Reviews with content warning for Death - The City of Brass

“Yes.” That’s what I said as soon as I finished the epilogue and it made me want to immediately get the next book. It’s a thrilling adventure with fantastic world building, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

It’s quite violent and filled with many men doing very stupid things, but thankfully it seems that women will be taking more control from here!

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jasperdotpdf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It took me a while to really get into City of Brass but it really caught my attention toward the end and I loved it.

The first half of this book especially is very slow, it‘s littered with worldbuilding that is, admittedly, pretty complicated. I was also so incredibly bored by Ali‘s POV until more than halfway through, mainly because it felt very isolated and it was hard to get a feel for where his part of the story was going - or at least why his POV needed to be there.
Occasionally it felt like a bit of a chore because it‘s very densely written, but the book did a good enough job at leaving crumbs to keep me hooked until the end.

Once I got to the end things ramped up and I think I‘ve actually lost my mind because I am dying to get to the sequel. I love how the book conveys the hardships of ruling, of dealing with a war and with rebellion, with court intrigue and the necessary sacrifices. All of the characters are wrapped up in so much shit and the fact they all have to make devastating choices to deal with it is such a strength of this book. It‘s nice to read something that doesn‘t equip its characters with copious amounts of plot-armour and arbitrarily backs them into narrative corners as a way of railroading them to the next plot point.

I will say that this rating is probably a bit higher than it would be were I not very eager for Kingdom of Copper. City of Brass really felt like it was weighed down by the need for exposition, and I‘m hoping that that the sequel will pick off at a similar level of suspense and intrigue as this ended on and make all of the set-up worth it.

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boba_n_books's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you’re looking for something magical, beautiful, and intriguing… you’ve found it in The City of Brass.

This gorgeous novel takes readers on a fantastical journey throughout the djinn world in the Middle East: Daevabad. Told through two perspectives, one insider and one outsider, you slowly learn more about the politics and racial tensions between the different tribes of djinn and the half-breed shafit.

Tensions run high, and allegiances will be tested as both POVs learn to navigate the world of Daevabad. Everything is not as black and white as it seems. Who can they trust? And how can they tell what is right?

You will absolutely fall in love with this world and the characters who inhabit it. I’m immediately picking up book two because I have to know what happens right now.

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the_first_lines's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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ericageorge91's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I LOVED IT! I FUCKING LOVED IT!

It’s been about two months since I’ve been this invested in a book’s characters and their world. City of Brass might not be for everyone, BUT IT SURE AS FUCK WAS FOR ME 😭

The world-building was lush and intricate. If I’m honest, it might have been a little too intricate at times 😅. I fought for my life trying to understand the different djinn tribes and their characteristics and politics. Did it pull me out of the world at times because of that? Yes, but once I got the hang of this world, I was sucked in. This was set in a Middle-Eastern/Muslim-inspired world, which might be tough for Western readers but, I think if you can read Game of Thrones, you can make it through this book.

Part of me wishes that Nahri and Dara had gotten to the City of Brass sooner. Another part thinks that we needed time for that relationship to grow from reluctant allies to something more. Because they took so long on this arduous journey, their feelings for each other felt earned. I got so into it, I could almost forget the age gap.

Almost 🥴

This story is full of magic, morally grey characters, and political intrigue. There is so much history and bad blood between various characters and groups of people that I don’t even know who to root for. I ate this shit up. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

TW: Death, violence, slavery, human trafficking, torture, age/gap romance, discrimination, rape (mentions/off page),

Rep: BIPOC characters, Middle Eastern characters, queer SC characters

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erebus53's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

CW: violence and war and emotional anguish and things.

I tackled this book as part of a book club (Lighthouse Library thicc bois :) ). It wasn't something I had heard of before that. It starts off set in Cairo with a young woman of unknown origin who is a theif, swindler and survivor, and who has a mysterious healing talent and the ability to understand languages, which she hides to avoid people thinking her a dangerous witch.

Her world is upended when she utters some words of power while doing a faith healing scam, and unexpectedly summons something to her. This leads to her and a big scary soldier guy on the run from murderous ghouls and ifrits. She learns of the world of Daeva and Djinns and journeys to find sanctuary in a magical hidden city, all the while being hunted and tracked by mysterious forces and magical creatures.

Having read a children's translation of the Persian epic Shahnameh, some of the creatures and names were familiar to me. I did keep wondering if Nahri's uncle had an epic warhorse called Rakhsh. I find that I clearly have a lot more grounding in the myths of the Pacific Islands, the Mediterranean, Europe and the British Isles, and need to read more mythic stories from other parts of the world. This story weaves together myth from many places in Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, South and East Asia. Thematically it pits Tradtions, family, individualism, duty, and survival together in a story that sets up a world that I feel is yet to be explored and played in. That's quite a big book for an intro!

The main character is antiheroic. She is a thief, a liar, and a con-artist. She is used to not having a lot and needing to swindle what she can, and so she is out of her depth when she is cast into a palace with opulence at all turns. She is under no illusions that everyone has their own agenda, and that appearances are often skin-deep. It can make for slippery footing as you try to come to grips with a story where there are centuries of history, of alliances and rivalry.

As far as the elemental magic goes, it's generally coherent. The story has some curiosities but non of the "surprises" are overly so. I'm interested to wade into the world and see a little more.

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