Thank you to Orbit Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Tasha Suri does it again. I fell head over heels in love with THE JASMINE THRONE and I couldn't get enough of The Oleander Sword. It felt like coming home. This world, these characters- there are not enough words to portray how much I absolutely love them. I can not wait for the next installment, I just wish it would continue on forever!

3.25 stars

The Oleander Sword begins with a prologue in the POV of a new side character, Kartik, who is sweeping a courtyard in the Parijati imperial palace in Harshinghar when he overhears a conversation between Prince Chandra, the “spare” to the heir to the Kingdom (Aditya), and the high priest, Hemanth. Hemanth tells Chandra to protect his sister, the royal princess Malini, asking “Have you ever seen a girl of greater purity, my prince?” Though Chandra doesn’t answer the question, Kartik does, in his heart. Malini is the purest girl he’s ever seen.

Chapter One then begins and the story shifts to the present day. When we last saw Malini, she had just used an opportune moment—Rao’s revelation of the prophecy that she would be the one to name Parijadvipa’s next leader—to crown herself as Empress. Now Malini travels with an army comprised of soldiers and princes from all the kingdoms of the empire. All the kingdoms except Ahiranya, Parijatdvipa’s oppressed former enemy.

Malini misses Priya constantly from a great distance, but she has to keep her feelings a secret. When they last parted near Ahiranya, Malini promised Priya and Priya’s childhood sister, Bhumika, that if she succeeded in attaining power for Aditya and deposing Chandra, she would free Ahiranya in return for Ahiranya’s support now. Bhumika and Priya agreed, and as this book begins, Bhumika allows traders from Malini’s retinue into Ahiranya’s borders, while Chandra, whom Malini is battling for the crown, loses his own traders through magical means.

Malini believes in keeping her promises (not just to Priya and Bhumika, but to everyone she recruits); her word is her bond. But she cannot express her yearning for Priya except in unsent letters (all but one—Priya’s revealing response puts a stop to Malini’s private communications with her). Queer relationships are forbidden in the Parijati empire, and an empress is the last person who can break such a taboo.

As for Priya, she is now a temple elder in Ahiranya, with considerable magical powers including the ability to halt the spread of the rot that plagues Ahiranya’s people and its crops. She leaves the politics to Bhumika, who is far more adept at them, and focuses on that. While she misses Malini badly, she accepts that life has taken them down two different paths. Even if Malini asked her to join her, Priya doesn’t feel she could abandon her people when they need her aid.

Back in Harshinghar, Chandra and Hemanth debate how best to lead their war. Chandra has burned many women to produce magical fire, but the priest is convinced that the burning of a scion of Divyanshi—such as Malini—would grant them greater power, particularly if she rose to the pyre willingly. Chandra wants to kill Malini rather than win her consent, and whether he can be persuaded otherwise isn’t clear.

There’s also a debate among Malini’s generals, this one about how to handle the High Prince of Saketa, the one holdout kingdom leader who refuses to cooperate with Malini. He is firmly allied to Chandra because Saketa’s crops are infested with rot and his people therefore depend on food supplies from Parijatdvipa.

This is a partial review. The entire thing can be found at Dear Author, here: https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-c-reviews/c-plus-reviews/review-the-oleander-sword-by-tasha-suri/

4.5/5 stars

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022 so I was happy to discover it did not disappoint. One of my favorite aspects from this book was definitely the world-building. I loved learning more about the Yaksa and the magic system, especially the possibilities and constraints to Priyas and Bhumikas power. This book when compared to the first involved a lot more political intrigue and war. I thought the second book did a great job of setting up for the last installment and upping the stakes. Although I liked the first book slightly more, I absolutely adore Suri's writing and cannot wait for more.

Vibrant and tense and full of unexpected turns, The Oleander Sword is a phenomenal follow up to The Jasmine Throne. As Malini wages war across the continent and Priya’s homeland adjusts to the upheaval that she helped cause, circumstances conspire to bring the empress and the witch together again. But other POV characters aren’t about to let them carry the story alone.

