I loved Jasad Heir. This book combined all of my favorite things, fantasy, romance, and a Non-European based fantasy setting. It took a little bit to get a sense of the different kingdoms and people, but once I did, the rest came easily. The setting was described in detail, the language used was beautiful and evocative, and the characters backstories flowed seamlessly throughout the book. The main character, Sylvia, is violent, messy, and doesn’t easily accept love or friendship. As the story goes on, we are forced to question the narrative we are told along with Sylvia. I had a great time reading this book, I couldn’t put it down, and I cannot wait for the next one!

Actual rating: 3.75

A very enjoyable read layer out through easy to read, but mature and expressive writing. I usually have issues with 1st person POV due to the diary-like voice the MCs can acquire. But this is an excellent example of 1st person POV being done very well. I loved the extravagant world created around us, and self-preserving yet not rude characteristics of our MC. I hate when a character is just absolutely awful and it all becomes excused by past trauma. The author did an amazing job in displaying the consequences of past trauma and the valid personality traits and coping skills that can come from that trauma without turning her into a complete bully. I wish we had gotten as much depth from other characters as we did for the MC, because everyone else sort of felt very 2D for me, which therefore left most of the relationships with in the book feeling hallow. Especially our love interest. I conflicted a lot with his character. Is he good? Is he awful? Is there a point to his character other than fill the roll of love interest? I'm not entirely sure. I also think the plot dragged on a bit too long in places, yet rushed through important moments, and also had some hard to belive plot points. In a land that suspects even the most innocent people and fears/criminalizes magic, it's hard to believe NO ONE was suspicious over someone being stabbed in the chest and then showing of to a challenge two days later completely fine.
Due to all of this, emotions weren't being elicited from me as they could have been. Still a very pleasant story to journey through, but not one that I hold any emotional attachment to.

I really enjoyed this book. I feel like it was paced perfectly to build to something great while giving us plenty of action throughout. It reminds me of some of my other favorite books like The City of Brass and the Blood Trials. I love a deeply flawed main character AND a silver-haired stoic love interest. If I had one note I would say that since this is an adult book, I was a little disappointed that I felt the sexual tension in the pre-victors celebration was so minimal.

I devoured this book in TWO DAYS. When I wasn't reading, all I could think about was reading it, or event that happened and how they fit together. This book has so many tropes we are used to seeing, but in the best way. A destroyed kingdom, an heir in hiding, political workings, and a dash of Egyptian mythology, a bargain with the enemy? OH MAN. If you haven't added this to your TBR, do it, do it right now.

Thanks Orbit and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! Also please go ahead and gimme the sequel, please!

When I first saw an Egyptian-inspired fantasy, I was immediately excited to read this. However afterwards, I am middle of the road on this one. It was good, not as great as I felt it had the potential to be. There is such an intriguingly complex story world, lore, history, and magic that I loved. This was perhaps the highlight of the book for me. I love Sylvia and her badassery and I wanted more of her personality to come through. The other characters, while likable, weren’t fleshed out enough for me. The plot is a very slow start, it takes a while for things to really get moving, which is not something I particularly love in a book. While I appreciate the time needed to really get grounded into this world, I still want the stakes and the urgency to come a little sooner. Once it finally did, I was a little disappointed with where it went. I didn’t feel any high stakes or urgency pulling me along in the story and I wasn’t compelled to continue. The book started so well but then fell into some really overused tropes that I wasn’t engaged with. The enemies-to-lovers aspect was a very small part and didn’t feel real to me, like it was a haphazard addition later on. It is way more about political intrigue and Sylvia’s personal growth than anything else. I would also say that it lacked the depth of Egyptian mythology I was hoping for. I struggled with the overall cohesiveness of this book. It’s like all the elements are randomly thrown in without anything really tying them smoothly together. It has some really great parts that shined, but just as many other parts that detracted from my overall enjoyment with the story.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley.

