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peachmoni's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Racism, Slavery, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Racial slurs, Rape, Police brutality, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Alcohol
reddeddy'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Minor: Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Pregnancy, Outing, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment
erebus53'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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.
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Excrement
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Dementia, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Classism
hurricane_noel's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Biphobia, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Alcohol
venetiana's review against another edition
No thank you.
Graphic: Cultural appropriation
teri_b's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Now finally, I made it to this trilogy.
Loved to go to Daevabad and discover the many layers of the city and its inhabitants.
Was at the beginning rather lost with all the specific names and concepts that were thrown at me. After a while the story took over and it became a read that just wanted to be finished.
Now, I am curious to see how the story continues.
Graphic: Death and Racism
Moderate: Genocide, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail