Court of Lions

I absolutely loved Mirage and was a little worried when the date for Court of Lions kept being pushed back, but I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed this sequel perhaps even more than the first instalment. I love reading about politics and court intrigue, which is what Court of Lion primarily focuses on, and I very much enjoyed reading about the different families and their histories - and how their pasts and loyalties could impact the future that seems so out of reach at the start of the novel.

I'm glad that the relationship between Amani and Maram remains central to the story and that there isn't a huge span of the book where they don't see each other or have any interaction. There are stretches of the novel where they don't have a great many encounters, but what encounters they do have are significant, with consequences for them both or indications of character history or progress. Their journey doesn't centre heavily around the imbalance of power between them, as the end of Mirage might have suggested, but how far they trust each other with their hopes and fears. Amani swiftly emerges as seemingly the stronger of the two, largely out of a desire to protect and be faithful to Maram, for she is the only one who has seen the struggles that she is experiencing and appears to understand that she is finally growing into herself and becoming more than the Vath would have her be. Though Maram is often inconsiderate in what she orders Amani to do (most 'orders' start this way and soon become requests) and can seem manipulative, she doesn't have all of the information available that Amani does, nor does she understand what it is to have friends or family that she can trust with anything of her true self, and Amani has already been less than truthful to her before. They are often at their best when working together, and Maram ultimately wants Amani's friendship and to forge relationships, in this instance and others, no matter how she struggles.

The majority of Maram's story in Court of Lions centres around her trying to make peace with the two halves of her heritage: primarily, what her father wants her to be (and whether she has any desire to even attempt to please him any more) and her mother's legacy. I loved what we get to see of Maram taking steps to learn about her mother's people and the culture that her father has deliberately kept her disconnected and distanced from in her role as his heir, determined that she is his child, and therefore only one of the Vath, and not Kushaila at all. In the raising of her, he and Nadine have attempted to rewrite her own history and excluded her from learning all that her mother would have taught her and what Kushaila women know how to do, including leaving her struggling with the language barrier that bars her from experiencing literature and poetry in its original form, distancing her from her cultural birthright and what plays an integral role for other Kushaila. While her marriage and pressure of being her father's heir threatens to force her into roles she doesn't want, it's the realisation that there are actually things in life that she wants for herself that begins to encourage her to explore her roots and feel that it's her mother's line she ought to honour and not her vicious father's. This slow acknowledgement of herself as a person and not simply a heir to be used means that she does step back from the true political machinations going on in her name, making it look somewhat like Amani is the one doing all the work, but without Maram's making this progress in terms of having her own thoughts, feelings and desires, there would be no potential leader with an investment in her people to rally behind.

I find that I'm not usually a huge fan of romances in YA fiction, but I found that both of the love stories in Court of Lion were compelling (Idris and Amani's relationship in Mirage perhaps having been a little bit too along the lines on insta-love), and I especially liked Maram's and how the time shifts in the first half of the novel are used to shed light on her behaviour in the present day.

I have been waiting so long for Court of Lions that I almost can’t believe now that it’s here. But it is here, and it was so definitely worth the wait.

The book picks up pretty much immediately following the end of Mirage. Which was sort of good because I couldn’t remember a whole lot of what happened in Mirage, and starting so close on the tail of the ending meant that there was just a hint of a rundown of what happened. So that definitely helped.

(At this point, I feel obliged to note that if you haven’t read Mirage, what on earth have you been doing instead??)

Unlike Mirage, Court of Lions has a dual POV setup. Which means we finally get to see Maram’s POV (although it does not quite follow the same timeline as Amani’s, starting further back before catching up). And I loved being able to see that, because it really shows her turmoil, does she follow Amani, her proclaimed sister, or does she bow to her father’s will? And, of course, it means we get to see first hand her romance with Aghraas.

In addition to Maram’s POV, what I loved about the book was the characters. This was true in the first book, but doubly true here. In Mirage, I found myself not really liking Idris and Amani’s relationship because it felt a little rushed. But that was actually one of my favourite parts of this book, because of the whole forbiddin and angst-ridden facets of it.

And the way everything developed, with first Maram and Amani plotting, then Idris joining in? I loved seeing all three of them together and interacting.

I think the only thing I would say here is that the book never really felt high-stakes in the same way as Mirage did. It was almost like all the hard work in building up tension was done there, and now it’s all downhill (i.e. easy) from here. In any other book, that might have caused me to round down, but I just loved the characters too much to do that.

Overall then, Court of Lions is a highly satisfying and enjoyable conclusion to the duology. I only wish it had been about ten times the length.

"Oh," I breathed out. "You should never beg."

Two years may not seem that long to wait for the sequel to a book... any GRRM fans out there know what i'm talking about. But I loved Mirage SO MUCH and when we finally got a release date for Court of Lions I was over the moon. Court of Lions picks up after the end of Mirage. Amani has lost Maram's trust after she found out she was working with the rebels, all the hard work that Amani had put in to getting Maram onto her people's side seems like it is lost, and Amani must behave, especially after seeing how easily Nadine can access and hurt her family. But Maram still needs Amani to work as her double, as they are thrust together again, Amani knows this is her last chance to show Maram a different world, one where she could be an equal and fair leader. But there are obstacles in her path, namely Idris the man she shouldn't but does love, and the rebels that Maram wants nothing to do with. Amani must use every skill learnt at court if she is to achieve the world her people deserve. 

