thenextbookdilemma's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
Y’all, nothing I can write can do these books justice, just please go read them!
This series is one of my favorites EVER. I feel it embedded in my heart and I mourn having finished it, I grieve the end of these characters’ stories.
This is a luscious, tangled epic fantasy inspired by the Muslim faith, ancient myths and magical djinn spirits. It will so thouroughly sweep you away through ancient Cairo to magical cities, into the clouds on flying carpets and winged beasts and into ocean depths with scaled monsters and sunken ships. It will fill you with wonder and it will squeeze your heart (and your stomach) at every point.
Nahri. A thief, a liar, a consummate survivor, she always smiles at her mark. Nahri is my favorite kind of protagonist—an acerbic, take no $hit, beat you at your own game, I don’t need a protector, kind of gal. She is a mongoose in a den of cobras (if you haven’t seen these videos, youtube them), constantly underestimated, constantly surprising people. Nahri’s story is tragic and powerful and about making a home in a place determined to crush you, and then defending that home with everything you have.
Ali. A self-righteous zealot, a misguided and privileged idealist. Ali struggles to reconcile his faith with the politics of his royal family. While initially one of my least favorite characters, I so completely enjoyed his character arc and self discovery. Ali spends this series finding out who is is, and choosing who he wants to be.
Dara. Dara’s story broke me again and again. I raged against his circumstances, past and present and yearned for a future he could deserve. Dara forces you to ask yourself many questions and reminds you that we are products of the environment we are shaped in.
This book pushes you to question what can be forgiven. What does redemption look like? Will vengeance only ever beget more vengeance? Do our differences really separate us? I love these characters so much, deep dark flaws and all, and I thank Chakraborty for taking me on this magical and devastating journey.
May the fires burn brightly for you.
This series is one of my favorites EVER. I feel it embedded in my heart and I mourn having finished it, I grieve the end of these characters’ stories.
This is a luscious, tangled epic fantasy inspired by the Muslim faith, ancient myths and magical djinn spirits. It will so thouroughly sweep you away through ancient Cairo to magical cities, into the clouds on flying carpets and winged beasts and into ocean depths with scaled monsters and sunken ships. It will fill you with wonder and it will squeeze your heart (and your stomach) at every point.
Nahri. A thief, a liar, a consummate survivor, she always smiles at her mark. Nahri is my favorite kind of protagonist—an acerbic, take no $hit, beat you at your own game, I don’t need a protector, kind of gal. She is a mongoose in a den of cobras (if you haven’t seen these videos, youtube them), constantly underestimated, constantly surprising people. Nahri’s story is tragic and powerful and about making a home in a place determined to crush you, and then defending that home with everything you have.
Ali. A self-righteous zealot, a misguided and privileged idealist. Ali struggles to reconcile his faith with the politics of his royal family. While initially one of my least favorite characters, I so completely enjoyed his character arc and self discovery. Ali spends this series finding out who is is, and choosing who he wants to be.
Dara. Dara’s story broke me again and again. I raged against his circumstances, past and present and yearned for a future he could deserve. Dara forces you to ask yourself many questions and reminds you that we are products of the environment we are shaped in.
This book pushes you to question what can be forgiven. What does redemption look like? Will vengeance only ever beget more vengeance? Do our differences really separate us? I love these characters so much, deep dark flaws and all, and I thank Chakraborty for taking me on this magical and devastating journey.
May the fires burn brightly for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, War, Violence, Classism, Trafficking, and Murder
espressoreader's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Death, Body horror, Bullying, Torture, Hate crime, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, War, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Murder, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and Gaslighting
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
brynalexa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book is somehow MORE of a wild ride than the second in the trilogy. I was worried, hopeful, invested, and a little furious the whole time. This would be an easy five stars except there’s a style change related to timing, perspective, and a suddenly unreliable narrator that was very off putting so late in the series. There could have been a much smoother way of shocking the reader which the author had done plenty of times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Medical content, Violence, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, War, Slavery, Murder, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Dementia
blubonby's review
adventurous
dark
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
I had a feeling after reading the first book that this would be a new favourite and I wasn’t wrong I absolutely adore this series
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Slavery, and Murder
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
carrie_hanson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
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
Wow what a finale.
I wasn't sure how it would be possible to wrap everything up in just one last book but it worked and it worked well. Definitely check content warnings on this one as there is a lot of violence.
The characters arcs throughout the series were stunning, the history and politics of the world sometimes got confusing, but often because we didn't yet have all the information, like most of the characters. This book was dripping with dramatic irony at many times especially with Dara, but I'm glad with how his story wrapped up.
I wasn't sure how it would be possible to wrap everything up in just one last book but it worked and it worked well. Definitely check content warnings on this one as there is a lot of violence.
The characters arcs throughout the series were stunning, the history and politics of the world sometimes got confusing, but often because we didn't yet have all the information, like most of the characters. This book was dripping with dramatic irony at many times especially with Dara, but I'm glad with how his story wrapped up.
Spoiler
and Nahri's grandpa being the Egyptian cook?? So many tears of joy at that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Slavery
Moderate: Torture and Injury/Injury detail
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
breadwitchery'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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Slavery, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, Grief, and Child death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Cursing
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