Mads

Beautiful

Reviewed: 11-18-24

This book is different than any other book I’ve read. It’s incredibly well written and is everything I hoped the cruel prince would be. ADORED IT!!! The performance of the narrator was incredible. Go for it. The story won’t be what you expect… it will be so much better.

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frustrating

Reviewed: 11-01-24

I tried to like this, I really did. I have POTS and EDS, like the FMC, and the amount of complaining that the main character did just did not hit where the author wanted it to. Instead of showing the difficulty and the constant nature of chronic illness and pain, it just infantilized the main character. Her family treated her as feeble and she kept hurting herself for the sake of proving she was fine. Even though she also wants people to realize she's not fine? I understand that our experience is hard to put on the page, but yikes. I don't DNF books but I could not force myself through this one. If you are fully abled, please don't think that we are all like this character, and if you are disabled, particularly with POTS, EDS, or any chronic illness this book might be triggering for you.... it certainly was for me.

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It was good… definitely not a children’s book

Reviewed: 05-24-24

I liked this book… overall an average read for me. However, I had two complaints.

1. There were a couple gaps in the descriptions that made me a little bit confused. The world building was gorgeous in the second half, but very sparse in the first. There were things integral to both the plot and the characters that I didn’t know until about half way through the book. Ex. I didn’t realize that Jude was blind in one eye, and I didn’t realize how they didn’t have a sun.

2. While I would agree that this is a YA book, I’ve seen it on a couple of children’s lists, and it is not a children’s book, there are a few f-bombs and some really gross zombies. I would say this is a 15+ book. Maybe look elsewhere for a middle schooler or younger.

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1 person found this helpful

Fabulous

Reviewed: 03-08-24

This book was fantastic. The narrator and the story were both wonderful. This book reminds me so much of the starless sea, but the story is so unique. I adored this book!

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Not good.

Reviewed: 03-01-24

I had high hopes for this story. I love stories set in this time period, and across the globe, and from all religions. The description sounded amazing too… but I did not finish this book. I made it about 3/4 of the way through and had to bail.

The main character spends the vast majority of her time feeling sorry for herself, demonizing Christianity, and feeling bad for being half white. I understand the depiction of Christianity as something foreign in this novel. However, the sheer amount of Christian bashing in this book felt excessive. To the point where the main character makes fun of religion so much that it destroys any productive conversation.

Striving to see the perspective of the characters was made difficult because of the way they were written. Christianity was horribly misrepresented to the people of South America by the Spanish, but there was a better way to depict this. Resorting to mockery and insults is the shallowest form of criticism. I would have appreciated a bit deeper look, if this was meant to be a main theme.

I understand this book was meant to be a progressive work, but the main characters fell flat, and the story fell flatter. The author’s depiction of colonialism was confusing. This book does not stand on its own, which is unfortunate. It relies on an interesting premise to keep the reader from dropping the book immediately. However, it does not deliver this.

If you are looking to read a good book that displays the pain and suffering of colonialism, in a moving and engaging manner, with a good story I would recommend Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran.

Conclusively, this book was written poorly with unlikable characters. The author hid her lack of skill by being, rightfully but inarticulately, upset with colonial rule. I wish this book had spent two more years in development and editing.

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Wonderful!

Reviewed: 10-06-23

This book was so good. I loved both main characters, both apart and together. I cannot wait for the next book to come out. The writing was fabulous and the narration was lovely. 5 stars!

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Confused about how to feel

Reviewed: 08-14-23

The narration was wonderful. Probably one of the best narrations I’ve heard. Had I tried to read it rather than listening I probably wouldn’t have finished.

The peak of the story was at the end, the first 17 hours of the book was mainly world building which often lapsed into info dumping. Many names sounded so similar that it was hard to keep track of. I love a slow burn romance, but it shouldn’t bog down the speed of the plot (as it did here).

The characters were my favorite part. Definitely loved the chemistry between the main characters. I’ll probably listen to the next book when it comes out, if I have nothing else to listen to.

It felt a little clunky and, other than geography and some Arabic sounding names, I’m not sure how it’s Egyptian inspired. The culture and religion were made up.

It was a well done book, but I did not feel it lived up to the description as things that were emphasized in the description were either glossed over, minor plot points, or completely gone.

Overall, probably an audiobook that’s worth a listen, just don’t expect to get what the description says.

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1 person found this helpful