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blueberry0531's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Fire/Fire injury
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Vomit, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
lizziaha's review against another edition
4.25
This world is so full and lush, it was hard for me to even grasp at times. Sentient mountains and dangerous flowers and the creeping rot and the rushing waters of the Hirana. Every part of the world is double-edged. And like the world, the characters hold an edge too. It’s rare to find a book where so many different characters with vastly different motivations come together to work in concert or in opposition to each other. Priya specifically is such an interesting character to me because she does not follow the pattern of many other main characters. She’s different from what I expect and maybe even different from what I am. It makes for a much more interesting story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
vivelarevolution's review against another edition
I kind of enjoyed the main characters and I really was intrigued by a good bit of the worldbuilding, but there were two things that just slowly made this book less and less readable for me.
The first, and less egregious, was the constant introduction of new pov characters. It felt like, every five chapters or so, I had to learn a new name and backstory and mindset and read about some technically related but entirely new context and storyline and perspective. These random characters don't really seem to reappear;one of them even died .
The one thing about the book that I absolutely could NOT stand was its absolutely insane overall narrative regarding armed resistance to occupation. The book is pretty heavyhanded in portraying the severity of violence and abuse enacted by the ruling regime, but it constantly whines about how violent the armed resistance is. From what I can tell, all they really do is assassinate key political players who are directly responsible for their oppression, and they take extreme personal risks in order to do so. But the narrative constantly harps on how they are too violent, too extreme, too radical to see that they're somehow bringing violence on their own people.
I kept reading in hopes that this narrative was introduced in order to refute it, but as far as I can tell, that is not going to happen. Every new chapter I read finds some new way to try to explain to me that, akshually, revolution is bad, and it's just getting old.
The first, and less egregious, was the constant introduction of new pov characters. It felt like, every five chapters or so, I had to learn a new name and backstory and mindset and read about some technically related but entirely new context and storyline and perspective. These random characters don't really seem to reappear;
The one thing about the book that I absolutely could NOT stand was its absolutely insane overall narrative regarding armed resistance to occupation. The book is pretty heavyhanded in portraying the severity of violence and abuse enacted by the ruling regime, but it constantly whines about how violent the armed resistance is. From what I can tell, all they really do is assassinate key political players who are directly responsible for their oppression, and they take extreme personal risks in order to do so. But the narrative constantly harps on how they are too violent, too extreme, too radical to see that they're somehow bringing violence on their own people.
I kept reading in hopes that this narrative was introduced in order to refute it, but as far as I can tell, that is not going to happen. Every new chapter I read finds some new way to try to explain to me that, akshually, revolution is bad, and it's just getting old.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Colonisation
There isn't a tag for this, but one character is repeatedly forced to take a psychoactive sedative that severely impacts her psychologically and physically and which is intended to eventually kill her.strawberrybooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, and Pregnancy
janieboucher's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and War
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri builds a dark and almost claustrophobic fantasy world, set in an alt-India with central conflicts that are largely inspired by South Asian history and a deeply spiritual and elemental magic system. We have all the usual forces at work - an evil emperor, a slow-boiling revolution, and a colonized nation fighting for survival. While the action in this story is confined almost entirely to the shifting walls of an ancient and mysterious temple as our political coup takes shape, this tight focus is counterbalanced with rapidly rotating POVs through a large cast of characters.
At the center of our story, we have three primary female characters - Malini, Priya, and Bhumika - each navigating trauma and their own fight for agency and freedom. Suri develops complex, morally gray women, and Malini, the exiled sister of the emperor, and Priya and Bhumika, former temple children, each challenge the traditional roles often cast for women in fantasy. Malini is openly manipulative and ruthlessly seeks power and agency, while Priya explores the potentially monstrous aspects of her own power and the paths available to her people in their fight for liberation. And while Malini and Priya circle each other for the majority of the story, Bhumika, a side character with main character energy, observes from the shadows, building an army of loyal followers while she works around and against her husband and the empire he serves. At each turn, our female main characters outmaneuver the power-wielding men in their lives, at times in partnership and at times in opposition, but always to advance their own goals.
This is epic fantasy perfect for readers who love She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan, and not only for its strong sapphic romance arc (which is, of course, excellent). This, like She Who Became the Sun, explores the moral sacrifices people make for power, the bloody history of empire and the magic inherent to our world and its ghosts. I loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and War
drsinoire's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Violence, and Blood
pagecalico's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
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
4.5
I loved this book soooo much especially the relationship between Priya and Malani!!! The magic system is so unique and i loved the world building as well!!
The writing was so amazing and kept me so intrigued with the story!
Cant wait to read the second book!
The writing was so amazing and kept me so intrigued with the story!
Cant wait to read the second book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Misogyny
murderousscottishgremlin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
5.0
I loved this book so much. The magic system was really intriguing and Suri’s characterisation was intimate and striking. I also enjoyed the exploration of the theme of patriarchy and its inextricable links to empire. I need to read the sequel as soon as possible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Minor: Violence