Reviews

The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan

disabledbookdragon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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

4.0

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

Despite being so far into this story, I just no longer care to continue. This is not a bad story, just merely a story I have lost interest in. My brain stopped caring at 50% but wanted to know how it would end. I would rather spend some time reading other things than this one. What a shame...

dominmuenster's review against another edition

adventurous

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

kpeninger's review against another edition

This is just a little too disjointed for me right now. There are elements that I'm intrigued by (honestly, some of it weirdly reminds me of the Darkangel series I read as a child?), but it's not coming together enough for me to keep pushing through.

jerseygrrrl's review against another edition

Just couldn't get into it! It had everything I like, but I felt distanced from the characters and the action. Bummer. 

natalieba's review against another edition

At 167 pages I still was struggling to want to pick this up. This was above my fantasy bar, I think. And too slow moving. 

adancewithbooks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

3.5

  Thank you to Erewhon Books and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

The Pomegranate Gate is a slow build portal fantasy that is set in a time where the Jews were persecutated. Be converted or exiled. It creates a jarring but realistic backdrop to a more whimsical tale in a different world. 

I feel very conflicted about this book. In places the story and writing were very compelling and I found the book hard to put down. But in other places the story was bogged down by a drawn out narrative and too much details in one place of the story. There were many tiny switch scenes that could have been combined. It would have centered the book better and I would have been able to settle into a character better. Instead we switched between every scene. And every switch between our two main characters meant switching between the worlds. 

While I love a good world building there were so many mentions of places and people, I found it hard to keep up. Some places were called the same thing in both worlds and then there were other names for others. We get the queen and rulers mentioned a lot but as we don't even meet the queen in 'our world' it was hard to picture where everything fit. 

Having said that, I found it interesting to learn about the magic and this world through Toba and learing of this dream world through Navalny. There were a lot of compelling magic and politic bits that grabbed me in certain moments of the story. 

The characters, Toba and Navalny were mostly decent but I didn't always find them compelling enough. I was actually more invested in two side characters. Old granny who we learned almost nothing off. But her character really helped make Naftaly's story interesting to read. I can only imagine what we will learn of her in next installments. And on Toba's side there was Barsilay, who was a bit flamboyant and created some tension and push in there. 

I did care a little more for Naftaly who was genuinely just a good guy. But his motivation to have to find Toba was weak at best. The lengths he went through to get her back while he barely even knew her, felt weird in times. Adding in her grandmother into his story pretty much said that. 

I struggled more with Toba, especially once she got split into two persons and especially one of them was really jarring. They kept talking about one being the original and the other the copy while personality wise it was pretty clear they were split. The 'original' Toba became a little whiny and quick to tears while the 'copy' Toba was more hardened and pushed through things to get what she wanted. 

Despite being conflicted I am still interested in reading on with this series. I am especially curious what will happen between Navalny and Barsilay and to hopefully learn more about old granny. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

prosecution of jews

jackie1324's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

3.75

ladygray45's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

5.0

flannelsandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan, is a fantasy story set in a magical, mythical version of Spain during the time of the Inquisition, and based on Jewish Folklore. We follow our two main characters as their separate journeys lead their paths to intertwine with one another. We have Toba Peres who can talk but not shout, walk but not run and who can write simultaneously with both hands in different languages. Then we have Naftaly Cresques who has strange dreams of square-pupiled strangers in a magical world, who sees things that aren’t real while awake and has been passed down a book that has been kept within his family which he must never lose or read. These two unique characters are forced to leave their homes when the Queen forces all Jews to leave or convert. During their travels Toba is driven from the road and stumbles through a magical gate to land in the world of Maziks. After attempting to find Toba and bring her back to the road, and left behind at the gate, Naftaly finds himself fifty miles off course and in the company of a stubborn old woman who followed him into the woods. As Toba’s uncovering the secret of her parentage and newfound magic, Naftaly keeps being pulled into the dreamworld to one particular orange-eyed Mazik. To survive they both must uncover secrets about legend, magic and how a magic book is linked to Naftaly, Toba and a conflict in Mazik history, the lost city of Luz. 

This book is definitely at a slower pace than I usually prefer to read in a fantasy, but Kaplan does an exquisite job of making that pacing seem just right. The introduction of characters and the unfolding of the story is done in a way that you are given just enough at the moment but not feeling overwhelmed by everything you are learning. This delivery, I feel, helps make a book like this that has so many places, characters and phrases that are uncommon, welcoming for readers new to fantasy. 

While this book technically has two worlds, the world of the humans and the world of the Maziks, they are explored equally and the world building is delivered slowly throughout. There is no info dumping in this as the world you’re in or the magic that you’re experiencing is explained as it comes into play within the story. The magic system itself is quite fascinating and while there are influences from magic systems I have read before, they have a unique twist to them in the lands of the Maziks. 

The characters are some of the most fascinating as there are many of them. You are introduced to the characters similar to the way you are the magic, as the story develops. This story is told in multiple POV and not just Toba and Naftaly which adds to the viewing of the worlds in unique takes. Each character is given their own personality and while I did love and enjoy each character, I really enjoyed that you got to know their flaws in full. None of the characters are painted as perfect, especially when it comes to learning or navigating the magic. One of my favorite characters is the Old Lady (you never learn her name), she is a spit fire, smart, sassy, and quick witted. She very much is the comedy relief in some tense moments, which I appreciated. 

This story being based in a version of Spain during the Inquisition and pulling from true historical facts about the treatment of Jewish people during that time was fascinating and extremely eye opening. Kaplan is able to deliver the cruel actions of the crown forcing Jewish people to make the decision to leave their home and seek refuge elsewhere or convert, in a way that you are understanding that this happened to real people but keeping you within this fantasy world she created. I finished this book and wanted to dive into my own research of the true facts that inspired this story.

Overall, I think that this book was well written and very enjoyable. It draws you in deeper and deeper as you read. The characters are enjoyable on their own and together, especially as their journeys start intertwining. The banter between the characters was strongly written and felt genuine and true to their voices. As for complaints about this book I only have one. There is a strange romantic…pining, I believe that’s the best word for it, that takes place between two characters that depending on how it plays out later on, could have gone without. That being said, I very much enjoyed reading another developing romance (and the only queer one). It's very sweet, flirting, and I can’t wait to watch what it becomes.  

This is the first book in the Mirror Realm Cycle trilogy and does leave on a cliffhanger. But I cannot wait to pick up the sequel when it comes out. This was a five star read for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this ARC.