ARC Review

Story: 4/5 ⭐

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The Jasad Heir is Sara Hashem's debut novel. Honestly, for a debut novel I was very impressed. We follow the story of Sylvia, also known as Essiya, the Heir to Jasad, a fallen kingdom. She is believed to be dead and is now working as a chemists apprentice in a neighboring kingdom. One day the Nizahl Heir, Arin, her mortal enemy, tracks Jasadis Rebels to her village, Sylvia is forced to reveal her magic and has to make deal with her enemy in order to secure her freedom.

Sylvia has no interest in claiming her title and battles her fate throughout the book. I love the reluctant hero trope! Her internal conflict is portrayed very well, you can feel her angst and trauma. She's sarcastic and stubborn. Arin is our stoic enemy, who eventually becomes friends with Sylvia, despite not knowing her secret. There is heavy world building encased in the larger first half of the book which did make it drag a little bit, however, necessary for the development of the plot. In contrast, the latter portion of the story seemed a tad bit rushed. The game/competition portion of the story could have used more development. Otherwise, the complex world and political intrigue were written well

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I'm not used to complex political plots so it took me a moment to get through the first portion of the book, but it in no way took away from my enjoyment. As I mentioned earlier, I'm a sucker for the reluctant hero trope and Sylvia fits it to a tee. For a debut novel, this exceeded my expectations. I look forward to the next installment of this series!

***I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to the author/publishing company and netgalley for this opportunity!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.25/5*

In this Egyptian-inspired fantasy, the lost heir of a scorched kingdom seeks to survive free from her past, but finds herself competing on behalf of the very man who hunts down her people.

There aren't enough good things to say about this book. Everything about it as individual parts was really well done, and woven together it created a rich world, an interesting story, and compelling characters. I felt the world building and lore for the most part was fed to the reader in a very flowing way, without impenetrable info dumps. It's well-developed, and I have little doubt that any lingering questions about it will be explained later in the series. The magic system, for example, seems to intentionally have some gaps in its explanation, as the gaps make sense for Sylvia's character,

It's a pretty limited cast of characters, and only the most major of them are fully fleshed and developed, but again this is done in a way that makes complete sense for the POV character, and in fact it probably would've been weirder otherwise. Sylvia was such a compelling main character, and her arc and growth were so interesting to watch. She's not always easy to root for or like, and I loved her more for it. Arin remains somewhat of a mystery by the end of the book; I think he's well developed but his being three steps ahead of everyone makes him a bit harder to read and anticipate. Their banter and slow burn and initial raw hatred of each other were excellently done, though, and overall I really loved their arc both in terms of romance and in terms of just how their characters affect each other, and I cannot wait to see what changes in the second book.

I didn't really have many problems with this book. The world building could have been a bit clearer, but it was still plenty involved and deep and interesting, so it didn't really detract from the story. There were a few aspects of Arin and Sylvia's arc that frustrated me, and while I think overall there are reasons given (either explicitly or easily read into the text), those reasons weren't sufficient for me. Sylvia overlooked all the very valid and not easy to move past issues between her and Arin far too quickly and breezily. It's referenced a few times that despite their connection, there's still fear and distrust between them, and I appreciated those acknowledgements; similarly, with how intentionally removed Sylvia was from her own people and past, I can see how it was easier for her to overlook. So, this is maybe more personal taste than anything, but that's probably my biggest gripe.

Overall, this was really, really good, and I cannot wait for the next book!

Thank you so much for the chance to read The Jasad Heir as an ARC! This is Sara Hashem's debut novel and after seeing her promote and discuss it so much online, I was so excited to get approved for it. This is definitely a higher level fantasy embedded with secrets, magic, politics, and an exploration of belongingness/identity for our main characters (as well as the "who-did-this-to-you" trope, and we all know how we feel about THAT!). An additional notable trope is enemies to lovers which was done perfectly in this book. I'm putting a *slight* out of context spoiler at the end of this review, so read the ending of this at your own risk.

I've given this a 3.5 star rating (rounded up to 4 for Goodreads ratings), only because I'm a huge mood reader and have not particularly been in a fantasy mood. There was a LOT of world building/information right at the beginning of this book, and although it was all really relevant and important information, I found myself slightly overwhelmed! In a fantasy mood, I would've probably absorbed this information more easily. That being said, I loved the friendships, camaraderie, and relationships built between characters as this story continued, and I think the ending was a PERFECT ending to transition into book 2. I definitely think I will read the second book once it's released, as I'm curious to where the story will go!


***SPOILER***


***SERIOUSLY, OUT-OF-CONTEXT SPOILER***



The "enemies to lovers" trope is really "enemies to lovers to enemies", and although that isn't a HUGE spoiler, I do think that it's relevant to mention as a spoiler in general. Out of context, but still!

