Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Empire of Gold

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.

Content Warnings

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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

librarianmage's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

Content Warnings

ko_rax's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.75

In The Empire of Gold, the conclusion of the Daevabad trilogy, the reader accompanies Nahri & Alizayd on their mission of saving Daevabad (and defeating Banu Manizheh) and Dara as the head of Manizheh's forces.

The book kept me from start to end and despite its length, I finished it with an ungraceful speed (a little more than two days..). I did not expect that I could learn even more about the characters - wonderful complexity, this novel is the most detailed of all three -, nor did I anticipate myself shedding a few tears for

Dara, despite all the atrocious things he has done

. Also,

Muntadhir, you deserve all the peace and love, what a strong man

*cries*.

Deducting a quarter star because personally, it felt a little rushed towards the end!

A story is truly well written if I still think about the characters and am even looking up fanart.

Content Warnings

mice_are_nice's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

saracat's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

bookswithcuppatea's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

A remarkable conclusion to this trilogy!

I was stunned by events more than once by this delightfully complex story. A lot of loose threads from the previous two books were picked up again and explored further and woven together into a fascinating tapestry.

The world building in this series is complex and rich, the most thorough I've read in a very long time.

Content Warnings

More...