This book was meh for me. The setting was beautiful, but I found that the author described mostly the food and sometimes the outfits too much for my taste. It took me almost halfway through the book to grow attached to Fatima, as for Zulfikar... I did not like him, but didn't hate him either. Fatima's sister I don't like, and I only beginning to like Bhavya towards the end.
The romance was nothing special, my main complaint about it is that I did not got the impression from Fatima, that he was actually in love with Zulfikar through her actions that much. 
It didn't needed this much POV, Zulfikar, and Fatima would have been enough, and we could have seen the things through their eyes, which could have strenghten their bond.

Zulfakir bonds with Fatima's fire to save her life before they know each other at all. This means Fatima's attraction, while eventually genuine, lags behind Zulfikar's bond to her, and the trajectory of their relationship resembles a political or otherwise arranged marriage where the couple become close after they're already linked. I like this and adjacent tropes, so I enjoyed their romance immensely. Because it's not actually an arranged marriage, there are some associated secondary tropes that play out less predictably in enjoyable ways. 

The female characters are complex and vibrant, even (or perhaps especially) when at pursuing contradictory aims. The Alif sisters appear often as a unit, but each of them get brief moments as distinct people outside of their connection. I was treated as a part of a similar unit as a child, and so I'm grateful that the narrative clearly does not think of them as interchangeable. There's a strong emphasis on women's rights and female empowerment, with women claiming control of their own bodies and asserting their right to take up space. These themes take into account misogynist efforts to stop them, but they are independent of what the male characters think about it. It's handled as a theme throughout with a few pointed scenes, making it obvious as a societal value with specific impacts, even if some misogynist characters think their repulsive actions will win out instead. 

Most of the male characters are less distinct, having far less space in the narrative. By the end, I got a sense of who Zulfakir and Anwar are as people, but no real sense of the rest of the men. To me, this feels like the right emphasis for this story and I'm not bothered by it, but I did want to note it (especially in contrast to how well we get to know most of the women). 

The worldbuilding is detailed, taking seriously that the various characters are part of that world. There are at least two scenes where characters who spent time living on the street give a walking tour to one of the nobility. These moments double as opportunities to show the reader even more of the city, and from a more intimate perspective. There are descriptions of clothes and food from a variety of religions and cultures, humans and djinn, making the city feel alive and vibrant. The audiobook narrator did a wonderful job, the audiobook is excellent.

The plot builds slowly, focusing on conversations between people as they go about their lives. It means that long stretches feel almost like a slice-of-life story, leaving me with no idea what the overall direction was, nor which scenes were important to the main plot. Much of the tension in the middle of the story is between Fatima and her adoptive sister, Sunaina, as Fatima has been suddenly and irrevocably changed but is unable to fully explain to her sister what happened. Even when the political intrigue plotline begins to surface, it's important but doesn't take over the narrative because no one thing is given primacy. 

I'll definitely be checking out more by this author, this is an excellent story.

 This review was first posted on my blog...

Back in May, a Booktok friend was celebrating his birthday month by randomly buying books off of his friends’ wishlists…I was one such lucky friend. Sadly, for myself and the book, I let this book sit unread on my shelf for entirely too long. After finishing this book, I was so embarrassed to not have read it sooner. To put it simply…I loved it!

This story is a stand-alone that you desperately wish had more volumes. The author did mention, on her Goodreads, that there is potential for a spin-off though she isn’t sure if she’ll make one. Fingers crossed she decides a spinoff is something she wants to do!

Loss is a big part of each character’s journey as they find their strength. In the very first chapter, a character thinks back on the loss of their child and how devastated they still are. If loss is something that’s hard for you to read about you may want to reconsider picking this book up. Granted none of the losses are graphically detailed it’s still brought up a lot as each of the characters we follow has suffered, in some way, from the loss of someone close to them.

From beginning to end this story is full of found family, finding your own inner strength, magic, difficult choices, and love (both familial and romantic). This book, mostly, centers on characters who are late teens and early twenties. As there really aren’t any graphic depictions of violence or romance I would say this book would be good for anyone who reads YA and up.

There are a lot of phrases, throughout the book, that may be unfamiliar but fear not there is a great glossary in the back. Personally, I really enjoyed reading through the book and, based on the situation, figuring out what the phrases (that I was unfamiliar with) meant without jumping to the glossary. When I finished reading and went through the glossary I was excited to see that I was thinking of the different terms correctly, or fairly closely.

The descriptions and world-building within this story will have you hungry for more stories…and delicious food. Honestly, some books should come with a warning to not read on an empty stomach. I loved how many cultures are represented within this story, as it’s set in a place where so many different cultures trade and live together.

If you’re looking for a phenomenal fantasy world with Djinn-related magic, found family, finding your inner strength, and making hard decisions for the good of all…look no further!