While we don’t get as many of those lushly descriptive moments of quiet, Suri does bring a touch of that magical description to battle. And unlike at the end of The Jasmine Throne, where a bit of catharsis left me patient, now I’m desperately hoping for book 3 to appear in my hands right now immediately.

After a great start to this series and now fully appreciating the magic system, I really enjoyed the second book of this series. The story feels fresh, with new premises and complex characters that are out of the rut of other common fantasies.

Once again, Tasha Suri weaves together so many POVs into this lush beautiful story and wow does she pull zero punches.

I loved how she built up the tension between Priya and Malini and their struggles between their feelings for each other and their positions of power. But while I liked Priya and Malini, I loved Rook and Rao and Bhumika, and I think Suri's ability to make me care about side characters is incredible.

Even more than the characters though, I love the world she has created here. So many of the ideas and concepts introduced in The Jasmine Throne became even more fully fleshed out in this sequel. I also think that this was a little better paced and plotted than the first book.

Overall, I thought this was an excellent follow up and I cannot wait to see how everything wraps up in the finale.

Wow! As the second book in the Burning Kingdoms Trilogy, The Oleander Sword has exceeded my expectations. Tasha Suri maintains a relentless pace, keeping the characters off-balance and the plot unpredictable. The finale is set up to be explosive, and I can’t wait!

Power is a main theme running through both The Jasmine Throne and The Oleander Sword. In the first book, the characters acted in pursuit of power. In the second, Malini, Priya, and Bhumika are faced with the sacrifices their new-found power requires.

The author also expands on the themes of faith and destiny. Malini struggles to maintain the faith of her general, demands faith from Priya, and risks faith to form a new alliance. She holds the faith of her supporters by proving she, not her brother, is divinely chosen. It is her destiny to rule.

But what if your destiny is part of a greater plan? How do you continue to have faith in your gods when you are a pawn in their own war for power? I expect we will see that war play out in the finale.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for access to this ARC.

Happy book birthday to my favourite morally bankrupt lesbians 😍 and big thanks to @orbitbooks_us for the e-arc of The Oleander Sword - out today (16/08)!!

Honestly I don't know how much I can tell without spoilers for either this book or The Jasmine Throne, but I can tell you that this book did not suffer from second book syndrome as badly as some other sequels I've read this year. The Oleander Sword picks up where The Jasmine Throne left off with nothing in the way of a recap, I kept being like wait...who is this again? 😂 I would recommend a The Jasmine Throne reread...or at least look at a detailed summary. However, despite being kind of lost because I'm never one for rereading, I was so thrilled to get back into this world.

This is certainly a book where the cover 10000% matches the vibe of the book. Malini continues on the darker character arc we started to see take place in The Jasmine Throne and I am here for powerful, angry women who have ambition and a need for vengeance in equal measure. I loved seeing Malini come more into her element and y'all the relationship arc 👀👀👀

There is definitely a lot of really interesting set-up for book three, but we are not left without reward in this book by any means. Bloody battles, detailed and satisfying character arcs, women supporting women, more development of the magic system - these are just a few of the payouts we get in The Oleander Sword. There were certainly some parts of the story that dragged, but they build up to a lot of major moments so I can't even be mad.

Highly highly recommend checking out this series if you haven't already!!

I really enjoyed the second book in this series; it was more fast paced, battle focused and I got to know the characters so much better and see completely different sides of them. Malini is such a strong female lead and I love her! I also love her romance, it is so slow, heartfelt and sweet; just the way I like it. The magic system and world in this series is so completely new, detailed and different and I loved getting to learn all about it. Can't wait to read book three.

Wow, what a book. Malini is fighting for her throne. Priya is attempting to put her country back together again. But both are drawn together again even though they know they shouldn’t. But there is a larger threat on the horizon and both are in the middle of it, but on opposite sides. This is a fantastic book with morally grey characters, interesting magic and a plot that keeps you guessing. I cannot wait until the next book comes out.

4.50 Stars. This did suffer some from second book syndrome, but I freaking loved it anyway! The Jasmine Throne was my favorite adult epic fantasy book last year so I could not wait to read this and while this book wasn’t quite as good -as it did slow down some in comparison- I really enjoyed it and I’m in love with this series. I personally had a really rough last week which included a bad pet scare and I spent a lot of time at emergency doggie vets (Lady, is still with us but we are waiting on tests to know more) so there were many times I just needed a great story that would transport my mind to another world and that was exactly what this book did. It was the perfect book at the right time for me and I could not be more thankful. It was also so beautifully written that even if I didn’t always love the story choices, I just didn’t mind.