Like others have said, this book is inconsistent. The premise is a bit overdone - long lost heir, a difficult physical competition, enemies to lovers, etc - but the world in which is happened is more unique.

One of the things I really thought was well done was the gradual revelations about Sylvia's family's history. She starts to understand that her memories of these people may not have been accurate and that as a child, there was so much she didn't understand.

I am curious enough about what will happen next to look out for the next book in the series.

Fantasy romance is usually something I stay away from. In this case, it felt secondary to politics and court intrigue. The relationships felt part of 'the game of politics'. It was enjoyable, and I'll likely pick up any sequels.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for an arc of this in exchange for my honest review!

2.75-3 Buckle up because this is going to be a rant and a half:

The first quarter of this book was excellent, and to reiterate another reviewer on here had a tight structure and plot. With the world-building, I appreciated that the author refuses to hold the reader’s hand and instead drops breadcrumbs of information as the novel progresses. I also enjoyed how every detail in this story matters, almost everything is logically accounted for and makes for an almost satisfying read.

Sylvia, the mc, is originally set up to be this girl hell-bent on surviving, her selflessness takes her only so far and I really appreciated this because her actions also illustrated this. Arin is also set up to be this intriguing, multi-layered, complex character whose logical mind pushes him to violent, ruthless, brutal extremes.

The push and pull between Arin and Sylvia were so intriguing and I enjoyed how they were slowly revealed to be two sides of the same coin.

However, we hit the 50% mark and almost everything goes downhill.

At this point, the whole story is floundering. The pacing randomly becomes off and we get so much filler with notes of political intrigue which is carried from the first quarter of the novel but is ultimately irresponsibly handled from this point onwards. Because every other element of the book is adjacent to the mishandling of the political intrigue, the book as a whole starts to suffer.

Moreover, Sylvia and Arin and their actions go against what they were initially set up to be, without any character development justifying such contradictory behaviours. The complex aspects of their characters fall away until they become juvenile versions of themselves.

Arin’s character change is in particular frustrating because he randomly becomes soft, we never see him with the same cold, violent, detached tendencies he displayed at the beginning until briefly at the end.

And as a result, the book falls into the same storytelling structure and formula seen frequently across YA and NA and some adult books as well.

(Also, one of my major gripes is that I think this book could have benefitted from more explicit training scenes instead of the useless filler because they alluded to originally with so much emphasis.)

Then it’s as if the author remembered that these two characters are supposed to engage in a relationship with one another and we see an unfortunate mishandling of the political aspects of this book once more. The implications of such political strife are irresponsibly tossed aside to quickly set up a romance.

The relationship development is undeserved, the jump from enemies to romantic affection is undeserved, and nothing in the story necessitates such a transition (and once again this extends to their personalities too — the characters and their actions).

Honestly, I think this story could have benefitted from no romance. However, a romance between a victim and someone complicit in the murder of her people does spark interesting questions.

For instance, what kind of obligations are you owed to a people/culture that you were ripped away from at a young age — do you owe anything at all? At what point does survival outweigh any internalized responsibility you have to such groups of people? How far would you go to survive? How much of yourself would you cut away to survive?

Sylvia doesn’t provide concrete answers and any responses provided are frustratingly contradictory. And while on one hand, her ambiguous stance speaks to the subjective nature and complexity of such questions, it simultaneously does her story and the topic injustice because of how it starts to focus more on the rushed romance (and as a result, the story as a whole starts fraying at the edges).

With the politics, certain choices with the characters were not effective storytelling choices. I don’t want to spoil anything but it was utterly dissatisfying seeing the way certain political players were used as plot conveniences and then tossed aside quickly.

I still did enjoy the book to some degree. I think Sylvia’s trauma and the dual versions of herself were interesting elements to explore, and provided a unique, mostly unexplored dimension to this genre.

