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3arth2kaye's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Blood, and War
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
_rowantree_'s review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
kyliereads341's review
- 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
Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism
jachnax's review against another edition
- 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
When I was packing for my trip to Amsterdam in August 2022, I searched for a book I could take with me. My gut picked 'The Ivory Key' because it was small, not too many pages and it was floppy. I didn't think much of it, I had zero clue what the book was about.
In Amsterdam I sometimes had time to read so I did and the story and the character dynamics hooked me more and more. I only got halfway through so I continued when I was home and what can I say. I devoured the rest, I was intrigued, shocked and purely in love. The moment you think you understand the world, new secrets come out.
This story is so unique and magical. After this book I immediatly followed the author on Instagram and followed the journey of her writing the sequel.
'The Crimson Fortess' was my first preorder. Akshaya Raman the first author I actively followed.
This story means so much to me nobody can imagine.
Now I just reread it for the sequel and what can I say? It is still my favorite book of all time and I cannot wait to read the sequel. Thank you Akshaya Raman for this book 🧡
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Death, Xenophobia, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
bookishflower's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
abrich's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
- 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
The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman is the first book one of the Ivory Key series about four siblings in an India inspired setting, and perfect for fans of Indiana Jones, National Treasure, and Six of Crows.
We follow four royal siblings: Vira, the Maharani who suffers panic attacks and probably PTSD from a past battle failure; Ronak, her twin who is a big grumpy history nerd baby that just needs a hug; Riya, the runaway sibling who is a strong believer in justice and helping people, she's also kind of the jock of the family (my personal favourite); and Kaleb, the half Lyrian half Ashokan half brother (yeesh that was a lot of halves) who has been wrongly imprisoned, but just wants to follow in his father's footsteps as a mayaka (magic forger).
They all end up looking for the same thing, the Ivory Key, a magical object that is supposed to lead them to other mines full of magic, because Ashoka is running out and Lyria is close to invading. We get a lot of scavenger hunt type stuff with logic puzzles and math. The magic system is interesting. We also get some great character moments between the siblings. I love a complicated sibling relationship. Although I favor Riya, Raman has written the characters so you can find a piece of yourself in each of them.
I had a hard time with this book at first. It felt a little slow, but that could also just have been my low mood at the time. It picked up closer to the middle when we are finally on an adventure. There is plenty of casual queer rep in this book. Lots of same gender attraction. We also have a very egalitarian society, which is refreshing in a fantasy book. I get so tired of reading books where the woman in the military or in a warrior position is the exception instead of the rule. We can magic, but not equality lol.
Now I have to wait for book two! 😭
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Violence and Blood