Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

167 reviews

mj1588's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, War, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Pregnancy

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri builds a dark and almost claustrophobic fantasy world, set in an alt-India with central conflicts that are largely inspired by South Asian history and a deeply spiritual and elemental magic system. We have all the usual forces at work - an evil emperor, a slow-boiling revolution, and a colonized nation fighting for survival. While the action in this story is confined almost entirely to the shifting walls of an ancient and mysterious temple as our political coup takes shape, this tight focus is counterbalanced with rapidly rotating POVs through a large cast of characters. 

At the center of our story, we have three primary female characters - Malini, Priya, and Bhumika - each navigating trauma and their own fight for agency and freedom. Suri develops complex, morally gray women, and Malini, the exiled sister of the emperor, and Priya and Bhumika, former temple children, each challenge the traditional roles often cast for women in fantasy. Malini is openly manipulative and ruthlessly seeks power and agency, while Priya explores the potentially monstrous aspects of her own power and the paths available to her people in their fight for liberation. And while Malini and Priya circle each other for the majority of the story, Bhumika, a side character with main character energy, observes from the shadows, building an army of loyal followers while she works around and against her husband and the empire he serves. At each turn, our female main characters outmaneuver the power-wielding men in their lives, at times in partnership and at times in opposition, but always to advance their own goals. 

This is epic fantasy perfect for readers who love She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan, and not only for its strong sapphic romance arc (which is, of course, excellent). This, like She Who Became the Sun, explores the moral sacrifices people make for power, the bloody history of empire and the magic inherent to our world and its ghosts. I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Grief, Classism, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Blood, Xenophobia, Violence, Murder, and Child abuse

Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and War

drsinoire's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Blood, Death, and Violence

eidiya's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Child death, Colonisation, War, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Xenophobia

fairyollie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

wow. Tasha Suri is a force to be reckoned with here in fiction: her prose is lyrical and stunning; her worlds rich and robust; her characters complex, and I couldn't get enough. I am a big fan of epic fantasy, of complexity, of chaos, of rebellion and revolution, of political intrigue, and especially of sapphic couples, and all of those loves (and more) bloomed abundantly here. beautiful book, just stunning

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Misogyny, War, Sexism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Grief, Death, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

egwilk28's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This is a good book but its SLOW af. like I was barely hanging in there until half way through the book then it FINALLY picked up the pace and the last half was really enjoyable. I found it pretty difficult to situate myself in the world setting with so many characters and places. There’s some sickening imagery and content so beware. But the magic is very unique and I enjoyed that. The Indian fantasy setting was great. Lots of girlbossing lots of straight up bad people in this book. Womens rights AND womens wrongs! As much as it has a weak beginning, it also has a strong ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

sophie42's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Confinement, Death, War, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction and Blood

secretsoup's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and War

remescient's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I wanted to love this book more than I did, but I think it really needed a more ruthless editor. There are parts that just get too mired in dialogue to be enjoyable, and the

imprisonment on the Hirana

could have benefitted from tighter writing. On the positive side, I adored the world building and the characters were interesting. It's a beautiful world, I hope we get to see more of it in the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Emotional abuse

rosemary_for_remembrance's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-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

4.0

Series title is apt. Giant fantasy books about kingdom-scale power struggles aren't my favorite genre, but I generally enjoyed this one. It's nice to see a fantasy South Asian setting, and I thought the different religions were a good way to insert magic into the story, although I'm still not sure what the Mothers do for anyone. 

There's a lot of "people making ethically problematic decisions for the Greater Good" that I don't especially love, but, hey, it's part of the genre, and most of the characters are reasonably self-aware about it at least. Some good stuff about colonialism, but Chandra is so cartoonishly evil that the book doesn't really feel like it has a lot of nuance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Death

Moderate: Addiction