The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri

[sophia_sol]

This is a truly brilliantly written example of the kind of book it is, but although I admired it all the way through, it is not nearly as much my kind of thing as the other Tasha Suri book I've read (Empire of Sand). Idk. It's....it's a bit too grimdark for me, I think, the kind of book where characters conclude that they must become bad people in order to accomplish what they need to accomplish in an oppressive world. The characters are wonderfully multifaceted and complex, and the context in which they exist is believably created, and it's definitely not just grimdark for the sake of grimdark; it's saying something deliberately with what it's doing and I respect that. But it's still not the kind of book that I get true pleasure out of reading.

(also it's well over 500 pages long and reads like it's simply the introduction to the story. I know I say this as a fan of the famously long Les Miserables, but I think this book may be too long?)

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

Interesting! I did not mind the grimdark so much, but I actually found the main romance almost entirely uncompelling, which is too bad, since I loved both involved characters individually, and I know Suri is more than capable of sweeping me off my feet! I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel, though.

[sophia_sol]

I was also not compelled by the main romance, but I figured that was because I hadn't found myself loving either of the two characters in the romance (I found them interesting, certainly, but I wasn't in my emotions about them) -- so it's interesting that the romance didn't work for you either despite loving both characters!

I'm probably not going to read the sequel, since it looks like it is a pretty direct continuation of exactly what this book was doing, but I hope you enjoy it, and that the romance becomes more compelling to you as it's further explored!