Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: July 18th, 2023
Pages: 400
Publisher: Orbit Books
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“In this Egyptian-inspired debut fantasy, a fugitive queen strikes a deadly bargain with her greatest enemy and finds herself embroiled in a complex game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever.
Ten years ago, the kingdom of Jasad burned. Its magic outlawed; its royal family murdered down to the last child. At least, that’s what Sylvia wants people to believe.
The lost Heir of Jasad, Sylvia never wants to be found. She can’t think about how Nizahl’s armies laid waste to her kingdom and continue to hunt its people—not if she wants to stay alive. But when Arin, the Nizahl Heir, tracks a group of Jasadi rebels to her village, staying one step ahead of death gets trickier.
In a moment of anger Sylvia’s magic is exposed, capturing Arin’s attention. Now, to save her life, Sylvia will have to make a deal with her greatest enemy. If she helps him lure the rebels, she’ll escape persecution.
A deadly game begins. Sylvia can’t let Arin discover her identity even as hatred shifts into something more. Soon, Sylvia will have to choose between the life she wants and the one she left behind. The scorched kingdom is rising, and it needs a queen.”
My Review:
When I first saw an Egyptian-inspired fantasy, I was immediately excited to read this. However afterwards, I am middle of the road on this one. It was good, not as great as I felt it had the potential to be.
There is such an intriguingly complex story world, lore, history, and magic that I loved. This was perhaps the highlight of the book for me.
I love Sylvia and her badassery and I wanted more of her personality to come through. The other characters, while likable, weren’t fleshed out enough for me. The plot is a very slow start, it takes a while for things to really get moving, which is not something I particularly love in a book.
While I appreciate the time needed to really get grounded into this world, I still want the stakes and the urgency to come a little sooner.
Once it finally did, I was a little disappointed with where it went. I didn’t feel any high stakes or urgency pulling me along in the story and I wasn’t compelled to continue.
The book started so well but then fell into some really overused tropes that I wasn’t engaged with. The enemies-to-lovers aspect was a very small part and didn’t feel real to me, like it was a haphazard addition later on.
It is way more about political intrigue and Sylvia’s personal growth than anything else.
I struggled with the overall cohesiveness of this book. I would also say that it lacked the depth of Egyptian mythology I was hoping for. It’s like all the elements are randomly thrown in without anything really tying them smoothly together.
It has some really great parts that shined, but just as many other parts that detracted from my overall enjoyment with the story.
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Have you read this book? Planning to add it to your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
I love a good book discussion. 🙂
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