The Jasmine Throne

512 pages

English language

Published June 7, 2021 by Orbit.

ISBN:
978-0-7595-5416-0
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (1 review)

Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne begins the powerful Burning Kingdoms trilogy, in which two women—a long-imprisoned princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic—come together to rewrite the fate of an empire.

Exiled by her despotic brother when he claimed their father's kingdom, Malini spends her days trapped in the Hirana: an ancient, cliffside temple that was once the source of the magical deathless waters, but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

A servant in the regent's household, Priya makes the treacherous climb to the Hirana every night to clean Malini's chambers. She is happy to play the role of a drudge so long as it keeps anyone from discovering her ties to the temple and the dark secret of her past. But when Malini bears witness to Priya's true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to steal a throne. The …

4 editions

Recommended

4 stars

This was the April book in the book club I have with two friends and we all liked it so much that we want to read the sequel.

I really liked the setting - I haven't come across many fantasy novels based on old India. We also get wood magic, supernatural (or alien?) beings, a mysterious illness and a magical temple. The worldbuilding is great and very dense. I found it hard to put the book down once I had gotten into it because it felt like being in a different world. The story, too, is more complex than I expected and there are some interesting and unexpected twists. The romance doesn't follow the usual patterns, either, I felt. If you're into fantasy you should check this one out. #2024reads