The Jasad Heir is an adult fantasy debut and the first book in the Scorched Lands series. For a debut novel this book was very impressive and I really enjoyed it.

This book has enemies to lovers, magic, hidden identities and a deadly competition. The book follows Sylvia who is the reluctant lost heir of Jasad and she has her reasons for being reluctant. However, when the Heir of Nizahl is in her tiny village hunting a group of Jasadi's she revels her magic by accident. This then leads to the Nizahl Heir making a deal with Sylvia by having her compete in the Alcalah, which is a deadly competition that occurs every 3 years.

While reading this book one thing that I was not fond of was the pacing at times. In the beginning and the end there seemed to be too much happening and there were a few times where there would be random scene jumps. I will say that I did enjoy the characters in the book. They were really well written and I wish that we were able to see more of Arin's point of view as he is such a complex, interesting character. I would have loved to see how he was always five steps ahead of everyone. Another thing I loved was the enemies to lovers. Arin and Sylvia are true enemies and they had such a slow burn romance. I cannot wait to see how they play out in book 2, especially after the ending.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this book and I am excited to continue the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this e-arc!

I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. I was excited to support an author I had been following on tiktok for a while, but I never imagined this book would become one of my all time favorite fantasy novels. I immediately fell into the world that Hashem created. It was very vivid, and I liked that the author didn't give away all the details to the audience right away. We learned things as Sylvia learned them, which made it feel very organic and less like a confusing info dump. The slow burn enemies to lovers romance? Fantastic. One of my all time favorite tropes (as were many of the tropes found in the book). I cannot wait to see where the characters end up in the next one.

The pace was fantastic for the first 60-65% of the novel. I wish the final couple of battles were a bit more developed and extended. Given the amount of time the author took with the scenes in the first half, they felt a little rushed towards the end. Of course, I did read them very quickly as I was excited to see where the story went.

My only qualm is that I must wait for the next book!

Ever read a story in which the MC does not want to deal with everything, but for a really good reason? Folks die on a lot of these adventures.

Out July 18th, "The Jasad Heir" by Sara Hashem will release and folks can meet Sylvia. A totally normal citizen, definitely not the solo surviving royal from a magic kingdom who is now hunted by her family's killers. Except she accidently shows her limited magic in front of the heir of the nation that led the massacre of her nation...but he offers her a deal. She gets amnesty in exchange for winning a competition for him. She just has to be bait for the rebels of her scorched kingdom.

Thank you Orbit and Netgalley for the ARC!

Reasons to read:
-MC actually has a plan for what she wants, the universe just doesn't let her do it
-Facts ruining folks idea of what actually happened in the past
-Really cool creatures, except for that super gross one (intended to be gross)
-The food...
-Some foreshadowing I enjoyed
-Antagonist is a hot white haired guy

Cons:
-Lotta folks need therapy for dealing with people betraying them. Probably just going to get vengeance instead.

I loved this book! It was everything I thought it would be. The enemies to lovers was done so well which made me enjoy the book even more. Typically, in books with enemies to lovers the “enemies” aren’t actually enemies but that was not the case with this book. These characters actively tried to end each others lives! It was AMAZING. The only reason I rated it 4 stars is because I felt there were a lot of instances when information was dumped and took me out of the story. However, I am excited to see what the author has in store for us next. I will be recommending this book to everyone!

The Jasad Heir was my most anticipated debut of 2023. I was sold as soon as I saw that it was Egyptian inspired. I spent the first half of this book feeling disappointed. Once I adjusted my expectations (around halfway through) I started to really enjoy the story.

Sylvia is the heir of Jasad, but everyone thinks that she died with the rest of the royal family during the Blood Summit. Magic has been outlawed, and Jasadis are being hunted down and put on trial. The Nizahl Heir witnesses Sylvia using her magic and uses this to convince her to be his champion in the upcoming tournament between the four kingdoms.

The Jasad Heir has a lot of common tropes you find in fantasy - destroyed kingdom, hidden royal, suppressed magic, and enemies to lovers. The author took the hidden royal trope and did something unique with it that I haven’t read before. Sylvia doesn’t want her kingdom back. She has moved to a new kingdom and taken on a new name. She’s content to live her life there.

What I found disappointing early on in the book was the emphasis on the relationship between Sylvia and Arin. I wasn’t expecting a fantasy romance when I started the book, but that’s what it felt like to me. Once I accepted that’s what this book was, I was able to enjoy the story.

I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for an Egyptian inspired fantasy with a slow burn romance.

DNF @ 30%.
Egyptian-inspired fantasy? A fugitive queen? This sounded like it should've been right up my alley. Unfortunately, it was a case of an awesome premise marred by subpar execution.

