Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Empire of Gold

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

17 reviews

karydiazc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

These books have been some of my favourites this year so far.
It was a bit hard for me to submerge into the story when I first started this books because of the culture I knew almost nothing about, but three books later, here I am, absolutely in love with this magical world and it's characters.

This was a fitting ending for the series.
I must admit I'm usually expecting at least a few deaths from the principal characters in the last book of a story about war, and when everyone survives or there was just one or two characters lost I'm a bit disappointed. This book is the exception.
Everyone who survived lost many things along the way and the political maneuvers were just right in my opinion.

Every single character kept following their path and growing either into their own darkness or their own ligh, respectively.
I didn't actually hate any of the characters because none of them were villains just for the sake of it (okay, maybe just one or two, but not as important), everyone had their motivations for the way they acted and they truly were thinking that their decisions were the best ones for their current situation and that, in my opinion is what makes a great character.
They weren't just doing things for the sake of the plot getting a bit interesting, they felt like real people who tried their best to maneuver in a political environment keen on ending their lives, while also doing what they could to save their respective people and loved ones.

The world building was exquisite. From the busy streets of Cairo, in Egypt to the great city of Daevabad, even after being consumed and destructed by the war.

I also have to say that I'm absolutely thankful to the author for bot making this story centered on love and who was going to end with whom.

Now, for the spoilers:

The ending made me so sad. Dara saying goodbye to Nahri, the love of his life, knowing they would not see each other ever again. Because despite everything they suffered in the war and at the hands of Manizheh they still cared for each other (even if for Nahri it wasn't love anymore).
I knew Dara would go to retrieve the amulets of the enslaved djins, but still it was sad seeing him go (I would love to see more of him on his journey to retrieve the relics).

I did wanted Ali and Nahri to end up together, but my heart broke for everything Dara was put through. Being forced into slavery once again and by no less than by the woman he followed and trusted to lead the Daeva to their past glory.

Speaking of Ali, he was so charming in almost a naïve way because of his innocence in some aspects, while being the most cunning in others.
His life was and absolute rollercoaster during these books, which helped him to grow up so much as a character. I think he deserved the way his family (the most important part, at least) managed to stay alive and relatively safe.
I would be completely up for Chakraborty to write novellas of Muntadhir and Jamshid, and of Zaynab exploring outside of Daevabad. Even if the siblings weren't principal characters, they have my heart too.

Nahri was absolutely one of my favourites not just from this book, but I think she has become also one of my favourite female leads in a book. She was just so smart and always did the best she could with what she was given.
From the start she was thrown into an entirely different world filled with magic and revelations of her life. Instead of crumbling and wasting away at the hands of her enemies, she pushed through an managed to gain the life she wanted at the end.
I'm also really thankful that she want thrown into the "I'll speak my mind to absolutely everyone, no matter how powerful they are and get away with it somehow", as I've seen in quite a lot of books trying to portray a strong woman.

I honestly don't know what else to say. I loved this books so much and I'll probably be re reading them in the future.

I'm sure that if I had read this series in the past, they would have become my absolute personality.

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saracat's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Chakraborty continues to weave amazingly complex characters and stories in a way that feels so heart wrenchingly well. That characters and those around them go through so much. But is it any more than some have endured in our history? Or even still today? There is so much to learn from the examples of the characters in this story. Yes, they are fictional. And yes, maybe they are a bit optimistically naive. But I think our world could use more than a few more Bahri’s in the world. And more Dara’s and Ali’s once they have learned and grown by the end of the books.
The roller coaster that readers are taken on in these books is so well worth it in seeing all the pieces fall together. And knowing the characters have given everything and continue to strive for better.

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emmasafford725's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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stuckinatimeloop's review

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dark emotional slow-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

4.75

this trilogy is my best read of the year. It's been a while since I fell in love with a fantasy story this much. Everything is so well written. will forever recommend

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espressoreader's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

This series is beautifully done. It covers uncomfortable topics such as racial diversity religious diversity, class diversity, and even sexual diversity without appearing to beat the socially woke drum. For this reason, this book actually makes a person consider these difficulties that other’s face without turning them off by making them feel drowned in a political concept, rather than in a story with dialogue. None of the characters in this book are perfect. All of them have their own individual preferences, and even prejudices regardless of how high up they are how low down they are all of them demonstrate a level of prejudice. However, this book allows you to look beyond their flaws and watch them grow above them Prince, Ali is considered to be a religious extremist. Though many, of his perceptions are not ones that I would share he holds them, and grows to respect people with whom he does not agree. I think Prince Ali is perhaps one of the most well written characters, and one that I identify with the best. He maintains his religion, understand the precepts that say some thing is wrong, and still treats those people with respect and recognizes their dignity.

Beyond this political intrigue, there is also a beautiful story line with friendship, betrayal, reconciliation and ultimately understanding. The story shows the impact of generational abuse post traumatic stress, and gaslighting. It shows the impact of unhealthy relationships at all levels, and it shows very competent people suffering from and overcoming the physical and emotional abuse.

It does all of these things, without appearing to be activist propaganda. It relates real emotion experiences and actions rather than just glossing over everything as he’s racist and he’s too religious. I find that this book was extremely respectful of all ideologies, and showed the strengths and weaknesses inherent with those ideologies, and the flawed ways they were represented by their followers. This was overall a great trilogy, and I would love to see more from this author.

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ariel790's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? No

3.75

Pros:

Characters are likeable. Nahri is a strong female character, Ali is respectful and determined in his own right. Even the antagonists, Dara and Manizheh, are understandable, if not relatable. The introduction of the myriad was interesting.
Settings are described beautifully with much detail. An example - " Bathed in starlight, Daevabad was beautiful—the jagged lines of towers and minarets, domes and pyramids—astonishing like a jumble of jeweled toys. Beyond the sliver of white beach, the dappled lake shimmered with movement against the black embrace of mountains."
Lots of action. Epic duels and chases.
The story: Emotional. It was nice to see some of the characters get the opportunity to escape. Gave them the choice if they wanted to fight for Daevabad. The internal plights of those choices was very heartfelt and well written. Also enjoyed the backstory for Sobek and his reasonings for helping both Ali and Nahri. Nahri also has some of her lifelong "blanks" filled in.

Cons:

The story: Dara's story felt unfinished. He didn't get the redemption he deserves, I feel. Qandisha was also skimmed passed. She had an epic scene when she met Nahri, but nothing came of it. Manizheh's plight felt rushed near the end. She was intricately written in the beginning, only for that care to be lackluster near finish. Much of the finish felt more for convenience, over what would have been messier and taken more pages to flush out properly.
The structure. The book jumped back and forth between characters. In the past two books, they pushed the story forward, continuing along the timeline. This one, it would crescendo a character's story to a point of action, only to switch to another character taking it back to where they were left off before the first character's point of view. It would be several more chapters before getting back to the plot line that was invested in. Made the book's pacing trudge along in several spots.

Overall a solid read. A good, not excellent, end to a trilogy. Still would recommend and do enjoy S.A. Chakraborty's writing style. They way she writes her characters and has them interact. Love that she found some 'irregular' mythology and creatures to focus on. Is nice to not have the 'same old, same old.' Would definitely like to see more about the ifrit, Dara, the marid and peri from her in the future.

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