'they will call her a monster.' 'but we will not.'

as an avid fantasy reader and a woman from the Moroccan diaspora, i definitely went into this book with very high expectations. i've known the story of Aicha Kandicha since i was fairly young and looking for any scraps of Maghrebi legends and mytholgy online. i have also followed Soraya Bouazzaoui's updates on this novel before she'd even gotten a publishing deal. all of this to say this was one of my most anticipated reads ever, and i really wish i'd loved it more. i'm unsure of my rating even as i write this review, because while i enjoyed parts of this, it was far from what i wanted from this story.

first of all, don't go into this expecting full-on fantasy. religion, superstition and legends are definitely a core part of this story but this more of a historical fiction novel with slight fantasy elements than a fantasy story (until you reach a certain point). still, i enjoyed the plot, because who wouldn't enjoy a revolutionary, anti-colonialist story? i appreciated that it did not shy away from the horrors and the violence of revolution without falling into unnecessary violence for shock value. i loved the sense of community, i loved how easy it was for me to picture the citadel, its people, the food and traditions. (i also loved seeing Islam represented realistically and not through a fear-mongering or orientalist lens.) part of it is influenced by my own heritage, but i was definitely immersed in the setting.

as for the characters and the relationships, i enjoyed them but wished we'd gotten more depth from both. it feels like we've barely scratched the surface of the potential that was there but i still liked what we got. i love it when families are the core of stories, especially sisters and i enjoyed Aicha's complicated feelings towards her parents. the romance was also sweet, Rachid was a good counterpart to Aicha.

where this fell a little flat for me was unfortunately the writing. the prose was fairly bland, clunky at times, and it did a lot more telling than showing. Aicha's anger, which is supposedly a core part of the story, never felt as visceral as it could've been. i was told she was angry, but i didn't feel it, and it was repetitive at times. still, i definitely see potential there, and this was not bad, just not to my taste. it feels like it could've benefitted for more editing.

my other gripe with this is how slow the plot is. although i enjoyed the countdown as a timeframe, i wish Aicha's story and her grappling with her anger and what it could mean took up more of the story. this is marketed as the story of a monstrous woman, but i think it played too safe on that aspect. it made the resolution feel somewhat unsatisfying because it ended too quickly. if anything, i wish the ending had actually been the middle of the story and we got to see more.

still, i think this novel will hold a special place in my heart by virtue of its topic and how happy it makes me to see myself within the pages. i definitely want a copy on my shelves once it comes out.

i hope this marks the beginning of more Moroccan and Magrebi fiction, of more retellings of our myths and legends and i will definitely keep an eye out for this author's future work to see her evolution. Dima Maghrib!

— thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.