Sara Hashem

The Jasad Heir

You said you revolt me. You do, but not for the reasons you think 

You are a creature of pure spite. You would not react out of fear but out of fury. I think daily of chaining you to a wall and seeing which you would attack first-  me, or the wall” his voice was low , threaded with…curiosity? No, it couldn’t be that. Endeavours to unravel my identity none withstanding, Arin seemed to find me as noteworthy as a blunt axe. 

Ladies if your man doesn’t describe you like this…romance is dead 😂

She had the temperament of a deranged goose 

He’s a romantic, folks. Their banter and tension LOVE. The way I’m obsessed already 

Every interaction he’d shared with her had thoroughly convinced him he was not dealing with a stable woman 

You? Paranoid? Steady me side, I may keel from my mount. 

"Despite your most accomplished efforts." I glanced over, surprised. The Nizahl Heir joked like a wary bird stretching its wings for first flight. Miracle of miracles.

I CANT WITH HER she knows how to push his buttons. When he is cold to everyone but her and laughs at her bad jokes and only she can get under his skin yassssss

I know you are the mighty immortal man, impervious to the woes of us commoners. If it would behoove Your Highness to allow me to dress your injury why, I can't express how honored-“

 “Fine." Arin scowled. "Unless your magic includes secret physician abilities, I am not confident you won't do more damage."

 "You've injured me." I put a hand to my heart. "Somehow, I’ll find the strength to live another day. You may not, and I have little desire to be implicated for the Nizahl Heir's murder without the actual pleasure of murdering you. Remove your vest, please. I promise to protect your virtue." From his dark glare, it appeared he didn't appreciate my thoughtfulness. 

You dangle yourself over a rocky riverbed, beat down my guards, wedge your arm into a Hound's mouth. Yet you blush at a bare chest 

I way I cackled this whole book is a highlight at this point 

The other champions may not be a sensitive to insults your virtue.

This is the fourth time you’ve mentioned my virtue. Perhaps preoccupy yourself with another matter. 

He said you know him well. Clearly, he misspoke" It came out waspish. "He isn't...broken. He would love the same as any man." 

“Oh, my sweet Sylvia." Vaida's smile was all teeth. "The way most men love is so boring, It is frequent and fickle and altogether unextraordinary. Arin would love to obsession. To madness. But do you want to know the real reason he would never allow himself to love another?" Vaida stepped close, her floral scent tickling my nose. "Arin is consumed by what he loves. lf asked, he would get on his knees and let it kill him. He withholds his heart out of self-preservation."

But I wanted you to know because… the way he looks at you sometimes. Like you are a cliff with a fatal fall and each day you move him closer to its edge. 

He knew better than to share his smiles with me. I should know better than to crave them.

I wondered why in a world ripe with monsters and magic, only he could see me so clearly.

“Although you are certainly not endearing yourself to Vaida. “

“It’s customary for the hostess to outshine her guest. Aaron‘s eyes swirled with humour and something quieter, more intimate. Just for me, you’ve made them impossible.

Help! There’s narcotics in my book! The sauce of this dialogue stop 

After a lifetime of running he was my homecoming 

In this Egyptian-inspired debut fantasy, a fugitive queen strikes a deadly bargain with her greatest enemy and finds herself embroiled in a complex game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever. At ten years old, the Heir of Jasad fled a massacre that takes her entire family. At fifteen, she buried her first body. At twenty, the clock is ticking on Sylvia's third attempt at home. Nizahl's armies have laid waste to Jasad and banned magic across the four remaining kingdoms. Fortunately, Sylvia's magic is as good at playing dead as she is. When the Nizahl Heir tracks a group of Jasadis to Sylvia's village, the quiet life she's crafted unravels. Calculating and cold, Arin's tactical brilliance is surpassed only by his hatred for magic. When a mistake exposes Sylvia's magic, Arin offers her an escape: compete as Nizahl's Champion in the Alcalah tournament and win immunity from persecution. To win the deadly Alcalah, Sylvia must work with Arin to free her trapped magic, all while staying a step ahead of his efforts to uncover her identity. But as the two grow closer, Sylvia realizes winning her freedom means destroying any chance of reuniting Jasad under her banner. The scorched kingdom is rising again, and Sylvia will have to choose between the life she's earned and the one she left behind.

