Yet another book I don’t want to review because I put off writing the review so long that I’ve forgotten details of the book and what I wanted to say about it, if I ever knew. Mostly I’m just mad I didn’t read this sooner, although now I don’t have to wait in between books if I don’t want to. (I don’t want to, but I can’t manage to fit the second book into my OCD color-coded TBR—don’t ask, it’s too complicated to explain—and also! I’m only reading spooky/murdery books in October so it can’t go there, either and life is hard wah these aren’t real problems.)
This historical fantasy book starts off in early 18th century Cairo, with our main character Nahri, who is a con woman and a grifter with no ties to her past and no knowledge of who she is, where she came from, or how she got these powers (mysteriiiiouuusss powersssss). When she accidentally calls up a djinn (excuse me, he prefers to be called a daeva) Nahri is dragged into adventure and politics and brough to a hidden city full of other people like her, but also full of history that she is woefully unprepared for.
I do remember that my one issue with this book is how complicated the political situation in Daevabad was to get a grasp on. I just sort of went with it and figured understanding would come, but it is very intricate. I’m betting that intricacy will pay off in the second two books. The worldbuilding here was incredibly imaginative and fun, and the book was a blast to read, even when I was confused. This is why I immediately went online and bought hardcover copies before I’d even finished this one. Here is an example of Djinn health problems, just to give you a taste of the book’s sly humor:
“Stripes were common in infants born during the darkest hour of the night . . . Sweating silver droplets was a constant irritation in the spring. It was possible to to accidentally create an evil duplicate, to transform one’s hands into flowers, to be hexed with hallucinations, or to be turned into an apple—an incredibly grave insult to one’s honor.”
The characters, by the way, were also excellent. I was sort of tempted to give this five stars, but I want to give myself some room if the second and third books manage to exceed this one.
[4.5 stars]