Prose - 5
Plot - 3.5
Characters - 3.5
Enjoyment - 4
"Couldn't put it down" ness - 4

Wow! Just wow. So evocative and enchanting. Some of the descriptions are jaw-dropping beautiful. The world is amazing, the magic system...magical. The pacing is slow but deliciously so. I just wished the ending was stronger and characters more nuanced and less monstrous but I am not exactly complaining! The last few chapters are terribly slow (more slow than usual) and at times I didn't want to continue, other than that it is a great book.Interestingly, there is not much focus on the romance (slow burn sapphic).

Overall, it is a great book but I am not sure if I am dying to read the sequel as I think it suffers from a weak ending. I craved more action! But it is entirely a matter of taste and I do recommend the book!


*I received an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review from the publisher.

I've been so, so bored of fantasy trends for the past while. Since most published fantasy is being released in a Western setting with Western, heterosexual main characters, I'm not getting a lot of variety and it was making picking up new books a chore.

But then along comes Tasha Suri and I could not be more grateful

We have an entire main and supporting cast of morally grey and diverse characters that are living in a South East Asian inspired fantasy world. The main characters, Priya and Malini, are so well-written and it has been absolutely refreshing to see the world from their eyes. We also get the incredible supporting cast who serve to further build on and explore the world and I never had to go through a chapter wishing that this person's POV would just end so I could move on to someone else.

Speaking of the world, it has been so exciting to learn more about. The author has been able to give such vivid descriptions that I can know what the world looks like even without a map. We have our political courts and neighbouring nations/characters set up and I'm so excited to see where she takes us from here. It does have a soft magic system but, not to spoil anything, I won't go into that. I will say that I did still enjoy the magic in this book, even when I generally prefer harder magic systems.

Lastly, it would be a disservice to this author and this book to not point out the quality of the writing style. Her prose is engaging and fluid from the start and it was so pleasant to read through. Tasha Suri is clearly comfortable in her writing style and knows how to evoke what she wants the reader to see without forcing you to sit through disengaging purple prose.

Absolutely loved this book and would recommend to anyone that wants to experience that feeling you get when exploring a new adventure with memorable characters.

5/5 stars. aches. hurts. in love.

rep: indian coded lesbian main characters, indian coded cast

do you like enemies to reluctant allies to lovers, morally grey characters, yearning is in the almost kisses, tenderly washing your lovers hair, accidental hand holding in a dark forest night?

The Jasmine Throne is the first book in the burning kingdoms duology, an engrossing tale of two women, survivors who become unlikely allies to save the empire, with a slow burn romance in the make set in Ahiranya, a colonized nation on the verge of war.

Reading this book was an amazing experience, I kept wanting to savor it sweetly yet anxiously turned pages, wanting to know more. Tasha writes an imaginative and wonderful tale of survival and taking control that’s been stolen from you with characters that are so flawed and so human that you can’t help but root for.

It’s also the queer south asian fantasy of my dreams, I felt an aching tenderness like this was everything I could’ve wanted and more.

I love how the romantic aspects are so well balanced with the plot, how every side character is so well fleshed out, how the narrative never condemns Bhumika for making the best of her options. I ended up caring about all of them, especially Rukh and even Ashok.

I also love how despite everything, Priya’s kindness and her love for her homeland never diminishes. She’s allowed to be soft, without it being portrayed as a weakness. The tension between her and Malini is delirious and frantic and lovely to behold.

The worldbuilding is wonferful and I loved how Tasha put a spin on some of the folklore and stories about the yaksha

All in all The Jasmine Throne is my favorite book of 2021 and I eagerly await it’s sequel. Highly recommended!

content warnings: (from the author’s website) explicit violence including immolation and self-immolation, gender-based violence (no sexual assault), homophobia and internalised homophobia(minor), suicidal ideation, self-mutilation, abusive family dynamics, child murder, body horror (plant-based, cosmic), forced drug use and depictions of addiction/withdrawal

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.

I more or less inhaled these 500+ novel in two days.
Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne may be one of the best high fantasy novels I've ever read. Superbly written The Jasmine Throne presents its readers with an evoking Indian inspire setting, A+ world-building, a cast of compelling and morally ambiguous characters, a sapphic romance (think Fingersmith by way of Marie Rutkoski), and plenty of intriguing storylines that will keep you on the edge-of-your-seat. In other words, The Jasmine Throne is high fantasy at its best. It is exceedingly original and utterly captivating.

