Name: Mirage
ISBN: 9781250126429

Mirage

Linara K.S

The plot: pristine

The stakes: as high as they could ever be

The pain: oh, boy don't get me started with the emotional torment I endured. 

The romance: exquisite and heartbreaking 

Main character: fiesty, silvertongued, determined, selfless... basically everything I love in a MC.

Ending: sAtIsFyInG 😌👌🏾 it ended on such a note! I'm going to read the sequel pronto!!!

kelsey

you are not defined by the men in your life, no matter how powerful. you lived before them and you shall live after them. you can’t let them determine your path.

i FINALLY finished this masterpiece. holy shit. there were a few twist and turns i was not expecting.

the only thing i wish is that it was gay. amani and idris seems a little rushed but theyre cute nonetheless

Chloé

Wow Just Wow. Definitely A New Favourite. Books That Are Heavily Inspired By Real World Places/Mythologies/Folklore Are My KRYPTONITE. This Book Discusses Themes Of Colonialism And While Reading I Remembered The Quote 
'To Destroy A Culture First Destroy The Language' And Just Honestly I Truly Loved How She Did That. The Relationship Between Amani and Maram Wasn't Expected But I LOVED IT. 
I Love Somaiya Daud Writing Style. She's Very Descript In Her Words And Her Word Choice Creates a Vibrant and Beautiful Image In My Minds Eye AND This Was Her Debut - I Cannot Wait To Read Her Future Works. I Couldn't Recommend This Book More Honestly.

alexandra

3.5/5 – mirage was beautiful and addicting. 

i listened to the audiobook after hearing the narration was really good and confirmed: THE NARRATION IS REALLY GOOD. i couldn't stop listening and i was enraptured by the world. i'm usually not a big fan of sci-fi but this was the exception!!

my only issues:
- it was hard to get into the world. i feel like it was especially harder because there was no map to refer to.
- i didn't connect with the characters as much as i'd liked
- idk how to feel about the romance; on one hand i like it, but i'm not OBSESSED with them
- the ending!! was so sudden?!!! i was so confused when it ended because i felt like nothing had been resolved and it was almost as if it was finished mid-sentence BUT i know there's another book so ://

aside from that, i really enjoyed the:
- culture aspect
- emphasis on poetry and language/translation
- royalty!!
- strong platonic relationships!!

It was captivating at the start and I liked the world-building. Felt a bit like Star Wars at times

Haley

Jantien 

** spoiler alert **
           My first fantasy book this year! I can’t say a lot of bad stuff about this book really. 
I loved the writing, loved the religious parts of the book. Could have lived without the “sci-fi” but it didn’t really disturb me this time. 
Overall, a very very well written book with a cool storyline. can’t wait to see where this goes eventually.

Kelsey Joëlle

Honestly, I dont really know how I feel about this book. 

Wasn’t really feeling it at the beginning. Almost on the edge of DNFing the books, but I’m glad I continued. It was good, but not with as much action as I expected. A little slow even, because it was mainly focused on the relationships. But, I liked it. The book was still a great read and I will read the rest of the series!

Megan Lowe

3.5 stars.

This was a solid book. I liked the premise and I really liked how the story developed. Maram was a surprise to me, but a good one. Idris was a nice counterpoint as was Tala.
One thing that did bug me was the use of technology in this world. You assume it is a Morocco-esque book but then there's all this technology that pulls you out of the world. I don't think it fits and needs to decide if it is sci-fi or fantasy. I do t think the two quite mix.
But the story is solid and I will probably continue with this series.

Stephanie Ridiculous

Intriguing! I don't know how I keep finding angsty teen romance, tho. Also, I'm not sure why folks classify this as fantasy. Harkening back to deep cultural roots & faith doesn't make something fantastical. This is clearly in the scifi camp for me.

Anyway. Decent read will def pick up book 2 to see how things unfold.

Jillian Clare

You guys. We're just a little past the halfway mark of 2018 and I can already tell that this will be one of my top releases for the year. A full non-spoilery review will be coming soon!

Savannah Winchell

Mirage by Somaiya Daud
4⭐️
- SPACE FANTASY INSPIRED BY MOROCCO
- gorgeous writing
- not the usual ship I go for but idris is an angel and he deserves the universe
- unique twists/concepts
- first 80% was perfect, end was waaayyy rushed
- dat cover
- pumped for the series

Livia

it's a really, really good book, although i wish the romance was developed longer. but i love the development of amani and maram, and the conflict at the end

Lauren Tabor

Caitlin

I really enjoyed this dystopian read!!!

Daud beautifully combined Arabic tradition and poetry into a gorgeous dystopian setting of the Planet Andaala. I'm once again drawn into another read by star-crossed lovers, however the feminist undertones and inner strength displayed by characters provided a really interesting perspective on family and tradition. 

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because of the fast paced story line. Events seem to go by so quickly that I couldn't relish in the details and took away from those big gasps when plot twists occurred. Despite that, I really enjoyed Daud's writing style.

I'm currently in a book depression from this book, can't wait for the release of the sequel August 3rd!!

Sonja H

„Mirage“ ist das Erstlingswerk einer amerikanischen Autorin mit marokkanischen Wurzeln, auf die sie in ihrer Erzählung zurückgreift und die die Geschichte maßgeblich beeinflussen.