I do want to mention that this is sapphic, adult, fantasy. I know some people have the label YA on this but it is Adult. There is a good amount of violence and death and one sex scene that is not explicit. This book feels darker in tone than I remember the first book being, but I have read YA books that have felt darker and more violent than this book so I think it would be appropriate for kids who read older YA books, but again I’m no expert in judging kid appropriate things. I also want to mention that this series is epic fantasy, with big sweeping casts and large books. I would also put this second book under military fantasy as the military campaign for the throne is the main part of this book. Because of this change I would now recommend this series more to fans of the first book, and fans of epic and or military fantasy. As much as I love and widely recommend the first book, I don’t know if I think the series as a whole, would be as enjoyable for someone who is newer to the fantasy genre or who is not much of a fantasy fan.

The romance was a small part of the book but like in the first book, I enjoyed it anyway. The small parts that were there were dramatic and fun to read. A fake example: “I love you so much” “No! I love you and can’t you see how tortured I am?” “You think you’re tortured? No, I’m the one so tortured by my love for you.” Yep gimmie more of that! I’ll read that angsty drama all day long, thank you.

You may have guessed by me calling this military fantasy that this book really focused on Malini’s story the most. While Priya’s story progressed, it just didn’t move at the same speed, but book 3 looks almost to be the opposite and I can’t wait to see what happens to Priya next. I’m assuming it will be the final book but I don’t know for sure. Everything is such a mess I can’t help but wonder how anyone can have a happy ending or even a sorta peaceful ending. All I know is I can’t wait to read the next book and find out. Suri is writing a wonderful epic fantasy series here and I feel very lucky to have found it.

Ratings 4.5 stars

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review.

Due to the prophecy of the nameless God, Malini has been named empress and has taken control of the army she assembled for her brother. Meanwhile Priya and Bhumika are now temple elders of the reborn Hirana, and Priya is traveling trying to destroy the rot. Malini and Priya still yearn for each other, but their paths have kept them apart. Until Malini faces her first major loss as men still loyal to Chandra yield magic of their own forcing Malini to turn to Priya for help. But fate still has so much in store for everyone and each will have to pay a steep price.

I was so invested to see where the story went after Jasmine Throne that I started and read the first ten chapters, despite it being past midnight and a toddler in my bed. No regrets. Where it felt the first book was set up to portray multiple strong women rise to power, this book felt like it was trying to see who would break first. There was so much happening. But with two wars brewing I guess that is to be expected. While some of the decisions were gut-wrenching my heart went out to Bhumika the most. She just wanted to see her people free and independent, and well ….. No spoilers. And to see Malini and Priya finally get to profess their love to each other and be together, even if for a short while, made me happy to no end. Given how this book ends, I worry the next book will cause me great grief. Guess we will have to wait and see.

I just love Tasha Suri's writing. This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2022 and it didn't disappoint. The Jasmine Throne is a book that got me back in to reading, so I think this series has a special place in my heart. After reading the Oleander Sword, I'm so ready for this series to continue.

Like other reviewers mentioned, this book has a different feel from the first one, but that makes sense given the ending of The Jasmine throne. Malini and Priya are such complex characters and I so enjoy their dynamic.

I highly recommend reading this book if you loved The Jasmine Throne as much as I did!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I often find book two of a series a little more difficult to immerse myself in. Often, it's the set up book, the one that prepares you for the final action of a book 3. But holy moly did this second book BLOW ME AWAY! It is utterly superb, the character development is unparalleled and the pacing is phenomenal. I love that we picked up a significant amount of time later after book 1. The villains in this tale are gloriously spooky. I just loved absolutely everything about this book.

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read.

I know I'm a day late but here is my review!

I absolutely loved The Jasmine Throne and was so excited to read The Oleander Sword. Both Malini and Priya are such interesting characters and the supporting cast also adds so much to the story. I'm not usually a fan of alternating POV books, but I personally really love Bhumika and Rao and so getting to read their POV was fun!

