This is a fascinating book, and one I thought I was going to like way more than I did. The plot and setting is super interesting, the writing style... really needs a lot of work.

I love the mystery, the way everything was interwoven. The characters, despite having so many did actually kinda work. The duel POV would have been pretty great as well - 2 very different viewpoints - but instead it felt incredibly jarring and disconnected from each other. One being written like a gritty detective novel, the other like some teen book written to be like a diary (and not actually written like a diary) also swapping between first and 3rd person too.

Honestly, the writing overall, not just the POVs, felt very basic and needed way more edits. Constantly repeating details - like the MOST basic details said at the start of the book were repeated basically every chapter, saying something vague then "I'll tell you about this later" at least 4 times in the first 50 pages and multiple more times after, basic emotions and short sentences like "If I left abruptly for [removed for very minor spoilers] to [same], she might be very sad.", didn't think "she might be very sad" needed a second pass? There was so many sentences like that throughout the book that just felt very stilted and basic.

The ending as well, it was just too vague. There was still so many questions left but it was all kinda just hand-waved away. Nothing was really actually resolved honestly? It kinda just ended pretty abruptly. Maybe it's setting up a sequel? But then it wrapped up the characters themselves way too much for that.

While it was impressive the massive cast of characters were kept pretty unique to each other and most had enough time that their personalities were decently defined - I still couldn't tell you a thing about Lu however lmao. The main issue I had with them was just, basically everything about the characters was told through retelling or gossip or similar. Very little was shown through interactions as honestly, the majority of interactions were just drama.

I've heard especially with her other books the repetition of details is maddening in those too, so I'm not sure I'm wanting to go read anymore. Which sucks honestly because she can craft some really cool worlds and characters!

Representations: https://trello.com/c/d45Ihq6x

Punchy, drama-filled and set in an incredibly vibrant world! But could have done with some more details in the glossary and some more context here and there.

I'll admit I don't know the most about Arabic fantasy and Muslim mythology but this book really got me wanting to learn more! Sadly with how much context was left out of the book, assuming you knew everything, it left me having to be googling stuff every page or so, with some stuff being so niche that it wouldn't even come up. Some stuff as well, the spelling seems to have slightly changed - al-dabaran in the book but it seems like everywhere else it's ad-dabaran? I understand not wanting to overexplain but the authors note and the glossary would have been a great place to put more context!! The glossary was also incredibly light and barely had anything in it. Further reading was an incredible add, absolutely gonna check out some of those books!

As for the story itself, aside from the confusion, it was a really fun story and the characters are quite unique! I can certainly see now why there is a demand for older characters in fantasy. It changes the pacing and dynamic quite a lot in a really nice way. On the other hand though, apparently not even 40 yr olds are immune from bad communication. There was probably too many characters, and some weren't really different enough to stand on their own. Amina, Raksh and Dalila were the strongest for sure. The 3 of them had good chemistry between them, though Raksh was... Odd. Basically everything that was learnt about him was learnt through characters talking about him/what he's done. There was surprisingly queer characters too! Though if you're wanting to read this for queer rep, you might be disappointed. It was largely offhanded mentions and a bit at the end. It was nice rep, and nice to see a world where it's just "gay? Cool but can you sail" lmao. Hopefully there's more of it in the second book.

Speaking of a sequel too... I genuinely thought this was a standalone. It released a few years ago, but while reading, especially towards the end, it absolutely felt like it was setting up the stage for a whole series, not just 1 sequel. And lo and behold a couple days after finishing, I get an email that my local bookshop is hosting an author event for the sequel lmao. I don't know why the gap but happy it's being continued at least! I will certainly be checking it out.