I really tried to like this, and was so excited to see a novel with a Muslim woc but was sadly let down by Crowning Soul. I had to DNF less than halfway through. The premise was riveting but the execution was lacking for me.

I was extremely excited for a Muslim fantasy, but I could not connect with this writing style! I stopped reading a little over 100 pages in but just couldn't continue.
Thank you for the opportunity, I just don't think my review on this title would be a positive one.

Crowning Soul is the first book in the Heart of Noorenia series by Sahira Javaid. I wants to thanks Netgalley and the publisher from an arc of this book. I have really love reading this.

Nezha have a gift. She can control fire but its a dangerous secret. She will unravel whats behind it when one day she is transport in another world through her backyard pond. In this other dimensions, she learn that her family originated from there. From there she will also learn that she have a quest to do. Go after the fragments soul of an angel. With the help of two unicorn and a guy that can control wind, she will have to face differents jinnys and a corrupt prince who control iron.

I'm looking foward to read the sequel of this book.

I think everyone should read this! what a wonderful story with beautiful writing and laugh out loud moments. I really liked the characters and the plot and how cinematic it was

I've put off reviewing this book because I'm afraid I don't have much positive to say. Although it was refreshing to see a lead character of colour in a genre that needs more representation, that is where my praise begins and ends. The writing was dysfunctional, at times even sloppy. The author seemed to have no clear vision of what they were writing, and I found it a real battle to push through. I ended up not finishing at around 60% because I just couldn't take any more of it. It's a real shame, as the premise was so promising.

Crowning Soul had all the makings of a great book. I thought the premise was fantastic. Unfortunately the execution was lacking. 

So I’ll start with what I liked: 
1) The representation: Nezha is Muslim of Pakistani & Moroccan descent. I loved reading about an awesome young hijabi having adventures.
2) The basic plot: I did not finish this book, but I thought the direction of the plot was promising up to that point. 
3) The descriptions: Some of the descriptions and phrasing were so beautiful I wanted to cry. They made me feel completely immersed in the world. 

However, as I previously stated, the execution overall let the book down. So here’s where it kind of fizzled for me.
1) There were too many descriptions: I like beautiful descriptions that transport me. But there’s a point where it starts to affect the pacing of the story. This point applies not just to the worldbuilding, but to the most minute actions, like Nezha nudging her aunt’s elbow. It wasn’t relevant to the story, so it really didn’t need to be stated. 
2) The characters were flat: They didn’t have much in the way of depth, so it was hard to care about them. I think this could have been solved by writing this in the first person, instead of third person. It would have instantly made Nezha more relatable (in the sense that she would have felt more human.) I think that another part of this was that the author told me what characters felt, rather than showing me. 
3) The pacing was very slow: This ties in directly with point 1. There was too much extraneous information, so it really slowed the pacing. 

Overall, I think Crowning Soul had a lot of promise, but it probably needed some more content and line editing before it was published. As it stands, I can’t say I’d recommend this book to anyone. If it was re-edited at some future date I would be more than happy to buy it and recommend it to everyone I know.

2.5 stars 

Thanks for the arc but i could not really keep up with the writing of this author. 
Stopped reading at pg 50.
Sorry to say i will have to pass this review.

I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity. 
This book promises much with its beautiful prose, particularly description and its inclusive story. I really liked the MC being Pakistani Morrocan and Muslim as these are stories that need to be told, The story itself was interesting. 
However, at times the writing was overly descriptive anf at others, sadly lacking which meant a lack of world building and important events were skipped over in a few sentences. The plot was not tight and had many holes in it. 
A good read overall.

Although the premise was amazing, this book did not leave up to my expectations. I thought the world building was lacking, which did not help the plot, and I found the characters to be quite one dimensional. I would definitely try to read something else by this author, but this book was simply not it for me.

This book feels like it is one or two drafts away from being a good novel. I like the representation and the characters, but too much was going on with the plot.

Sahira has a truly amazing story in these pages. Her characters, world building and plot all came together to create this wonderful story. I was in it to win it the entire time!!!!!!!!

DNF’ed at 15%

Thank you very much, NetGalley for providing me an ARC before release! I was so happy once I knew I'd access it.

I’m so sad about it, but I prefer to let it go than getting through it, knowing that it’s not what I am looking for.

To start on a positive note, I love how the author incorporates Moroccan and Pakistani cultures. The sentences in darija warmed my heart 💕.

The beginning really reminded me of The City of Brass, plus that book is of the author’s favorites. I can see where the hint of inspiration came from.

//BUT//

The tone felt too young for me, like the younger range of YA, while I expected it to be more mature. Maybe it’s just me looking for content I will find more relatable? After all, it may be the part I read that felt younger. I can’t judge the rest.

