Overall, I really liked the book. It had a really interesting fantasy world, an expansive plot, and good characters. I enjoyed reading about Priya and Bhumika. It was nice to see a same sex relationship in the books, though I was not a fan of Malini.

I'm also really curious what is happening with the primary villain. So overall, it was good enough to keep me invested.

That being said, the book definitely had some flaws. For one, there were way too many points of view, which made it really hard to quickly become familiar with the world and the characters. It also made it hard to identify the protagonists. I also struggled with some of the morally grey or unlikeable characters.

The changing POVs prevent focus on the world and characters, and many elements of the story serve primarily to build the world without much explanation. And while confusing POVs with a large cast aren't necessarily problematic by themselves, I am more forgiving if the story and world are deep enough to offer more details and depth on a reread. This story doesn't seem to have the level of depth to offer more or a better understanding on additional rereads. For example, in Game if Thrones there are many small details that hint at what is to come, that a reread provides more context for (but isn't necessary for the initial understanding of the story).

Ultimately, everything about the book is above average, but nothing is amazing.

The premise of this book was so interesting--sapphic romance in a South Asian inspired fantasy is literally my ideal plot. But I just could not get into it. There were a lot of characters, and the multiple point of view shifts were confusing. Not to mention it took a really long time to understand the world building (and because I DNFed I still didn't totally). I think if I had just stuck with it and read more, getting into the romance especially, I might have really enjoyed the book, but it just seemed too overwhelming to keep reading and I did not finish. I definitely want to try to give this book another try at reading it, because it seems like it's good, but probably not anytime soon.

This was my first Tasha Suri book, and it did not disappoint! The world-building was lush and beautiful, the magic intriguing, and the characters compelling. I love that so many of the characters were not clear-cut 'good' or 'evil.' Lots of nuance and depth to the characters and the world. The prose was also quite stunning. While the story leaned more heavily into romance than I tend to prefer, that's completely a 'me' thing and not an indictment of the book in any way. The sapphic romance was beautifully written. Wonderful start to a new epic fantasy series.

Thank you Orbit Books for providing a free advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had incredibly rich character building along with intricate world setting with cultural nuances that were so well portrayed that it made you feel like it was real and happening right in front of you. The author builds a slow burn romance between two female characters that is complicated by the culture, setting, and complex situation they find themselves in. There is a lot of great foreshadowing at the beginning of the book and glimpses into a deeper story which slowly unravels as the story continues. The book is definitely character driven and the multiple POV in this setting allowed you to connect and understand each character in their own way, their motivations, fears, etc.

A slow start at the beginning which quickly unfolds and draws you into the universe, can't wait to see what the next book will bring.

4.5 Stars

This book was very, very good and I cannot wait until the sequel!

The world building was fascinating, as were both of our main characters. Sapphic fantasy that felt real and not forced. I highly recommend this book to any fantasy reader.

I will definitely be checking out this authors earlier books as well now that I have read this one.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of ‘The Jasmine Throne’ by Tasha Suri. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was such a breath of fresh air in a fantasy book. It felt unique and new and exciting. I did read the eBook alongside the audiobook and that helped with the pronunciations as I don’t think I would have read things correctly on my own without the audiobook narrator. I really liked the characters and the world that’s been created. I also didn’t realize this is a series and I will definitely be picking up the next book.

5/5 stars

THE JASMINE THRONE was an exciting new adult fantasy by Tasha Suri, an author I really adore and continue to adore now. When you pick up a Suri novel, you know you're going to get well-developed romance, intrigue, twists and gorgeous worldbuilding, and that was most certainly the case with TJT. While I'll confess it took me a minute to really get into this one, once I began getting a feel for this world and these characters, I really enjoyed it. Things got really good as I began to know these characters and all of their connections to each other. Suri's writing style is gorgeous and really brings this lush world based on Indian history and mythology to life and that was just a sight to behold. I thought the dynamic between Priya and her siblings was fascinatingly written and those were the scenes I enjoyed the most. As far as main characters go, I really couldn't help but like both Priya and Malini. I love how Priya in particular was framed with her soft and compassionate heart and how that ends up being her greatest strength. I feel like that isn't something we see much of in heroines and I could relate to her in that respect. I liked how many different fluctuations that Malini and Priya go through as they become allies and more as rebellion unfurls across their land. This book has a lot of moving parts and I really enjoyed seeing all the side characters having POVs in this one. It really gave me grasp of all the different groups of people fighting to stave off the Empire and the wicked Emperor. TJT is a story about identity, power and revolution that left me craving more.

