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azrah786's review against another edition
3.5
**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
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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
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
alicia_rausch'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
3.75
Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pedophilia
quiet_reader's review against another edition
- 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
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
manaledi'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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War
pandorica_'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? It's complicated
4.75
Sylvia is a troubled soul lost to the past. She has a secret that could kill her and the power to stop anyone who tries. She has been in hiding for many years and closed off from any companionship for just as long. On the day of a festival, everything in her life changes forever.
Arin is the Heir to the Nizahl Kingdom and Commander of their army. During one of his missions, he discovers a small village in the outskirts of a bordering kingdom. While approaching, he finds someone performing rites to a fallen Jasadi. Here he starts to form a plan. Arin then decides to use Sylvia as bait in his current mission.
The plot was magnificent. The writing was captivating. I’m honestly shocked this was the authors debut book. When I know the book is going to be a series, I usually postpone completely finishing the book until the next book is available, but with this book it was impossible! I cannot wait for the second book to come out! While some of the more popular books end with a massive cliffhanger that could drive anyone insane, this book ended on a very nice note.(not like yay, I would be happy if that were the end of the series but more like everything came together in the end.)
I could not recommend this book enough. I’m going to make all my book reading co workers and all my book reading customers read this book.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism
ayvie'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
I'm unsure about the romance. I am having complicated feelings about it and need to let those stew a bit. Coming back to this - I honestly wish the romantic elements hadn't been involved at all in this book. It felt uncomfortable and a lot of it is outside my lane to really delve into. I do think the groundwork is laid for something here, and I'm unsure where it's going to lead (and honestly, I'd be happy if it led to no romance at all).
It felt like the point should have been discomfort and I'm unsure if that was entirely what was portrayed.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
This book has a lot of violence depicted in its pages, but it never felt gratuitous. There's a ton of trauma (specifically explored for Sylvia). The child abuse, sexual assault, and rape are mentions regarding a secondary character.roseleebooks'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
4.0
Things that were done well were the pacing and the setup for the ending. There are multiple plot threads to pick up in the next book which could be frustrating for some readers. The key theme of dealing with past trauma and identity after being separated from the foundations of that identity was intriguingly explored throughout.
There were several things that were problematic here with the FMCs relationship with the MMC,
Overall the writing was fairly smooth, the story moved along at a fast pace, and I found myself rethinking things that I took at face value initially about the characters and setting throughout as new information was revealed. I'll definitely be picking up the next book to see what happens next. This may change my review here depending on how some of the above issues are handled.
Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, and Alcohol
hailstorm3812's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Acephobia/Arophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
bookswithbethx's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
meltingpages'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
4.5
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation