As soon as I heard Illumicrate’s January theme was “Royal Secrets” and its featured book was This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi, I knew I was in for another delightful discovery. And I wasn’t mistaken! This book has everything I adore in a novel. Curious to learn what else was included in the box? Read my full unboxing here.

This Woven Kingdom

This Woven Kingdom is a YA fantasy inspired by Persian mythology and tells the tale of a young woman destined to be queen, and a young man forced to bow to the strict rules surrounding his throne.

For years, war raged between the Clay (humans) and the Jinn (supernatural beings that rules the Earth before the arrival of mankind). However, when new equality laws were passed, a tentative truce came to be. But while this new legislation ended the bloodshed, it did not at all create equality. Jinn are now allowed to exist, but they cannot use their magical talents any longer. But the prophecy has foretold the death of the human king by the hand of a Jinn with frosted blood…

Alizeh has been hidden her entire life, knowing that she would one day rise up and save her people. But after the death of her parents, she is forced to live the life of an anonymous servant. But everything changes when she meets Kamran, heir to the Clay throne…

A true jewel

Oh boy, did I love this novel. I have to admit it took a bit of getting used to, seeing that the writing style is rather dense and the dialogues are a tad unexpected (think Austen or Brontë). However, I soon was completely lost in the story. I absolutely loved the Persian mythology references like the creation myth and the Arabian setting.

What I found remarkable was the use of chapter cliffhangers. That’s not a technique that I’m very familiar with (although Kingdom of the Wicked did it to some extend in the first chapters, as explained in my review) but it’s simply brilliant. I told myself every time that the chapter I was reading was the last one for the night but…

Furthermore, I had no idea where the story was going to go at most points in the book, which I always find a pleasant feeling. There were several events that I had not seen coming AT ALL. Nicely done! Not to mention that spectacular ending…

And the devil, she reasoned, could go to hell

I quite liked both main characters, but I wasn’t fully blown away by them though. Alizeh I found interesting and not at all annoying (which is often the case with YA heroines, unfortunately), but I don’t feel really close to her yet. Kamran has a lot of potential (dark, broody prince, hell yeah), but he didn’t have enough depth to entirely convince me either. He felt a bit like a toned down version of Nasir in We Hunt the Flame. Nevertheless, the chemistry between them made them interesting enough. I could make a similar parallel to the prince’s minister, who reminded me a lot of Altair from that same duology, but, once again, a bit watered down. The strongest feelings I had were about the king (simply hate that guy) and the princess (seriously, WTF?). One of the most interesting characters is one that didn’t get a lot of page-time (yet): The devil. Definitely looking forward to get to know his role in the story better. So in conclusion, definitely potential, but I think the characters could use a little bit more depth in general.

I also greatly appreciated the concept of magic as a mineral that needs to be unearthed. That’s not one I’ve often encountered, so it was really interesting and I’m looking forward to learning more about this in the next books.

I cannot wait until part two of this new trilogy is published <3 Four out of five gemstones:

Age Category: YA, but definitely also suitable for an older audience

Trigger Warnings (click here, may contain spoilers)

Mild. Warnings for parental death, neglect and abuse.

As you know, I try to learn a new word each time I read a book. This time, it’s “Acerbity” which turns out to be something I tend to use a lot: sharpness & directness in speech.

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.

Amazon.nl: Hardcover edition

If you can find it, I would highly recommend the Illumicrate edition, however. It’s without a doubt one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever seen. The naked cover is simply magical and fits the theme perfectly. A picture can be found in my unboxing!

Similar to this

If you loved this book as much as I did, you definitely needs to check out We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal as well. As you can read in my review, it’s a Persian setting filled with magic, royalty, and assassins. Definitely one of my favourite stories! It’s not the easiest read either, but I felt that the characters were more explored in depth than they were in This Woven Kingdom.

I haven’t read the Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi yet, but I’ve heard many good things about it. It’s quite an extended series about a girl with a lethal touch. Not a premise I fall immediately in love with, but it’s such a classic in its genre that I will definitely try the first book soon. Edit: Unfortunately, this series turned out not to be for me.

If you want to be stunned, however, I would very much recommend A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. It’s one of the very first books I received in a book box and it’s not typically something I would pick up, but it simply blew me away. It’s a YA contemporary about a young Muslim girl having to deal with racism and stereotyping after the events of 9/11. It’s really, really good. Unfortunately, I didn’t write reviews yet when I read it so I cannot refer you to a full review, but I can say that the writing of Mafi is truly remarkable and adapted to each of her genres. The style of this book is completely different to This Woven Kingdom (and also a lot easier to read). If I had already written reviews at the time, I would definitely have given this book four gemstones too! (Note: you can find a brief review on my Goodreads).

Recap: This Woven Kingdom

I’ve decided to add a new section to my blog for books that are part of a series. With this section, you’ll be able to prepare for the next book when it is published. Of course, this is by default full of spoilers, so I’ll be hiding it behind a spoiler tag. Enter at your own risk!

Want a recap before starting the next part? (click here, contains spoilers)

World: : Inspired by Persian Mythology. Two types of beings live in a tentative truce with one another: the Clay (the Humans) and the Jinn (beings with magic). The Devil is a Jinn and his fall caused the Jinn to be in disgrace and led to tension later on between them and the newer inhabitants of the Earth, the Clay. Equality laws have ended the wars but Jinn are now oppressed and have to hide their powers. Magic is a mineral resource that needs to be mined and is therefore rare, but available to Clay as well.

Main characters: Alizeh, long lost queen of the Jinn with frost in her blood. Works as a servant (“snoda”) and seamstress. Has a peculiar bond with the Devil. Kamran is the heir to the throne of the Clay. His grandfather the king doesn’t fully believe he’s loyal and tries to force him into a marriage to ensure the throne is safe.

Plot: Kamran observes Alizeh surviving an attack on the street and showing the boy mercy. He intervenes (when she’s already gone) and ends up saving the boy’s life. Because of this, the king starts to question his common sense. He explains himself by saying he feared the girl was a spy from an enemy kingdom. An investigation is started, and the royal family learns that Alizeh is the long lost Jinn queen who is foretold to kill the king. The king decides that she needs to die, but Kamran becomes closer and closer to her. What he doesn’t know, however, is that his minister and best friend has reached out to her to save her and bring her out of harm’s way. At the royal ball, the king of that enemy kingdom – who turns out to obey the Devil – kills Kamran’s grandfather and whisks her away to his kingdom to marry her.