Friday, March 09, 2018

#BookReview: The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1) by @SChakrabs with @adivineeternity






About the Book: Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles. 

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass?a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for . . .
 








Reviewed By: Caity G.
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Recommended Age: Older teens and adults
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology
How I Acquired this book: Book of the Month Club selection
Overall rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads | Amazon
About the Author: S. A. Chakraborty is a speculative fiction writer from New York City. Her debut, THE CITY OF BRASS, is the first book in an epic fantasy trilogy set in the 18th century Middle East and will be published in November 2017 by Harper Voyager. When not buried in books about Mughal portraiture and Omani history, S. A. enjoys hiking, knitting, and cooking unnecessarily complicated meals for her family. You can find her online at www.sachakraborty.com or on Twitter (@SChakrabs) where she likes to ramble about history, politics, and Islamic art.


Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: I wanted to reread it again immediately and I have a really intense craving for all Middle Eastern-inspired fantasy right now


Check out author's other books? I want the rest of the series yesterday
Recommend this book? YES PLEASE GO READ IT IMMEDIATELY

Notes and Opinions: HOLY. I. JUST. NEED. MORE.

This book was INCREDIBLE. The further along I got, the more I wanted it to be an extra 500 pages in length so I wouldn't have to leave the world before I was ready. Unfortunately, it is not a djinn and thus unable to grant my wish. 

Everything about it, from the Middle Eastern mythology to the characters and setting, was amazing and incredibly well-written. I'm not even sure how to put how much I loved this book into words. It was beautiful and vivid and fast-paced, but also evenly-paced once you got used to how she formatted the story with two viewpoints. It was a bit jarring at first once Ali was introduced, but eventually I settled into that and fell in love with everything.

I love how Ali was cast as both a protagonist and a disliked zealot, but not an anti-hero, while Nahri was worshipped, basically, although she wasn't sure why and very uncomfortable with it. She struggled with dislike on all sides, too, while being a fairly likable character had the circumstances been different. 

Go Into This One Knowing: It's jarring at first, but SO worth the effort. Also, it gets a bit bloody at times.
 









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