Throne of Sand
Elm Vince and Helena Rookwood
4/5
I really enjoyed this book! Kind of reminded me of Rebels of the Sand because djinni and all. I really love djinni as fantasy characters and there really aren't enough books with them in it. As the middle child, Zadie's never had grand ambitions. When her older sister wants to run away and marry for love, Zadie helps her and takes the role future Sultana to a neighboring Sultan. The best part is the way she embraces the responsibility, she wants to be a Sultana because she wants to help people and she puts the work in to do so.
It was almost a five star read, but I would've liked a little more background into her history. Maybe a couple flashbacks of interactions with her sister? Maybe that's just me looking for a tragic backstory, she has a pretty average life other than that. It would make her seem more selfless and heroic- she isn't shallow she just hasn't had a lot of outside interactions.
I would also like some more interactions between her and Kassim, it's advertised as a fantasy romance but I'm not really feeling it yet as they haven't talked much. I like that the Vizier is a woman in power, but it's interesting how problematic she's being. It's pretty reflective of a constant theme of people who have risen in power, the need to hold back those coming from the same position as them. I'd like to go a little deeper into that rather than just framing her as a typical mean girl.
Looking forward to the next book and totally recommending it thus far!
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