But some men dream of times long dead, and times that never existed, and they're willing to tear the present apart entirely to get them.

The Jasmine Throne transports us to Ahiranya a nation plagued by a peculiar disease known as the rot. Ahiranya was conquered by Paraijatdvipa which is ruled by the fanatical Emperor Chandra. Between the 'rot-riven' and the growing discontentment towards the harsh Paraijatdvipan rule, Ahiranya is a nation on the verge.
Priya who works in the household of the regent of Ahiranya tries to help 'rot-riven' children. Although she does her best to hide her true identity and past the arrival of Malini, Emperor Chandra's disgraced sister, complicates things, especially when Malini witnesses her powers.

After refusing to be burned at a pyre, in order to be 'purified', Malini is sent by her zealot brother to Hirana, a treacherous temple that was left abandoned after the deaths of its 'children'.

Once Malini sees Priya in action she requests her as her maidservant. The two feel pulled to each other but both are aware that their desires may not align.

The Jasmine Throne provides its readers with a fantastic cast of characters. First, Priya and Malini. These two young women have been through a lot (and when I say a lot, I mean it). They have every reason not to trust one another but they cannot deny the nature of their feelings. To call it 'love' doesn't feel quite right given the positions they are in. Malini's brother is responsible for many horrific things, many of them which have left their mark on Priya and her homeland. Also, both at one point or another end up using the other. Yet, their relationship is *chef's kiss*. There is yearning, lust, hate, understanding...
Of course, I found each of their character arcs to be just as captivating as the relationship that develops between them. They face many impossible situations and we may not always agree with their choices.
The characters around them are just engaging. From Bhumika, the regent's wife, to Rao, Prem, and even Ashok. I loved the tension between all of them, as well as the betrayals and revelations we get along the way.

The world-building is top tier stuff. From the religions (we have the nameless god, the yaksa, the mothers of flame, each one is truly intriguing) and tales that shape each empire (the nameless to the magical elements. I found Suri's storytelling to be truly immersive. There are many beautiful and haunting passages (“Family don't have a duty to be kind to you. They have a duty to make you better. Stronger.” and “The first time Malini learned how to hold a knife was also the day she learned how to weep.”), as well as insightful discussions on power, revenge, and forgiveness.

It had been a while since I'd read something that gave me the so-called 'feels' but The Jasmine Throne sure did. Suri has crafted an engrossing tale that made me feel as if I was riding a rollercoaster. And that finale...wow. I have yet to recover from it. Suffice to say, I am anxious about the sequel (please Suri, be gentle on us!).

Set against a bejeweled, tropical (South-Asian-inspired) backdrop, The Jasmine Throne tracks treasonous ambitions against a tainted throne and a broken, tyrannical rule that sets temples and sacred spots ablaze, twists religious truths and tests long-held loyalties, and a rebellion that burns remorseless and bitter, beckoning a rebirth to remake their state into one that blooms once more, amidst a thorny sickness that snakes through their homeland - with two spirited sapphic heroines at the helm of the action. Fashioning a fascinating world with warmly flowing, flowery words and fiery faiths, flayed peace and fated warfare, Tasha Suri manipulates a mix of perspectives to force matters of morality, mortality, magnanimity, and muted monstrousness to the forefront of a fast-paced, multi-layered plot with prose as piercing as its protagonists are fatal.

To put it plainly, The Jasmine Throne has it all: cunning politesse and clout-seeking politicking, power-hungry princes and plotting commoners, class partitions and purity clap-backs, portentous promises and the calculated poisoning of a canny prisoner, a not-quite-commoner who carves out a path for herself crosses with a princess she cannot help care but about...and must hollow herself out for. And nestled within its depths is an unworldly narrative of deadly divination, nameless deities, and deathless waters....I am wine-drunk with wonder at how it all wrapped up, utterly devoted to Priya and Malini, and dying to dive deeper into the Burning Kingdoms universe....book 2 when?!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit/Little, Brown Book Group UK for kindly passing on this arc! 💫