I genuinely want to give this book a second try when I'm more in the mood for epic slow fantasy. It has everything in it that I love, but I was having a hard time connecting with the story - which I do think was on me not the book.

My general preference is for faster paced books, so if you like fast paced stories this one is not for you. But if you're fine with slowly building plots this is a great one to check out. The characters were great. The writing was beautiful. The magic was interesting. I cannot wait to give this a second shot one day and fall in love with it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for give me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is heavily political and jumps between two point-of-views. The magic system is great, but for some reason I couldn't make a connection with the characters while reading it.

THIS IS GOOD. LIKE AMAZING... i cant even think straight after that last 100 pages, i don't think anything i say will be coherent

if you want some shaky morals, women leading in a society where "women are only crowned in death", and an achingly angsty sapphic romance, THIS is the book for you!

im a malini and priya apologist first, human second - they may do wrong, but this sign can't hurt me as i can't read 😌

I want to have things to say about this novel, but yet I do not. It will carve holes and not fill them but somehow you will still be satisfied. I do not feel anger or impatience at the thought of waiting for the next book, only a steady readiness. I will wait and when the time comes, I will be thankful to read Suri's words again.

*eARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I read a copy that I purchased from Illumicrate.*

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri. I've read other books by Tasha Suri in the past- Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash, both of which were solid 4 star books. So, I expected something similar of The Jasmine Throne.

The Jasmine Throne is a hefty book at approx. 530 pages. I think it would have benefited from stronger editing. There were a lot of short POVs from characters that we didn't return to or ones that didn't affect the story enough to matter. Additionally, the beginning was a little slow.

I am a sucker for world-building. I think the author made a deliberate effort to hide her world and mythology, then selectively reveal it as the story progressed. I don't know if this was a bad choice, considering the plot. Sometimes, it is good for the audience to be in the dark. I am definitely intrigued enough to pick up the next book.

3.75 stars

This one took me cover to get through, but it’s not because I wasn’t enjoying it! I’m not a big fan of body gore, so some of the descriptions were hard to get through. Overall, loved these girls and this story.

A few housekeeping items -

TRIGGER WARNINGs - This book contains elements of ritual suicide, death, graphic fight scenes, burning, and characters that are risking their own death frequently.

I heard about this book through a panel with the author and was so excited to get it from Netgalley this summer. Sadly, it took me a while to pick it up because I was very hyped to read it... and now I can say that I might have gotten into my own head and had too much hype.

This book started off beautifully. It was a new world, Indian in premise, with a sapphic love story ahead and I was running on adrenaline to get into it. As the book progressed, I found it so hard to follow. Not only are there a billion POVs to follow that pop up throughout the book, but there are also various religions, lands, rebel groups, and locations to remember and since I didn't have a physical copy of the book it was really hard to flip back to work it all out. (I have heard some reviewers mentioning they had a flow chart, and I am sad that I didn't think to get one running in the beginning but I read before bed too so it probably wouldn't have worked for me either.) I found out that at the end of the book there is a list of names and explanations about who everyone is - that would have been very helpful to know, but on an ebook it is difficult to flip back and forth.

My biggest issue with this book was not the confusion though, it was that the pace was just so slow. Every time I thought there would be an action scene it fizzled out almost before it started. I know that this is the first of a series and they generally build to a grand war, but I needed more from this book to really keep me with the series past book one and it did not deliver that.

The author attempted to build this big, beautiful world ensnared with fear over their ruler, but there was a lot of telling and not showing and that broke the illusion. I would have really liked to also have the Emperor’s POV, to show us his evil nature versus everyone just talking about it. There were other instances where she did show things and I don’t know that they were necessary, for example Ashok. I am not sure that he needed to be in the story for it to progress.

All that said, I did finish the book. It took everything I had to give it a full fighting chance, but I doubt that I will continue with the series.

hank you Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review!

From the very first chapter of the Jasmine Throne I knew this book would be a ride, and I was right. Tasha Suri crafts a world from scratch, introducing us slowly to the different components and histories of the different people involved. It’s no small feat to juggle so many pieces and have them make sense at the end of the day. The character motivations are laid out clearly, and you find yourself invested in each characters journey.

