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A review by allibrooks
The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan
3.0
*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
This book. Where do I even begin?
When I was first pitched this book, I was promised something along the lines of a kick-butt lady fantasy, which... okay. Accurate.
After having some time to process my thoughts, I have some mixed feelings.
Don't get me wrong. I definitely enjoyed it but it took a bit to get there. Not because the writing was bad or the plot was boring. On the contrary. The writing has some beautiful moments and there were times when I was so engrossed in the story it was hard to put down. BUT, there were also times when I felt lost. Especially during the beginning. I don't read much mystery so this may very well be an ignorant statement but I feel like you could tell that the author writes a lot of mystery. Her particular brand of storytelling left a lot of "figure it out yourself" elements, which was not necessarily a bad thing but could have probably been made better by some amount of footnotes. Once you get into the story it all comes together and you're able to recall what Immolans are and why the Council of Hira is significant. Instead of a slow immersion into the world, you're thrust in without a map (okay, finished copies will have a map which I'm pretty curious to see, but that's not the point) and expected to learn as you go. Somehow, Khan makes it work but just be aware what you're getting yourself into.
The characters were great. I hoping that we get to explore them more in depth in the upcoming books because they really have the potential to be fantastic. Arian and Sinna have such good chemistry together which makes reading them all the more enjoyable. Some of the side characters are fantastic as well but I didn't fall in love with every one of them. There were a few that I honestly didn't care about at all but I feel like that usually happens for me.
Another rather large aspect of the novel is its political stances. I mean, the tagline on the cover of my copy states, "The only ignorance of men is the brilliance of powerful women", which... screams feminism. And yes, feminism plays a huge role here. The main plot of the book has to do with two strong and wonderful women maneuvering through a patriarchal society which is lead by a tyrannical man, the One-Eyed Preacher. It echoes a lot of problems in our world today, which is both a bit terrifying and interesting in the context of a fantasy world.
One last thing I'd like to mention is this book is written by a Muslim woman where it seems that she drew a lot of influences from her own religion. This was fascinating to see implemented and I would love to hear the thoughts of other Muslim readers about how she was able to capture it. So if you've read it I'd love for you to send me your review!
It was hard rating this book because all in all, I did enjoy it and I will definitely be picking up a finished copy as well as the next books in the series. The writing was immersive, but sometimes the characters were a little repetitive. It was confusing at times, but the push through was rewarding at the end.
And there was a bit of a cliffhanger... so who that was... well... I hate waiting.
If you're a fan of fantasy and great female characters then you should definitely pick this up and give it a shot.
This book. Where do I even begin?
When I was first pitched this book, I was promised something along the lines of a kick-butt lady fantasy, which... okay. Accurate.
After having some time to process my thoughts, I have some mixed feelings.
Don't get me wrong. I definitely enjoyed it but it took a bit to get there. Not because the writing was bad or the plot was boring. On the contrary. The writing has some beautiful moments and there were times when I was so engrossed in the story it was hard to put down. BUT, there were also times when I felt lost. Especially during the beginning. I don't read much mystery so this may very well be an ignorant statement but I feel like you could tell that the author writes a lot of mystery. Her particular brand of storytelling left a lot of "figure it out yourself" elements, which was not necessarily a bad thing but could have probably been made better by some amount of footnotes. Once you get into the story it all comes together and you're able to recall what Immolans are and why the Council of Hira is significant. Instead of a slow immersion into the world, you're thrust in without a map (okay, finished copies will have a map which I'm pretty curious to see, but that's not the point) and expected to learn as you go. Somehow, Khan makes it work but just be aware what you're getting yourself into.
The characters were great. I hoping that we get to explore them more in depth in the upcoming books because they really have the potential to be fantastic. Arian and Sinna have such good chemistry together which makes reading them all the more enjoyable. Some of the side characters are fantastic as well but I didn't fall in love with every one of them. There were a few that I honestly didn't care about at all but I feel like that usually happens for me.
Another rather large aspect of the novel is its political stances. I mean, the tagline on the cover of my copy states, "The only ignorance of men is the brilliance of powerful women", which... screams feminism. And yes, feminism plays a huge role here. The main plot of the book has to do with two strong and wonderful women maneuvering through a patriarchal society which is lead by a tyrannical man, the One-Eyed Preacher. It echoes a lot of problems in our world today, which is both a bit terrifying and interesting in the context of a fantasy world.
One last thing I'd like to mention is this book is written by a Muslim woman where it seems that she drew a lot of influences from her own religion. This was fascinating to see implemented and I would love to hear the thoughts of other Muslim readers about how she was able to capture it. So if you've read it I'd love for you to send me your review!
It was hard rating this book because all in all, I did enjoy it and I will definitely be picking up a finished copy as well as the next books in the series. The writing was immersive, but sometimes the characters were a little repetitive. It was confusing at times, but the push through was rewarding at the end.
And there was a bit of a cliffhanger... so who that was... well... I hate waiting.
If you're a fan of fantasy and great female characters then you should definitely pick this up and give it a shot.