boba_n_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
HOLY CRAP. If I could rate this higher than 5 stars I would. This book was absolutely amazing and will be living rent-free in my mind for a long time.
I was worried this book would be too long, but when I got to the end, I didn’t want it to be over. There were plenty of tense and tearful moments, and I cherished every second of it.
My favorite thing about this entire trilogy is that no one was fully good or fully evil. Everyone has motivations for doing what they thought was right, and each and every one of them did something wrong at some point in time. I felt deeply for every character but especially for Dara, Nahri, and Ali since theirs are the perspectives we followed throughout the series.
This is definitely going down as one of my favorite books / trilogies of all time. If you love political intrigue, power dynamics, magic, and morally gray characters, give this trilogy a chance. I hope more people read it and that it goes down as a favorite for years and years to come.
I was worried this book would be too long, but when I got to the end, I didn’t want it to be over. There were plenty of tense and tearful moments, and I cherished every second of it.
My favorite thing about this entire trilogy is that no one was fully good or fully evil. Everyone has motivations for doing what they thought was right, and each and every one of them did something wrong at some point in time. I felt deeply for every character but especially for Dara, Nahri, and Ali since theirs are the perspectives we followed throughout the series.
This is definitely going down as one of my favorite books / trilogies of all time. If you love political intrigue, power dynamics, magic, and morally gray characters, give this trilogy a chance. I hope more people read it and that it goes down as a favorite for years and years to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Torture and Genocide
Minor: Cursing
alyssa_simard's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide
kenzninja's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
What an incredible book!! I’ve never read a book with djinn, peris, or marid and it was so much fun to dive into this rich, unique world. I am also absolutely smitten with the main characters and was honored to follow them on their journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Genocide, and Violence
mitacaparos's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Violence
Moderate: Torture and Genocide
renpuspita's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
All the stars I can give to rate will not enough and my review won't do this book justice.
Hands down, one of my best and favorite read this 2023, The Empire of Gold is a satisfying and triumphant finale that befitting the wondrous magical series, Daevabad. And The Daevabad Trilogy will always be one of my favorite series, that I will recommend to everyone that need an epic fantasy series that will blown their world away
Hands down, one of my best and favorite read this 2023, The Empire of Gold is a satisfying and triumphant finale that befitting the wondrous magical series, Daevabad. And The Daevabad Trilogy will always be one of my favorite series, that I will recommend to everyone that need an epic fantasy series that will blown their world away
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Death, Blood, and Torture
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Genocide
Minor: Sexual content
massivepizzacrust's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A wonderfully satisfying end to this amazing series. I had a very strong idea of how the main conflict would resolve and I was so wrong. (In case anyone's curious: I don't know why I was so convinced, it just felt like it would tie up the loose ends.) But I loved the real ending more!
I will read anything S.A. Chakraborty writes.
Spoiler
my prediction was that Dara would realize what the peri's knife was for, realized Manizheh's life was tied to his own and find a way to commit suicide with the knife, redeeming himself in the process.I will read anything S.A. Chakraborty writes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Genocide, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Blood
ariel790's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood
Minor: Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
5.0
I can't imagine a more perfect ending to this series. Chakraborty does an excellent job of following through on the world and the characters she's established, and I feel like everyone ended up in a place that felt real and earned. This has cemented The Daevabad Trilogy as an all time favorite series for me and earned it a spot on the very short list of series that I feel get better with each instalment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, War, Torture, Slavery, Genocide, Gaslighting, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Homophobia and Pregnancy
astropova's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow, what an amazing end to the series! That was definitely one of the most satisfying endings I've ever read. I love how Nahri really comes into her own. She's come a long way since conning random rich guys in Cairo!
I think the author did a great job with the final battle and tying up all the loose ends afterwards. I think every character really got the endings that were perfectly tailored to them.
This book was so long, but I think one of its biggest strengths is that it has just *incredible* pacing. There was not a single moment where I felt bored or like there was unnecessary fluff, detail, or just word count padding. Every scene was so sharp and had purpose. An exemplar of epic fantasy!
I think the author did a great job with the final battle and tying up all the loose ends afterwards. I think every character really got the endings that were perfectly tailored to them.
This book was so long, but I think one of its biggest strengths is that it has just *incredible* pacing. There was not a single moment where I felt bored or like there was unnecessary fluff, detail, or just word count padding. Every scene was so sharp and had purpose. An exemplar of epic fantasy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Slavery, Violence, Death, Genocide, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Minor: Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
sophiamoonlight's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and War
Moderate: Hate crime, Genocide, and Death of parent