Member Review
Review by
Krystal F, Reviewer
Sometimes with fantasy books characters and plots can become redundant. Every time I pick up a fantasy book, I wonder about what tropes and fantasy elements I will notice while reading. The Jasad Heir isn’t exempt from using these common elements and tropes. (Honestly, what fantasy book can be exempt from all of them?) However, the author does a great job of making them unique to their story. If you read the blurb of your book, what you expect to read is a book about the last line of royalty from a fallen persecuted empire who fights her way back to become its champion. What you get is the last line of a royal family from a fallen (maybe persecuted?) empire that has so much PTSD she only has the strength and wherewithal to care about herself.
The history of Jasad and the four other kingdoms is as complicated as it is political. Of the original four kingdoms, Jasad was the only kingdom with magic. This magic brings about prosperity for Jasad, but also breeds jealously and fear among the other kingdoms. Jasad’s magic also creates another way to divide people. In every society, there are the haves and the have nots, the rich, the middle-class, and the poor. Imagine a society with these economic classes compounded by a select group of citizens with magical abilities who can increase their gains. The haves create more things to have, and those who have nothing continue to have nothing and suffer. This very complicated society makes it very difficult to figure out who to root for in the book. The whole entire book is covered in gray. There is no black. There is no white. I found it refreshing not knowing what to think or who to root for.
That being said, this complicated atmosphere and political backdrop wasn’t so great for my relationship with the main character. In all intents and purposes, Sylvia’s background is enough to make anyone root for her. She's the last of her line because her family was killed in war, or was it an assassination? She’s been lost, kidnapped, tortured, betrayed, and the attempts on her life in this book are too many to count. But, did I like Sylvia? Did I root for Sylvia? Not really. Maybe? Even though Sylvia has all the makings of a likable and sympathetic character, I didn’t care about her as much as I should. I honestly just didn’t really like her. I wanted to, but her motivations for the things she did were hard for me to swallow. It was like they didn’t have a solid base. She didn’t want to care, but she cared too much and was caught by her enemies. She didn’t care about Jasad, then she cared too much. She didn’t care about Sefa and Marek, then she cared too much. Sylvia, please make up your mind! She was so wishy-washy. I felt like I couldn’t put any trust in her.
For a character I thoroughly enjoyed though, can Arin, the Nizahl heir, please step forward? I couldn’t get enough of Arin. He’s a question wrapped in an enigma covered in an episode of Jeopardy. What is he about? What are his motivations? What happened to him when he was younger? What goes on in that head? He’s a neat-freak that’s borderline OCD. What trauma caused that? He is originally presented as a villain. But, is he really a villain, or does he have his own PTSD? Arin is the complete opposite of Sylvia. He is very firm in his actions. When he makes decisions, he stays with those decisions. Is that also a part of his downfall? Yes. He may be a little too rigid for his own good. However, I am looking forward to more character growth from him. I am ready to watch his journey of self-healing and discovery.
A lot of the other characters in this book are a tad bit forgettable with exceptions being made for Wes and Jeru, Arin’s personal guards. They brimmed with personality. But, we didn’t spend enough time with Rory. Sefa and Marek felt more like plot devices and caricatures than actual characters. All of the leaders of the other kingdoms were definitely caricatures. This felt suitable though as a lot of time shouldn’t really have been spent on them. Other than that, most of the characters were seen through Sylvia’s memories, and because of this, they couldn’t really get any time or character development.
The thing I liked the least about this book was the romance. I don’t know if it’s me (and it may be me), but the enemies-to-lovers romance in this book felt disturbing at first, almost to the point where it felt like a case of Stockholm Syndrome. It made me uncomfortable, then it just kind of went full trope. I’m not a romance reader. The book would’ve been better without it.
There were a lot of plot points that weren’t wrapped up at the end, and I am intrigued enough to find out the conclusion of this story. So, I plan on reading the next book.
3.75/5
The history of Jasad and the four other kingdoms is as complicated as it is political. Of the original four kingdoms, Jasad was the only kingdom with magic. This magic brings about prosperity for Jasad, but also breeds jealously and fear among the other kingdoms. Jasad’s magic also creates another way to divide people. In every society, there are the haves and the have nots, the rich, the middle-class, and the poor. Imagine a society with these economic classes compounded by a select group of citizens with magical abilities who can increase their gains. The haves create more things to have, and those who have nothing continue to have nothing and suffer. This very complicated society makes it very difficult to figure out who to root for in the book. The whole entire book is covered in gray. There is no black. There is no white. I found it refreshing not knowing what to think or who to root for.
That being said, this complicated atmosphere and political backdrop wasn’t so great for my relationship with the main character. In all intents and purposes, Sylvia’s background is enough to make anyone root for her. She's the last of her line because her family was killed in war, or was it an assassination? She’s been lost, kidnapped, tortured, betrayed, and the attempts on her life in this book are too many to count. But, did I like Sylvia? Did I root for Sylvia? Not really. Maybe? Even though Sylvia has all the makings of a likable and sympathetic character, I didn’t care about her as much as I should. I honestly just didn’t really like her. I wanted to, but her motivations for the things she did were hard for me to swallow. It was like they didn’t have a solid base. She didn’t want to care, but she cared too much and was caught by her enemies. She didn’t care about Jasad, then she cared too much. She didn’t care about Sefa and Marek, then she cared too much. Sylvia, please make up your mind! She was so wishy-washy. I felt like I couldn’t put any trust in her.
For a character I thoroughly enjoyed though, can Arin, the Nizahl heir, please step forward? I couldn’t get enough of Arin. He’s a question wrapped in an enigma covered in an episode of Jeopardy. What is he about? What are his motivations? What happened to him when he was younger? What goes on in that head? He’s a neat-freak that’s borderline OCD. What trauma caused that? He is originally presented as a villain. But, is he really a villain, or does he have his own PTSD? Arin is the complete opposite of Sylvia. He is very firm in his actions. When he makes decisions, he stays with those decisions. Is that also a part of his downfall? Yes. He may be a little too rigid for his own good. However, I am looking forward to more character growth from him. I am ready to watch his journey of self-healing and discovery.
A lot of the other characters in this book are a tad bit forgettable with exceptions being made for Wes and Jeru, Arin’s personal guards. They brimmed with personality. But, we didn’t spend enough time with Rory. Sefa and Marek felt more like plot devices and caricatures than actual characters. All of the leaders of the other kingdoms were definitely caricatures. This felt suitable though as a lot of time shouldn’t really have been spent on them. Other than that, most of the characters were seen through Sylvia’s memories, and because of this, they couldn’t really get any time or character development.
The thing I liked the least about this book was the romance. I don’t know if it’s me (and it may be me), but the enemies-to-lovers romance in this book felt disturbing at first, almost to the point where it felt like a case of Stockholm Syndrome. It made me uncomfortable, then it just kind of went full trope. I’m not a romance reader. The book would’ve been better without it.
There were a lot of plot points that weren’t wrapped up at the end, and I am intrigued enough to find out the conclusion of this story. So, I plan on reading the next book.
3.75/5
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