DIE WELT

Die Welt von Amani und Maram ist ein Mix aus Fantasyelementen, mythologischen und poetischen Teilen und ein ganz klein wenig SciFi.
Geprägt ist sie von Unterdrückung, sowie Kolonialismus und orientiert sich geschichtlich an den „Jahren der Führung“ zwischen 1960 und 1990 in Marokko, als König Hassan II das Volk mit harter und willkürlicher Hand regierte.

DIE CHARAKTERE

„Mirage“ ist eine Geschichte, die stark von den Charakteren und ihren Beziehungen untereinander lebt.
Sowohl Amani als auch ihre Gegenspielerin Maram sind sehr facettenreich und beide haben ihre guten und ihre schlechten Seiten. Die Grenze zwischen Gut und Böse ist nicht immer einfach zu ziehen und je mehr Zeit sie verbindet, umso stärker ähneln sie sich nicht nur optisch, sondern auch in ihren Persönlichkeiten,

Warum die beiden Mädchen wie eineiige Zwillinge aussehen, wird nicht erklärt und wirkt deswegen nicht unbedingt überzeugend. So etwas dürfte in der Realität äußerst selten vorkommen und hätte meiner Meinung nach einer kurzen Erklärung bedurft, um die Leser nicht irritiert zurückzulassen.

Dennoch sind die Figuren sympathisch. Es gab eigentlich niemanden, den ich in diesem Buch nicht gemocht hätte, zumal der Antagonist eher das System als eine einzige Person ist.

DIE STÄRKEN DES BUCHES

„Mirage“ ist unserer Welt sehr ähnlich und wirkt dennoch wegen seiner mythologischen Symbolik fremd genug, um uns als Leser von Anfang bis Ende zu faszinieren.

Die Hauptcharaktere sind vielschichtig, emotional und haben Hoffnungen und Ängste, die sie für uns Leser verwundbar und liebevoll machen.

DIE SCHWÄCHEN DES BUCHES

Leider fand ich die Plotideen ein wenig schwach. Ja, sie orientieren sich an historischen Ereignissen, aber die Vergangenheit schreibt nicht immer die interessantesten Geschichten.
Die Situation in der wir uns befinden ist zwar nicht schön, wirkt aber auch nicht sehr bedrohlich. Selbst die Szene mit Amanis Eltern vermittelte keine echte Gefahr und hätte deutlicher gezeichnet werden können.

Auch das Ende ist nicht ganz das, was ich mir erhofft hatte, nachdem der Anfang mit der Entführung des Mädchens so stark war. Ich weiß, dass es sich um eine Fortsetzung handelt und dass der Schluss dieser Geschichte auf den Beginn einer neuen hinweisen soll, aber dennoch werden die Erwartungen der Leser relativ hochgeschraubt und zum Schluss ein wenig enttäuscht.

FAZIT

„Mirage“ ist ein Debütwerk und deswegen von ein paar Fehlern durchzogen, Nichtsdestotrotz ist es auf seine Weise einzigartig und hebt sich ein wenig von typischen YA-Werken ab.

Mir hat das Buch ausgesprochen gut gefallen und ich bin sehr gespannt auf den zweiten Band, der nächstes Jahr erscheinen soll.

courtney garrison

This book was such an amazing read. I didn’t quite know what to expect going into it, but it became a new favorite immediately. I received the arc through a trade through Facebook and I’m so happy I have had the chance to read this and review it.

Your mc is Amani and she is a village girl from Cadiz. She is dancing and having the time of her life on her majority night, she receives her Daan and is soon kidnapped by imperial droids and take her back to the palace where she is forced to be the princesses body double and attend events in the princesses place. The princess is 50/50, she is not a pure breed vathek and her people hate her.

I absolutely loved this book and it gives off children of blood and bone vibes and zenith vibes if that makes any sense at all. The writing and creativity in the book were fantastic. The Story flowed perfectly together. The poetry and language translations were some of my favorite parts of the book.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is how two characters grew so close together even after all the hateful and horrible things that had happened. The relationship dynamic between these two strong characters was amazing. To me, it showed how you can see past the evil in someone to who they truly are and why they act out the way they do. The author gave a reason behind everything that happened and nothing was left unjustified or unreasoned.

All of the characters were strong and had very well written storylines, even the ones who didn’t have much part in the book had such a strong part. The princess is really the one with the most complex characters in the book and at times I wanted to murder her myself and others I just really felt bad for her. The author made her a villain, but also showed her human side, her insecurities. She was vulnerable with Amani and I enjoyed their relationship out of everything in the whole book. I’ve never really been this torn on a character before. The author defined her and made her so complex and confusing at times. I was really tacked back at out well of a character she was.

This book flowed together so well and it ended up being one of those that you don’t have to wait for the sequel for you to really get into it or get the main plot. Even though it is sci-fi, yes it does have spaceships. Mirage really reads like all my other fantasies.

Overall I gave this book 5 stars because to me it absolutely deserves it. Mirage is an excellent book and deserves all the hype and more. I hope you all have the chance to read this book and enjoy it.

Mirage

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