Mirage is an awesome sci-fi-fantasy-hybrid which will you have you gripped from start to finish. It’s set in a conquered land with rebellion and a really sweet romance subplot which will have you tearing up (most likely, I do cry easily at things though). There’s a lot of hope behind it and the main character is a strong-willed girl who is pretty awesome. The focus was most definitely on the characters’ development throughout but the world itself is a beautiful mix of Moroccan culture along with sci-fi and fantasy elements.

Characters wise, the story is from the point of view of Amani who is almost the double of half-Vathek Princess Maram. The little physical differences she had are cut away from her and it’s pretty painful to read her having her identity taken away completely. Only four people are aware of the plan for her to stand in as Maram and so she’s kept in isolation in the palace. Despite all she’s put through, she remains hopeful throughout and was such a strong character. She’s smart also, to the point where she’s able to hold herself both politically and on a personal level as Maram.

‘I WAS MY MOTHER’S DAUGHTER, AND I WOULD SURVIVE AND ENDURE. I WOULD FIND MY WAY BACK HOME.’

The love interest is that of Maram’s fiancé, Idris, who just so happens to be in a similar position as he’s effectively forced into being with Maram, a prisoner as Amani is though he has a higher position. His family have, for the most part, been brutally murdered by Maram’s father and in response he’s had to become careful and smarter around royalty. We see he has two sides to himself, his true self (who he shows around family and Amani) and his protected self he needs to be around everyone else in his world. His relationship with Amani develops in such a sweet way, though a part of me felt a little bad due to the fact it could upset Maram…

Maram was one of my favourite characters in terms of character development. She’s cruel, yes, but Amani breaks down a lot of her barriers to find that it’s because she feels lonely. She’s half-Vathek and half-Andalaan, feeling like she can’t belong to either. I really loved seeing her warm to Amani and I hope that the friendship could develop more in the future and she doesn’t instead become even crueler as her father is.

One minor theme throughout is poetry, particularly love poetry, and Somaiya inputs this into the story every so often in very heartfelt moments, encouraged by beautiful prose. So yeah — poetry, strong female characters, love, hope, sci-fi, fantasy, another culture I haven’t read much of before… This book was all-in-all a beautiful debut and I can’t wait to read the next in the series!

This is an own voices Moroccan fantasy and sci-fi novel which I feel in love with from the beginning.
It follows the story of Amani who lives on a lesser moon of Andala a planet that has been conquered by the Vath, a ruthless empire who after causing the destruction of their own planet are intent on conquering the solar system Andala resides in and destroying their culture. Amani is taken prisoner by Vath droids during her, and the other girls in her village, coming of age ceremony and taken to the palace of the Vath King as she looks exactly like Princess Maram the heir to the Vath throne. In order to keep her family safe Amani takes up the role of Maram’s body double.
I really liked the character of Amani and the way that she is able to see the good in Maram despite what she has done to her. I also like her growth throughout the book as she doesn’t start of as a fighter but her resilience and will to fight back grows throughout the book. Princess Maram grew on me throughout the book as we learned more about her backstory. I also like the tentative friendship that Amani and Maram build throughout the book.
The romance between Idris, Maram’s fiancé, and Amani is very insta lovey and at the moment I’m really feeling it but I’m hoping it will grow on me in the next book
I loved the world building and the fact that it never feels info dumpy. I also liked the blend of sci-fi, Moroccan mythology and culture.
This book also deals with important and heavy issues from colonization, suppression, war, loss and physical abuse.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and we need more books like this in the SFF world. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Mirage is a Moroccan inspired tale about eighteen-year-old Amani’s dream of travelling the world almost comes true when the Vathek empire kidnaps her. She discovers she looks virtually identical to the half Vathek Princess. A princess so hated by the public that Amani is forced to become her body double, should someone take aim. Amani’s life is on the line as she must mirror the princess to perfection.
Where most would have failed to bring to life these characters, Daud flourishes. Each and every single one had such a strong and exciting presence. Amani and her reluctant friendship with Maram. Amani adjusting to her new role and lifestyle. The entire world and its system are so genuinely amazing. I dived into this thinking it was just a fantasy, but I was utterly surprised away by the sci-fi elements. It is absolutely fantastic. I truly enjoyed Maram, our stone cold princess whom Amani must mirror, the most. Perhaps this is the first time I’m genuinely captivated the villain. Don’t get me wrong, I hated her, but she is so exciting. The relationship dynamic between the two girls were so compelling and fascinating.
This book amazingly showcases the topic of family, culture and tradition. It addresses colonialism and the erasure of cultures and religions via oppression. It is a bit slower than what you’d expect for a fantasy, focusing on exploring the relationships as Amani has to decide whom she can trust but its character interactions and court politics scenes were some of the best in the book.
The books biggest downfall, but wasn’t as weak as it could’ve been, is the romance. Where most books fail is where Daud succeeded was making sure the romance wasn’t the be all and end all of this entire book. Everything else in is this book was so good that the romance, for me, was merely eclipsed that everything else that was good. It still worked in a way that didn’t overpower the narrative. But Amani and Idris can still tug at one’s heartstrings. Hell, even my cons of this book aren’t honestly cons.
Overall, Mirage is a solid debut which kicked off the duology with a strong narrative in a world of magic and danger. The danger and adventure Amani faces in this court that holds her prisoner makes Mirage an utterly captivating read.

