Book Review: The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty

GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Historical fiction fantasy
Length: 533 pages
Author: S.A. Chakraborty
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: November 14th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles. 

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound. 

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences. 

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for…

THIS IS HOW TO START A SERIES.

Whoa, hot dang, THIS IS MY JAM. Magical fantasy historical fiction-ness? Y’all I CAN’T EVEN. I am an emotional wreck after consuming this and am so glad Fiction No Chaser’s review convinced me to read it.

YOU’VE READ THIS RIGHT? If not, I recommend with my entire bookish soul. I feel that should be the end of this review, but also, let me throw out some more pieces to love.

This world-building was *in sing-song voice* faaaaabulous. I was there. I also love books with djinn in them, so I should have expected this to be a winner from the synopsis. This book kept a beautiful pace of slow, to action, and round again that kept me wanting to flip pages even during the “slower” sections.

Nahri is the heroine I didn’t know I had been missing in my fantasy reads lately. Girl is stubborn, feisty, full of self-preservation (that will leave her enemies, IN RUINS, mark my words) and crazy intuitive. She is brilliant and kept me on my toes because she actually made good choices in bad situations. I also love that Nahri wasn’t a damsel in distress. Even better, she actually sucked at what she was supposed to be great doing. Why is this better? Because I personally can’t stand it when a character is all of a sudden great at every little thing. That’s not realistic. You gotta work for it.

I don’t even know where I stand on the romance aspect. I will say, I LOVE Dara. What a great character. A 1400+ year-old Daeva (djinn) who has fears (like water), and is so hardened by his past that he’s become a biiiit jaded. He’s also on occasion, not the nicest, and has some things to work through (let me help you Dara…). I could not get enough of him. He is so dynamic. Dara is swiping weapons and destroying people in one breath, and following around Nahri like a love-lorn creature AND I AM HERE FOR IT. I have no idea where this lands me for book two. Stay tuned.

Ali. I don’t know where I stand on this guy. He’s conniving, yet caring. And for the life of me WHAT SIDE ARE YOU ON? I need to know. Prince Ali will ruin me, I can almost guarantee it. At least, if Dara doesn’t first. All of his sly moves are driving me batty and I love it. I love it.

Shout-out appreciation moment for some side characters. These were well built in their own right. Especially King Ghassan. I flippin’ thought he was fantastic. He has so many plans and I want to know them all. The King wasn’t one-sided and gave a lot more to the story as a whole. And really helped build the political back-drop for The City of Brass. Also, Jamshid. He needs a bigger spotlight, because I will do anything to make sure he’s happy. I want to tell you more, but because I’m a spoiler-free review type, I digress. But trust me, you’ll love him too.

The twists and turns and the intense history lesson I got from this book has me waiting at my door for The Kingdom of Copper to arrive. If you even *like* fantasy I would highly consider picking this up. It was amazing.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical fantasy
  • Language: a little strong language
  • Romance: a kiss
  • Violence: knives, magic, poison, animal mauling, very descriptive in the amount of blood/gore

Instagram || Goodreads

Book Tag Saturday: Night and Day Tag

GoodeyReads3 Comments

I wasn’t formally tagged in this, but I found it on Kristin’s Site (Kristin Kraves Books) and thought it would be fun to do for this week! I love her page, definitely make sure you’re following her!

Hope you enjoy the answers. Have a great weekend!

Do you read more in the morning or at night?

Lately it’s been at night. After the babe (+my husband) have gone to bed I snuggle in for a few hours and read whatever book I’m currently reading.

Are there any books that changed the way you thought about things?

Oh, I feel like every other book I read does that to me. For instance, I finished The Simple Wild last night (or a few nights ago at the posting of this tag) and it made me consider a lot about my relationships with my loved ones. It doesn’t have to be non-fiction to cause a change in thought. But I’ve ready plenty of non-fiction (i.e. When Breath Becomes Air) that also has changed my thoughts about life.

YA or not?

ALL DAY. That’s what I mostly read. I don’t think anyone is too old to enjoy a good story, regardless of it’s “target audience.” I love reading YA and I will do so for the foreseeable future.

Are there characters that you honestly believe are real?

Not really. Are there characters I wish that were real? DEFINITELY. Especially in fantasy. But I’m also very aware that we don’t have *that* kind of magic happening in the real world.

In contemporaries and such, I don’t necessarily believe the characters are real. Though, since it is real life I can better believe that something like that could happen.

Nobody touches my books or I don’t mind loaning my books out?

Loan them to everyone (mostly). I actually have a few right now that are out with friends. it makes my heart unbelievably happy when a friend asks if they can borrow a book. OF COURSE YOU CAN. It’s like letting them take a tiny piece of my bookish soul.

Do you ever smell your books?

Eh, no. If I open a box and the scent wafts out, sure. But I don’t go up to my books and sniff them.

Not everyone loves books…is this a positive or negative?

Positive! I do secretly believe that there is a book for everyone, buuuut I know not everyone likes reading. AND THAT’S OKAY. Different interests and passions are what keeps ideas flowing in the universe.

Gosh, I have too many books! True or False?

False. I know I have around 300 books, but honestly it hasn’t grown much since 2016. I really dialed back how much I buy and y’all. Have you seen bookstgram? Some of those shelves have close to 1,000 books and I’m sitting here stunned by that fact. I think I would be overwhelmed if I had *that many*.