The writing is amazing itself, descriptions that bring to life old temples, and have you tasting foods… like ladoos soaked in rose syrup? There are some spots where typos are present, but that’s a given since this is an arc.

The romance truly is a slowburn, which starts off as a game of manipulation - and the way it shifts… absolutely wild… especially near the end, where their fates become entangled and their lives become parallels of one another

Suri also captures the fallacy of men. Men from different backgrounds and how they wash themselves of any sort of blame and step on the backs of women while claiming it’s for the greater good... On that note, we’ve read plenty of supposed morally grey man, but reading about Malini someone who is unapologetically ready to do what is necessary to protect what is hers, to get her revenge was also refreshing. Suri at the same time, shows how women often are the ones to lead a resistance, how they're often overlooked and how not everyone is cut from the same cloth and not everyone has the same methods.

Though I have to say… there certainly were some choices made that made me go? The way the violent resistance against an oppressor is painted as something that’s bad, the way Priya would let Malini talk about the empire and shit on people that have Ahiranya’s interests in mind (no matter how misguided) like I understand that Priya has no interest in any of that, but to think she’d let Malini talk like that without even forcing Malini to reckon with the true nature of the imperial nation that she represents. On that front, I think Suri could have done better. Even if Malini were to brush Priya off, it would have been nice to see her constantly fight against Malini’s views rather than that one off confrontation they had.

Honestly, this book is everything. Sapphic Desi heroines, an India-inspired empire suffering from a mysterious rot that turns people into dryads and under the thumb of a fanatical ruler, and a strange magic blooming in women with the future of a conquered city-state in their hands. The ladies are the leads here, and the ladies, quite literally, rule. The story is intricate, it's lush, and it's complex; there's politics, a war on the horizon, and delicately tangled threads of family, both blood and chosen. Suri doesn't shy away from darkness and monstrosity, voluptuousness and complexity; she's woven a luscious tapestry of magic, humanity, and what it means to wield power.

The Jasmine Throne is truly spectacular character-driven fantasy! The stakes were high, the pacing was perfect, and the characters were deeply compelling. Suri effortlessly explored the crossroads of power within an intricate political plotline and a uniquely ominous magic system. The cast was large and there were many POVs, but the believable humanity of the characters was never sacrificed. The world-building evolved effortlessly alongside the plot, and never once felt incomplete or like info-dumping. I absolutely adore Malini and Priya, and I can't wait to see how these complex and powerful women grow. Their slowburn romance built perfectly and was essential to their characterization, but never became the main focus over the rest of the plot.

I, for the life of me, could not get into this one. At first I thought it was my mood and timing. So I waited a few months and tried again, when I was on my fantasy kick. Nope. Unfortunately, this book just couldn’t hold my interest. I feel kinda bad, cause I was reeeally looking forward to this one too.

I loved this book so much omg. The fantasy, the magic system, and the plot was just awesome but it was also so refreshing to see south asian culture represented, and the sapphic rep was just...ugghhh. so. good.

The Jasmine Throne is a really solid intro to a fantasy series. The worldbuilding is /really/ well done and had me fascinated (and sometimes horrified) the entire time. Now, I will say that as a person who doesn’t tolerate body horror well, yikes! Please prepare yourself because hooo boy is there some freaky ish at various points of this book. Did I ever think I’d be afraid of flowers and petals? Nah. But here we are.
The character work was also really good, especially considering how many characters there are to balance in this multiPOV work. Bhumika is by FAR my favorite character. I love her quiet type of strength throughout the story and how she always patiently awaits the right moments to make her move. The characters you are supposed to hate are A+ hateable. The one part of the story I wasn’t as keen on was unfortunately the romance. While I liked Priya and Malini as characters and I usually love slow burn romance… it just felt like there was something lacking when they finally did get together. I think perhaps there was just so much other stuff going on that it really just felt like a side note but you could tell it was /supposed/ to feel really pivotal. And given how the arcs progress, I’m not sure how it will develop in the coming books.
That being said, everything else was really enjoyable and I thought there were quite a few clever and interesting plot moments. I am absolutely happy I read it and I am definitely interested in picking up the sequel to see what happens next! I would say this story rides the line between YA and Adult Fantasy fairly well and the worlds based off Indian cultures and mythos are really well developed. If all of this sounds interesting to you, give it a go! It’s well written and paced to keep you engaged from beginning to end.