IN SUMMARY: With a unique blend of sci-fi elements and Moroccan culture, MIRAGE is sweeping adventure of resilience across the stars, with intense drama and unforgettable characters.

MY THOUGHTS:

This is going on my best reads for 2018 list for sure. Mirage is a short, quiet adventure book, but an adventure no less. Protagonist Amani was engaging and funny, just the right amount of sassy that her quick, witty comebacks don’t come across as obnoxious.

Meanwhile, antagonist Maram is probably my favourite character out of the whole book. The cruel princess that Amani must become to survive, Maram goes through a fantastic arc of self-discovery, heritage and what it means to rule, with an organic character arc. Truly, she is a character I most look forward to reading about in the sequel. Even the love interest had his perks and the romance didn't feel detrimental to the plot.

Unique world-building makes this a refreshing read. Inspired by Morrocan culture, this is great for people who don't like sci-fi; no wallowing in terminology or planet names, or difficult and convoluted features or tech, yet MIRAGE still presents the space-faring elements you would find in classic sci-fi. Soft sci-fi, if you like. Amani’s universe is distinct with the influence of Morrocan culture, and it really stands out for it. The exploration of colonialism and its consequences also added a deeper meaning to the story.

I suppose my expectations were inflated a little, but more drama was needed in the climax. It ended well enough to provide closure, but more would’ve just turned the novel up to eleven.

WILL I READ ON? Yes! I cannot wait for #2!

I would say this book was a highlight of my year, it was so different from other fantasy books I've read in the past.

I loved Amani's character from the beginning and really felt for her when she was taken from her family. As the book progressed I also came round to Maram's side I understood why she acted like she did and I felt her character was the one that grew the most. The friendship between the two of them was lovely to see being developed as well.

The settings were beautifully described, I was there traveling along with them. I can already see it becoming a movie, the sets and scenery would be fantastic!!

Mirage is a YA sci-fi fantasy which follows the story of Amani, a young woman kidnapped from her village and forced to become the body double of the much hated princess, Maram.

I really enjoyed this story. It felt different to so many other YA fantasy books.

I loved the rich cultural heritage and the wonderful world building that Daud was able to bring to life through her descriptive and emotive writing style.

For me the strength of this book lies in the characters and their complex relationships with each other. Initially Amani hates Maram, and understandably so. She’s aloof, cruel and looks down on Amani and her people. However as time passes and they are forced to spend more time together, it becomes clear that Maram is not quite the villain Amani (and the rest of Andala) think she is.

