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A review by tagoreketabkhane31
The Man or the Monster by Aamna Qureshi
2.0
I really wanted to like the follow up to "The Lady or the Lion", the debut novel of Pakistani-American Aamna Qureshi, a second world fantasy novel that takes inspiration from Pakistani mythology and folklore (with an Islamic presence). The novel picks up right where the first novel ends, and you see the results of the decisions that Durkhani makes from the first book, and how that plays out for the second book.
To start with what I liked - I think Qureshi did a fantastic job with her cast of characters. They are flawed, and I think that enables the reader (Desi or not) to find themselves in the characters, and understand where they are coming from. I also really liked the court drama of the Mianghul family, and how it was messy but also resembling that of a Desi family that suffers from the generational trauma (manifested in a more nefarious manner). Also, I really appreciated that she utlized Urdu/Arabic/Punjabi throughout the novel because this was the language that her characters were utilizing regulalry, and not shying away from that inclusion.
However, that is pretty much where the book stops being positive, and the negatives really did take away from my overall enjoyment of the novel. First, the pacing in the second book actually became worse in comparison from the first book. Some chapters the pacing was on point, and I found myself getting somewhat entraped by the narrative - but then Qureshi would slow it down, or she would just explain halfway through being in Durkhani's head what was happening. My second issue came with the overall politics of the Court. From the Badshah and the Wali (her grandparents), the other Walis, the Kingdom and Empire that they bordered and even the succession and the roles that members of her family held - for me the lack of structure and even foundation of this political breakdown (and make no mistake, Qureshi reminds us that this is a novel that has political elements because of the role that Durkhani plays). I kept getting pulled out of the novel because the conflict never really amounted to the level of drama that was playing out, nor did it explain the motivation of actors that were outside of the royal family. In addition, the motivations of both Asfyandar and Durkhani - for each other, their allies, enemies and family/friends was heavily disjointed. We keep being told that Durkhani has been trained for this (ruling and leading), yet throughout the narrative we see her attempt to be blunt, not dpilomatic or deft in any of her interactions - and also seeminly a couple of steps behind her counterparts that are the same age and rank as her.
Finally, that ending - with the buildup that Qureshi was hinting at, to then have that be subverted for a detour that served little more than a fake out to then wrap up with two endings that the reader chooses. The two endings aren't the issue, but rather much like the earlier complaint of the pacing, the endings also came up as abrupt and shifted the overall impact on how the story for these characters could have played out.
While this was a disappointing end to a duology that had such great potential, I will def be checking out other books that Qureshi releases because I see a lot of potential of her romantic works.
To start with what I liked - I think Qureshi did a fantastic job with her cast of characters. They are flawed, and I think that enables the reader (Desi or not) to find themselves in the characters, and understand where they are coming from. I also really liked the court drama of the Mianghul family, and how it was messy but also resembling that of a Desi family that suffers from the generational trauma (manifested in a more nefarious manner). Also, I really appreciated that she utlized Urdu/Arabic/Punjabi throughout the novel because this was the language that her characters were utilizing regulalry, and not shying away from that inclusion.
However, that is pretty much where the book stops being positive, and the negatives really did take away from my overall enjoyment of the novel. First, the pacing in the second book actually became worse in comparison from the first book. Some chapters the pacing was on point, and I found myself getting somewhat entraped by the narrative - but then Qureshi would slow it down, or she would just explain halfway through being in Durkhani's head what was happening. My second issue came with the overall politics of the Court. From the Badshah and the Wali (her grandparents), the other Walis, the Kingdom and Empire that they bordered and even the succession and the roles that members of her family held - for me the lack of structure and even foundation of this political breakdown (and make no mistake, Qureshi reminds us that this is a novel that has political elements because of the role that Durkhani plays). I kept getting pulled out of the novel because the conflict never really amounted to the level of drama that was playing out, nor did it explain the motivation of actors that were outside of the royal family. In addition, the motivations of both Asfyandar and Durkhani - for each other, their allies, enemies and family/friends was heavily disjointed. We keep being told that Durkhani has been trained for this (ruling and leading), yet throughout the narrative we see her attempt to be blunt, not dpilomatic or deft in any of her interactions - and also seeminly a couple of steps behind her counterparts that are the same age and rank as her.
Finally, that ending - with the buildup that Qureshi was hinting at, to then have that be subverted for a detour that served little more than a fake out to then wrap up with two endings that the reader chooses. The two endings aren't the issue, but rather much like the earlier complaint of the pacing, the endings also came up as abrupt and shifted the overall impact on how the story for these characters could have played out.
While this was a disappointing end to a duology that had such great potential, I will def be checking out other books that Qureshi releases because I see a lot of potential of her romantic works.