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nitha_ni's review against another edition
adventurous
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
louiselee3396's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
alluvia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
anna4's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Well..I'm glad it's over tbh.
It started off well (as in: the first 2 or 3 chapters were actually good) with a promising setting, but then it went quickly downhill for me and unfortunately, after almost 500 pages, the book didn't really recover from that.
I wasn't really sure if I am slowly but surely outgrowing YA and maybe that's why the characters didn't work for me, but I do think the characters were actually that annoying. Mainly the main character, that is.
Imani was really..exhausting. Considering her status in her home city and having earned the name "Djinni Slayer", it's really mind blowing how naive and incredibly stubborn she is.
I feel like every conversation she was having with someone was basically a fight. Her relationship with her sister (Amira) was a back and forth of heartfelt conversations and fighting over their missing brother or Amira's behaviour.
Similar situation with Imari and Taha. Don't know which one was actually more annoying.
Do Imani & Taha like each other ? Do they hate each other ? I wouldn't know. One chapter they were cute to each other, then they had a fight. Another chapter they kissed, then one did a 180 and tried to kill the other. All of this paired with repetitive monologues of "I feel he likes me? Do I like him? No it's Taha after all, he's the bad one here".
I'm also not sure why we were introduced to Qayn, because, as interesting he maybe is, he was barely there. I guess it's for the inevitable love triangle, which..no thank you.
The book was also at least 50pages too long. I don't think all those words were necessary.
Will not be continuing the series.
It started off well (as in: the first 2 or 3 chapters were actually good) with a promising setting, but then it went quickly downhill for me and unfortunately, after almost 500 pages, the book didn't really recover from that.
I wasn't really sure if I am slowly but surely outgrowing YA and maybe that's why the characters didn't work for me, but I do think the characters were actually that annoying. Mainly the main character, that is.
Imani was really..exhausting. Considering her status in her home city and having earned the name "Djinni Slayer", it's really mind blowing how naive and incredibly stubborn she is.
I feel like every conversation she was having with someone was basically a fight. Her relationship with her sister (Amira) was a back and forth of heartfelt conversations and fighting over their missing brother or Amira's behaviour.
Similar situation with Imari and Taha. Don't know which one was actually more annoying.
Do Imani & Taha like each other ? Do they hate each other ? I wouldn't know. One chapter they were cute to each other, then they had a fight. Another chapter they kissed, then one did a 180 and tried to kill the other. All of this paired with repetitive monologues of "I feel he likes me? Do I like him? No it's Taha after all, he's the bad one here".
I'm also not sure why we were introduced to Qayn, because, as interesting he maybe is, he was barely there. I guess it's for the inevitable love triangle, which..no thank you.
The book was also at least 50pages too long. I don't think all those words were necessary.
Will not be continuing the series.
tiareleine's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
happylilfaerie's review against another edition
this is written for White (and assimilated) audiences. it has the right amount of hand holding for them. for me it was excruciating and i couldn’t sympathise at all with the fascist language the insufferable MC was using.
librarycutie's review against another edition
4.0
୨⎯ 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒔 ⎯୧
rating: 4
plot: 4.25
characters: 4
writing: 4
narration: 3.75
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
°•*⁀➷ this was such an interesting read and really took me by surprise. I was not expecting to love this as much as I did. the slow burn is still slow and hasn't really burned yet but I can tell the enemies to lovers is going to be even more fiery in the next book! or at least, I hope. the world, the magic, the adventure to travel and find her brother, is all so exciting and interesting.
rating: 4
plot: 4.25
characters: 4
writing: 4
narration: 3.75
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
°•*⁀➷ this was such an interesting read and really took me by surprise. I was not expecting to love this as much as I did. the slow burn is still slow and hasn't really burned yet but I can tell the enemies to lovers is going to be even more fiery in the next book! or at least, I hope. the world, the magic, the adventure to travel and find her brother, is all so exciting and interesting.
rosabellepages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
So good points first: the plot, world-building and magic system were all good. Simple to follow yet interesting and felt sufficiently fleshed out. I liked that the magic was triggered through drinking a special tea and I thought the lore and world of the Sahir was intriguing (honestly I wish it was explored more & the story was based more in it).
Bad points: the characters. I just felt like they all fell a bit flat. The budding romance between Taha and Imani kinda came out of nowhere. I feel like so much more could have been done with Qayn. Also I just could not gel with Imani’s inner monologue. It was too flowery/descriptive/poetic, I dunno 🤷 it just didn’t feel like an authentic inner monologue an actual person would have.
The book definitely had promise and I wouldn’t say it was a bad read. It was good but not great. I may read the sequel but it’s unlikely.
Bad points: the characters. I just felt like they all fell a bit flat. The budding romance between Taha and Imani kinda came out of nowhere. I feel like so much more could have been done with Qayn. Also I just could not gel with Imani’s inner monologue. It was too flowery/descriptive/poetic, I dunno 🤷 it just didn’t feel like an authentic inner monologue an actual person would have.
The book definitely had promise and I wouldn’t say it was a bad read. It was good but not great. I may read the sequel but it’s unlikely.
bookstorm_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It has good things, such as world building and plot. But it hasn't hooked me enough, even though the characters evolve, I found the main character a bit insufferable at times, just like the male main character.
constellationsvale's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25