A big disappointment, as this book comes highly recommended. This reads like a first draft. Poor writing quality, cringey dialogue, forced characterization. This belongs in YA. 

Sophia 

oh wow…this was very boring to me. i just did not care for the fmc, she felt very edgy and her “badassery” feels so forced. the mmc is a white man and that was disappointing enough, but what really got me was when i read that the characters are 25+! 

i truly swore i was reading a YA book the entire time and to find out this is an adult novel made it so much worse! i am not a YA fan and so i was giving it grace, because it’s not the ya books fault that i don’t like ya BUT ITS NOT! 

it wasn’t a horrible story but it was painfully mid and juvenile. 

K.K. Jane

oh wow…this was very boring to me. i just did not care for the fmc, she felt very edgy and her “badassery” feels so forced. the mmc is a white man and that was disappointing enough, but what really got me was when i read that the characters are 25+! 

i truly swore i was reading a YA book the entire time and to find out this is an adult novel made it so much worse! i am not a YA fan and so i was giving it grace, because it’s not the ya books fault that i don’t like ya BUT ITS NOT! 

it wasn’t a horrible story but it was painfully mid and juvenile. 

I was very excited for this one and ended up just being “eh” about it.

The writing style wasn’t for me. I had to check multiple times to make sure it wasn’t YA because it sure FELT like YA. The romance had the potential to be a true enemies to lovers, and while I appreciated the attempt at a slow burn, there was zero reason for the characters feelings to change over time. Like…none. Speaking of the love interest: imagine my surprise when I realized he was a white man. I’m just very sick of this formula and expected at least poc4poc in a book like this. I know that’s not a point of contention for most readers, but it was definitely disappointing to me and contributes to my rating — especially considering the dynamics of our main characters. Slightly troubling indeed.

My biggest issue, however, is the pacing. I had to force myself through 60% of this. The world was cool, but actually describing it was clunky. The chapter lengths were as long as a CVS receipt. The dialogue was unrealistic and made me cringe at points. And most of it was telling instead of showing. Also, this definitely should’ve been written in third person limited. I didn’t like our main character enough to constantly be in her head.

Basically, I was bored and disappointed at the lack of diversity I was told to expect, but there are skeletons to a good story. I’m sure someone less critical will love this.

Nik ✨

I was very excited for this one and ended up just being “eh” about it.

The writing style wasn’t for me. I had to check multiple times to make sure it wasn’t YA because it sure FELT like YA. The romance had the potential to be a true enemies to lovers, and while I appreciated the attempt at a slow burn, there was zero reason for the characters feelings to change over time. Like…none. Speaking of the love interest: imagine my surprise when I realized he was a white man. I’m just very sick of this formula and expected at least poc4poc in a book like this. I know that’s not a point of contention for most readers, but it was definitely disappointing to me and contributes to my rating — especially considering the dynamics of our main characters. Slightly troubling indeed.

My biggest issue, however, is the pacing. I had to force myself through 60% of this. The world was cool, but actually describing it was clunky. The chapter lengths were as long as a CVS receipt. The dialogue was unrealistic and made me cringe at points. And most of it was telling instead of showing. Also, this definitely should’ve been written in third person limited. I didn’t like our main character enough to constantly be in her head.

Basically, I was bored and disappointed at the lack of diversity I was told to expect, but there are skeletons to a good story. I’m sure someone less critical will love this.

millena

4,5 ⭐️ love live laugh arin of nizahl

I NEED BOOK 2 RN!!!!

“All your choices require sacrifice. The question is, what are you willing to lose?”

