Flauschbuch reviewed This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi
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 …
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 sense at all for Alizeh, the main protagonist, to be there.
My e-book also contained an excerpt from the sequel and apparently, it continues in the same cumbersome style so I won't pick it up.
