Reviews

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

eleniphant's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

The last 150 pages of this book was amazing, perfectly hooking the reader to continue the series I feel like I need to pick up the next one immediately.

I really liked the characters , they were very fleshed out and complex, questionable and real. There was such life to them on page and I  really enjoyed both point of views.

I feel like the pacing was off for a good chunk of this though, especially a very long and meandering middle. 

robynlynae's review against another edition

5.0

Wow, the world building in this book was INCREDIBLE! I've had this series in my TBR for a while now but finally picked it up and started as a buddy read with a friend who was re-reading. I'm so glad I did because the characters and this universe is so vibrant and immersive and interesting.

The mixture of Middle Eastern cultures in this book makes it a really fascinating read but what was most compelling to me was the characters. Chakraborty does an excellent job of making these characters well rounded. They are flawed and make mistakes and grow. I love when books can subvert your expectations and change your opinion on characters throughout the book.

Spoiler

When I started the book I was firmly in the camp that Dara was the hot hero who we were supposed to root for and Ali was this arrogant, annoying little rich prince but by the end my opinion of both started to shift? As a romance lover I was at first hoping that that aspect of the story would be more front-and-center, but the deeper into the book, the less I was bothered about it because the story pulled me in. Also, love triangles are normally very icky for me but I feel like this one wasn't as bad.

The last 2 hours of the book were super action packed and I even snuck my Airpods at work to finish it. I immediately downloaded The Kingdom of Copper, the next book in the series.

It definitely passed my 'escape test'. The writing style and quality was excellent enough that I wasn't editing in my head as I read. The only reason it was 4 stars for me instead of 5 was because it took me a while to get fully invested.

a_novel_experiment's review against another edition

Main character was insufferable 

alaucasia's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

eljtran2's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

julles_vesper's review against another edition

DNF

noelreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

4.5

johns_library's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A temporary peace between the different tribes of the Djinn world is now at risk due to the arrival of Nahri; a human who is believed to be the descendant of the last line of healers who are worshipped by the Daeva’s. She stumbles into the world as she accidentally summons Dara, an old Daeva slave who is the ancient enemy of the royal family of Daevabad. Nahri navigates her place in both worlds as she finds herself attempting to make peace between her love for Dara and a political alliance with Alizayd, the royal prince. Chakraborty creates a beautiful world, steeped in mythology and fantasy, as a beautiful setting for this trilogy. 

 

I really liked the world that Chakraborty created; the characters of Dara and Alizayd were interesting in that they came from both groups who believe themselves to be the oppressed. The political intrigue is what captured me the most as I could never decide which group I wanted to root for. The love triangle between Nahri and the two men were intresting, but I’m glad that it wasn’t the main focus of the story. In a world set with so much going on, I’m glad we got to see more of the social dynamics once the story had reached Daevabad. The only part that I would have wanted to see more of was further explanation on what Dara specifically is, there were many descriptions of what he is but it all seemed a bit scattered depending on who was telling the story, which left me even more confused as I did in the beginning.

 

Overall, a really good start to this trilogy. There are enough unanswered questions and the reveal in the epilogue is enough for me to get excited to pick up the next book.

jesswhalen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I absolutely loved diving in to a world of fantasy based outside of the Eurocentric concepts. The world building was so detailed and vivid, and the adventure begins quickly.

Nahri is strong, funny, and smart and I love how she navigates each step of her story. 

gabiprestelo's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5