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lambsbooks 's review for:
The Jasad Heir
by Sara Hashem
“There is no such thing as a worthy sacrifice. There are only those who die, and those willing to let them. ”
I stretched my neck. “Identify yourself, soldier. I would like to know what name to mark on your grave.”
4.5 stars
The characters were really great. I enjoyed the banter and their stories. Sylvia was the perfect blend of ruthless killer and vulnerable floof – she did lean toward killer more often than not – but it made her character extremely likable.
I studied the strong slope of his shoulders, the notches of his spine. I vaguely wondered if his back would be harder to break than the soldiers.
The plot was great, the heir in hiding, forced to work with her enemy (who is also an heir!!), yes, please.
He looked at me like sheer willpower alone prevented him from tearing me limb from limb. This man is going to kill you. If not today, then someday soon.
“The way most men love is so boring. It is frequent and fickle and altogether unextraordinary. Arin would love to obsession. To madness.”
This was a true enemies to lovers. There were many attempted killings on both sides and disgust radiating from both of them the majority of the time. It was great. The perfect build up.
I smoothed a thumb over his brow. “I dream of killing you.”
Arin pulled my fingers away. Worry lashed me. Had I gone too far? Eyes dark with amusement searched mine. He smoothed the furrow forming in my brow with his thumb.
“My demented Suraira, we have much to discuss about seduction.”
The humour throughout the book was great. It was casually thrown in and was great at diffusing the dark undertones throughout this book.
"Five years of friendship, and do you know the only word I would use to describe you?” He glanced at me. “Mild. Just...mild. Which might have been the end of the story until two nights ago, when I watched you singlehandedly sever a man’s backbone without flinching.”
The friendships and relationships built in this book were well done and I felt like they were real, you know? Ups, downs, secrets, truths, all of it made it more real.
This book is about opposing political forces and class structure. And like it or not, this book is about genocide. Genocide of a race that is misunderstood (mainly, some of the Jasadi’s were really terrible😅) and mass slaughter of their entire kind. This book is about Jasadi’s who are killed simply for being alive, whether they have usable magic or not. This book was about a broken girl, who was so afraid of living that she shut down, ignored everything, and watched her kingdom burn.
“What do you want?”
What I meant to say was “Your severed head rotating on a spit.”
What came out was significantly worse.
“Freedom. Real freedom.”
I’m not going to say much more, just that there was a competition, where champions of nations fought in 3…trials? Events? Deathmatches? The fights weren't against each other, except if you happened to run into another champion in the middle, they were more like hunts. Hunts that end with one winner and the others dead.
"His will is strong. It always is, in the self-righteous,” I said to the empty room. “But the will of the damned is even stronger."
The reveals throughout the book, her family and her past, were blended within the plot that you didn’t see it coming because it was just horror. Horror that some of those things had happened. Also, the atrocities this poor girl faced as a child were bone-chilling.
And this line *Chef’s fucking kiss* It’s not reallllly a spoiler, since it’s obvious something happened in those 5 years after Jasad burned and the beginning of the story, but I put it under a spoiler warning anyway.
"It took 1,822 days to dig a hole.
Nine feet deep. Eight feet wide. I’d carved the numbers into the tree with my dagger.
1,822 days spent with Hanim. 1,822 days of wishing I had died with the rest of my family.
You were right. I was glad to have practiced digging that hole.
1,822 days of planning my escape.
It made an excellent grave.”
And in between all that was the beautiful tension of the enemies-to-lovers plot, which as I said above, was done so so well.
“You want to be hunted?” A branch snapped somewhere below me. “Then I will gladly grant your wish.”
A strangled cry tore through my teeth as searing pain cleaved my calf. “Son of a—”
My hand flew to my leg, and there, inches above my ankle, was a knife. He stabbed me?
AND THE MOMENT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR:
Arin had stalled a mere foot away, staring at my back. I clicked my mouth shut. I had forgotten to cover the evidence of Hanim’s favorite hobby. Until now, Rory and Raya were the only two with the misfortune of seeing my graveyard of scars.
“Who did this to you?”
YES
Okay, the conflicting thoughts I had:
The world-building was…not great? I couldn’t understand half of it and there was no logical flow for me to follow. It took me until almost halfway through the book to finally be able to realize who was who in her family. The names of people and places, and nobility (maybe?) were not clearly laid out. I almost DNFd this book in the beginning because of this.
BUUUTTTT, 50% onwards? AMAZING! I really don’t know how to rate this! Based on the first half - 4 stars, second half 5 stars, so I’ll go in the middle at 4.5 stars, but I’m very conflicted because I couldn’t put the book down after 50ish percent 😂
The ending…well, I need the next book immediately!!
“There is much you don’t know about me, but understand this: I will fight for my freedom until my last breath. You took it away, and you cannot fault how ardently I choose to take it back. Until you have felt hunted, less than human, rejected from the moment you were born for something you did not ask for and cannot control—until then, do not speak to me of martyrs and mercenaries.”
"One, two. I’m alive. Three, four. I’m safe. Five, six. I won’t let them catch me."
Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
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4.5 stars
So many cliffhangers recently 😭😭
RTC