One thing that makes this book different from its predecessor is we get Maram's perspective. Mirage was told solely from Amani's POV, and trust me I love Amani. but reading from Maram's POV made us as the reader see her in a totally new light. She may come across as spoilt and quick to anger, but when you look at who raised her and how she is treated by those who claim to love her, you can understand her behaviour and unwillingness to go against her father. Her chapters brought a whole new depth to the book, bringing us new characters as well as a greater understanding of her as a person. Don't worry though. The majority of the book is still told from Amani's POV and she grows SO MUCH in Court of Lions. We see her come to an understanding, what exactly is she willing to sacrifice to ensure the safety of her people, who she can trust with her deepest secrets and will her love for Idris overcome their differences, both in opinion and stature. 

Sci-Fi and Fantasy blend together to create the world in which Amani resides. Daud gives us an encompassing and engrossing cultural history filled with folklore. We not only get insights into the modern way the people live filled with spaceships and spaceports, but Daud manages to give us their mythological and cultural history through stories and poems... some of which are more important to the overall story than others. How peaceful their lives were before the Vath invaded and forbade many practices, changing their culture completely. You see them grasping to what is left over, certain traditions they were allowed to keep and it is heartbreaking. There are people willing to fight for change, and other scared of what might happen if they lose to the vath again, and we get to  see both sides of the argument: Amani and the rebels see it as having nothing left to lose, whereas Idris shies away from the thought of living through another purge and watching those he loves die

There are battles, and boy are they epic. But death wise... and this is something that Susan and I disagreed on... there weren't as many as most people would expect. Susan thought the ending was too clean (the darker the better as far as she is concerned) and while I saw her viewpoint, I understood why the author ended it the way she did. Amani's people had already lost so much from the Vath invasion, not only in lives lost but their culture as a whole. Daud manages to make you feel the losses of the past as if they occured in the present, something that we rarely see but has an emotional impact nonetheless. Don't get me wrong... there are deaths on both sides... just maybe not as many as most people would expect. 

When I was re-reading Mirage I forgot just how swoonworthy Amani and Idris were together... and trust me it only gets worse in Court of Lions. They love each other, that is undeniable, but to be together would mean risking the lives of everyone they love, and they are unwilling to chance it. But this means we get a brilliant and steamy slow burn romance, two people who desperately want each other, but cannot act on it. Even when Amani is pretending to be Matram she has to keep her composure as the Princess would do herself. I wont say whether they get their happy ending or not but I rooted for them from page one. 

There are SO many hints throughout this book as to the true characters of certain people, who would end up with who etc and the author leaves us just enough bread crumbs for us to at least have a few guesses. That's not to say there aren't plot twists, because there definitely are, especially one at the end that had both Susan and I saying WTF! There isn't a whole lot of action until the end, but if you liked the more political scheming side to Mirage then boy will you love this book. seeing Amain and Maram working together, growing as friends, leaning on each other. They are the ultimate power couple... without the usual benefits but some of their scenes together had me whooping out loud.

If you loved Mirage I can safely say you will not be disappointed by the sequel. You can see how the author was trying to make it into a trilogy, and TBH I totally would have read it. But it ended brilliantly in my opinion, there were a couple of loose ends but as a whole the story gets tied together in a nice, neat, emotional bow.

After just finishing Mirage I am super excited to dive into Court of Lions. Court of Lions picks up fairly soon after the events in Mirage. Amani is even more determined to help the rebellion and secure her people's freedom. But with her relationship with Maram seemingly broken, how will both of them continue their lives at court?

Court of Lions blew me away. It's so good. Continuing on the incredible world-building that Somaiya Daud did in Mirage in Court of Lions, we dive even deeper into the history, court-relations and the complicated lives of Amani and Maram. Amani continues to be an amazing, strong-willed and compassionate character and we get to learn more about Maram and see things from her perspective. This was definitely one of the highlights for me. 

The story gets even more compelling than in Mirage, which is mostly, in my opinion, because of the higher stakes, the incredible relationship between Amani and Maram, more backstory and reveals, Maram's POV and more action. 

I can only praise Somaiya Daud for crafting such an unique and compelling duology. The ending was very satisfying, which is a hard thing to pull of. I'll be thinking about this story for a long time.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
Wow, this book is unbelievable and on another level. The writing is is exquisite with a clearly crafted world built so well that it leaps or the page. I felt immersed in the Court of Lions and I enjoyed every moment. This book is everywhere at the moment with rave reviews and on reading this book, it is clear why
There is a complexity of plot which builds with suitable pace throughout the book to an action packed climax at the end. The imagery is incredible and gorgeously evokes the scenes. I applaud the author for building a world and characters that people such as my self (as a POC) can really relate to but with sufficient newness and creation to surprise us at every turn. 
I had not read Mirage (the previous book in this duology), however the book was so good that I felt invested in the story and understood what was occurring which is often the case in books in series or duology.
This book is the type of book that you want to devor in one sitting but at the same time, you want to savor each sentence. This book is that beautiful.
This book is now one of my top reads of 2020 and Mirage is on my TBR. I can't wait to read more from this author!