Somaiya Daud as a debut author displays a deft hand at her craft with this Moroccan-inspired story. Aside from the visual appeal, from the first page the reader is drawn in with the descriptions of Andalaan culture, the people, and what the Vathek colonization and continuing effects thereof has meant for them, more specifically for Amani and her story in Mirage. As I was reading this novel, I felt so much: love, terror, empathy, dread. It was so intense, reading this book.

Immediately drawn into the story of Amani, growing up under the Vathek occupation, I was interested in the detail of everything. Somaiya wove so much in descriptions of events (such as the majority ceremony) stories of deities, and continued to build upon these foundations with her characters.

Amani is the person through whom the story is told and whose perspective we learn things through. Her memories, her history, and most importantly to the events of the book, what life is like because of the Vath, the people that colonized her planet and ultimately kidnap her for their own purposes. There are many instances throughout the book that demonstrate colonialism, the attempts to obliterate the Andalaan culture, so much harshness that draws many parallels to real world events that make some scenes alternately sad, heartbreaking, and stomach churning-ly terrifying.

Mirage was also, I found, a nice blend of character and plot driven narrative. It neither relied too heavily on one or the other. There was much to learn and to derive from the narrative, and rich as it was, you then saw it flow through the characters, influencing their evolution. Early on it was easy to think that they might be one dimensional, but there were subtle moments, a flinch or a comment, that built upon one another until you realized that everyone was either changing or not entirely who they were to begin with. It was confusing, but in a fun, Chesire Cat grin spreading sort of way where you are so happy to realize that there's a new discovery to be made about the people you're reading about.

I liked how, even though Amani had a lot of work to do in order to be prepared as Maram's body double, the necessary elements of this preparation were not conveyed to the reader in excruciating detail. The progress was evident, as shown through tests Amani was put to, and small scenes to training with Nadine, a High Vath secretary of the King. That was enough and it kept the plot moving along, a much appreciated thing where it could easily have been bogged down with text that ran to minutiae that was unnecessary.

Mirage has much to offer its readers from political intrigue to historical threads and more. There's a lot it can teach, a lot it can give, and I think it changes each time you pick it up because there are facets in the magic of reading this book. It's possible to understand something new each time you read a certain passage, like watching a movie over and over again and noticing something new in a familiar scene. Somaiya Daud in her debut has hit a level of exquisite quality and more from her, and from the world of Mirage, will be much anticipated from me.




I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.