The way that women play a part in the book and series as a whole is amazing. The way that there's an entire religion based on women sacrificing themselves willingly, but also the same people who worship that religion looking down on the real women in their lives. The way that Malini created an entire entourage of women of guards and maids and even though her army was made up of men, the most important people to her are women and the same of Priya as well.

Tasha Suri has an incredible way with words and specially in this book there were a lot of lines and passages that stood out to me. In particular the scene where Malini reminisces about how she would make Priya her wife if she could, what it means to be a sacrifice/give a sacrifice without knowing the price, and finally when Rao is thinking back on Aditya's words "What is a star, but a distant fire, reaching for you across worlds?"

I did not see the way the story was going to take the turn for at all and the build up at the end was fantastic and I now eagerly await the third installment of The Burning Kingdoms series!

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

The Oleander Sword was overall a good sequel to The Jasmine Throne though the first book was better in my opinion. The plot was a little slow and the book was definitely more focused on character development. The writing, like the first book, was filled with gorgeous prose and it was fun to read. The three character arcs (Malini, Priya, and Bhumika) were all compelling in their own way and each developed a lot throughout the book. Paitently waiting for the next book!

"How can you look at me so tenderly, and ask me to die for you?"
★★★★★

The characters we fell in love with in THE JASMINE THRONE are back, most with more power than before. To watch Priya and Malini grow into their new roles is moving and viscerally human. These are not, refreshingly, characters without their flaws, making them deeply relatable and lovable--despite their shortcomings and even sometimes arguably evil deeds. In the trilogy's second installment, Suri doesn't shy away from violence and revenge, and it's incredible. But even beyond Priya and Malini we're let into the dynamic new realities of what may have felt like side characters in THE JASMINE THRONE. Bhumika, for example, gets her own perspective, radically changing the way I felt about her in the first book.

This installment was more battle- and war-heavy than the last, which many will enjoy. I found myself not totally understanding the worldbuilding in the first book, but THE OLEANDER SWORD delved deeper into Ahiranya's lore and sets up readers to highly anticipate the third book, while grieving the end of this chapter of an incredible story. Though OLEANDER SWORD started slow for me, it really picks up at about 60% and at that point is absolutely impossible to put down.

Tasha Suri has delivered here on what we've come to expect of her: beautiful prose with impactful dialogue, and a gorgeous world with its nature-based magic and cutthroat politics. The third and final book can't come soon enough.

Priya and Malini are now rulers in their respective polities, except that they both face challenges getting people to acknowledge that and desperately miss each other. Priya’s small nation is a client of Malini’s empire, but unwillingly on both sides, and old gods are returning in ways that are unexpectedly awful for their worshippers, while Malini’s brother is still trying to kill her or, better, get her to sacrifice herself to a death by burning. This is a middle book, so you can expect things to take some grim turns, but the worldbuilding continues to be interesting and the politics complicated: sometimes the enemy of your enemy is really no friend of yours, either.

100% meets cover expectations.

The absolute gorgeous-ness of this cover is matched by the luscious writing in this remarkable series. Judge this one by its cover. I did. In fact, that’s why I ended up choosing to request this ARC. I was not disappointed.

This is the second book in the series and I think it is essential that you read the first book, The Jasmine Throne before picking up this one. You’ll be glad you did. Because it’s the second, I want to avoid spoilers so I won’t be going into plot and will be keeping this review short.

The magic system and worldbuilding in this world is unique and wonderfully well written. It is great to see a fantasy book that is not euro-centric. Where this book particularly shines is in the two main female characters. They are both so well fleshed out, with extremely complicated motivations. Malini in particular is fascinating to me, I’m not quite sure if I like her. She has so much drive and ambition, mingled with an (understandably) overwhelming desire for revenge makes for a VERY interesting read. I have a bad feeling about where this is going to lead in the end. I’m not really sure we are heading for a happy ending here, and as a reader that is exhilarating.

I think book 3 is expected sometime next year. It can’t come soon enough for me. I can’t wait to see what comes next for these powerful women.