DNF at 23%.

It’s very disappointing to put down a fourth book this month, but I’m trying to embrace the “life is too short for bad books” lifestyle. I don’t think The Kingdom of Copper is a bad book; however, it’s undeniable that, at least in my experience, something went wrong. I don’t know what that is, exactly, but after loving The City of Brass, this was doubly disappointing.

My main issue with this novel is how extremely bored I was while reading. Over the course of six days I only read 150 pages, which is out of character for me when I have so much free time. And if I’m being honest, it felt like nothing happened. All three protagonists were apart, dealing with separate problems, and I couldn’t make myself care. The slow immersion into the world, plot, and politics Chakraborty mastered in the first novel didn’t, for some reason, work in this one.

Additionally, I only really cared about Nahri. Ali and Dara were mediocre this time around, and when I came across their chapters, I didn’t want to read them. I was especially put off if they exceeded ten pages, as many of the chapters in this story seem to.

Needless to say, I won’t be reading the final book in the trilogy. Everything I loved about The City of Brass seemed to be absent in The Kingdom of Copper. But don’t let me discourage you from giving this book or its predecessor a try! I’m definitely the outlier in this situation.

Representation:
• Many characters, if not all, are POC and/or Muslim.
• Muntadhir and Jamshid, two side characters, are queer.

CW: violence, murder, alcoholism, threats, gore, mention of self-harm, death of secondary characters

I received this ARC from the publisher. This doesn’t affect my opinion or the content of my review.