The Jasmine Throne

This book came across my radar as a 2025 Hugo finalist (series category). I picked it up because it was set in India, a nice change from most fantasy fare, and there were promising signs of political/social intrigue.

The writing was very readable. The magic system seemed interesting, and I enjoyed the worldbuilding. I did like seeing the different factions, but I didn’t find myself very compelled by the “why” they were acting as they did. Vaguely, to avoid spoilers, it seemed a lot of powerful people and their supporters were happy just to hang around awaiting a decision from a “chosen one.” Such a situation makes me imagine crowds in stasis until a viewpoint character arrives, and then they start doing things again.

I had a similar issue with the characters. They were distinct and internally consistent in their behaviour, but I didn’t feel I had a handle on how/why they were that way, which made their interactions (and subsequent decisions/actions) feel contrived. There were also a lot of viewpoint characters, including various throwaway ones (if you hadn’t noticed a new viewpoint character on page before, you’d probably find them dead after a couple of pages).

Overall, an unusual magical setting that sets up later books.

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

This is one of those books with lots of characters, lots of names, lots of viewpoints, and complicated plot including political shenanigans. Sometimes a new viewpoint character is introduced (along with everyone in their vicinity at the time) only to die at the end of the chapter; sometimes a new viewpoint character is introduced and turns out to be very important and not someone to forget. All of which is to say: if you read very slowly or have trouble with concentration and memory, this is maybe not the book for you.

It has a lot going for it, though: excellent worldbuilding, complex characters and relationships, revolutions, a rot and a religion that combine blood with foliage (and personally I'm always going to be interested in something that involves bleeding trees or, for that matter, flowering veins. This has both). I don't have much specific to say about it right now, but I'm certainly looking forwards to the next one.

Selling points: lesbians; desi-based fantasy; excellent worldbuilding

Warnings: imprisonment, nonconsensual drugging; sibling abuse; lots of violence

can be slow, but everything is great, especially the characters, so I'm not complaining

4,5 stars. This was an excellent story, with all the ingredients that make a good fantasy. Although anyone that has some experience with fantasy novels could see from the start how the two leading ladies would end up (and I'm not talking about the romance here).

It would have been 5 stars, but I was not really a fan of how the book was written. There are a lot of different POV's, and I understand that was necessary to explain the plot, but I'm not a fan of this style. What I did not like was that there were a couple of chapters where a random character was introduced, with all their thoughts and actions, only to have that character die at the end of the chapter. I think there are better ways to handle that, but that's an entirely personal opinion.

Also, why does it say TikTok made me buy it in the title (Kindle version)? Wtf has TikTok got to do with it?

I can't wait for the next installment, though.

World building 10/10! Everything else rates a tepid ok. Characters: yeah. Language: competent. Gay yearning: present. Pacing: well ok, the pacing sucks- Nothing changes for the first 75% of the whole book & that is a lot of pages. But there's cool magic, aeons of history, multifaceted politics, different religions & castes, all in a lush, breathing world. Sadly there just doesn't seem like there's enough plot to fill that lovely world.