May 20th, 2020 - THIRD READ. I HAVE JUST AS MANY QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS AS I DID THE FIRST TWO TIMES. IRONICALLY FINISHED READING THIS THE DAY AFTER THE NETFLIX ADAPTATION WAS ANNOUNCED. WE ARE NOT READY TO SEE THIS BOOK ON OUR SCREENS.

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January 21st, 2019 – I HAVE FINISHED MY REREAD. EVERYTHING IS A MESS. SEE REVIEW BELOW CAUSE IT'S MY FAVOURITE REVIEW I'VE EVER WRITTEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I AM NOT READY FOR KINGDOM OF COPPER, BUT I HAVE A DEATH WISH AND I'M IMMEDIATELY STARTING IT CAUSE I LOVE PAIN

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Thank you so much to HarperCollins Canada for sending me my very first arc! I honestly couldn't have requested for a better book because I absolutely loved it and it is now one of my top favourites of the year!

I've decided to make this review non-spoilery so you can all enjoy it and see what you're missing out on!

THE WRITING

I don't usually talk about the writing in a book unless it stands out to me, and in this case I was just in awe at how beautifully this book is written. It's descriptive and poetic, but not overly flowery, making it a quick and easy read. The banter between the characters was just awesome and made me squeal and laugh and grin like a crazy person while on public transport.



The action scenes were intense and fast and terrifying. I loved the way things were gradually explained as the world was expanded. It was a bit confusing at first, but it was a good kind of confusion. It made me really feel like I was Nahri, experiencing and learning everything for the first time. The two different POVs – Nahri's and Ali's – were just ahhh! I especially loved seeing different parts of Daevabad through different perspectives. And also seeing Nahri and Ali interact through their individual POVs was just perfect!

THE WORLD

I don't even know where to start. The world Shannon created is vivid and colourful and beautifully diverse. I was mesmerized the entire time as little bits about the djinn and their history  was revealed. I'm a sucker for a good background story and this book does an awesome job describing it!

What I especially loved about this book is that nothing was black and white. I find that with a lot of books I've read in the past, it's very obvious who is good and who is bad. But The City of Brass is so unique. While Nahri is on the run and while she adjusts to living in Daevabad, we get to hear both sides of the story about the rebellion that ended the reign of the Nahids in Daevabad and began the reign of the Qahtanis. And as the reader, I was never really sure which side was good. Both sides did horrible things to each other for different reasons, and I love that because it's based in reality. Cause no one just does something because they're "bad" – there's always a reason they use to justify their actions. And we see that done really well here. Even at the end, I was like..."I don't know who to root for", but it kind of made me realize that it's really not that simple. And this complexity makes me love this book a billion times more!

REPRESENTATION

Oooh...let's talk about this. I think I was about almost half way through this book when I sat back and thought: THERE ARE NO WHITE PEOPLE. No offence to anyone who's white, but it just hit me and I realized how accustomed I've become to reading books with at least a couple white characters. But there aren't any here. And I kind of really, really loved it!

As a POC and a muslim, I related to so many aspects of this book! The fact that there are people with a similar skin tone as me – YES. I was geeking out at all the traditional clothing that the different djinn tribes wear. THE FOOD WAS JUST AMAZING AND I WANTED TO EAT ALL OF IT. But what made me especially happy was the Muslim representation.



As a Muslim, it's very rare to find fantasy books with anyone who is similar to me. And it's kind of frustrating cause it makes me feel like Muslims can't exist in those worlds. But I absolutely fell in love with The City of Brass because of its Muslim representation. When a character would hear the call for prayer and realize it's time for Maghrib, I was like YES LETS GO PRAY TOGETHER BROTHER (lol totally haram, I meant sister, unless he is actually my brother). When a certain character was uncomfortable being alone with someone of the opposite sex, I was like YUP IT IS ME! Whenever Nahri adjusted her veil, I was like WAIT IS MY HAIR SHOWING, and then realized I was in my room and no one could see me. As you can see I was really having the best time of my life  And to be totally honest, whenever I read books with characters who are religious, it makes me want to become a more religious and practicing Muslim and its a great feeling cause it's RELATABLE.

CHARACTERS: aka "don't-think-about-crossing-her-Nahri", "my-precious-cinnamon-roll-Alizayd", and "his-eyes-are-as-green-as-a-fresh-pickled-toad-please-don't-kill-me-Darayavahoush"

I loved Nahri's character so much! You have the common tropes like "the chosen one" and "girl discovers she has magical powers", but it was done so well! I really hate it when a character realizes they have a destiny or are special and then suddenly they become this awesome person who can do everything and they never fail. Nahri wasn't like that, and seeing her struggle with what she wanted vs. what others wanted of her, and also seeing her struggling to come to terms with her new life just felt very real.

