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azrah786's review against another edition
3.5
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, gore, injury, murder, fire, genocide, war, death, death of parent, child abuse, emotional abuse, xenophobia, colonialism, confinement, grief
--
I went into this knowing one particular detail that had me nervous to pick it up and is one of the reasons why I ended up delaying reading it.. but you know what for the most part I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
The Jasad Heir centres on Sylvia, the last remaining member of the Jasadi ruling family who were eradicated by the Nizahli armies when their magic became out of control. Any Jasadi who is found to be using magic is prosecuted and so Sylvia lives in hiding with her magic dampened by a set of special cuffs. That is until she accidentally exposes her magic and catches the attention of Arin, the Nizahl Heirand Commander whilst he is visiting the village she is residing in. In exchange for her life he decides to use her as a lure for Jasadi rebel groups by naming her as his Champion for the Alcalah, a tournament between the 4 remaining kingdoms. Thus concealing her true ancestry becomes more paramount for Sylvia than ever before.
First and foremost Sara Hashem’s writing is phenomenal, especially for a debut novel. She really folds you into this fascinating new Egyptian inspired world with its fantastic characters and I was instantly drawn in.
There were different aspects of the story that were making me recall An Ember in the Ashes, The Final Strife and the Shatter Me series so if you’re a fan of any of those then you’ll definitely want to check this one out.
I thought Sylvia was a really interesting protagonist to follow. A hidden/lost heir is of course not a new trope but it is immediately obvious that Sylvia is far from the average protagonist in a situation like hers. She is someone who is determined to look out for herself first as she has always been pushed to be used for the gain of others but then her foolhardiness lands her in a lot of the circumstances that she faces in this book. Alongside seeing her personal character growth and her attempts to gain the upper hand with the cards she is dealt, I really enjoyed watching her relationships with the supporting characters develop.
There are also occasional chapters from Arin’s point of view which made things all the more interesting as we follow him and Sylvia try to outwit each other.
It has been many years since I read the Shatter Me series but Arin and Sylvia are very Juliette and Warner coded, though they are much more interesting characters from the get go. Now I knew that the enemies to lovers trope was going to be involved here and while I couldn’t get on board with the romance fully for another reason which I will come to in a second, I have got to hand it to Hashem because she absolutely nails the dynamic between the two characters. The slow burn is off the charts and there is the perfect banter between two characters that are enemies who form a reluctant reliance. My hesitation of course comes from the fact that Arin is the heir of an empire that has colonised Sylvia’s people and continues to do so. So while the trope was written fantastically and the two characters definitely had this connection that made them right for each other despite how wrong it was, the romantic side of things wasn’t my favourite part of their relationship.
That being said the romance isn’t as dominant a part of the storyline as I expected it to be. As mentioned above there are many supporting characters that we follow Sylvia connect with and I particularly enjoyed the friendship she had with Marek and Sefa.
Furthermore, a good chunk of the book – around 2/3 of it in fact – is preparations for this Alcalah tournament and this is where the story flowed best.
The history and rich lore of this captivating world as well as all the political ploys of the different kingdoms are interwoven with Sylvia’s journey which I found really interesting to see uncovered. However, things did start to go downhill when the tournament part of the story got rolling.
This came down to the fact that the tournament felt dull in comparison to everything else that was happening around it which was a little disappointing after so much build up. Additionally there were a lot of things going on plot wise by this point and this resulted in the final third of the book feeling very chaotic when all the moving parts started to come together.
In the final few chapters especially, it felt like everything was being rushed along for convenience in order to set up the next book rather than flow as naturally as everything that came before.
I also feel that by the end I wasn’t 100% sure how the magic in the world worked as it wasn’t fully explained but that is something I’m hoping is focused on more in the sequel. I am very much interested in seeing where the story goes from here because the vibes overall while a bit messy were still enjoyable!
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, gore, injury, murder, fire, genocide, war, death, death of parent, child abuse, emotional abuse, xenophobia, colonialism, confinement, grief
--
I went into this knowing one particular detail that had me nervous to pick it up and is one of the reasons why I ended up delaying reading it.. but you know what for the most part I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
The Jasad Heir centres on Sylvia, the last remaining member of the Jasadi ruling family who were eradicated by the Nizahli armies when their magic became out of control. Any Jasadi who is found to be using magic is prosecuted and so Sylvia lives in hiding with her magic dampened by a set of special cuffs. That is until she accidentally exposes her magic and catches the attention of Arin, the Nizahl Heirand Commander whilst he is visiting the village she is residing in. In exchange for her life he decides to use her as a lure for Jasadi rebel groups by naming her as his Champion for the Alcalah, a tournament between the 4 remaining kingdoms. Thus concealing her true ancestry becomes more paramount for Sylvia than ever before.
