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A review by beckythebibliophile
Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
5.0
Wow. This book was incredible.
I picked it up thinking I could do with a nice light YA fantasy after finishing Babel and I couldn't have been more wrong.
I tend to view YA fantasy generally in the same vein as blockbuster action films; they don't have to be masterpieces as long as I have fun consuming them! I am assuming that Empire of Sand falls into the marketing category of YA (guessing based on length, character age and PGness of certain scenes) but it didn't fall into the usual pitfalls that YA fantasy books do which usually result in me knocking a star off.
❤ The prose was beautifully written and I really enjoyed experiencing a fantasy world that wasn't inspired by Western culture.
❤ The world and magic system, although not hugely developed (this book is only around 400 pages) were unique and interesting.
❤ The characters were excellent. I have made it no secret that I am a character reader and their personalities and developments are more important to me than the plot. Often, with the shorter page count of YA books, the characters can take a hit but not in Empire of Sand! Tasha Suri narrowed it down so there are only really two central characters: Mehr and Amun. This meant that we had plenty of time to get to know them and really be invested in what was happening to them.
This book isn't perfect but I do know that this story and these characters are going to sit with me for a long time. I was dissapointed to find out that the sequel revolves around completely different characters... 😔
I picked this book up by mere chance and after reading it don't understand why it's not praised more! I know it is 5 years old but I couldn't recommend this book more. 😁
I picked it up thinking I could do with a nice light YA fantasy after finishing Babel and I couldn't have been more wrong.
I tend to view YA fantasy generally in the same vein as blockbuster action films; they don't have to be masterpieces as long as I have fun consuming them! I am assuming that Empire of Sand falls into the marketing category of YA (guessing based on length, character age and PGness of certain scenes) but it didn't fall into the usual pitfalls that YA fantasy books do which usually result in me knocking a star off.
❤ The prose was beautifully written and I really enjoyed experiencing a fantasy world that wasn't inspired by Western culture.
❤ The world and magic system, although not hugely developed (this book is only around 400 pages) were unique and interesting.
❤ The characters were excellent. I have made it no secret that I am a character reader and their personalities and developments are more important to me than the plot. Often, with the shorter page count of YA books, the characters can take a hit but not in Empire of Sand! Tasha Suri narrowed it down so there are only really two central characters: Mehr and Amun. This meant that we had plenty of time to get to know them and really be invested in what was happening to them.
This book isn't perfect but I do know that this story and these characters are going to sit with me for a long time. I was dissapointed to find out that the sequel revolves around completely different characters... 😔
I picked this book up by mere chance and after reading it don't understand why it's not praised more! I know it is 5 years old but I couldn't recommend this book more. 😁