My main issue with this was the dialogue which frequently felt like it belonged in a YA and not an adult novel. The rest of it, the world, the characters, the politics and systems, felt solidly adult, it was just the dialogue but I struggled with it a LOT

This review will not be posted publicly until 2 weeks before publication date

The Jasad heir has interesting and lush world building. I really enjoyed Sylvia, and watching her heal and deal with her past traumas. I really liked her dynamic with Arin as well. The ending sets up the plot for the sequel really well

I wish some parts weren’t so dragged out. I also think the tournament portion could’ve been earlier in the book. But overall, I really enjoyed it and it was a very exciting and thrilling political fantasy. I'm excited for the sequal

This has been on the top of my Summer 2023 book list and I am so happy to report it is just as wonderful as I had hoped! I expect to see this everywhere come July.

It started off a bit difficult for me to grasp the world-building. There are a lot of words used that I am either unfamiliar with (entirely possible!) or are specific to this story and not well explained. Part of me hopes the final version has a glossary as that would have helped a lot to get oriented to the setting. I just powered through and hoped I'd figure it out eventually (not sure I did but the story picked up and I got swept away).

The main character, Sylvia, was a joy to read. I loved her focus on survival and inner conflict. I appreciated her character even more after reading the author's interview at the end of the book about how this book idea was initially framed. I felt she was a complex and intriguing character to read about. Add to that the push-and-pull dynamic between her and Arin was just perfection. Now THAT was such a satisfying slow burn and to see where it goes in book two has me GIDDY.

One area that worried me was how much of the book was focused on preparing for the competition (as I expected this to be a primarily competition-set book) and that the competition trials would be lackluster or skimmed over. I am even more impressed with the pacing as we were given the right amount of character setup, development, and exciting competition (action AND political intrigue!)

It gives morally grey EVERYONE, magic, politics, corrupt kingdom, secret heir, hidden identities, competition, enemies to lovers slow burn, rebels, chaotic FMC and organized MMC.

Sara Hashem's debut fantasy, THE JASAD HEIR is a a story that feels a blend of story elements that each feel familiar by themselves but when combined and placed into a unique setting creates something compelling. On one hand, this is a book that lends itself to the current-marketing-zeitgeist of making funny faces while moving a book across a phone screen for thirty seconds while listing tropes and emojis, but that would do it a terrible disservice.

Essiya--the sole surviving heir to the royal family of Jasad--fled from the massacre that accompanied the destruction of her kingdom. She took the name Sylvia and found an existence in anonymity on the margins of society. By virtue of her bloodline as a Jasadi, she can use magic. At least, she ought to be able to use magic, except mystical handcuffs restrict her from doing so. This restriction, however, is convenient, because just being a Jasadi--to say nothing of actually using magic--is enough to warrant a death sentence at the hands of the kingdom of Nizahl which was busy finishing the job it started when it massacred her family and destroyed her kingdom.

When she found herself suspected of being a Jasadi by none other than the heir of Nizahl it's only the intervention of a mixture of fate, bad luck, and her concern for another young orphan that combined to force the Nizahl heir to name her as his champion in an annual contest waged between the royal houses. From there she is forced to work with the scion of her world's destruction as she learns more about her magic, her past, and discovers there's far more to everything than she realized.

You can see all of tikstantgramable details lurking beneath the surface. A MAGIC TOURNAMENT! AN ORPHAN WITH A MAGIC SECRET! A MYSTERIOUS PAST! CONSPIRACIES AND SCHEMES! ENEMIES TO... LOVERS?! But reducing the book to those tropes might drive engagement on social media platforms I do not participate in, but it really avoids doing anything to shed light on the soul of the book. THE JASAD HEIR is about a survivor's guilt, their shame, their trauma, their journey to liberate themselves of the harms the world perpetuated upon them. It's about loyalty and duty and how those are often chosen for us, not by us. It's about learning to love in spite of everything conspiring to encourage hate. And that's all a bit more than a list of tropes... no?

