Review: Mafi’s first book in her new fantasy trilogy is breathtaking! 

 

“This Woven Kingdom” alternates between the viewpoints of Alizeh (the long lost heir to a Jinn Kingdom living as a servant) and Kamran (the crown Prince of Ardunia). Both characters lead wildly different lives because of their status in society, which allows the reader to see Ardunia at its best and worst. 

 

Alizeh and Kamran’s chance meeting sparks a forbidden attraction that reaches a fever pitch as the novel progresses. Their shared moments were few and far between, but had an addictive quality to them that kept me engaged and eager to keep reading. The knife to the throat passages paired with Mafi’s lyrical and descriptive prose is magic on the page. 

 

Another aspect of the novel that made it so captivating is how Mafi weaves elements of Persian mythology into her world-building. At the novel’s outset she establishes Ardunia as a powerful empire populated by Jinn (humanoids that possess strength, speed, and rapid healing abilities) and humans. Only Kamran knows that the empire is at risk of falling because of water scarcity and Alizeh’s existence. These threats to the throne nicely set up two of the novel’s main conflicts: the war over water with the neighboring empire of Tulan and the hunt for the Jinn prophesied to bring Ardunia to its knees. Both conflicts work well with the tropes Mafi incorporates in her writing (forbidden love and enemies to lovers) and intrigued me as a reader.