Holy slowest of slow burns. This book took me a long time to read, I even had to put it down, have a break and read another book because I was just feeling so drained by it but I am glad I stuck with it. This book followed a very standard plotline and wasn't really anything new, a reluctant hidden heir, three trials to win the games and safety, enemies who slowly develop feelings for each other, the "who did this to you?" trope, it's all been done before but I think it was tied together nicely in this book. Sylvia wants everyone to believe she is nothing but a poor orphan girl living in a quiet village but things keep happening that threaten that, especially when the Nizahl Heir catches her praying in the language of a fallen kingdom and then catches her using magic, which has been outlawed and hunted since that fall. But for some reason, he saves her life and chooses her as his Champion in the Alcalah.

This is a great example of enemies to lovers done well, you could truly feel their hatred and disgust for each other at the beginning and then see that slowly unravel as they spent more and more time together. I loved how crazy Sylvia was compared to Arin's stoic stillness, they really complimented and tested each other, and opposites attract, right? Seeing the cracks start to appear in Arin's icy façade was a lot of fun to read and I loved how their intertwined history slowly unfolded, all the connected parts slowly falling into place. I also really enjoyed both of the main character's character development, I loved seeing how they both taught each other different ways to see the world

and the way Sylvia realised that trauma and her young age had made her forget a lot of information about her people and the heart breaking ways she found out about that corruption was so well written 

The world was also so vibrant and fascinating, with nods to Egyptian culture, it really built a beautiful picture in my mind. The setting also lead into the political atmosphere, the religion, the abuse of power, the convoluted scheming, the way each kingdom was described in a way that symbolised the flaws and strengths of each nation was really well done.

I did find the initial world building really intense and I was lost for a good 25% of this book, the kindle copy of this book didn't have a map or glossary so I was constantly googling things and switching to my hardcopy to reference the map because I was confused as heck. Orban and Omal were such similarly named kingdoms too that I kept confusing them in my mind. The pacing kept switching between fast paced action and an incredibly slow pace that really dragged in some parts. The politicking got a bit dry through some of the heavier parts as well and I felt like the story stayed stuck on the training location for a bit too long, which meant that when we finally got to the trials and then eventually the romance it all felt a but rushed right at the end. I wished we'd spent a bit more time building up some of the history between key characters,

because when Soraya appeared I honestly couldn't remember who she was and why she was relevant and so her betrayal didn't really affect me at all.

The magic system was also incredibly loose, there didn't really seem to be any rules to it apart from it draining people's energy.

Overall, this was a beautifully written debut, I highlighted so much poetic prose throughout this novel and the sentence level craft was outstanding. It really made up for the parts of this story that lagged a bit more for me, but I am really excited to read the next book in the sequel and I am so interested to see how Hashem's writing flourishes as she grows. This storyline really reminded me of other similar books, Shadow and Bone, The Prison Healer etc so I would definitely recommended this to people who enjoyed them but wanted a bit more depth and slightly more adult themes. I am glad I finally read this after having it sit on my tbr for months and months.

Genevieve 

“All your choices require sacrifice. The question is, what are you willing to lose?”

4 ⭐

Holy slowest of slow burns. This book took me a long time to read, I even had to put it down, have a break and read another book because I was just feeling so drained by it but I am glad I stuck with it. This book followed a very standard plotline and wasn't really anything new, a reluctant hidden heir, three trials to win the games and safety, enemies who slowly develop feelings for each other, the "who did this to you?" trope, it's all been done before but I think it was tied together nicely in this book. Sylvia wants everyone to believe she is nothing but a poor orphan girl living in a quiet village but things keep happening that threaten that, especially when the Nizahl Heir catches her praying in the language of a fallen kingdom and then catches her using magic, which has been outlawed and hunted since that fall. But for some reason, he saves her life and chooses her as his Champion in the Alcalah.