I struggled with how to write this review in part because I had a nagging sense while reading it that I was missing something. The world that Sylvia exists within was hard to sort out in my mind. Perhaps this is because the ARC I read did not have a map. But I was getting the sense that people traveled among the kingdoms too quickly, or that their environment changed too much, or... something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Action sequences seemed fuzzy around the edges. Then a action scene involved a character being stabbed in the chest only to carry on a conversation, and I started to grow more skeptical. It was only when another huge set piece involving massive, almost godlike, magic reforging the very landscape it was being fought on that I had a realization:

THE JASAD HEIR does not care about that tight hyper-reality. It is not that book. Just like STAR WARS is not hard sf and doesn't pretend to be as it celebrates the fantastic elements it incorporates, THE JASAD HEIR revels in being a fantasy. And that realization unlocked the whole experience. Not to cast any aspersions on authors who go into exhaustive details in the attempt to achieve a near-facsimile of reality in their fiction, but not all stories benefit from that.

This book was AMAZING! I cannot wait to read more from this author. This was a fast-paced fantasy with deadly trials, like the hunger games, a queen without her throne, and a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers storyline.

Since this is the first book in a series there was a lot of world-building but it never felt clunky or info-dump-y. The world was immersive and very detailed.

My only wish was that more time had been spent with the trials aspect but everything else was wonderful!

DNF. Might try again later. Woooie the writing style is just a mess. Author writes well but the writing was chaotic, hard to follow, and just often really boring. I may try this later on audiobook because I want to get to the enemies to lovers really badly

Thank you NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn’t influence my review.
God? This is all I ask for in a book. In fact, I will be buying this book in print!!!!
Tropes: hidden identity with suspicious guy, hate to love, enemies to lovers, Egyptian fantasy romance, wittyyy banterrrrr, fighting each other, training room, intense chemistry, touch her and you die, chasing scenes, “police/thief” chasing, secret pining, avoiding, ballrooms
Intriguing cover!!!
Love quote “identify yourself, soldier. I would like to know what name to mark on your grave.”

Great writing style that keeps you hooked, wonderful world building (made me feel like I was in old Egypt)
FMC is feisty and sassy and badass, MMC is hot af we love dangerous commanders
He did not hold back when fighting her goddamn!!
Book made me laugh out loud, almost cry, and that cliffhanger… what am I going to do until the sequel comes??? Probably pray to get another ARC through NetGalley
But I’m all honesty, go buy this book. It’s a must read.

This is a really tough one to review and discuss. I was very ecstatic to receive this book. It unfortunately missed the mark.

to be frank, I wasn't expecting a new groundbreaking fantasy. I think BIPOC authors should be allowed to write fantasies with familiar plots we've seen before in their own style and way. That was my expectation going into this - a plot I've seen before, but done in an egyptian fantasy setting with a fresh style.

And the first 25% of this book was amazing! Tight set up and plotting. I was ready to dive into the trials/competition.

I think the premise of the trials I was promised simply didn't deliver nor start until the 70% mark and that made this really difficult for me. I was unconvinced on the political set up given the lack of nuanced layering and poor confusing way it was delivered. I was expected layered politics, but this felt more like a romantasy than a political fantasy. That being said, the romance did carry the book for me until the 50-60% mark, where it then turned too fast, basic, and trope-y. I was missing the tension of their relationship from the first 25% of the book.

Regarding the trials, why exclude the political intrigue-set up from the trials? They should be immersed. I expected the trials to start at the 30% mark with high stakes gritty training in between, & with tense political manuevering around the competitors and royals as a way to learn the history, politics and layering. that would been so cool to see and an effective means of combining the two. What I got instead was info dumping of weak black and white political opinions from caricature side characters, with copious amounts of filter up until the trials started. and when the trials started, I didn't care for the competitors because they were useless and brushed aside, so I skimmed their scenes. the trials themselves served no purpose which was even more confusing. why host the trials in the first place? we got no class commentary on that either. also the anti colonial commentary was quite contradictory and had me in disbelief in confusion from the extreme lack of nuance. the book spent more time trying to humanize the frankly colonizing commander than addressing the glaring moral questions surrounding the set up. this might slide in YA, but I expect more from adult fantasy.

there's a lot more I can say but all in all, this felt like a YA book more than an adult book. i think if you go into this expecting romantasy with messy politics and heavy YA crossover, you'll be satisfied. if you want nuanced political fantasy, this might not be your cup of tea.

