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booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
MIRAGE is a story of a girl forced to be the body double for the princess assumed to be the next monarch of her colonized planet. As Amani adjusts to the strict requirements of her new role, she starts connecting with others who are trying to end the occupation.
I love the worldbuilding in MIRAGE. It’s concerned with language, culture, and class dynamics reinforced through colonization. Its suffuses everything from Amani's life with her family to the Vathek court and everything in between. It was obvious to me that many parts of the language are based on Arabic, and the interview with the author which is included in the audiobook clarified for me that it was specifically influenced by Moroccan culture. Even before I knew which specific country's history had contributed to the worldbuilding, there were so many wonderfully detailed moments which filled this picture of a people who went to space and have been living on this moon for so long that their culture references a long history on that moon and not their arrival from somewhere else.
This deals heavily with the cruelty of colonizers, and the difficulty of Amani trying to stay alive when everything she does to preserve her life also helps her oppressors. The Vathek colonizers are quasi-European, culturally and aesthetically different from those they’re subjugating. Long stretches in the middle are a bit more hopeful, as every time Amani is sent somewhere instead of the princess it’s more time that she can interact without a harsh gaze upon her. One complication is that the princess is engaged to be married, so Amani interacts with her fiancé, Idris, who isn't supposed to know about the body double. I like Idris, his dynamic with Amani is really sweet. I especially love the way that they slowly begin discussing more of their history and shared culture together, since Idris was made to forget his first language years ago but Amani still can read and speak it.
As the first book of a trilogy, this establishes Amani's transformation away from who she was before she was kidnapped. There's more of a focus on Vathek culture because Amani has to become familiar with the Vathek court to survive. The ending was a dramatic shift and I'm excited for how the next book handles things.
I love the worldbuilding in MIRAGE. It’s concerned with language, culture, and class dynamics reinforced through colonization. Its suffuses everything from Amani's life with her family to the Vathek court and everything in between. It was obvious to me that many parts of the language are based on Arabic, and the interview with the author which is included in the audiobook clarified for me that it was specifically influenced by Moroccan culture. Even before I knew which specific country's history had contributed to the worldbuilding, there were so many wonderfully detailed moments which filled this picture of a people who went to space and have been living on this moon for so long that their culture references a long history on that moon and not their arrival from somewhere else.
This deals heavily with the cruelty of colonizers, and the difficulty of Amani trying to stay alive when everything she does to preserve her life also helps her oppressors. The Vathek colonizers are quasi-European, culturally and aesthetically different from those they’re subjugating. Long stretches in the middle are a bit more hopeful, as every time Amani is sent somewhere instead of the princess it’s more time that she can interact without a harsh gaze upon her. One complication is that the princess is engaged to be married, so Amani interacts with her fiancé, Idris, who isn't supposed to know about the body double. I like Idris, his dynamic with Amani is really sweet. I especially love the way that they slowly begin discussing more of their history and shared culture together, since Idris was made to forget his first language years ago but Amani still can read and speak it.
As the first book of a trilogy, this establishes Amani's transformation away from who she was before she was kidnapped. There's more of a focus on Vathek culture because Amani has to become familiar with the Vathek court to survive. The ending was a dramatic shift and I'm excited for how the next book handles things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Gun violence, Racism, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Slavery
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical content, and Torture
Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy
frantically's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Amani is definitely a great YA main character — she has the underdog vibes, the tragic back story, the cute new love interest — but rereading this four years after I read it first (yes I know) to finally read the sequel (y'know at least I'm reading it 😤), I really fell for Maram. She seems like such a bitch at first but there's so much more to her, so much nuance and pain and fear. Her heritage is conflicted, she herself the result of a peace treaty, hated by one side, mourned by the other, I was just so fascinated by her. She's definitely my highlight in this book and who I'm looking the most towards in the sequel. The audio book interview with the author was also really enjoyable and now that I know I've got a fellow historian/language enthusiast here, it just makes the reading experience so much more immersive and real.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Bullying, Classism, Kidnapping, Genocide, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Xenophobia
veskumelooni's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent and Violence
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