i did because this review helped me realize that i do have some merit when it comes to talking about what i like about books--especially ones in the fantasy genre. this story was action-packed and a blend of different genres with horror and even some paranormal (?), which added an insidious tone that i was very delighted to read. i loved seeing thana shine in her own right and get pushed to her limits as she wrestled with the code her family followed with a grip and then what became such a clusterfuck of a situation it was almost laughable about quickly things mess up when they did....until there wasn't much to laugh about anymore. i'm really curious what will come next in this series that revolves around the city of Ghadid and all the cities that lie near it, and even more interested at what's at stake based on the events that occur around the last leg of this story. so only choice i have is to step forward and see for myself in the last book.
the same 4.5 that i gave to amastan's story is quite different compared to the 4.5 that i've decided to rate thana's story. what both cousins share in common is there fierce loyalty to their city and it's that level of dedication that makes for such wonderfully crafted characters with clear motivations. beyond that, however, they are very different and it is in how careful & methodic amastan is when it comes to planning, when it comes to observing every piece of the puzzle before jumping into action. as a result, his story translated into what ultimately felt like a slow-burn murder mystery with splices of action in between--and i loved it a lot. with thana on the other hand, she's much more impulsive and filled with a burning passion that makes her fumble at times but doesn't tire her out, instead pushing her even further to her goals. for that, this story--her story--burned really fast and moved at a lightening pace filled with incredible marvels that were just as exciting as they were very terrifying.
this journey thana goes through is intense in all the best ways--with characters like mo & heru who get swept up in the sands and use their individual talents to add just as much splendor to this story as thana does. there's so much that goes on in this book, it's difficult to unpack just about everything but for one, there is necromancy, which is what primarily puts the "impossible" into this contract that throws thana into this mess of a quest. there's dust storms, ravaged cities, and death-defying actions made that put all these characters into quite a tumble and i was absolutely gobsmacked at how well-written all of it was. if i may be honest, the plot itself felt much more complex and ambitious than the first book and so could just as easily have twisted upon itself and yet it was actually impressively done. while there were a couple details that fell through the cracks, a character with as fierce a spirit as thana made this story as sweepingly genius as it is.
we meet her in amastan's story as what i believed to be a meek young girl with an incredible amount of weight that was soon to be (if not already) weighed on her shoulders as the Serpent's daugher. here, thana is much older, and much more passionate when it came to fulfilling that weight of expectations she's placed on herself in her family. the role of the assassin was something so intriguing to me from amastan's eyes, and here with thana, it felt much more razor-sharp and unpredictable because that is exactly what's part of the job. we see that alluded to at the beginning of this book, and even in a bittersweet reveal in the last book, and so it only made the evolving events of this story make sense. what was tricky, however, was seeing how thana was going to navigate what should've been a calculative kill that only just ended up to become a race across the sands into the heart of the Empire; all in the quest for information that is bound to unveil an incredible darkness well beyond her original mark.
within all that danger & mystery, the root of the story lied in the characters--and it was quite amusing thinking back to how different the dynamics were between them all. as a group--thana, mo, and heru--had their moments where it brought a lot of charm to what's otherwise a pretty grim adventure that they've found themselves caught up in. the author balancing this kind of charm with a grisly narrative was really interesting, and i enjoyed seeing how this pack worked together--just as much as i enjoyed when thana & heru broke ranks and slyly tried to best each other in death. seeing how they fail--multiple times--was what added to the charm, and even more so when thinking about how mo seemed the most level-headed of them all. adding onto that, mo became very important to thana in a way that made me smile because it was a classic kind of dynamic--the fire that bursts in thana's chest cooling as the comfortable weight of mo's connection to water comes near. i really loved this quote, just to say:
There was something about Mo's quiet yet firm demeanor, Mo's compassion for others, and Mo's delightful laugh that had wrapped around Thana and ensnared her. Like her cousin Amastan, Mo was serious enough for the both of them. But unlike him, there was a yearning for more.
this series places much more weight into the fantastical, into history, into adventure, above all else--but seeing the way that these relationships hold the seal to keep these characters tethered to their stories is a very significant thing. not just seeing how mo & thana are like with each other, but also getting to see how even off-page, amastan is seen to be a source of reason & comfort for when thana feels herself drowned in self-doubt. there's little interactions to be seen between this specific pair in the first book with amastan so caught up in this big mystery that was killing his own cousins; but here, in all the years that passed between both books, amastan & thana look to each other for support & guidance and you can't miss it.
ultimately, thana does learn how to stand on her own two feet and make her own decisions--whether or not it would seem best to her family, it's even better to see what she's capable of from making her own judgments with her own skills. yes, she's rash and still has much to learn but she's also quick on her feet and that leads her to make some unthinking calls that save mo & heru's lives at some points. i think even with how much her & heru clash in this story--heru for all that he represents (as revealed in this story) and also because he's such an academic, it would be absolutely fascinating if it wasn't for all the action & gory scenes that occur most often--they were another pair that worked well when the plot called for it, and even when they didn't, it added a depth to their characters that made them interesting to read about.
this book was very interesting to read about, and i am glad i finished it when i did because this review helped me realize that i do have some merit when it comes to talking about what i like about books--especially ones in the fantasy genre. this story was action-packed and a blend of different genres with horror and even some paranormal (?), which added an insidious tone that i was very delighted to read. i loved seeing thana shine in her own right and get pushed to her limits as she wrestled with the code her family followed with a grip and then what became such a clusterfuck of a situation it was almost laughable about quickly things mess up when they did....until there wasn't much to laugh about anymore. i'm really curious what will come next in this series that revolves around the city of Ghadid and all the cities that lie near it, and even more interested at what's at stake based on the events that occur around the last leg of this story. so only choice i have is to step forward and see for myself in the last book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, and Death
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