beldaran1224's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
4.5
This is a fast read, and a good time. The author explores many facets of women's rights and specifically explores the variety of issues that are specific to women of all classes and circumstances and how all of those are political. This is done through the lens of a fantasy world with magic.
The world is well rooted in SWANA (South West Asia, North Africa) elements, which gives it a great deal of life and authenticity. The magic system is fun and will appeal to anyone who enjoys "elemental" magic.
The characters were perfectly selected as a lens to view the Daughters of Izdihar (the suffrage organization) through. I also particularly enjoyed the way the author wrote the responses of the various men in the story to the Daughters.
I look forward to the second book in the planned duology!
More details about content warnings: this book goes over a host of issues that women face, many of which can be traumatic for women who have experienced them. Among these are abortion, purity tests (and the sexual violation associated with them), sex shaming, and homophobia. The book does not treat them flippantly, but nor does it linger on them in graphic detail. At all times, the book condemns these things. The book deals honestly with very heavy topics, but it isn't interested in holding them up as entertainment.
The world is well rooted in SWANA (South West Asia, North Africa) elements, which gives it a great deal of life and authenticity. The magic system is fun and will appeal to anyone who enjoys "elemental" magic.
The characters were perfectly selected as a lens to view the Daughters of Izdihar (the suffrage organization) through. I also particularly enjoyed the way the author wrote the responses of the various men in the story to the Daughters.
I look forward to the second book in the planned duology!
More details about content warnings: this book goes over a host of issues that women face, many of which can be traumatic for women who have experienced them. Among these are abortion, purity tests (and the sexual violation associated with them), sex shaming, and homophobia. The book does not treat them flippantly, but nor does it linger on them in graphic detail. At all times, the book condemns these things. The book deals honestly with very heavy topics, but it isn't interested in holding them up as entertainment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Police brutality, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
verinvaldez's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I nearly DNFed this book but since it's so short and I was already halfway through I decided to finish it. It wasn't the book I was expecting, I was told it was like Avatar the Last Airbender in an Egyptian-inspired fantasy world and therefore was expecting a major focus on the magic aspect. However this is a book primarily focused on politics, women's suffrage, class and female weavers stuggling to control their abilities.
As other reviews have said, the magic system is the exact same as bending in ATLA. A certain plot point was taken directly from ATLA. Which unfortunately made the magic aspect fairly dull because it was too derivative, I expected inspired by ATLA not exactly the same system.
Nehal was a very irritating character, highly stubborn and I found her impossible to like as she appears to be completely disconnected from reality, failing to understand the consequences of her actions and only proceeds to get even angrier when things don't go her way. Nico barely felt like a character, he has somewhat progressive opinions in this world but he just does whatever the plot is asking of him and most of the time he's just pining after Giorgina. Giorgina was the most interesting character to me because she is far more grounded in reality than Nehal and Nico are, however she wasn't compelling.
I am not invested enough in these characters or this world to have any interest in reading the upcoming second book in this duology. Absolutely nothing is resolved by the end of this book, it is all just setup for the next book so don't expect a satisfying ending going into this.
On the positive side, I enjoyed reading a book where the setting is inspired by Egypt, the descriptions of the clothing were fascinating and the political ideas were interesting but the themes weren't married together well.
As other reviews have said, the magic system is the exact same as bending in ATLA. A certain plot point was taken directly from ATLA.
Spoiler
There is a reveal where the waterweaver main character Nehal accidentally bloodweaves and bloodweaving is highly forbidden and kept secret, I'm pretty sure the reason she gets kidnapped at the end of the book is because she is a bloodweaver and she is going to be used by the enemy kingdom as a weapon.Nehal was a very irritating character, highly stubborn and I found her impossible to like as she appears to be completely disconnected from reality, failing to understand the consequences of her actions and only proceeds to get even angrier when things don't go her way. Nico barely felt like a character, he has somewhat progressive opinions in this world but he just does whatever the plot is asking of him and most of the time he's just pining after Giorgina. Giorgina was the most interesting character to me because she is far more grounded in reality than Nehal and Nico are, however she wasn't compelling.
I am not invested enough in these characters or this world to have any interest in reading the upcoming second book in this duology. Absolutely nothing is resolved by the end of this book, it is all just setup for the next book so don't expect a satisfying ending going into this.
On the positive side, I enjoyed reading a book where the setting is inspired by Egypt, the descriptions of the clothing were fascinating and the political ideas were interesting but the themes weren't married together well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Confinement
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Violence, Classism, and Biphobia
Minor: War, Gun violence, Abortion, Grief, and Kidnapping
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I have too many thoughts so will update with a review later.
My biggest thought right now: not sure why the magic system was literally lifted out of Avatar the Last Airbender with the only change being "bending" called "weaving" instead...
My biggest thought right now: not sure why the magic system was literally lifted out of Avatar the Last Airbender with the only change being "bending" called "weaving" instead...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexism, and Gaslighting
Moderate: War, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, and Violence
ender24's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, War, Xenophobia, Ableism, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Grief, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, and Violence
starrysteph's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The Daughters of Izdihar is filled with elemental magic, female rage, and freedom fighters. However, to me it fell a bit flat and didn’t bring anything new to the genre.