The characters did not seem developed, to my taste. I am all for good plot-driven stories. However, I prefer beginnings focusing more on characters, taking the time to care for them, then after will come the epicness. The writing remained too mechanical: I could not understand what was happening in Nezha’s head. Therefore, connecting to her character was kind of hard for me.

I was really expecting so much more out of this. The culture is so beautifully represented and it gave me immense happiness, but the way this book is written it feels more Middle-Grade than Young Adult. We have a lot of conversations about how YA is getting geared towards a more mature audience and how YA characters are starting to sound like they are in their 20s. I would have appreciated if this book had tried to subvert that, but it genuinely did not feel like a teenager's voice and it would have worked much better if it was marketed to a MG audience. The worldbuilding was light and simple, but intriguing. There was a disconnect between the reader and the main character because the book did not use the "show, don't tell" policy very well, which makes the plot feel lackluster as well.

Everything from the stunning cover to the powerful premise of Crowning Souls made me want to love this book so much, which is why I’m so sad to say that it did not meet my expectations.

I had to DNF this book at 25% because I simply did not understand what was going on, and couldn’t find myself caring for the characters or confusing plot. While I went into Crowning Soul excitedly awaiting a powerful main character and lush worldbuilding, I found myself having a lot of trouble following the story.

Crowning Soul follows Nezha Zaman, a Morrocan-Pakistani girl who has always hidden her abilities to control fire in fear. But when her aunt—the one family member she has who truly accepts her for who she is— is killed by an evil jinni who has been mysteriously appearing near Nezha’s home for days, Nezha is devastated.

Soon, she’s transported to the magical dimension of Noorenia, where she learns of a quest that only she has the power to complete, one that will decide the fate of the entire land.

At first, this sounds like the basis for an amazing story, and I did enjoy a few things about it! For one, the author’s prose is so beautiful, crafted in stunning sentences that helped me easily picture the different settings in my head. The representation in Crowning Soul was also wonderful, I loved reading about the different worlds inspired by Morocco, Pakistan, and more.

However, as I progressed further and further into the story, I just couldn’t understand what was happening. Although the writing was beautiful, it felt like a lot of effort went into crafting beautiful prose rather than explaining the world and what was actually going on in the story.

Speaking of the world, I wish that the magic system and entire world of Noorenia had been explained better, because I was truly confused when reading about it. The characters were also not well-developed: I felt like I was being told what they were feeling and thinking rather than being shown, and they all didn’t feel like three-dimensional people.

Also, sometimes, the point of view abruptly switched from one character to another in the same chapter, which was extremely disorienting. I also thought the dialogue felt bland and filler, as one moment the characters would be talking about something and then would change to discussing a completely different topic.

Overall, while Crowning Soul has beautiful writing and representation, there were major issues with the plot, characters, dialogue and more. I’ve seen other reviewers say that this book felt a bit too childish for YA and would fit better as a middle grade novel, and I completely agree. 

(I was not reading a finished copy, so take my words with a grain of salt if you will!)

FINAL RATING: 2 stars

I received this book for a blog tour a while back and was so excited to have a copy in my hands. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The story had great potential but it felt all over the place and that hindered my enjoyment.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read these books in return for an honest review.

I hate the fact that I did not enjoy this book. I had to DNF It quite early on and DNF'ing a book is not something I like to do at all. The premise sounded so so good but I just could not for the life of me get into the writing. I gave this several attempts but I will try and read it again in a few months to see if it was just because I could not get into the genre. If this does happen that this review will be changed appropriately.

Rating: 1⭐
Would I Read It Again? I want to try again in a few months.
Would I Recommend it? No

The plot and characters were an interesting and intriguing concept. I enjoyed the ideas that were put into the story. But the overall writing and progression of the story needs some work. I had trouble following along with what was happening; the character development was lacking; the tension wasn't intriguing.

The is idea is there, but it needs more work.

DNF @ 30% 

I really wanted to love this one but unfortunately I couldn't connect to the characters or plot- I felt like too much was crammed into the story detracting from its overall effect. I wanted more characterisation and less action. However, I did like the Muslim hijabi rep and the unicorns! It's just that the execution could have been better.

I had a high expectation of this book but it kinda flopped. Crowning Soul could be a high potential book if not for its messy plot and writing. Maybe this is her debut novel after all? I just hope she will improve her writing or maybe find some critic readers before getting it published. As a side note, I really love the Muslim representation and diverse cultures from this book so maybe it is not a bad read after all.  Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc

Very disappointed with this book as I just couldn't get into it. It was very bland and stretched out. There was need for more action.  
However, there was a beautiful depiction of the culture and with more edits, it could have been a good read!