Underlying all of the character drama is the political intrigue of a royal court and a planet at war.

A fascinating read and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series!

4.5 stars!

Mirage will be available in the UK from August 28th.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers (Flatiron books) for providing a copy. All opinions are my own and provided willingly.

Mirage has easily become one of my favourite books of 2018. It was diverse, complex, and oh so interesting. I enjoyed the relationships in this book, especially the one between Amani and Maram. The romance on the other hand wasn't my cup of tea, but that's ok since it wasn't the main focus of the book. The world in Mirage is fascinating and multi-layered. Amani was easy to root for and I admired her strength and determination.

Overall, it was an amazing read!

This is an exciting, interesting story set in a lush fantasy world. One of the few fantasy novels I’ve read recently that actively plays with the frequently thin line between the science fiction and fantasy genres, it’s set in a beautifully crafted world(s) which draws heavily upon Moroccan cultures for inspiration.
Amani is a wonderful narrator – by turns insightful and funny – and the cast is well-populated with similarly complex characters.
If there’s one critique I can offer it’s that the middle of the story feels oddly rushed. It almost felt like Somaiya Daud wanted so badly to write the ending that she breezed through the middle. It made for a quicker read, but it left me wanting.

Overall

This story is sweet and enchanting. I think it's supposed to be badass but I didn't get that. There are predominately female characters and most of these are in high positions which were great and refreshing. To me, this was an entertaining story but mild. The world is pretty amazing and in my head was a mix of middle-eastern culture and living, and science fiction with spaceship and robots. It's a wonderful mix. 

The Story

The story was well developed but not the best presentation aka writing of it. Several scenes were not explained fully or cut short by telling the reader what happened in a sentence and then moved on.

There were events within the story that felt too easy. There wasn't enough struggle or competition or something that caused friction and tension in these individual scenes and events which made it feel too easy. But maybe I've just read really difficult and hardcore book lately... This is the main reason why I describe the story as mild.

Having said that I like the progression of the story. There was a couple of location where I thought I saw a pattern of what would happen, as a classic YA plot twists etc, but they did not occur and left me a tad bit surprised, which was very nice. 

World Building

I loved this world! It's an amazing, very scenic world that mixed middle eastern culture and tradition with space technology and robots. However, the science fiction part is almost left to the background while the middle eastern type living style and the religion took a prominent seat.

I felt there was just the right amount of world building, though I would have liked more information about certain things to add a thickness to the layer. 

Magic System

There is no magic in this story. 

The Characters 

Main character is Amani and she very early on in the book kidnapped and sent to the palace to train to become the hated princess body double. I got told by the writing that she evolves throughout the story but I didn't really see it which is a shame. I didn't fully connect with Amani either. The characters around Amani evolves more than her, I feel. Amani's evolution is more told while the others are more shown which could be the reason why I felt Amains evolution is small; when I'm told something by the author, I never fully believe it until I see it which I didn't. This also prevented me from becoming emotionally connected with Amani. I was way more emotionally invested in Idris than anyone else, so there the author did a good job as I wanted him too

Having said all that I did like Amani as a person and would happily read another book with her in.

LGBTQ+

There is no LGBTQ+ in this story, not in between the lines.

Romance

The romance is very sweet, but I felt, in the beginning, it happened too fast and almost a bit instalove, even though they are engaged (well she's only pretending) and should be close I still felt it was too much of a sudden attraction. 

Writing

I had issues with the writing. There are no spelling mistakes or flawed sentence structure so don't worry about that. But there is a lot of telling instead of showing. And a lot of stuff is cut short (without it actually feeling short) and only told what has happened. For example, there is a scene toward the end when Amani is sneaking out at night through a tunnel to meet someone. The way its described is all about the night and the quiet surroundings, getting out of bed and getting dressed, leaving the room, explaining there would be a tunnel, exiting the tunnel. between two sentences she has walked through the tunnel. there is no explanation of her feelings, her stress, or nerves or anything which gives me a feeling of trepidation or something. These scenes annoyed me mainly because the potential is there but not utilised to the full extent which is a shame really.