Have you ever spilled or stained books before with something, if so how?

With water, usually a few drops. I can’t remember the last time I full-on damaged a book though. *crosses fingers* I SHOULDN’T HAVE SAID THAT.

Toned or untoned? In other words, do you read and workout at the same time?

I do! If I’m on a cardio machine I will bring my book (in whatever format) and read while I’m running, biking, etc. I love how quickly it passes the time. I’ll listen to an audiobook occasionally as well, but when I lift I usually need a song to power through.

Since I wasn’t formally tagged, I’m not tagging anyone. So feel free to do this (and tag me in your answers if you’d like too!). What are some of your answers to these questions? Lets talk in the comments!

Instagram || Goodreads

Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2019

GoodeyReads2 Comments

I can’t believe it’s May.

My sister graduates COLLEGE (yeah, I feel old) this month. My husband’s work-load lightens a bit for the summer. Our babe is growing like a weed. I see promise for an amazing summer ahead!

I had a really great month of reading. THREE 5 stars and FIVE fours stars. That’s a pretty dang stellar time if you ask me.

  • Again, but Better by Christine Riccio
  • Defy Me (Shatter Me #5) by Tahereh Mafi
  • In the Neighborhood of True by Susan Kaplan Carlton
  • Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire #1) by Michael J. Sullivan
  • The Falconer (The Falconer #1) by Elizabeth May
  • The Traitor’s Kiss (The Traitor’s Circle #1) by Erin Beaty
  • Storm Siren (Storm Siren #1) by Mary Weber
  • The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty (RTC – ☆☆☆☆☆)
  • Kingdom of Exiles (The Beast Charmer #1) by Maxym M. Martineau (RTC – ☆☆☆)
  • The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker (RTC – ☆☆☆☆☆)

Favorite this month: The Traitor’s Kiss, The City of Brass & The Simple Wild (DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE)

Least Favorite: Storm Siren

Have you read any of these? What’s on your TBR? Lets talk in the comments!

Instagram || Goodreads

Book Review: Storm Siren (Storm Siren #1) by Mary Weber

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 333 pages
Author: Mary Weber
Publisher: Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins
Release Date: August 19th, 2014
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

“I raise my chin as the buyers stare. Yes. Look. You don’t want me. Because, eventually, accidentally, I will destroy you.”

In a world at war, a slave girl’s lethal curse could become one kingdom’s weapon of salvation. If the curse—and the girl—can be controlled.

As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn’t merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth — meaning, she shouldn’t even exist.

Standing on the auction block beneath smoke-drenched mountains, Nym faces her fifteenth sell. But when her hood is removed and her storm-summoning killing curse revealed, Nym is snatched up by a court advisor and given a choice: be trained as the weapon Faelen needs to win the war, or be killed.

Choosing the former, Nym is unleashed into a world of politics, bizarre parties, and rumors of an evil more sinister than she’s being prepared to fight . . . not to mention the handsome trainer whose dark secrets lie behind a mysterious ability to calm every lightning strike she summons.

But what if she doesn’t want to be the weapon they’ve all been waiting for?

Set in a beautifully eclectic world of suspicion, super abilities, and monsters, Storm Siren is a story of power. And whoever controls that power will win.

CONFUSED BY MY THOUGHTS.

I have left this review sitting around for about a week now because I couldn’t decide if it worse or better than I thought. I will say this book got better the further I got into it, but also, why does someone want to wait 200 pages to enjoy a book?

I appreciated the way Nym and Eogan’s (Wow, I don’t like that name) relationship built. There was a bit of an enemies to lovers piece. I was freaked out there was a love triangle flying in, but NEVER FEAR, it was nothing. The bugger from Nym though was that she could not stop talking about how attractive he was. I hate when this is repetitively added to books. They’re more things to think about Nym!

Speaking of no love triangle, Nym’s’ friendship with Colin was stellar. I was practically more invested in that at times. They were a fun pair to watch and had great banter and chemistry (friendistry).

One thing I could not wrap my head around was how the girl with all the powers (and she really could destroy a place) was the one not destroying all those who sought to control her!? I guess I was looking for a bada** type, but got a lackluster I don’t want to be used as a weapon character. You don’t have to be a weapon Nym, OWN THE ELEMENTAL POWER.

There were rotating villains in here, but Adora was the worst of all (not in a good way). I found her silly outfits laughable and her whole demeanor a farce. The real wickedness didn’t show up til the last few chapters and that’s the leg this series needs to stand on.

I missed all of the world-building and politicking I’m used to reading in fantasy. For instance, there were multiple animals in here and I couldn’t tell you what they actually looked like. Nothing was ever described enough to paint a picture. And all of the politics were behind closed doors where Nym never bothered to listen to. This made a lot of decisions by other characters seem empty.

I will say, there was a solid plot twist or two at the end. Where I even wrote in my notes: HOLY PLOT TWIST BATMAN. Reading like every other YA fantasy book left me begging for from the story. That ending has me debating picking up book two though. I’ll keep you posted.

Overall audience notes:

  • Language: none
  • Romance: a kiss
  • Violence: knives, physical, magical
  • Trigger warnings: slavery

Instagram || Goodreads