This is a great example of enemies to lovers done well, you could truly feel their hatred and disgust for each other at the beginning and then see that slowly unravel as they spent more and more time together. I loved how crazy Sylvia was compared to Arin's stoic stillness, they really complimented and tested each other, and opposites attract, right? Seeing the cracks start to appear in Arin's icy façade was a lot of fun to read and I loved how their intertwined history slowly unfolded, all the connected parts slowly falling into place. I also really enjoyed both of the main character's character development, I loved seeing how they both taught each other different ways to see the world
>>>SPOILER
and the way Sylvia realised that trauma and her young age had made her forget a lot of information about her people and the heart breaking ways she found out about that corruption was so well written 
END SPOILER<<<
The world was also so vibrant and fascinating, with nods to Egyptian culture, it really built a beautiful picture in my mind. The setting also lead into the political atmosphere, the religion, the abuse of power, the convoluted scheming, the way each kingdom was described in a way that symbolised the flaws and strengths of each nation was really well done.

I did find the initial world building really intense and I was lost for a good 25% of this book, the kindle copy of this book didn't have a map or glossary so I was constantly googling things and switching to my hardcopy to reference the map because I was confused as heck. Orban and Omal were such similarly named kingdoms too that I kept confusing them in my mind. The pacing kept switching between fast paced action and an incredibly slow pace that really dragged in some parts. The politicking got a bit dry through some of the heavier parts as well and I felt like the story stayed stuck on the training location for a bit too long, which meant that when we finally got to the trials and then eventually the romance it all felt a but rushed right at the end. I wished we'd spent a bit more time building up some of the history between key characters,

>>>SPOILER

because when Soraya appeared I honestly couldn't remember who she was and why she was relevant and so her betrayal didn't really affect me at all.

END SPOILER<<<

The magic system was also incredibly loose, there didn't really seem to be any rules to it apart from it draining people's energy.

Overall, this was a beautifully written debut, I highlighted so much poetic prose throughout this novel and the sentence level craft was outstanding. It really made up for the parts of this story that lagged a bit more for me, but I am really excited to read the next book in the sequel and I am so interested to see how Hashem's writing flourishes as she grows. This storyline really reminded me of other similar books, Shadow and Bone, The Prison Healer etc so I would definitely recommended this to people who enjoyed them but wanted a bit more depth and slightly more adult themes. I am glad I finally read this after having it sit on my tbr for months and months.

"One, two. I’m alive. Three, four. I’m safe. Five, six. I won’t let them catch me."

Have you ever read a book slower to prolong the story? While wishing you had read this slower but not because the next book doesn’t have a pub date? I didn’t want this to end with no next book date released it’s looking like 2025 (I usually wait until at least the next book in a series or duology is finished to read because THE WAIT IS TORTURE)  which I’ll happily do because this book - BEAUTIFUL

The tension, the banter, the angst, the plot, characters all of it was perfection. I happily ate my girl dinner and she was a delicious first course. I can’t wait for the next one ARIN is on my mission

Have you ever read a book slower to prolong the story? While wishing you had read this slower but not because the next book doesn’t have a pub date? I didn’t want this to end with no next book date released it’s looking like 2025 (I usually wait until at least the next book in a series or duology is finished to read because THE WAIT IS TORTURE)  which I’ll happily do because this book - BEAUTIFUL

that ending 🤯

The tension, the banter, the angst, the plot, characters all of it was perfection. I happily ate my girl dinner and she was a delicious first course. I can’t wait for the next one ARIN is on my mission

I was really exciting to read this because it sounded exciting and fast paced. My experience was a slow, high fantasy. Lots and lots of world building. I found it missing chunks of the story I would have liked to know more about. There’s also about 👌🏼 this much romance. Ends on a gnarly cliff hanger. 

After I got past the first two chapters, I got sucked in. I enjoyed Sylvia’s awareness of the world and her companions are loyal to a fault. I enjoyed her growing loathe-like-lust relationship with Arin and I was realllllly hoping the ending would have included them being able to walk away together. Still holding out. I wish her “broken mirror mind” had been explored more as she didn’t seem all that disconnected from reality like the author was alluding to. All-in-all really enjoyed it. Pulled an all-night to finish and I really can’t wait for Book 2.