I also loved how she was willing to stick up for herself and say what was on her mind – the banter between her and Dara and her and Ali was THE BEST! She always said the wrong stuff, which I found hilarious, and her I'm-so-done-with-this attitude is just me 50% of the time lol She wasn't the kind of character who would sit back and let others makes decisions for her. But at the same time, we could see her vulnerability and uncertainty. And her background and way of thinking was so unique and fun to read about, especially once she arrived in Daevabad. To say I'm excited for the next book would be an understatement...

Her relationship with Dara was literally sparking with CHEMISTRY. And I was squealing more than once. Here's proof (ignore the middle one, cause I'll come back to that):



I love banter. It's absolutely my favourite thing to read and write, and when it's done well it makes me want to squeal and run around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Speaking of Dara and also Alizayd...

What I love about these characters is how detailed and conflicted and complicated they are. And I'm honestly in awe because it adds this sense of authenticity. You get to really feel for the characters and the decisions they make because they are decisions that you would make in their situation. None of the characters are perfect, and they're constantly battling their demons and trying to decide whether they should do what they think is right or what others want. And it's also frustrating...especially seeing them struggle with who they should stay loyal too and it made me want to cry inside and hug my children and tell them it's going to be alright.



Dara was a mystery to me. I loved his character from the beginning. He's mysterious and powerful and you don't really know much about him. It's pretty much his word against a bunch of other djinn and that causes some interesting conflict. Also, he has brilliant emerald eyes and I think anyone would just about drown in them *heart eyes* I am freaking out right now thinking about what could happen in the next book, but I won't say anything else. He is complex and interesting and scary and you need to read it to understand.

Let's talk about my precious child, Alizayd al Qahtani. First of all...Ali is also my middle name. So when I was flipping through the arc and came across his POV, I may have screamed with excitement cause MY NAME IS IN A BOOK (well, close enough). Besides that, Ali is the character that I related to the most. While there are a variety of djinn who are at various levels of religiosity, Ali is quite into his faith. Seeing him praying, avoiding alcohol and the company of women, and trying his best to be a good djinn was just asdjksadjskf. Literally. I know many people can't relate, but it hit a spot where I was just like "yes, this is what I've always wanted in a book". I felt for his character. When other people commented on his religiosity, not understanding why he refused to drink, or why he was so shy around women, I just kept thinking "this is me, this is my life, and it's in a book" – except, replace women with men, cause I avoid them like the plague.

Besides that...Alizayd's relationship with his brother, who he affectionally calls Dhiru *literally cries tears of happiness and pain* was just  There is literally a lack of sibling affection in books, and seeing how much Muntadhir cared for his brother, made my heart hurt from feels.

Alizayd's story is a very complex one. And I'm a huge fan of complex plot lines that all come together at the end and make you go WOWOWOW WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING AND HOW WAS THIS DONE SO WELL AND PUT TOGETHER. Pretty much, I need Shannon to teach me her ways because she did it so well.

As I said before, all the characters are very three-dimensional. And Alizayd was probably the most out of all of them. We do get to see a lot of his POV, and we get to learn about his naivety and his innocence, but also his determination and resoluteness and his sense for justice. He's my favourite character in this book, hands down, and probably one of my favourites so far this year. I just love him so much, and he deserves so much more, and I will admit I am scared and worried for book two, and I KIND OF NEED IT NOW.



I don't want to say too much more, except the last 100 pages will be mind-blowing and crazy. So prepare yourself. And yes, when you finish reading this book, you'll want to reread from the beginning all over again, and you'll cry cause who knows when the second book is coming out

BUT YOU SHOULD READ THIS...

YES PLEASE GO READ IT NOW AND COME BACK AND FANGIRL WITH ME OKAY



If you're Muslim and you're not reading this, like why?? Go buy it or borrow it from the library and do yourself the favour of reading a book with characters that you can see yourself in.

And even if you're not Muslim, the characters, the plot, the world, the banter, the twists and turns...it's just all amazingness and addicting. It's cleverly written and it will cause you pain in the best of ways. Also, there's sword fighting (completely forgot to mention that) and two djinn who sort of hate each other and can't stand to be in each other's company which creates the most intense and dramatic scenes...okay, I'm done

If you've read The City of Brass, please comment down below and scream with me. Thank you.