I know it's a debut, so I wish I could be more forgiving of this, but the writing WAS incredibly amateurish. I know people tend to throw this term around when it's just a juvenile-sounding internal narration perfectly suited to a young main character, but in this case, it wasn't even that. The main character's internal monologue wasn't juvenile, but just so stiff and unnatural that it didn't feel believable for being someone's internal thoughts. Awkward metaphors and clunkily-structured sentences abounded, and the dialogue between characters was downright cringe-worthy, trying wayyyy too hard to be snarky. We also had really obvious realizations repeated aloud, as if the author didn't trust the reader to pick up on them. Everything was delivered in this sort of heavy-handed fashion.

There was also so much info-dumping and filler, even in the first third of the book. The main plot had barely even kicked off, and already so many scenes felt like they could've been cut. There was also so much discussion of past events rather than current that it made me wonder why this story was the one being told?

I hate DNF'ing ARCs, but I could almost instantly tell this book wasn't suited to my taste. I forced myself to at least give a third of it a try, but after 150 pages, it still hadn't gotten any better. :/

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

Sylvia is the hidden heir of the destroyed kingdom of Jasad. Her entire lineage was thought to have been killed, but Sylvia and her magic have remained hidden. That is until the heir of Nizahl, Aaron, discovers her as a Jasadi with magic and puts her forth as his candidate for the Alcaleh - a competitive series of trials between the kingdoms. Arin’s hidden motive is to use Sylvia to expose the remaining Jasadi rebels.

This book has an interesting concept but it’s very slow And long-winded. I didn’t really enjoy the writing style of the book and the characters were pretty 1D

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC

Final rating: 4.5

This did take a little bit for me to get into, there's a lot of world building thrown at you right away so it took a little bit of time for me to figure out what was going on. Once I got everything straight in my head though I really ended up enjoying this! I loved Sylvia as a character, she's so complex and how she feels about her culture is so fascinating. She also goes through a lot of growth and you can see her coming to terms with her past and what her future should and could be. The trials Sylvia competes in were a surprise, as they weren't really mentioned in the synopsis past mentioning a game, which I took to be a game of political intrigue, not a literal game. I'm all for Sylvia getting revenge for her people and taking her kingdom back and making it better than it was before. I'm all for morally gray characters, and Sylvia and Arin are the epitome of that. I also ended up really loving the Egyptian inspired world, with all the history and culture. I will say though one of the downsides to reading the arc is that you don't get the map, which I always use to help center myself and get an idea of what the world actually looks like and where all the locations are in reference to each other, especially in a book like this where they're travelling around from one kingdom to another. Overall though, I'm so excited about this book, and I'm even more excited for the sequel!

It took me a bit to get in to. There was a lot of world building and vague terminology/events described that took me a bit to get but I found myself hooked soon enough. I loved the mystery of the character's past and figuring out what happened. I especially loved the slow burn and can't wait until the next book to see what happens.

The Jasad Heir was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Like everyone else, I was hooked from the moment I saw it on TikTok- the secret heir to a fallen nation in hiding? Yes please!
Unfortunately, I could never really get into the book. The book had a slow start, followed by a book weighed down by generic fantasy tropes.
All this to say- The Jasad Heir is not a bad book. There were parts I truly enjoyed. It just wasn’t for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of The Jasad Heir in exchange for my honest review.

What a debut! I loved so much about this book! The world-building was incredibly rich, and I could feel the emotions of all of the characters through the pages.
The only thing I didn’t love at times was the pacing and scene jumps. Despite that, I had a fantastic time and can’t wait to read the sequel!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait for the next in the series. The world is so rich and the plot so intriguing. I was dying to find out what actually happened in the past and had to constantly restrain myself from skipping ahead. The slow burn romance was also well done.

First, I have to say that I've just finished this and I'm not ok.

To say I enjoyed this would be an understatement. I loved it. I devoured it. I want more.

Ok, now onto the challenge of writing an enthusiastic review without spoilers because so many of things I loved about this book are definitely spoilers.

This book had political intrigue, rich world building, great characters, tension (!!!!), banter (!!!), TRUE enemies to lovers (like actually I feel like this is rare even in fantasy). I am a slut for all of the above, and I felt like this book did a great job of hitting the brief in all those areas.

Parts of this book had my brain SCREAMING (in a good way). I loved the way Sylvia interacted with everyone-- her inner monologue, the guards, Sefa and Marek, Arin, etc etc. She was a great MC and I felt like we truly watched her grow. I loved Arin's manipulative and calculating brain.

I thought the pacing of this book was great, Sara Hashem does a great job of keeping you as in the dark as Sylvia, but also gives you enough detail that any new information revealed feels satisfying.

