This Woven Kingdom

Hardcover, 512 pages

Published Feb. 1, 2022 by HarperCollins.

ISBN:
978-0-06-297244-6
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3 stars (1 review)

Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people -- Tahereh Mafi’s first in an epic, romantic trilogy inspired by Persian mythology.

To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight. The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom -- and the world.

3 editions

Not very good

3 stars

This book is clearly intended as the first part of a trilogy (or an even longer series) and largely serves to set up the story of the following books. It even ends with a massive cliffhanger. Unfortunately, while interesting in some aspects, the book isn't good enough to make me want to read the next ones.

My main problem with this book is its stilted, repetitive style. The world, based on Persian mythology, is interesting. The story held my attention though was ultimately a bit unsatisfying. There are a lot of reveals in the last 100 pages or so which made it feel rushed. At least one of them comes out of nowhere. In the last third the book also suffers from the rather ridiculous contortions the author has to go through just so that everyone is present at the set-piece in the final chapters even though it doesn't make …