I LOVE a villain romance, but really struggled to enjoy this one. The first 1/4 of the novel hooked me from the get go, with intriguing character motivations and a fascinating world. However, once the concept of the tournament was introduced I quickly lost steam, I didn't like the dynamic between Arin and Sylvia - it didn't feel natural, and the rapid enemies to lovers transition was forced. Similarly, I don't particularly enjoy "sarcastic' protagonists because I feel like the humor often comes off as cringey, as it often did here. For an Adult novel, a lot of the dialogue in general felt juvenile and of the kind I expect more frequently from YA books. I also didn't like that we got Arin's POV: there are several shoehorned attempts to make him soft and sympathetic when the compelling nature of his character IS his grey morality and ruthlessness.

A solid fantasy debut and I’m going to be buying a physical copy myself because of how much I liked it. A refreshing take on the fantasy world with unique characters.

I really enjoyed Sara Hashem's debut novel, first in her new fantasy series, The Jasad Heir. This was such a riveting start to what I imagine is going to be a thoughtful series full of political intrigue, some SERIOUS pining and romantic angst, and scheming with *fingers crossed* no betrayal. Yeah, right. We wouldn't be that lucky.

The world building was complex, well planned and thoroughly thought out. I cannot wait to understand more about the magic system now that Sylvia is officially out of hiding. Sara is a wonderful author, who has a satisfying way with words. I snorted at so much of the silly banter between Arin and Sylvia, but they were also such complex characters. And I absolutely loved the steadfast friendship of Sefa and Marek.

My theory is that Arin's "magic" was made to be the counter to Arin, the only one who may be able to keep her power in check. This power balance will eventually help unite the kingdoms and start to heal the aversion to magic. Wishful thinking? Maybe.

I did find some similarities to other fantasy novels I have read recently, but it did not take away from my enjoyment of this book. I cannot wait for Book Two of The Scorched Throne. Thank you to Sara Hashem, Orbit and Netgalley for this ARC. I will be requesting Book Two as soon as it may be available.

I have so many things to say about this book that it's hard to narrow it down. But one thing that must be said is it was absolutely brilliant from beginning to end.

The complexity of the political intrigues in this is truly amazing. There are so many threads in this story that threaten to become tangled but Hashem masterfully weaves them together creating a tapestry of an extremely corrupt world where everyone in power is out for themselves. Her use of foreshadowing in terms of Sylvia's magic was well done by leaving tantalizing hints about who Sylvia might actually be and that foreshadowing never feels like plot holes, but promises of a truly explosive second book or third.

Oh and Sylvia, that poor girl. I loved her from the minute she was introduced! I don't believe I've ever empathized with a character as much as I have Sylvia (okay maybe Joron Twiner). Her story is heartbreaking and the ending of this makes it even worse. Reading the end, knowing Sylvia sacrificed the little happiness she had found was like watching a train wreck in slow motion and yet totally, completely understanding why she made the decisions she did. Arin is an excellent character as well, as complex as Sylvia, I thoroughly enjoyed watching his cold exterior unravel. And yes, the ending of this makes him just as much of a heartbreaking character as Sylvia.

Finally, the world building in this was exceptional. Between the wonderful descriptions of the various cities to the well placed explanations of the history of the world you are immediately immersed.

Overall, I cannot recommend this one enough especially for fans of A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones for those who have only watched the show), The Poppy Wars, and The Tide Child Series.

And as always thanks to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the eArc!