This was book was really great!! I enjoyed it a lot, loved the characters and the world building. The cover is also so lovely. This was such an explosion of joy, intrigue and culture.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars—

For the sake of representation, I’m very happy that this South Asian YA fantasy epic exists. It was sweet and entertaining. The quest and tropes are familiar, but the Indian-inspired setting is a fun twist.

Overall, I think the story and characters lacked much depth—a common problem in YA. In particular, the siblings all seemed characterized by one particular attribute or goal, and their motivations for how they relate to one another felt unrealistic. This, along with a pretty predictable betrayal, are the main reasons why this book way just an entertaining jaunt for me.

That said, there were things I definitely enjoyed. I like the dynamic between the monarchy and the populist rebel group, The Ravens, and how the siblings’ ideologies reflect this dichotomy. I like the descriptions of the ancient ruins the siblings discover in their search for the Ivory Key. I like the questions these ruins raise about the past, the present, and the story the siblings have been told about their society. As of yet, I’m undecided whether I’ll read Book 2. I do love a a duology, and if I ever come across it on sale in kindle deals, I’ll probably give it another go.

Many thanks to Clarion Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars, I loved the idea of this book - a unique Indian inspired fantasy world with a treasure hunt aspect - and while it was a fun and entertaining read the execution was a little off for me, part of it could be that it reads a little young, at times it almost felt more middle grade than YA (the content is pretty standard YA but the writing itself read younger at times). **Thanks to Edelweiss and Clarion books for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!**

The world building and magic, and the use of magic (imbuing it into objects) was definitely the strength here, I really liked the world she created with the Indian influences, it was fun and unique to read. The plot itself was pretty good, with the puzzle aspects and treasure hunt portions giving it a bit of Indiana Jones vibes. She also created a lot of conflict giving the four siblings opposing goals and reasons for seeking out the key, which added an additional lever of intrigue. There were some good twists at the end that ramped it up a bit, and made it feel less juvenile.

The biggest thing I struggled with were the actions and motivations of the siblings, there was never really enough detail or background given to make their various estrangements believable, and there fore their eventual (in some cases) conciliation. IE Vira let her brother rot in prison for a year without ever visiting (or apparently even thinking about him), it'd be one thing if she was super evil or crazy cold but she's just like "sorry I was so busy trying to please my counselors and rule the realm". Hrrrmmmm. Very vague motivations for a very serious action. That was kind of how it went with a lot of the issues between the siblings, vague mentions of discontent with apparently very extreme results. Of the four siblings Riya and Kaleb stood out as the most likeable, while Amrit (although not one of the four siblings) was definitely the most interesting character.

Like I said I loved the concepts and ideas here, this world and the characters she's created, but overall it just fell slightly flat for me. That being said I am definitely curious about the follow up because I feel like there was a lot of missed potential here and maybe the second book will really flourish with more experience. Don't get me wrong this wasn't bad by any means, I was just disappointed by what I thought of as the potential. A lot of YA readers will probably love this without even being aware of some of the issues I had with it. And I would definitely recommend it to YA readers, just not as much to adult readers of the genre.

*Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review*

I absolutely loved this book! So exciting to see more South Asian literature out in the world. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and how fleshed out all of the characters were. I absolutely felt immersed in the magical world., This book is so impressive for a debut novel and I cannot wait to read more from Akshaya Raman!

I wanted to like this but felt that the story itself was rushed and hard to follow. The prose, while beautiful, felt almost too detailed in some aspects and not enough in the stuff that really mattered.

This Ivory Key was a wild adventure with an unexpected ending. It combines save-the-kingdom and ‘National Treasure’ with magical flair. It’s up to four royal siblings to put aside their differences and save their kingdom and magic as they know it. This was fun, and I'm excited to read the sequel!

Great story of four siblings coming from four very different places in their lives (one rules, one in prison, one an outlaw, one making deals with criminals) as they come together in a quest for the same object to save their kingdom... but of course it doesn't go to plan!

The Ivory Key is a book that sweeps you away into an intricately built and very vivid world full of magic and wonderful characters. The focus of the story is on four siblings who don't have the best relationship and are estranged. But each is a character with whom you fall in love with.

I really enjoyed this book! It made me think of Raybearer, one of my favourite all time fantasy duologies - there are a lot of differences between the two but they both share the fantasy-epic storytelling with deep, historical roots and culturally appropriate storytelling. It was interesting and although the characters weren't immediately loveable, they were wonderfully complicated and multidimensional. It was easy to be lost in the story and hooked until the end. I really enjoyed it, and I'm very much looking forward to the next book.

This is an Indian-inspired fantasy series. This novel feels like a sequel because I did not get a sense of the characters as a whole. There is very little information about the characters, and their backgrounds are sprinkled throughout the book. Therefore, it felts like I have read the second novel in this series. Despite this, this is very well written. The world building is intricate and is filled with many vivid details. I recommend this for this fans of The Star-Touched Queen, The Stardust Thief, and The Tiger at Midnight!

This is a teen fantasy full of adventure, challenges to overcome, and the ultimate betrayal. Perfect for readers that enjoy a good quest with high action and suspense!

I really enjoyed reading this book. The writing was wonderful with a complex plot and characters. However, I felt like it was the second book in a series because it kept alluding to the characters' backstories and I wanted to know more about them. I felt like I had missed part of the story. I can't wait to read the next book in the series to see how everything unfolds!

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book is a fabulously original tale that will interest so many readers as it has so many wonderful aspects. I highly rec this for all YA collections. It will appeal to many and be easy to book talk.

Raman did a superb activity of giving the characters preliminary motivations to maintain secrets and techniques from one another. However, there had been instances I located myself developing annoyed approximately all of the secrecy, specifically as numerous people’s schemes fell apart. I changed into additionally amazed via way of means of how staunchly a number of Vira’s siblings had been towards her or blamed her for positive decisions, thinking about they grew up with the equal dad and mom and withinside the equal court. Why might they anticipate a teenage lady who inherited a conflict and right away misplaced her one large war has comparable energy and manage to the preceding maharani? The loss of conversation or willingness to increase grace to Vira speedy have become annoying—however that can simply be the eldest daughter in me talking.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC of this novel! The Ivory Key follows a set of four siblings in a fantasy Indian-inspired realm suffering from a lack of magic. These four royal siblings must band together to discover a new (or hidden?) source of magic in order to save their kingdom from looming hostile forces just beyond their border. They will have to travel across their kingdom, solving puzzles and riddles along the way, not to mention get along for the first time in years, if they hope to succeed.

Raman's novel was very fast-paced, and the four different siblings each presented a unique voice and perspective in the story. Each of the siblings faces a different threat or motivation to succeed, and the motivations, sometimes vastly at odds with the others', helped provide a steady undercurrent of conflict along with the overall danger to the kingdom. At times, I struggled to decide which sibling to root for, especially since I knew if one were to succeed, another would fail. The novel also included a few well-placed plot twists that definitely kept me engaged. One thing that I hope gets more attention in the final installment of the duology is the puzzles and riddles that are presented. As someone who enjoys a good puzzle in a novel, I wish the readers had more of a chance to think about them before the, although brilliant, characters in the story solved the riddle themselves. I am also looking forward to reading more about what this kingdom is like in the second novel, and I hope the characters get to explore more of it.

Special thanks to Clarion Books for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 stars rounded up!

Woo, my journey reading this book was really quite an experience. I didn't speed through it like I had anticipated and surprisingly struggled a bit to pick it back up again once I put it down at around the 50% mark, but I read the last half of this book in the span of a few hours and I'm now incredibly excited to know what happens next. What a ride and what a heckuva thrilling ending and set-up for book two!

I have to admit that while the first half of this book wasn't a pleasure cruise for me, I did appreciate the world-building and character establishment. Raman paints a very rich and vivid Indian inspired fantasy world that thrives on magic. I thought the magic was interesting and I liked that it was a valuable resource that this world could potentially run out of—it wasn't overly complicated and was easy to understand. The story begins in the city and palace where the focus was mainly on the politics and complex relationships in the set-up for the second half, which is really where the action and adventure part kicks in. I loved the cryptic puzzles and Indiana Jones-style adventures through temples and ruins to discover the key. There are a few secrets revealed that were thrilling and one major twist that had me SHOOK because I didn't see it coming at all!

Although the Ivory Key does have a solid plot, I feel like it's very much a character-driven story and it's told from the perspective of the four siblings: Vira, Riya, Ronak and Kaleb. There are obviously pros/cons of having to read from so many POVs, but I think the Raman did a great job creating distinct voices and personalities for each sibling. I really enjoyed how family and sibling relationships were given such a strong focus in this book and while I didn't come to love every sibling, I thought their dynamic was very relatable and by getting to know them through their perspectives, I came to empathise with them. Family and sibling relationships are not always easy to navigate and while they might have banded together for their own personal reasons, they come to rely on each other in a way they haven't in years. It was heartwarming to see their bond grow stronger as they learn how to trust each other again and how to essentially be siblings again. Kaleb was probably my favourite from the start but I think Vira experienced the most growth. I didn't like her much at the start and couldn't understand how she justified her actions but she learns from her wrongs and finds the courage to forge her own path.

Though I struggled to get into this, I'm really glad that I pushed through because the second half really brought the rating up for me and I loved it, so I do wish this had been better paced! However, the unexpected twists and the set-up for the next book has me eagerly anticipating how everything is going to play out. This isn't the most brutal of cliffhangers that I've read but I'm excited at the thought of what's to come, I'm hoping it's going to be a better-paced journey! Can has next book, pls? 🥹

Vira as the newly-crowned queen of Ashoka, is desperate to prove her worth as ruler after her mother’s untimely murder. Kaleb, falsely accused of planning said murder, is wasting away in the palace dungeons. Ronak, determined to break his brother out of captivity, is in far over his head after getting mixed up in some shady deals with the criminal underbelly of Ashoka. And Riya, having run away from palace life years ago, finds herself swept back into palace life in an effort to prove her loyalty to the Ravens, the gang that despises everything the monarchy stands for.

The four siblings find themselves having to work together to retrieve the Ivory Key, the mythic object rumored to restore magic to the land, but each has their own motives and plans. With Ashoka quickly running out of magic resources, and the siblings at each others' throats, what could possibly go wrong?

The characters are everything here. The plot itself is admittedly not the most intricate but nevertheless wholly engrossing as bonds are broken and rewoven between the four siblings – and a couple of other main players. The prose and story-weaving is masterful, the author pulling me in from the very first line and keeping me attentive from beginning to end. The story moved quickly because I could not put this book down.

The atmosphere and aesthetic are spectacular; I love reading fantasy that is non-white centric and feel like I (a very white woman) learned a lot about Indian culture through the beautiful scene painting. I appreciated the lack of explanation for certain things, the author assuming the intelligence of her audience, and providing such detail that explanation is unnecessary.

I CANNOT WAIT for the sequel, to see what becomes of each of these standout characters, to follow up that cliffhanger twist that I did NOT see coming, and to return to this gorgeous fantasy world. I can honestly say I haven’t read a fantasy quite like this one and that is quite a feat.

Trigger warning: graphic descriptions of dead bodies, in-depth descriptions of grief and loss, death of family members, recovering from trauma, blood, violence, emotional manipulation, discussion of identity policing/microaggressions towards a biracial character, allusions to human experimentation, and discussions of war/invading country.

I was given this book by the publisher in return for an honest review.

The story follows four royal siblings that cannot see things from the others POV. They live in a world that is supported by magic. The trouble is magic is running out and causing their kingdom to suffer. They go on a mission to find magic via the Ivory Key and save their kingdom along with the head of the palace guard.

The journey to the key and back is mildly eventful. The siblings all continue to have their own motives for finding the Ivory Key. The plot takes the obvious troupe of working together for a common good through hard work and dedication(the hunt for the key). There is a plot twist which I saw coming pretty early on.

Over all the book is good, the plot moves along quickly despite the mild voyage. There is a decent amount of charter growth for the siblings and an obvious set up for at least a second book. It was enjoyable and I would definitely recommend it. 3.75 ⭐

As with most books with a multitude of perspectives, I found it a bit challenging to get into. Overtime I got to enjoying three out of the four perspectives. Unfortunately I could not get into the fourth one at all. I just did not like Ronak. He is selfish and spoiled and one track minded. But that’s not always bad that gives the character more room to grow.

Overall it is an interesting adventure with shifting perspectives. But to me the reveals are very obvious and predictable. To the point where I was doubting the main character and why the heck she didn’t figure it out. It was rather on the nose.

I would say it is aimed more at the younger readers, and has a very simple progression of the story.

The Ivory Key touches on some of my favorite tropes: friends-to-lovers-to-enemies, sibling competition, and learning to heal after traumatic experiences. And that's not even beginning to touch on the magical adventures and lush Indian-inspired setting.

Smart, clever, and beautiful, Akshaya Raman creates a world in which it pays to study, be active, and learn from your mistakes. Each of the four siblings brought their own unique skills to the table in a hunt for a lost artifact their father obsessed over — and all had to learn it's okay to be who you are and to ignore others' expectations of you.

And while some characters felt unlovable (you'll see who I mean), this book perfectly sets up their redemption arc for the next book. This is a series I'll be recommending!

I know the saying goes that we’re not supposed to judge books by their covers - but I have to admit it was the beautiful cover of this book that first caught my eye. Luckily, the story matched the cover. I enjoyed this book and read it in three days. The main characters were likeable and well-defined. The author did a great job of portraying their growth as they overcome hurdles both internal and external. The book contains an engaging, easy to follow plot with well written (and diverse!) characters that I quickly found myself invested in the world.
Full review to come on YouTube.