We follow two young women from very different backgrounds in an Egyptian-inspired magical world.
Nehal is the wealthy daughter of an aristocrat, forced into an arranged marriage in order to save her family from financial ruin. But what she truly wants is to nurture her waterweaving skills and someday join the first ever all-female regiment of the army.
Giorgina is a poor bookshop worker, struggling to suppress her uncontrollable earth weaving power. She’s in love with a man who cannot publicly be with her and secretly writes for the Daughters of Izdihar, a women’s rights group.
Both women connect unexpectedly as they yearn for women’s equality and struggle to make their own choices and live (& love) freely.
The writing wavered at times - it feels very clear to me that this is a debut. Sentences were often a bit choppy or repetitive, dialogue was unnatural, and the plot felt familiar to many other fantasy reads (elemental magic has been done so often & it wasn’t really included in a new way here).
It was a bit draining to input all the sexism, and to see the women’s rights group fall into the same cycles. New protest idea, it gets squandered by men and/or corrupt politicians and police, women have to reformulate, and so on. This is most of the book, and it’s copied & pasted straight from history.
I also felt like Nehal was a stronger character - with a bit more character development. I was antsier reading from Giorgina’s POV, and didn’t care much for her conflict with her love interest. It felt like she was just one-dimensionally tossed in to suffer at the hands of various men. Contrastingly, Nehal’s growth (both in uncovering the realities of her world and discovering her sexuality) was more engaging.
But even so - the queer plotlines (Nehal’s and a random side character who shows up at two convenient moments) felt underdeveloped. And Nehal’s impulsivity grew a little tiring, alongside her unbelievably fast rise in skill with waterweaving. She also NEVER faced any consequences for her harmful actions … and it’s not particularly clear why she desires to be part of the women’s rights movement in the first place. She can’t even be bothered to read the magazines.
I felt like there were interesting ideas here - with the setting and with the characters - that simply weren’t explored enough.
CW: sexism, misogyny, murder, death, homophobia, lesbophobia, police brutality, sexual harassment, sexual assault, classism, gun violence, grief, war, abortion
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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment, Classism, Body shaming, War, Abortion, Misogyny, Gun violence, Death, Homophobia, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Sexism, and Grief
mxkanteven's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
BLOOD. BENDING. BISEXUALS!
That is all.
This book is perfection, I have no notes and I want the sequel yesterday.
It’s exploration of social misogyny and the relationship between oppressive policies and religious prejudice is nothing short of skillful.
Beyond just that, Hadeer’s commentary on privilege and privileged people’s apathy and cowardice regarding challenging social inequity is brilliant.
That is all.
This book is perfection, I have no notes and I want the sequel yesterday.
It’s exploration of social misogyny and the relationship between oppressive policies and religious prejudice is nothing short of skillful.
Beyond just that, Hadeer’s commentary on privilege and privileged people’s apathy and cowardice regarding challenging social inequity is brilliant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Violence
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, and Gun violence
Minor: Homophobia
azrah786's review against another edition
4.5
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, injury, murder, death, police brutality, sexual harassment, medical trauma, sexism, misogyny, classism, homophobia, lesbophobia, fire/fire injury, grief, abortion
--
An unputdownable debut, The Daughters of Izdihar is a story with captivating magic and a stirring fight for independence.
Set in a lush, historic Egypt inspired fantasy world where a profoundly patriarchal society is as prejudiced to those with rare elemental ‘weaving’ powers as it is to its women, two women’s lives intertwine through the activist group The Daughters of Izdihar and their fight for their rights as both women and weavers.
Our protagonists are Nehal, a noble woman with a fiery disposition coerced into an arranged manage to get her family out of debt, who craves the opportunity to better learn to control her water weaving powers and join the Alamaxa Weaving Academy. And Giorgina, a more reserved and subtly defiant working class woman with earth weaving powers of her own, who’s solace in life comes from contributing to the Daughters of Izdihar and working at a local bookshop.
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, injury, murder, death, police brutality, sexual harassment, medical trauma, sexism, misogyny, classism, homophobia, lesbophobia, fire/fire injury, grief, abortion
--
An unputdownable debut, The Daughters of Izdihar is a story with captivating magic and a stirring fight for independence.
Set in a lush, historic Egypt inspired fantasy world where a profoundly patriarchal society is as prejudiced to those with rare elemental ‘weaving’ powers as it is to its women, two women’s lives intertwine through the activist group The Daughters of Izdihar and their fight for their rights as both women and weavers.
Our protagonists are Nehal, a noble woman with a fiery disposition coerced into an arranged manage to get her family out of debt, who craves the opportunity to better learn to control her water weaving powers and join the Alamaxa Weaving Academy. And Giorgina, a more reserved and subtly defiant working class woman with earth weaving powers of her own, who’s solace in life comes from contributing to the Daughters of Izdihar and working at a local bookshop.
“There are times when you must speak. Even if you can’t change the other person. If you don’t speak, then they have succeeded in changing you.“
Hadeer Elsbai has done a fantastic job at narrating an engaging storyline that cuts deep at your emotions and the parallels to real world prejudices made it hit all the more harder. I think the mastery particularly comes from how the two perspectives we follow were not only distinct in their personalities, but having two protagonists of different social backgrounds gave the story that much more significance.
