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A review by literarydelirium
The Descent of the Drowned by Ana Lal Din
5.0
“The worst kind of monsters, Saheb—” Roma said through gritted teeth, “—are those who pretend they’re human.”
— this review is also on my blog
If the cover wasn’t your first hint that this book is dark, brutal, unrelenting yet somehow so fascinating, take it from someone was extremely captivated by how raw it was - you definitely should check the trigger warnings before reading. I want the sequel ASAP.
Where do I even start? This book was definitely a surprising favourite for me. I did not think I would love it as much as I did. My original rating for this was 4 stars. But, in the weeks after I read it, I kept coming back and looking through my highlights and notes and I thought, there is absolutely no way I cannot give it a five star rating. That’s just criminal. So here we are, talking about it in hopes that someone else picks it up and loves it as much as I do.
This is not a standalone novel. Let me make that perfectly clear. I’m not entirely sure whether it is a duology or trilogy though. This book is a dark fantasy, inspired by Indo - Persian culture. I’ve never read anything quite like this. *whispers* it also has the reincarnation trope - just saying. I love reading books that portray desi culture (I’m Desi so are we really surprised?) and that incorporate mythology in general. This book did a fantastic job in terms of that.
It was so eloquently written, and also gave me literal chills. I’m sorry, but the plot twists in this book? So well done. I can say this without a doubt - one of the best debuts I’ve ever read.
Dark fantasy is one of my absolute favourite genres and I love way the author tackled some of those dark themes in a way that was both brutal but also added to the intensity of the book. they didn’t take away from the plot in any way. I’m literally dying to read the sequel both because of the way this book ended and also because of the title. here’s to hoping for another banger ✨
» thank you to netgalley and the white tigress press for the arc
blog | instagram | twitter | pinterest
— this review is also on my blog
If the cover wasn’t your first hint that this book is dark, brutal, unrelenting yet somehow so fascinating, take it from someone was extremely captivated by how raw it was - you definitely should check the trigger warnings before reading. I want the sequel ASAP.
Where do I even start? This book was definitely a surprising favourite for me. I did not think I would love it as much as I did. My original rating for this was 4 stars. But, in the weeks after I read it, I kept coming back and looking through my highlights and notes and I thought, there is absolutely no way I cannot give it a five star rating. That’s just criminal. So here we are, talking about it in hopes that someone else picks it up and loves it as much as I do.
This is not a standalone novel. Let me make that perfectly clear. I’m not entirely sure whether it is a duology or trilogy though. This book is a dark fantasy, inspired by Indo - Persian culture. I’ve never read anything quite like this. *whispers* it also has the reincarnation trope - just saying. I love reading books that portray desi culture (I’m Desi so are we really surprised?) and that incorporate mythology in general. This book did a fantastic job in terms of that.
It was so eloquently written, and also gave me literal chills. I’m sorry, but the plot twists in this book? So well done. I can say this without a doubt - one of the best debuts I’ve ever read.
Dark fantasy is one of my absolute favourite genres and I love way the author tackled some of those dark themes in a way that was both brutal but also added to the intensity of the book. they didn’t take away from the plot in any way. I’m literally dying to read the sequel both because of the way this book ended and also because of the title. here’s to hoping for another banger ✨
» thank you to netgalley and the white tigress press for the arc
blog | instagram | twitter | pinterest