This is the area that lets the book down. If the writing had been thicker and more showing than telling, this book would have been an amazing book because the story is already there. 

Summary

My main issue was the writing which annoyed me. There was too much telling instead of showing, and several events were just informed of by a sentence instead of shown in a scene. I also couldn't connect with the main character. I felt more for Idris. I had a deeper connection with him than any other character.

I enjoyed this book, but It felt a bit easy and sweet to me. I can see this as a movie though 😉 It's a very scenic book!

I will read the second book in the series though as I really enjoyed the story and the world.

I don't think I've read a Fantasy / Sci-fi book like this. Where the Princess kidnaps a girl because she needs a body double. I was instantly intrigued where this would go.
Although it was slow at times I still had no real trouble reading it and staying interested.
The world building is amazing.
The romance is predictable and would usually annoy me but for some reason I didn't mind it with this.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I really loved this book, the world building was amazing and thw writing was so immersive. I only really had one problem... It seemed so slow... Not sure if this is just me and having trouble with books again or if it's the actual writing... Which is doubtful with how much I enjoyed it

3.5 stars.

Okay, so a quick summary: Amani, a village girl from the conquered Kushaila people, is discovered to be identical to the Vath princess Maram and taken to serve as her double in dangerous situations. And there are a LOT of dangerous situations, because Maram has very definitely burned her bridges with everyone. In the process Amani ends up falling in love with Maram's fiance Idris and becomes a Kushaila spy.

Let's discuss the good first. I loved that this was a completely Arabic/Islamic-oriented fantasy; we're finally branching out from the time when Russian folklore was the most exotic thing on the menu. Although the book's central conflict is drawn pretty firmly on racial lines, with the Kushaila being brown and the Vathek blond, it doesn't throw in the sexism trope too. Many societies depicted are matriarchal and others are completely uninterested in the gender of the ruler.

Maram is the absolute shining star of the whole novel. She's shunned by her Vathek father and his people, but also by the people of her dead Kushaila mother, whom she resembles. She's capricious and cruel but an incredibly well-drawn character - as Amani comments, it's easy to pity her, and she was by far my favourite character in the book. She's always been isolated from everyone else, never made to feel like she belongs anywhere, forced to grow an adamantine outer shell to protect herself... the author portrays her with a true sense of us as three-dimensional humans, although she softens perhaps a bit too quickly in light of her previous actions.

Now for the bad. Amani, despite being the main character, felt pretty flat to read about, and her romance with Idris was even flatter. Both are tepid characters with tepid emotions that didn't come through at all. Their exchanged 'I love you's at the end of the book were laughable. Daud also failed to take full advantage of the world she created. Because everything is actually happening IN SPACE, a fact you might well be forgiven for missing, since it's never discussed - they live on a random moon of a random planet, but that's it. Not a single piece of action happens in space. It probably would have helped the novel to cut the unnecessary space element from it, since it functions perfectly well as a normal fantasy world.

On the whole, not a bad book, and I may read the sequel solely for Maram, but none of the other characters gripped me at all and the storyline only somewhat did.

Another YA book, just okay, but I guess it's not original, same concepts, setting is different but there is still golden-hearted princesses, and princes, villains and pumped up Romance.
I don't think it's possible to be original in YA category. Honestly.
This is not real world, not even close to it. I know the genre says fantasy but human psychology and emotions are not what it's being reflected in young adult books. Do we really want our children / teens to read this nowhere close to reality books and have unrealistic expectations from their lives? Every book I read from this genre, I ask myself this same question.
Probably not my cup of tea.