They may be different in status and demeanour but Nehal and Giorgina have much in common when it comes to the challenges they face with their families, their relationships/love, their powers and wider society. I found myself equally infuriated and inspired by their individual journeys and the situations they faced and the very real endurance of women that this story lays bare.
“Didn’t the reality of the oppression matter more than the language they used to fight it?”
My main criticism is that while the descriptions and sense of atmosphere of the settings are captured pretty well, I thought the worldbuilding was a little loose especially when it came to the magic system. Though the handful of abilities used throughout the book made for some exciting moments of action, they weren’t really explained or developed on much. We get a few details on the pantheon of Gods that the powers are said to come from and a few training scenes at the academy but the magic definitely had less of a focus than the overarching political plot.
The intrigue here was twofold, that of the more personal human rights level and then the machinations relating to international relations occurring in the background that slowly gained more prominence. The tensions, fast moving narrative and compelling determination of these characters will keep you hooked to the very end. And with how everything closes off in this first instalment I am now going to be counting the days until I can get my hands on book 2!
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Grief, Violence, Blood, Homophobia, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Misogyny, Classism, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Sexual harassment and Abortion
gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I loved that this book told a story set in a more modern Egypt! The Daughters of Izdihar tells a harrowing tale of two girls, Nehal and Georgina, both on a journey towards freedom and choice, in a country on the brink of war. I enjoyed role of the technological levels of this story, the juxtaposition between trains and palanquins showcasing a country seemingly on the path to the future while being heavily held back by restrictions on women and their personhood. The colorful descriptions of the fashion, the cuisine, and the architecture were immersive and aids in pulling the reader into the story.
I liked the magical weaving element of the story, though I felt that at times, this component of the story felt more like an afterthought. The beginning of Nehal's story leads with a burning desire to attend the Weaving Academy due to her struggle to learn the skills of weaving on her own. Yet, the very moment she attains everything she had been striving for, Nehal never has to struggle to rise in strength and skill. Further on in the story, Nehal's fast-learned ability quickly culminates to dire consequences, but I would've liked to see a little more of the Weaving Academy.
Georgina's journey with weaving, while featuring a wildly contrasting story, had similar tones to Nehal's. With Georgina, I liked that her story showed the difficulties of weaving while coming from a less privileged background. But again, at times, it felt like her weaving abilities only come into the story as a method to lead into the next act of the book and I would've liked to see more of her relationship with her weaving abilities.
One of my struggle with the story was feeling like there were times when the actions and thoughts of the characters were told to the reader, as opposed to being showed to the reader, leading to the characters occasionally feeling very one-dimensional. For example, upon being given new information, the reader is told Nehal is reflecting on the consequences, without further delving into her thought process involved in the choices she must make about the issue at hand.
In a story showcasing police brutality and the escalation of violence at the hands of cops, I found it odd and a little distasteful that there was pro-cop rhetoric within this book. When the characters have to deal with the police force, Nehal reflects that "... there were some like Shaaban who were honorable and dedicated to maintaining the peace.." While not being a full endorsement for police, this line of thinking is all too similar to rampant "not all cops" arguments, and I did not enjoy that the issue is not reflected upon further in the story.
In the end, I did like this book for the magic elements and the setting, and the cliffhanger has me waiting impatiently for the sequel!
I liked the magical weaving element of the story, though I felt that at times, this component of the story felt more like an afterthought. The beginning of Nehal's story leads with a burning desire to attend the Weaving Academy due to her struggle to learn the skills of weaving on her own. Yet, the very moment she attains everything she had been striving for, Nehal never has to struggle to rise in strength and skill. Further on in the story, Nehal's fast-learned ability quickly culminates to dire consequences, but I would've liked to see a little more of the Weaving Academy.
Georgina's journey with weaving, while featuring a wildly contrasting story, had similar tones to Nehal's. With Georgina, I liked that her story showed the difficulties of weaving while coming from a less privileged background. But again, at times, it felt like her weaving abilities only come into the story as a method to lead into the next act of the book and I would've liked to see more of her relationship with her weaving abilities.
One of my struggle with the story was feeling like there were times when the actions and thoughts of the characters were told to the reader, as opposed to being showed to the reader, leading to the characters occasionally feeling very one-dimensional. For example, upon being given new information, the reader is told Nehal is reflecting on the consequences, without further delving into her thought process involved in the choices she must make about the issue at hand.
In a story showcasing police brutality and the escalation of violence at the hands of cops, I found it odd and a little distasteful that there was pro-cop rhetoric within this book. When the characters have to deal with the police force, Nehal reflects that "... there were some like Shaaban who were honorable and dedicated to maintaining the peace.." While not being a full endorsement for police, this line of thinking is all too similar to rampant "not all cops" arguments, and I did not enjoy that the issue is not reflected upon further in the story.
In the end, I did like this book for the magic elements and the setting, and the cliffhanger has me waiting impatiently for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Sexism
Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, and Violence
Minor: War
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