At the risk of sounding like a blogger who will post a full essay ahead of a recipe, I still feel compelled to talk a little at the top about my thoughts on books. TL;DR— I loved this book so much.
I read Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash earlier this year, and Tasha Suri’s books quickly went from ones that were recommended to me by Goodreads’s AI to must-reads from a new favorite author. The Jasmine Throne was one of my most anticipated releases of the summer, and with all of my expectations already very high, I was blown away by this book. It took me a minute to get through this book (it clocks in at 480 pages), but it was never a struggle to just end it, if you know what I mean.
It has a lot of the complex elements of a high fantasy novel, without ever falling prey to the expected tropes of high fantasy. It’s rich, complicated, and at time, so sweet and tender, that I didn’t want it to end. If you love a book that you have to think about a little bit, this is a great one to go to. It has intricate and deep political and religious themes that, while a lot to take in, never feel boring or “too much.”
By the end, you will love your buff girlfriend Priya and smart girlfriend Malini so much that, like me, you may have to stop yourself from screaming for a sequel as soon as you finish.
⚡️ I was provided with an e-ARC by the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This post also includes an affiliate link to purchase this book.
The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms #1)
by Tasha Suri
🌟: 4 / 5
📚: Under the rule of a zealous dictator, a princess in exile, a maidservant with a magical secret, and a gang of rebels who will stop at nothing to get what they want discover that the legends at the heart of the empire they wish to topple hold a lot more sway than any of their positions.
💭: Folks, Tasha Suri is on a roll, and has yet again written a book that I’ve lost sleep over (in the best way, I would have stayed up reading even later if i could have). It’s filled with political intrigue, civil unrest, complicated families, cute sapphics, and deadly magic in an Indian-inspired epic, and I loved it.
I think that this politically-driven fantasy is really where Suri shines as a writer. As with her other books, the main plot of The Jasmine Throne follows the political power struggles of the people living in a conquered country and the way that they contrast with the people in power, although they want the same things. It’s so detailed and elaborately complex, but also never boring like a political book might seem to be on the surface.
And as complicated as her politics and plot lines are, this book would be nothing without its large cast of characters (and I mean, like, 30 named characters large. Thankfully there is a character guide at the back of the book to prevent too much confusion). When I started this book, I was frankly a little wary of the sheer number of points of view across all of the chapters, but each chapter gives a new perspective on the situation that the characters find themselves in and unites them across all of their roles within it. They’re morally gray in a way that makes it so human and real, despite all of the elements of fantasy woven around and within them.
I would be remiss to not talk about the main selling point for me (aside from the fact that I loved her other books so dearly that I’ve been anticipating another since I found out it was coming), the romance (okay, the pining mostly). You know that it’s coming, right when you pick the book up, but the way that it’s slowly hinted at, built up, and made so sweetly casual was so heartwarming to me. While it was what, I assume, most readers came for, and it absolutely shines on its own, it’s almost secondary to the rest of the story. I think people who need a lot of outward chemistry may be disappointed by it, however, it made me love the characters individually so much more and set the story up in more meaningful ways than I expected it to.
It took me a minute to get really into this book, but once I started to figure things out, I was IN IT. I’m so eager for the sequel, and I cannot wait to see this book take off.