This was a solid example of YA fantasy. The setting, characters, plot, imagery and world building were all suited to the target age group. As an adult reader I felt Mirage didn't transcend the category of YA and it seemed slightly limited and lacking in all the aforementioned aspects. The romance was also frustratingly predictable. But it is well written with a hooky cliffhanger ending and I can see that it will be extremely popular and well received.

This book was entertaining and OK, but nothing so original going on that's different than the usual YA fantasies out there.
The book was well written and it had an interesting concept. I had fun reading it. But, I also hoped there would be some uniqueness, something really different that would set it apart from the others in the genre. Sadly, there wasn't. Same palace, princess story with a bit of a different context is what this book is.
In addition, don't expect a lot of action except through the end a bit. The romance was also as expected, didn't develop very well in my opinion.
So, overall, fun, easy read.

I started Mirage without realising there was going to be a science fiction element. Don’t judge me for not reading the blurb before starting - I was out in the world with no internet. But the worldbuilding in Mirage is so gorgeous that I’m almost glad that was my starting point so that I could be surprised by the interplanetary setting, and learn about it completely afresh. The different cultures in this book and the power dynamics between them are inordinately well-written. The detail is given throughout the book without having any huge info-dumps which is my preferred method of worldbuilding as I think it helps everything to feel more real.

Obviously, and I probably ought to have started with this, I am a white lady and there will certainly be a good number of nuances that I will miss in the reading of this. Any errors I make in my interpretation are accidental and I apologise. I recommend keeping an eye out for own voices reviews either on the Goodreads page or on the internet. If I find any I will come back and link them here.

I thought Amani was a great main character, she has a lot of fight to her but, for the most part, she makes sensible and believable choices. I’m all for a flawed character but I enjoyed the fact that Amani had a real sense of the danger she was in and was therefore quite calculating as a character. You get the feeling that she thinks through her decisions, that she’s aware of the choices she makes.

When Amani is impulsive it tends to be in relation to the romance aspect of this book, her budding interest in the princess’ fiancé Idris does take up a lot of the narrative. For some people, this may seem a little worn out as a plot device, but I think that this story handles it in a great way, it doesn’t feel gratuitous, it feels very real and very pertinent to the plot.

The poetry and the way it was brought into the plot was one of the most compelling aspects of this book, in my opinion. I’ve read a lot of books that incorporate poetry for whatever reason (often it’s prophecy), but the way this book used poetry and Amani’s love for it as an example of the cultural erasure in this setting was incredibly powerful.

I loved this as a book on its own but I think I love it even more as a set-up to a second novel. The character development and the development of relationships are so wonderfully done that I just want to read more.

My rating: 5/5 stars

Now THIS is the feminist YA fantasy of 2018, not Heart of Thorns. It's imperfect, yes, falling into a number of debut author traps, but it's a slow-burning, diverse fantasy with a rich, Moroccan-inspired setting.

Somewhat surprisingly, Mirage is a character-driven fantasy. Most YA fantasy I read is driven by mindless action and romance, but Daud crafts fascinating relationship dynamics between her female characters. Amani's romance with Idris was unexciting to me, but that's okay because it was totally eclipsed by the far more interesting growing relationship between Amani and Maram (I was kinda hoping the romance would be between them, to be honest).

In this world - a vaguely sci-fi setting that reads like a fantasy (not unlike Meyer's Lunar Chronicles) - Amani is kidnapped from her poor village on the moon, Cadiz, and taken to the royal palace, the Ziyaana, on the planet of Andala. There she finds she is the body double of the cruel princess Maram and must pose as the princess and learn to imitate her at societal events.

The book looks at themes of colonialism and the erasure of native cultures. Andala has been invaded and occupied by the Vathek Empire-- which cannot coincidentally share the name of Beckford's orientalist Vathek. Away from the prying eyes of the Vathek elite, Amani and Idris celebrate Kushaila poetry and bond over their stories of the occupation.

