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A review by northernbookfox
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
5.0
Since finishing this book I have had to pause before picking up any other book because I'm just still in awe and admiration of this book and actively wanted to keep thinking about it and keep it at the front of my mind.
I was never bored while reading this, I was amazed at how it subverted my expectations and reminded me the reader that just because I like my POV character does not mean that they are the smartest in the room.
Just, wow.
A deeply political plot that deals thoroughly with the long-lasting impacts of conflict and nationalism. How Dara's character fits into that story is very unique and complicates matters to such a degree that one must question the morals of all involved.
The characters built out to a point that even when I do not know their motivations I can tell that they are internally consistent. No one is an angel here and I love that. There's a very skilled tactic that Chakraborty uses where because people behave differently in different contexts (like in real life), she uses perspective and context to set up and subvert your expectations of certain characters (Kaveh comes to mind). There is also an understanding that even the villains have people they care about and who care about them (we're working through some fatherhood and some sibling stuff here) and that they are just as capable of loss and grief as they are capable of terrible things.
The world was engaging and fascinating. I was, like Nahri, desperate to find out more about not only how the world worked now, but how it worked before. Chakraborty has deliberately left things out of this book, and it does feels intentional, a wonderful promise for the second and third books to follow up on. We're given enough information to understand what's happening and to start asking questions when things don't line up as we're told they do. Nahri also often catches on, leading to the trust that the author also understands and intends to shed light on it later.
Just... ugh so good. Going to be recommending this for forever.
I was never bored while reading this, I was amazed at how it subverted my expectations and reminded me the reader that just because I like my POV character does not mean that they are the smartest in the room.
Just, wow.
A deeply political plot that deals thoroughly with the long-lasting impacts of conflict and nationalism. How Dara's character fits into that story is very unique and complicates matters to such a degree that one must question the morals of all involved.
The characters built out to a point that even when I do not know their motivations I can tell that they are internally consistent. No one is an angel here and I love that. There's a very skilled tactic that Chakraborty uses where because people behave differently in different contexts (like in real life), she uses perspective and context to set up and subvert your expectations of certain characters (Kaveh comes to mind). There is also an understanding that even the villains have people they care about and who care about them (we're working through some fatherhood and some sibling stuff here) and that they are just as capable of loss and grief as they are capable of terrible things.
The world was engaging and fascinating. I was, like Nahri, desperate to find out more about not only how the world worked now, but how it worked before. Chakraborty has deliberately left things out of this book, and it does feels intentional, a wonderful promise for the second and third books to follow up on. We're given enough information to understand what's happening and to start asking questions when things don't line up as we're told they do. Nahri also often catches on, leading to the trust that the author also understands and intends to shed light on it later.
Just... ugh so good. Going to be recommending this for forever.