The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms, 1) Paperback – June 8, 2021

- Lesbian and bisexual MCs- Powerful morally grey women- Overthrowing an empireThe Jasmine Throne was everything I ever wanted from a fantasy novel and more! The characters were vibrant and lifelike, and the worldbuilding was immersive, with a fascinating yet deadly magic system. I'm both kicking and thanking myself for putting off reading this book for so long. On one hand, how could I sit on such a fabulous tale?! On the other, I now only have to wait for a little over a month for the sequel to come out.The story followed a large cast of characters but mostly focused on two women whose fates intertwined within a crumbling ancient temple. Malini was the princess of a powerful empire, but she was imprisoned by her brother for refusing to burn on the pyre. Priya was one of the maidservants sent to serve the princess and her caretaker. As the princess grew weaker, the two women grew closer and a mysterious power began to awaken within Priya.Between Priya and Malini, I found Priya a little easier to like, not that Malini wasn't a fabulous character. Priya was just a bit softer around the edges. She worked as a maidservant and used what little she had to care for sick orphans. Despite her tragic past, she always reached out to help others and strived for a better world.Malini, on the other hand, was sharp and cunning. She'd experienced her brother's cruelty firsthand and had no intention of letting him continue to rule the empire. It was easy for me to see why people both feared and respected Malini. She was easily the most determined character in the story and was willing to do anything to achieve her goals.The Jasmine Throne was such a beautifully written, epic fantasy tale. I definitely recommend it to any fantasy fans!! I can't wait to find out what happens next in the sequel, The Oleander Sword.

I read this for the Kindle Spring Challenge, it was one of the qualifying reads for the #booktok and ended up due to the great price purchasing it.Did like the author Tasha Siri, writing in 'the Jasmine Throne', definitely will read the sequel and anything else released by her with the Burning Kingdoms series.I found the first part of 'the Jasmine Throne' to be slow tedious read, a lot of characters to keep straight, although it was good enough reading that I continued to read it, and found the 2nd half to be perfectly paced. Did have to continually read through the character listing to refresh who was who, any time it got confusing and was kept engaged enough to know what happens to Priya.My favorite character was Priya, thought both Malini and Bhumika were likable yet they where devious and felt the only miss step was Meena character could really add to the storyline to the end verse having her killed by Priya after revealing she's a rebel, and led to her becoming Malian's maid servant. In all it's a good dark fantasy, great escapism and perfect enough to escape from today's World for a while.

If I had to sum this book up I'd say it's the opening chapter of an epic fantasy in a wonderfully unique South Asian flavored setting, a story about power, love, faith, and family; the costs they require; and the ways they both hollow us out and fill us up.It feels like it starts off slow, but not a word of the setup felt wasted in the end. All of it matters, meticulously setting up the kindling before Suri sparks the conflagration that burns clear through to the story's end. Those who stick with it will be rewarded.Every character is so beautifully fleshed out, painfully complicated in such a human way. It explores moral complexity in a very balanced way, avoiding childishly simple moralizing without letting any of the characters commit terrible acts without consequences, no matter how understandable they may be under the circumstances. Atrocity is still atrocity even when committed for a good cause, but true monstrosity and evil is what comes of *not* wrestling with the morality of your actions and their consequences.My only "complaint" is that I wish the romance had more time, but even that just speaks to the fact that I want more of what Suri is serving.I can't wait to sink my teeth into the next book and however many more there are to come.

Highly recommend this book for its compelling characters, intricate world-building and intimate writing. Fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree will love this! It started off quite slow (understandable as this is the first book of the series), but once the pieces were set, I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to buy the next book in this series.The characters were my favorite part of the book. I'm at awe at the thought Suri put into each of them, especially the main characters of Priya, Malini and Bhumika, each distinctly strong and temperamentally unique from each other. You'll become invested in their stories and root for them despite their morally gray decisions as the story unfolds. Even one of the supposed "bad guys" in the story is a complex anti-hero that I couldn't fully blame for his actions. Strip away the magical and political machinations, what really makes the book compelling are the characters and their complicated relationships with one another ⁠— from sibling relationships to a slow-burn romance and genuine friendships.The writing was also poetically restrained, lush but never dragging or convoluted. The author was able to achieve a delicate nuance of revealing her characters as the story unfolded without simply explaining her characters away, of never judging her characters as good or bad and instead leaving that to the reader.If you're on the fence about this book, rest assured it's well worth it!

Compraré el segundo tomó

This book provided a new world for me to immerse myself in. With well written characters, an interesting plot line, and an interesting and varied use of language (I looked up so many words during this read - I love expanding my vocab in this way), I genuinely looked forward to every opportunity to continue reading.A very satisfying read and one I will be recommending to others.

RAS

Ich sage nur der große Bruder

With women of colour who love women as leads.But first about the writing. The writing is evocative and beautiful and weaves in myths and motifs from South Asia but not in the way of an imaginative retelling (like Amish Tripathi's) but in the way of a story born out of a background filled with such tales. Think Lord of the Rings (and a huger percentage of fantasy since then), set in a world that brings to mind what people thought of the European Middle Ages but not specifically European or even of this world. Suri's world is likewise set in a world that might bring to mind an ancient to medieval South Asia, but only just so. Only in symbols, folk tales, and some of the cultural items. Otherwise, this is a whole new imaginary world and a whole new story.The two protagonists are bold women who are exploring what seems to be the central question of the series. What is strength? Is strength love and the ability to provide for and protect those who love? Or is strength the ability to hurt those who harm you, or those who do not listen to you, and to keep yourself from being hurt by cutting out what love you can from your heart? Is love strength? Or is it a weakness? Is want love? (I am not entirely sure this last question would be explored, but as an ace it is a question that comes to me as I read the book.)That is not the only question explored of course.The series also considers imperialism and zealotry--which is not surprising but still creditworthy given not just our history but the contemporary times both in Britain and in South Asia--and what looks to be a complicated history of a flipped history of invasion and conquest. All that seems to be is not. At least as far as the Ahiranyi (the currently conquered) and the Yaksa are concerned.There is also the question of absolute fate. I don't know if that will be explored in depth in the series. A trilogy may not leave enough space for that. But there is a hint of it in some of the story.The secondary characters are absolute delight too. Strong and well-etched and standing independent of Malini and Priya. I love Rao, liked Prem, and am fascinated by Bhumika. Ashok's journey is cautionary and one that should be a question for everyone. Does decolonization mean, flipping the hierarchy?Best of all, as the author says in her acknowledgements: This book does make desi (and I include people resident in South Asia in it) gay women feel seen. Somewhat. I am happy about that (and to the acknowledgement).I am looking forward to the next in series.