But what I enjoyed most was how Daud develops Maram into such a complex and interesting character. I love "villains" who are more than simply bad. I dislike so much that she does but I care about her, too. Also interesting is Amani's navigation through the political and social world she finds herself in, and how easily she soon finds it to become Maram, even seduced by the power she holds.

As I said, it's not perfect. The sci-fi elements are perfunctory in a novel that otherwise seems to be a straight-up fantasy book. The addition of droids adds nothing of interest, which is disappointing. There is also the standard "character made to recite world history for no good reason" that happens so often in YA fantasy. There has to be a better way to integrate this info.

It's a slower book than the average YA fantasy, focusing on conversations and exploring relationships. Amani must juggle allies and decide who, if anyone, she can trust. And, you know, it was actually really refreshing-- to have both a unique setting and a tale that focuses on character interactions and court politics. I'll be reading the sequel.

This was a surprising read for me. I didn't know what to expect going in but I really enjoyed it. Mirage is a YA fantasy novel mixed with elements of sci-fi. The writing was really good but the beginning was a bit slow though the pace definitely amped upped in the latter half of the book.

Mirage is one of those books where you finish it and go to review it and think how the hell do I review this book, because it is just that good. So that's pretty much where I'm at right now, in between incoherently flailing over this book, so if this review stops making sense at some point, I apologise.

If you like books that have a mix of fantasy and sci-fi, this will be for you. I say fantasy, but it's more fantasy-esque - court intrigue, rebels and rulers, but all set in a system of planets. For a book that was set in space, there's actually less science in the science fiction aspect than I expected - but for a couple of mentions of spaceships and communication devices, it's very sparse. I kind of feel like I wanted more of it, but also, it's not like a huge thing that disrupts my reading of the book, so.

Central to the plot of this book is a relationship between two girls. It starts out as the blurb says: Amani is kidnapped in order to become the body double for the cruel princess Maram. On the basis of other books with similar kinds of plots, I assumed that that would be that, the story would progress with Maram remaining cruel and Amani joining the rebels behind her back. The reality is somewhat different. I won't spoil anything, but this book contains some of the best character and relationship development I've read in a while. Also, "Older siblings protect their younger siblings," I said. "Remember?". Just wreck me why don't you.

That being said, I expected to like the romance between Idris and Amani more than I did. Part of the reason was that it felt a little rushed and instalove-y - they only really know each other for a few days and then they're suddenly kissing and a few weeks later declaring love. If you have a series, you might as well take as much time to develop the relationship as much as possible, get them pining after one another maybe. Just. Make me feel desperate for them to get together. In this case, I almost felt like the interactions between Amani and Arinaas held more promise than Amani and Idris (give me rebel girlfriends!). The instalove is why I'd probably rate this 4.5 stars, though I'm rounding up to 5 stars because of the ending.

Sometimes I find that, with books like this, where you're setting up someone in a new place, where they have to learn to navigate a new society, the story can drag a little in the middle section, after they arrive, but before Shit Goes Down. (I'm thinking like how I found the pacing in The Belles.) In this book, everything happens, if not rapidly, then at a good pace. Sure, there were some things that might have been dwelt on more, but overall the pacing being like it was kept me from even the possibility of losing interest in the book at any point. And then the ending!

The ending of this book broke my heart, honestly. Like properly ripped it to shreds. And then gave me the tiniest slither of hope for the second book. Like that could make up for what happened in the last 20 pages.

So, in summary: thanks for the heartbreak, Somaiya Daud.

For the most part I really enjoyed this story. It's not super unique for a YA fantasy, but the writing was beautiful and it was addictive to read. The first half of the book was a little slow, and at times boring (sorry), and it wasn't until later into the second half where the story started to get more exciting and things started to happen.
The romance aspect to the story didn't particularly wow me either. It was very insta-lovey and it felt forced - - I would have liked a slower burn romance instead, it just didn't feel real to me.
It was a great start to a new series and I look forward to continuing on with the story.