I'm excited to see what the next book brings!

Thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for this ARC!

Why do I always have to fall in love with the books that make me want to read the sequel immediately after I finish it and whose sequel isn’t even out yet and won’t be for another year?

Sara Hashem weaves a beautiful and intricate world, inspired by Egypt and the Arab Springs, the world of Jasad is complicated but solid and makes you want to visit it, even though it’s probably not the wisest choice (if you read the book, you know). It is rich and rooted in Arabic culture. The storytelling is eloquent but accessible, nothing extravagantly complicated but that still takes hold of your eyes and holds them hostage.

Sylvia is a compelling protagonist that grabs your interest from the first page and the cast of characters each offer something of their own that works well within the story.

I never thought I would say that because I love maps but they’ve never served many purposes to me but I think it is one element that enhances the reading experience in fantasy that I think is indispensable. Due to the nature of the format being an ARC, there’s no map in them and I admit I struggled at times to keep track of the different cultural aspects and traditions that spanned the different kingdoms, and where we were in the book when settings were being described.
One of my grievances in fantasy is the dense world-building dumps. I didn’t feel like the author did that much, which is always refreshing and appreciated, however when new information came you had to focus to understand it and it was a bit hard at times. Some questions remain unanswered, however, I’m a hundred percent sure they’re meant for book two. All in all very decent worldbuilding for a debut and the first book in a series.

If you like epic fantasies with high stakes, deathly competitive games and lost heir with a secret identity, ruined kingdom but with a twist and an aggregate of corrupt high figures throughout all five kingdoms (even the scorched one); this book is definitely for you. Also, do I have to mention it? Deathly enemies, to acquaintances, to lovers, to (deathly?) enemies again but really who knows??

There’s not a line in the world that I wouldn’t cross to possess book two in my hands right now.

All opinions are my own. Thank you to Orbit for sending me an ARC, you have my undying appreciation for letting me read my newest favourite book.

The Jasad Heir is an exciting, action-packed fantasy with complex characters and beautiful world building. I absolutely loved this book. It's easily one of the best books of 2023! After her family was brutally murdered, Sylvia has been in hiding for at least half her life. Due to a few unfortunate events, Sylvia's magic is revealed to the absolute last person who she'd want to see it. Now, Sylvia must cooperate with her biggest enemy in order to ensure her freedom.

Both Sylvia and Arin are tremendous characters. Both are strong, determined, and believe they are doing what is right. Oh, how I love well-written, morally gray characters! The side characters were also well-developed. I particularly loved Marek and Sefa, as well as Arin's guards. The author did a great job balancing the action, the world building, and the character development. The pacing was great.

I will be recommending The Jasad Heir to everyone! It's an easy 5 stars. I absolutely cannot wait for the next book!

Thank you to Net Galley and Orbit for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this book. This was in my top 3 reads of this year so far, without a doubt. I have so many good things to say about this book.

Some things I liked:
-I absolutely loved the main character. She was strong, morally grey, and an unreliable narrator (without her being aware of it).
- This was only of the few enemies to lovers that felt like they were true enemies. I knew going in that it would happen but half way through, I had no idea how the author was going to be able to make them like each other after everything that had happened.
- I liked that Arin had imperfections like his practicality and perfectionism. It was interesting that he was logical to a fault. I was shocked when he dismissed the guard he had know from childhood because he was "easily provoked". I feel like a lot of male love interests are not realistic because they are given either all positive traits or they are just horrible people with no redeeming qualities. Arin was a great in between. He was human with positive and negative qualities and it was refreshing.
- the found family trope was done really well. The relationship between Sylvia, Marek, and Sefa was honestly beautiful. I wanted to learn more about Marek and Sefa's story and I would love a spin off story about another book about their lives before they met Sylvia. I also liked how over the course of their journey, the guards reluctantly started joking around with them and working as a team too.
- Arin and Marek and a few of the guards (on numerous occasions throughout the book) respected consent and Sylvia's space despite the fact that she's basically a weapon. They knew when to push and when they were crossing a boundary and I really liked that it was a consistent point.
-this book had fantastic, well written banter
- it had the traveling trope that is in most fantasy books but I found it way more interesting because of the stops in various kingdoms which all had such different people, customs, and architecture. It naturally broke up the book a bit. I also thought it was interesting how the different kingdoms broke up their wealth in completely different ways and you could see how it had different effects on their citizens.
- I thought it was unique to learn about Jasad by what was stolen from them by other kingdoms. "The only part that originated from Omal is the audacity" was one of my favorite quotes. Additionally, it was fascinating to watch the MC progress throughout the story and realize the kingdom and family that she idolized had so much corruption.

Again, thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit. I had so much fun with this book!