Stars: 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
~~~~~
The City of Brass – 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Kingdom of Copper – 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
~~~~~

NOTE: there may be some spoilers for The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper below!

You have been warned.

“When I first arrived in Daevabad, Nisreen told me I should take assurance from the flames that survived the night, because there would always be darkness. But as long as you kept a light burning, it would be okay.”

Yes, this review is about a month late, but let me explain why…

Okay, I don’t really have a good excuse other than life was busy and this book kind of destroyed me.

Prior to reading The Empire of Gold (EoG), I was in the worst book slump. I was barely reading one book a month for the past several months. It was the worst, but COVID-19 life was not working well for me.

So I picked up EoG as a buddy read with Kibby (@somethingofthebook) as a way to pull me out of my slump. If it wasn’t for the buddy read, I probably would have finished EoG in one day. I’m glad I didn’t though because OH MY GODS, did I need time to process what the heck was going on.

“Now Nahri did flush, fighting the urge to slap some sense into herself. No more journeying with attractive warriors on dangerous quests after this. She clearly had a problem.”

EoG is the final book in the Daevabad trilogy. For many series, I find that the ending doesn’t always do the story justice. It can feel rushed and leave too many plot holes open. EoG is the opposite. It is perfection.

In The City of Brass, a mysterious djinn takes our hand and steals us away to a magical land full of amazing people, political feuds, and a heart-breaking history. The Kingdom of Copper intensifies every single feeling and emotion from book one and brings us even more magic and politics while throwing in some crazy family dynamics.

“The Qahtanis and the Nahids got us here. I think it should be an al Qahtani and a Nahid who fix it. Or more likely die trying in some horrible fashion.”

EoG somehow has all of that and more, as it gives us new lands, characters and magic, but still wraps up the story in a beautiful way. Well, in a heart-breaking way too… I did not imagine the book ending the way it did, and yet, I would have it no other way.

As it is the third book, I won’t go into the synopsis and I will do my best to avoid spoilers – which likely means I’ll just keep repeating how much I love this book, but it is what it is.

“Not wanting to be destroyed by despair doesn’t make you a coward. It makes you a survivor.”

As mentioned, EoG gave us the final pieces to each character. I already loved Nahri, but in this book I loved her even more. She fights valiantly and sticks to her values. She is kind, funny, smart and believes in taking care of her mental health (*cue cheering*). She is taken on a whirlwind of a ride – seriously, I was stressed basically the whole time – and it definitely “cracks” her, but she doesn’t let it “break” her. She lets the people around her help her and relies on them in the same way she allows them to rely on her.

Not to mention, we get to see her flirt both successfully, and not so successfully:

“‘You’re a warrior. You’ve clearly spent a lot of time training, and you’re, you know…’ She fought for an appropriate word, cursing the embarrassed heat in her cheeks. ‘…well-formed.’
It was not an appropriate word.”

I’ll admit, I did not love Alizayd the first time I read the first two books, but when I reread them in preparation for EoG, he was different for me. I realized how wholesome he is and how badly he truly wants to do the right thing, even when he isn’t sure what that is. His kindness and deadpan humour were also greatly appreciated this time around!

“How many times have you saved me now?”
“I told you that you’d never get out of my debt.”
“May I confess something?
I never really wanted to be out of your debt.”

What really struck me the second time around is Ali’s dedication to, and reliance on, his religion throughout the series. I highly recommend you read this post from The Tsundoku Chronicles for an own-voices review of why the Muslim representation in the Daevabad trilogy is so incredible and so important.

Zaynab really came through in EoG. Her growth went from ‘princess doing her best to survive in a world that uses princesses as leverage’ to ‘princess who will do whatever she needs to, to fight for her people’. I am SO here for it. Actually, I could’ve used more Zaynab. I think we’d be good friends.

“You know, for all the lecturing I’ve heard about how emotional women supposedly are, we have nothing on the men I’ve known.”

Jamshid is such a pure soul and after what he went through in the first two books, I was glad to finally see him get more of the good things that he deserves. The bond he and Nahri develop is truly beautiful and I appreciated seeing them grow together as the family they both needed and deserved. I also loved seeing him find himself as an individual in EoG. He has a lot thrown his way, but deals with it all with grace and kindness.

“Zaydi! We feared you might never come back.
We ate all the food just in case.”

Muntadhir finally redeemed himself in my eyes in book three. I expect when I reread the series again (which I definitely will soon), I will see him in a very different light. Now that I understand where he’s coming from, I wouldn’t excuse his behaviours, but I would at least understand them.

Speaking of not excusing behaviours, let’s talk about Darayavahoush e-Afshin.

“Summoned by the Nahid Council. The five words that changed the entire course of his life.
…
But there was no questioning a Nahid – a good Afshin obeyed – so Dara said the only thing he could. ‘I am here to serve.'”

I’m sure it is no surprise to anyone that Dara is my favourite in the series. In The City of Brass, I was smitten with him, and in The Kingdom of Copper, I wanted to throttle him. We have a love-hate relationship. There is no question, however, that he is absolutely perfectly written.

“Suleiman’s eye, this is why people call you brooding.”

I despise the things he did, but he did them as directed by the very people that were meant to guide him. He was following orders. Sure, he could have chosen to ignore those orders, but could we not say that about many people in our real lives? This book may be fiction, but it hits on many important topics that are very real.

“She ran a thumb over Dara’s bottom lip, sorrow creasing her expression. ‘They will sing a thousand songs about you.’
‘Sad ones?’
‘They are the best.’ She turned away. ‘May the fires burn brightly for you, Darayavahoush e-Afshin.'”

Dara’s story was torturous for me. A thousand times I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and desperately ask, “WHAT THE HECK?!” His ending though. I was not prepared. Well, to be honest, I was not prepared for most any scenes with him. The ending had me bawling though, and yet, like I said, I would have it no other way.

How this is S.A. Chakraborty’s debut series, I have no idea. Her writing is charismatic and gripping. She has truly given us an epic tale full of every emotion you could possible consider. These books take us on adventure while at the same time making us feel like we are home.

Chakraborty’s characters give us the best and the worst of humanity, and if they don’t make you realize you have to step back and consider what others have been through before judging their actions, then you have missed the point of this series, in my opinion. That does not excuse their actions by any means, but it may offer a glimpse into the lengths some people will go to fight for what they desire, whether that is the right thing or not.

“How many Daevas did you kill that night?”
“The Daevas I killed were soldiers. Soldiers who invaded my home, killed my friends, and meant to slaughter my entire tribe.”
“Change ‘Daevas’ to ‘djinn’, and I bet that’s just what [he] said to himself.”

^ how many ways could we humans change ‘Daevas’ and describe a slaughter in our world?

There are many incredible themes throughout the series, and this review is already too long for me to go into great detail of each of them. Instead, let me say that it truly has something for everyone. And as long as this review is, I feel like I’ve barely touched on what this series has to offer!

So let me just end with this: there is magic in this series and you will find it if you give it a chance.

“I would do it again. I would take your hand a thousand times over.”
“Find your happiness, little thief. Steal it and do not ever let it go.”