First and foremost Sara Hashem’s writing is phenomenal, especially for a debut novel. She really folds you into this fascinating new Egyptian inspired world with its fantastic characters and I was instantly drawn in.
There were different aspects of the story that were making me recall An Ember in the Ashes, The Final Strife and the Shatter Me series so if you’re a fan of any of those then you’ll definitely want to check this one out.
I thought Sylvia was a really interesting protagonist to follow. A hidden/lost heir is of course not a new trope but it is immediately obvious that Sylvia is far from the average protagonist in a situation like hers. She is someone who is determined to look out for herself first as she has always been pushed to be used for the gain of others but then her foolhardiness lands her in a lot of the circumstances that she faces in this book. Alongside seeing her personal character growth and her attempts to gain the upper hand with the cards she is dealt, I really enjoyed watching her relationships with the supporting characters develop.
There are also occasional chapters from Arin’s point of view which made things all the more interesting as we follow him and Sylvia try to outwit each other.
It has been many years since I read the Shatter Me series but Arin and Sylvia are very Juliette and Warner coded, though they are much more interesting characters from the get go. Now I knew that the enemies to lovers trope was going to be involved here and while I couldn’t get on board with the romance fully for another reason which I will come to in a second, I have got to hand it to Hashem because she absolutely nails the dynamic between the two characters. The slow burn is off the charts and there is the perfect banter between two characters that are enemies who form a reluctant reliance. My hesitation of course comes from the fact that Arin is the heir of an empire that has colonised Sylvia’s people and continues to do so. So while the trope was written fantastically and the two characters definitely had this connection that made them right for each other despite how wrong it was, the romantic side of things wasn’t my favourite part of their relationship.
That being said the romance isn’t as dominant a part of the storyline as I expected it to be. As mentioned above there are many supporting characters that we follow Sylvia connect with and I particularly enjoyed the friendship she had with Marek and Sefa.
Furthermore, a good chunk of the book – around 2/3 of it in fact – is preparations for this Alcalah tournament and this is where the story flowed best.
The history and rich lore of this captivating world as well as all the political ploys of the different kingdoms are interwoven with Sylvia’s journey which I found really interesting to see uncovered. However, things did start to go downhill when the tournament part of the story got rolling.
This came down to the fact that the tournament felt dull in comparison to everything else that was happening around it which was a little disappointing after so much build up. Additionally there were a lot of things going on plot wise by this point and this resulted in the final third of the book feeling very chaotic when all the moving parts started to come together.
In the final few chapters especially, it felt like everything was being rushed along for convenience in order to set up the next book rather than flow as naturally as everything that came before.
I also feel that by the end I wasn’t 100% sure how the magic in the world worked as it wasn’t fully explained but that is something I’m hoping is focused on more in the sequel. I am very much interested in seeing where the story goes from here because the vibes overall while a bit messy were still enjoyable!
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
sunflower_13's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
A solid debut. I loved the worldbuilding, and the characters felt real. I look forward to reading the next book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault and Suicide
bookish__cat's review against another edition
adventurous
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: Death and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
annamay1021's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault
abby_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.0
📖
This was a great book. I had a wonderful time reading it. I liked the worldbuilding and the lore. I'm excited to learn more about the magic system. I had a good time with the slow burn, enemies-to-lovers relationship that is building between Sylvia and Arin.
This was a great book. I had a wonderful time reading it. I liked the worldbuilding and the lore. I'm excited to learn more about the magic system. I had a good time with the slow burn, enemies-to-lovers relationship that is building between Sylvia and Arin.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
stephkmcg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault
alicia_rausch's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
slow-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
3.75
This was a breath of fresh air and it was great to see Egyptian rep in a space where it’s lacking! The writing was great - I enjoyed the sense of humor and liked all the characters. It’s a promising debut, but did suffer from pretty large pacing and storytelling issues and often felt confusing and messy. There was also a lot of lore dumping that didn’t serve the story. The bones of the plot were SO good, it was just how they were unearthed that I struggled with. So much so that this took me 3 attempts to even push through the first 25% of the novel. We spend so much time preparing for the action of the book, which doesn’t really occur until about 70% of the way through, that it often felt like a bow pulled tight but never released. I’m excited to see this series continue and watch the authors storytelling skills develop along with it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pedophilia
quiet_reader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Colonisation, and War
molliford's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent
Minor: Pedophilia
theserenaedwards's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I had a hard time following the story. The world building fell short for me and there were a lot of info dump in between chapters. A lot was going on. The story has a lot of potential. I would like to understand more about the Magic. The Magic system confused me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder