This Woven Kingdom had everything going for it. It had a diverse set of characters, a BIPOC author, a magic system with so much potential, and quite a few great moments. However, with that being said, I felt like there was so much lost within the pages. There were many plot holes and issues, the book time-line only spans three days, and we have a lot of evidence of it (even the author lets us know how much time has passed by the end of the book), 2D characters, and the bane of my existence Insta-Love.

Characters
There was so much potential with these characters.

But the problem lies in the fact that these are very 2D characters, and they act as such.

Alizeh is like many of the young adult female MCs. She is strong, a badass, yet what makes her slightly different is her innocence and her kindness. Alizeh is also a Jinn (an ancient group of people with powerful magic who live in a suppressed world) and attempts to hide a part of herself. However, the situation arises that she suffers from "special snowflake syndrome." She has been born different than the rest of the Jinn and is born stronger than them. I felt like Alizeh was a character that I had read before. She wasn't unique, and there was no life to her. We know her background, sort of, but it's given in tiny spurts and feels like it doesn't connect with who she is.

The only time Alizeh felt real was when she was having an episode due to her severe fear of the dark; even then, it just came off as wrong and very choppy. Like she was forced to not like the dark over naturally having a fear of the dark.

"Fire was her soul, but water was her life; it was all she needed to survive."

Then we have the male MC - Kamran - and once again, we are given a very broody male that does what he wants when he wants. He likes the looks of beautiful women; he has a sad past (the little we are given of his past) and wants nothing to do with being the crown prince. As Alizeh, I felt like Kamran was a character I have read repeatedly.

These characters are so much more problematic because this book has a three-day time-lapse; the author attempts to cram all this stuff and loses so much character development.

Kamran's character changes within hours of meeting Alizeh, which in book terms is 10-15 pages. It felt unnatural, choppy, and very unexpected, leaving me with very little to work with, and in the end, I didn't enjoy any of the characters.

Even the side characters were bland just here for the plot's convenience. Only one character came in, which brought spice to book.

The Plot
Where do I even begin? Let's start with the issue of moving from one POV to another. So when Mafi switches POV's she moves back in time to recap what another character was doing while the other character was doing their thing.

For example, say Alizeh was watching the butterflies or making a dress. The author will go through Alizeh's POV, explaining all of that. Then when it comes time for Kamran's POV, she will move back in time to what Kamran was doing while Alizeh was watching the butterflies, or in some cases, we see Alizeh doing the same thing in her chapter but through the eyes of Kamran.

This leads to the plot making very little progress. Remember, earlier; I said the book's time spans ONLY 3 days. That's it. So all of this is happening at a rush pace, leaving us with a very choppy and underdeveloped plot. Often, I had no idea what was going on and why random things and items were popping up in the storyline. There just was no linear connection.

Also, NOTHING, and I mean nothing, happens for 3/4ths of the book. It's not until 50 pages before it ends we are finally given anything.

The World Building & Magic System
The one area that This Woven Kingdom started off to a great start was the world-building. We were given the background of the Jinn, how they came to be created, and their downfall. I loved the idea also of this fallen angel scenario, which captured me because it reminded me of the fall of Lucifer, as there are the angels and "devil" portrayed in this book.

"His people knew best that the beast was wrought not from light, but fire. Not angel, but Jinn, an ancient race who'd once owned the earth."

I think the magic system could have been something grand if the author included it. The only thing I took away from the magic system was that Jinn were powerful and had powerful magic; they couldn't use it anymore and could communicate with fireflies. Other than that, very little magic is used.

Also, we are told that there are angels and a devil, yet it doesn't correlate with the whole Jinn thing. It's like we have two magical creatures forced into one book - the divine and the Jinn.

The Dialogue
I usually never bring up the dialogue when writing a review, but in this case, I need to.

Mafi tries to make the dialogue this whole important part of the book. Alizeh is an educated woman (due to her past), so she speaks like a noblewoman, which you can very much so tell. This causes her to get in trouble with the mistress of the house and gives her away in many occasions.

Yet, in the book, Mafi will consistently switch from an old/formal speaking style to a more modern dialogue with all of her characters. Even the ones that are not educated or considered noble.

Also, I feel like I was thrown into a Shakespeare drama with some of these lines.

"For I know not why I stand here before you, nor why would send men to my room. In what way have I committed treason, pray tell?"

The Romance
*Sigh*, we are given the ever so wonderful trope of insta-love. Now many people like this trope. I, however, am not one of them.

As I have said MANY times, this book only has three days in its ENTIRE plot. So that means that within a few hours, Kamron was in-love with Alizeh. The moment he see's her; he is enraptured. It's not only creepy but uncomfortable. And oh my god, the scene that I won't mention made me cringe. It was that awful I had to skip it.

"You have consume my thoughts since the moment I met you," he said to her.

Why do we have to have this trope in young adult literature consistently? It's unrealistic, boring, it gives no character depth, and half the time, this love is due to beauty over connection and compatibility.

Conclusion
Will I read the next book? Maybe. The ending did save this book from obtaining a 2.5 ⭐️ or less. The action finally picked up in the last 50 pages, and I think the end was good. There is a part of me that want's to know what happens next. So we shall see.

When I say Mrs.Mafi has me by the neck…. I truly mean that I am on the brink of death and the only thing that can save my life is reading the rest of this series.

It’s giving forbidden love, betayal, romance and suspense! Nearly every chapter ended on a dramatic cliffhanger and my heart can’t handle this type of stress 😂

Tahereh Mafi is an evolved queen. The shatter me series really has nothing on TWK … Her writing style has developed soo much and the characters are honestly just perfection! I wish I could re-read this book for the first time like a hundred more times.

Also, my brain honestly still can’t even fully process the ending because it was just sooo dramatic!! 😭😭😭😭

If you’re a fan of The City of Brass or An Ember in the Ashes then I highly recommend this book!

In conclusion, @tahereh & @hccfrenzy TAKE 💳💥MY 💳💥MONEY💳💥NOW 💳💥

Also thank you to the author and @hccfrenzy for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ❤️

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

When I read Mafi’s Shatter Me series, I felt like it went on waaaaay too long. I became annoyed with several of the characters.

So you can imagine how happy I was to discover that this book is nothing like that series!

Along with Victoria Aveyard’s new Realm Breaker series, this is an exciting beginning of a new fantasy world.

Set in a fantasy version of the Middle East and leaning into Persian mythology, this dips into familiar territory with some Cinderella-like references. Alizeh is strong and kind…and a threat to the kingdom. It’s not that she wants to be a threat, but her race has been subjugated and forced into hiding. Kamran has been taught to fear and hate her people. You can pretty much guess what happens. Yup, they are attracted to each other. There is the usual push and pull of circumstances.

Exposition is handled neatly without trying too hard to fill us in on background. Mafi’s writing style in this book is superior to Shatter Me, and the setting gives her the opportunity for some lovely descriptions.

And that cliffhanger ending!

Possible Objectionable Material:
There’s a little romance. Magic. Violence. Alizeh is treated poorly by some.

Who Might Like This Book:
Those who like fantasy worlds, references to fairy tales, mythologies of non-Western cultures.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This book also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2022/01/february-1-releases-part-1.html

city of brass x cinderella(ish) vibes!!!

ok I really enjoyed this! Here’s what I loved:

- The writing; it was lush, the imagery was vivid and the plot was adventurous! I never could quite put my finger on what would happen next!

- The characters! They were so interesting & I loved getting to know them! Alizheh (our FMC) is smart, resourceful and a badass fighter when she needs to be! Moody, broody, melancholy Kamran (our MMC) oozed angst and tension and I’m still wondering what’s up with two other characters (who shall remain nameless as I don’t want to add any spoilers)!

- The Persian Lore/Mythology; I loved this! This was what reminded me of City of Brass and it lent such an interesting spin on the plot and magic system! There also seemed to be some elements of Cinderella in this and I loved that incorporation!

My criticisms:

- The magic system. I actually liked it, but I didn’t quite understand it; however, I think this is because the character (that we know of) with magic, Alizheh, didn’t quite understand how her magic worked and I hope as the story continues and Alizheh discovers more about herself, the reader will too.

- The romance/pacing. I’m grouping these together because, at times, both felt a little disjointed. The beginning of the book did start out slow and it picked up towards the second half of the book, as expected with most books. But the development and pacing of the romance itself coincided with this. Alizheh and Kamran had met once and afterwards the reader gets his reaction to her, but not so much her reaction to him. By the time they meet again, we know he’s into her but we don’t know what she makes of him so her strong reaction to him during that second meeting felt like it came out of nowhere. Then by their third meeting, it felt like those feelings just…fizzled? We don’t hear her dialogue of how drawn she is to him like we did during their second meeting and that kind of threw me off - I expected a stronger reaction from her.

These criticisms didn’t take away from the story, I just wish they’d been more fleshed out, but this is a trilogy, so I’m hoping (expecting) we’ll get more in the next book…..

…..especially bc WHAT TF WAS THAT ENDING???!! 😭 and whose team am I on???? I think I might actually like—you know what lemme not say anything except I need book two asap and I’m so glad I took the plunge and ordered that Bookish Box special edition!

Big thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I know everyone is going to love this book because it's by the wonderful Tahereh Mafi, but I really struggled with this one. It was... fine? I felt a huge disconnect between the prose and the dialogue, like it wasn't coming from the same author. The story overall was incredibly slow for me and the prince was just terrible and I did not like him one bit. I do like the Cinderella feel of the story and I do like the main female protagonist, Alizeh, even though I was confused some of the time for what was going on in the story, especially with her. Normally, I would give this two stars, but I am going to say 2.5 and round up because I think it's got promise and I do think some teens will absolutely love it, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Queen Tahereh Mafi does it again!!!! This book did not disappoint. It has everything needed for a magical story. Very likable characters and such an interesting plot.

3.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of this to review! I love Tahereh Mafi's work, and I was excited to jump into her latest fantasy series. Especially because the cover is absolutely gorgeous! And I really enjoyed the Shatter Me books.

This book starts off strongly, establishing this world and the characters we're going to follow. The overall voice of the book starts out well, pulling you in with the mythology and the characters. From the beginning, you know this is going to be a lush world full of magic and mythology. And maybe even a little bit of romance.

However, I think the story loses something about halfway through the book. I'm not sure if it's the voice or the characters, but something shifts toward the middle of the book, making the ending feel a little too drawn out. Part of it might also be the pacing; it doesn't seem to know exactly where it wants to go.

One thing that might have made this book more effective if it was told in first person. It would have allowed you to get a better grip on the characters, and made the voices more distinct. From Shatter Me, we know that Mafi can write great voice, so I wish that those skills could have carried into this book.

All in all, I wanted a little more from this book, which was an anticipated release for me. But if you like high fantasy, enemies to lovers, you might just like this one!

I LOVED this, it was so different than anything I've read recently, it's Epic YA Fantasy with some Cinderella vibes set in an Arabian Nights sort of world, with a good dose of grit and edge added in, plus some great regency worthy banter. Her world building and characters were exquisite, the magic and mythology of the Jinn in particular. I haven't read her other series so this was my first experience reading her and I definitely want more. **Thanks so much to both NetGalley and Harper Collins for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!**

Like I said above, I LOVED this, and I wasn't all that sure at the beginning - things were so vague and dreamy so it was a little hard to figure out what was actually going on, but once it got going in the present day action I was pulled right in. It's rare that I really love both MC's equally (or this much at all). She's smart and strange and curious, down-trodden but strong, unworldly yet empathetic (it would have been very easy for her to be a Mary-Sue, but thankfully she wasn't). He's powerful (in some ways) but not, more privileged than anything, hot-headed, angry at many things, quick to judge, unloved, terse, and just overall problematic...and yet amidst it all he's passionate and dreamy.

The Down Low:
When the Prince unknowingly draws attention to the Jinn (who's just been trying to blend it and get by in life) fated to bring down his father, he unleashes a series of events which force her to abandon her current life and flee various assassins intent on bringing her down. As they circle each others worlds, they discover something wondrous in one another and begin to develop very "forbidden love" vibes. There's lots of intrigue and mystery, betrayals and reveals (great secondary characters come into strong play here), especially towards the end which is a little cliffhanger-esque. Like whoa - what the hell just happened? I need to the next one now!

So looking forward to how this series develops, there's great character development and plotting here that should set us up for a great story ahead.

Tahereh is my favorite author, but at first i was highly skeptical. ive been left disappointed multiple times before when authors branch off into High Fantasy territory, but This Woven Kingdom went above and beyond. I am a reader who generally focuses more on character development and relationships than the plot, and twk was versatile enough to allow for both. Alizeh, Kamran, and their supporting cast of characters- a certain redhead‼️- were perfect. It was so refreshing to see a capable heroine, especially after juliette, and the entire storyline left me wanting for more. and the end. i simply am unable to wait for the next book

4.5⭐️

Thank you to the author, the publisher, Harper Collins, & Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Forbidden romance. Rival kingdoms. Persian Mythology. A long lost queen. What more can you ask for in a YA fantasy?

Once I finally put all my attention towards this book, I devoured it. I really enjoyed this as the first book of the series.The world building being based off Persian Mythology was very interesting and engaging! It only kills me that it left me wanting so much more.

I adore Alizeh as the main character, and the rest of the characters were all well written and captivating too. Especially Kamran, he was so much more than what I first expected out of his character. Also, with no spoilers a character introduced closer to the end of the book really really intrigues me.

Also side note: This gave me An Ember in the Ashes vibes.

THE ENDING. Are you kidding me?? I NEED MORE.

This Woven Kingdom release date is February 1st! I am already ready to order myself a physical copy of this book and cannot wait to see where this series take us!

Immediately This Woven Kingdom intrigued me. Not only because Mafi is so hyped, but I love the idea of a Persian mythology inspired fantasy and a long lost heir hidden in plain sight. I immediately felt for Alizeh. Judged for things she cannot control, the world won't give her a break. She's living day to day just trying to stay hidden. Trying to live against the pull of the current and her destiny - but how long can she keep it up? When Alizeh and Kamran's paths cross it is clear that her illusion is shattered.

I only came to love Alizeh more and more as the book continues. Living hidden, she's been able to observe the world that no one sees. The corruption, the ways rules have two punishments, and the treatment on the streets. While This Woven Kingdom moves slower than I was expecting, once I made it to around 50% so many dominoes began falling. Mafi sets the stage for tensions, character reveals, and twists of fate which begin to topple her house of cards.

Actual rating 4.5 ⭐️

This Woven Kingdom entirely lives up to its namesake with magic, long lost kingdoms, forbidden love, dark prophecies, and courtly intrigue all masterfully mixed together into the tapestry that is this stunning story.

Alizeh is doing her best to survive and go unnoticed working as the lowest of servants at Baz House when she gets attacked in the street (yet again) by a young boy just looking for a scrap of food. Kamran, the prince of Ardunia, watches the scene unfold and makes it his mission to figure out why she would spare the boy’s life. This scene launches a sequence of events that only bring more misery — and perhaps a dash of forbidden love — to Alizeh’s existence, and for reasons you’ll have to read the book to uncover.

Mafi writes this story in such an immersive way that the real world fell away as I devoured every word of the book. There was never a point in the dual POV between Alizeh and Kamran where I wanted to skip back to the other character’s world, and I truly loved the evolution of their story.

The .5 deduction is 100% a personal preference thing, and it’s mostly because it took me quite a decent chunk of the book to get used to the writing style. There were several times in the beginning where I went “wait, what?!” and had to reread (and often reread again) what a character had just said simply to understand what they were saying. I found sometimes that statements were written in an unnecessarily complex manner just so that they sounded more educated (which I can understand because they are Royal), but this is supposed to be YA, and I just don’t see how younger readers would be able to easily understand what was going on. This is also a novel based off of Persian mythology, and the use of French throughout the book really threw me off sometimes. And it wasn’t always French colloquialisms that we tend to use in English, but French words that were thrown into the narrative seemingly at random, and I just don’t see how the characters would have known to use these?? I think that’s mostly a personal issue, but it just really threw me out of the story every time it happened.

Overall though, I really didn’t want to put the book down to do actual life things because I needed to know what was going to happen. And that ending REALLY left me desperate for the next book! I don’t know how long I’m going to have to wait, but it will definitely not be patiently.

Highly recommend this one, and thanks so so much to HarperCollins Canada for the advance reader copy!

I've read Tahereh Mafi before and enjoyed her books in the past, but this is a new frontier of her writing career. The story was rich and well written with clear fairytale influences. It feels so different from the books she's written in the past and it's clear Mafi wanted to push her writing in a new direction with this book. One of the main characters is handsome and morally grey and the protagonist is such a badass and insanely intelligent. I believe this is a legitimately well written book and I recommend those who didn't like the Shatter Me series to give this a try.

It was OK?
There isn't really a plot. At least not til the very end. It's just that nothing really happens til the last chapter.
There is no quest, no adventure, no mission, no freaking anything.

Just some yearning and cleaning of a house and talks of a ball that we don't get to see til the last few pages of the book.

The representation in this book is the most important part. And while I can't speak on it anymore than that, I am happy that this story was given a chance for that alone.

I rated it purely for the world which seemed very interesting. The writing in certain parts was very good.
Other than that I don't, I mean, nothing happens.

This Woven Kingdom is wow. Just. Wow. Beautifully written verse, engaging characters and dialogue, political intrigue and the mesmerizing unfurling of events are sure to delight readers! A cross between Cinderella, Pride and Prejudice (the dialogue!!), and Persian mythology, with a healthy dose of Mafi's literary flare (the food, the costumes!!), This Woven Kingdom breathes life into old favorites in new, unexpected ways. It goes without saying that I am now craving the next novel in a sure-to-be bestselling series.

The rundown: Alizeh never imagined her noble upbringing would lead to her hiding from the world, scrubbing floors hoping anonymity as servant would secure her survival. When she unknowingly crosses paths with a prince who sees her for more than what she is ... a spy, perhaps... her life is further thrown into chaos. Kamran is Crown Prince, facing an impending war, impending betrothal and the impending death of the King, and when a servant girl captures his attention, he is compelled to chase her for...the good of the kingdom, perhaps. Intrigue, opposing POVs, crisp dialogue and a minor dose of the (Jinn) devil, spirit the story away leaving readers wanting more.

Alright. Do I think anything happened in this book? No. Did I enjoy it? Yes. When I first started reading, I came back to look at the synopsis and I was like, okay, cool this gives me nothing about the plot. And that's because it felt like there was no plot. Or, if there was, it went right over my head.
However, I do think it is a good first book in a series. It very much felt like the entire book was a set up for the rest of the series, a complete "act one" or a complete book of rising action. By the time the book got interesting, it was the last thirty pages. I do genuinely believe that this would be better if I could read this as a completed series.

Thank you to Netgalley and HCCFrenzy for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my god? This was so good?

I loved Shatter Me as a teenager but am not a fan as an adult, and I've had very different opinions on each of Mafi's contemporary novels. THIS? Was exactly what I knew that she could deliver and I LOVED IT.

The writing in this struck a perfect balance between whimsical/lyrical and clear/concise, I found myself reading 50 pages of this at a time and then putting it down because I really wanted to savour the setting.

Speaking of setting, this book is actually very wintry (which is not everyone's first thought when you think of a middle-eastern inspired fantasy, even though obviously the Middle East is a very diverse geography) so January/February is the absolute best time to read it. The sense of cold was extremely pervasive and I felt like I needed to bundle up in front of a fire while reading this book.

Alizeh was a delightful main character to read from, and I found Kamran really fascinating too. The plot was a little bit slow, and not quiiiite repetitive but perhaps slightly? But I was so immersed that I really didn't mind.

Finally, I was so confused when I read this because my e-galley said 333 pages, but it was taking me way longer than usual! Turns out it's over 500 pages LOL.

“And the devil, she reasoned, could go to hell.”

Tahereh Mafi just keeps proving why she’s one of my all time favourite authors.

My absolute favourite thing in this book - okay who am I kidding, *in every Tahereh Mafi book I have ever read* - was the characters. Seriously, I’m convinced no other author is doing it quite like Ms Mafi, she always has character creation down to an art, with this book being no exception, because I adored each and every one of them. I found that I actually liked them more than the story itself. I loved the fact that they were all were complex on their own, with backstories and separate burden, but still found ways to connect with one another. I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens to them all next.

Also, and I’m not going to say a ton on this because I don’t want to give anything away, and also… I have some theories (let’s just say I’ve seen Tahereh throw some wicked romance curveballs?!), BUT I love the way the romance in this book was written. I honestly don’t consciously know what makes it so amazing, but there’s just something about it that makes my heart do a full on gymnastics routine while juggling and also jumping on a trampoline. And this is coming from someone who wholeheartedly tries to convince people that I don’t like the romance part of books (yes, this is an outright lie I continue to tell myself). Also, did I mention this book is DUEL POV?! Yes, you read that correctly, which means that a) we get a more intricate story, and b) we get to see BOTH people’s thoughts about various interactions (hint hint). Did I audibly go “YESS” when I learned about this? Yes, yes I did.

The writing style in this book was different from the rest of her work, as a lot of the dialogue, especially the prince’s, was written in a old-timey-pretentious-royalty-way (I swear this description makes sense if you read the book), which wasn’t a bad thing, just not what I had expected. The story itself was a bit slow to get into - something I find to happen with the vast majority of fantasy books - as it takes time to orient yourself in the complex world and to be properly introduced to the characters. But the story did begin to have Tahereh’s trademark addicting quality to it once I got further into it, only having a few slow parts. I would also say that this book seemed to be more so settle my the stage for the rest of the series (which I of course can wait to read) than a book on its own, but interesting all the same. I did it find the ending to be a bit weird pacing wise, with the climax being very quick and a little disorienting. Although in a way, I do love when an ending leaves me sitting there saying to myself, “what just happened… no seriously WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!!”

Overall, I would say that the plot and story is setting itself up to be super interesting, and definitely one I want to continue reading (*wink wink* book publishers). And, while I didn’t love this book AS MUCH as Mafi’s other novels, I still enjoyed it all the same and would 100% recommend reading it yourself. I’d especially recommend this book to people just beginning to branch out into the fantasy genre, as the world building isn’t too overwhelming, while still being super interesting and creative.

wowowowow, where do i start?!
this was my first book by TM and boy, oh, boy it did not disappoint.

"This was impossible.
Not only impossible, it was dangerous. Ruinous. Not merely for themselves—but for the realms they occupied. Their lives were pitted against each other. He had a kingdom to one day rule, and she had her own life to pursue. Any other avenue would lead only to chaos."


loved everything about this book.
first off, the prose is absolutely beautiful and just perfect, i can only compare it to poetry.
the world-building was on point, the characters absolutely amazing, the twists jaw dropping, the romance - to die for.

"Will you not tell me your name?" he asked.
She shook her head, the movement slow, uncertain. Kamran felt paralyzed. He could not explain it; his body seemed anchored to hers. He drew closer by micrometers, propelled to do so by a force he could not hope to understand. What mere minutes ago might've struck him as lunacy now seemed to him essential: to know what it might be like to hold her, to breathe in the scent of her skin, to press his lips to her neck. He was scarcely aware of himself when he touched her—light as air, faint as fading memory—a stroke of his fingers against her lips.
She vanished."

[can't tell you how many times i've reread this, and how i screamed the first time i read it]
i'd say that this first book is more character driven but who the MCs are - their personalities, secrets, talents - is an extremely important part of the plot, and they are well fleshed-out and developed. i love both MCs with undying passion.
just because we focus more on the characters doesn't mean that the plot is non-existent, exactly the opposite - the plot happening in the background is extremely interesting, intricate and important.
almost every chapter made me feel the spectrum of emotions.
it's just such an amazing book i literally cannot recommend it enough and i'm already screaming at my friends to pre-order, i need everyone to read This Woven Kingdom
it's a physical torture to wait for the next book after the way this one ended and honestly i'm still not okay

eternal gratitude to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperCollins for the ARC
all quotes are from an advance copy and may differ in the final publication