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verypeculiarpages 's review for:
The Empire of Gold
by S.A. Chakraborty
SO. MANY. FEELINGS.
***
“Congratulations, Manizheh, you’ve done what no invader has accomplished before: you’ve broken Daevabad itself.“
Oh boy. This was...A LOT. What else can you expect from an almost-800 page finale? It was a wild ride but I am really happy with this ending! I was able to close the book with a smile on my face, and this book definitely cemented this series as one of my favorites!
After being a bit underwhelmed by City of Brass but absolutely LOVING Kingdom of Copper, I had a good feeling that I was going to be pleased with this finale, especially after reading some early reviews. My biggest gripe with COB was the romance and my dislike of Dara, but both KOC and Empire took the story in a new direction, and my opinion of Dara was actually at its highest during this last book. We get to explore more of Dara’s motivations and backstory, and his actions at the end really brought his arc to a satisfying conclusion (though I know there may be some that disagree). His last chapter with Nahri actually had me really emotional, so cheers to Shannon for her incredible writing!
“Not wanting to be destroyed by despair doesn’t make you a coward, Ali. It makes you a survivor.“
Ali is my SWEET BEBE. His chapters have always been my favorite, and this book was no exception. It’s just impossible to not want to protect him from all harm (and he suffers A LOT, so it’s hard) and I couldn’t be happier about where he ended up. He’s really grown SO much since the beginning of the series when he was reckless and quick to action without thinking of the fallout; now he PLANS things and gets shit done and it was amazing to watch! I looooved his last scene with Mundtadhir and Zaynab, sooo frickin’ great and 100% the part that made me cry the most!
Nahri was excellent. She was somehow more vulnerable but stronger than ever in this last installment. It’s been fantastic to watch her adapt to all of the horrors and political scheming and emotions over the years and she’s just grown into an incredibly smart, loving and TRUSTING (!) woman. I love her a lot. This book was great for me since Nahri and Ali spend a majority of it with each other, and I so wish I could ramble on and on about how much I love them, but I don’t want to spoil too much.
In the end, I was very happy with this book as a series finale, but it just didn’t quite hit the 5-star mark for me. There were parts that were a taaaaad slow, and though the (many) twists of the plot were thrilling, it’s still a LOT of information to process, and at times I was just so frickin’ anxious I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was terrified when the battle was over and I realized that there were still a hundred pages left, but afterwards I’m so glad I got those pages. It made the ending not rushed and I was able to just take in all the extra details. THAT BEING SAID, I still somehow wish I had gotten...a tiny bit more? The ending is not really open-ended, but it just alludes to a future that I wish had been a bit more concrete. Don’t get me wrong, I am SO THRILLED by what that future entails, I was just hoping for that little extra something. Overall, Daevabad was magical and wonderful and I will definitely be returning again.
***
“Congratulations, Manizheh, you’ve done what no invader has accomplished before: you’ve broken Daevabad itself.“
Oh boy. This was...A LOT. What else can you expect from an almost-800 page finale? It was a wild ride but I am really happy with this ending! I was able to close the book with a smile on my face, and this book definitely cemented this series as one of my favorites!
After being a bit underwhelmed by City of Brass but absolutely LOVING Kingdom of Copper, I had a good feeling that I was going to be pleased with this finale, especially after reading some early reviews. My biggest gripe with COB was the romance and my dislike of Dara, but both KOC and Empire took the story in a new direction, and my opinion of Dara was actually at its highest during this last book. We get to explore more of Dara’s motivations and backstory, and his actions at the end really brought his arc to a satisfying conclusion (though I know there may be some that disagree). His last chapter with Nahri actually had me really emotional, so cheers to Shannon for her incredible writing!
“Not wanting to be destroyed by despair doesn’t make you a coward, Ali. It makes you a survivor.“
Ali is my SWEET BEBE. His chapters have always been my favorite, and this book was no exception. It’s just impossible to not want to protect him from all harm (and he suffers A LOT, so it’s hard) and I couldn’t be happier about where he ended up. He’s really grown SO much since the beginning of the series when he was reckless and quick to action without thinking of the fallout; now he PLANS things and gets shit done and it was amazing to watch! I looooved his last scene with Mundtadhir and Zaynab, sooo frickin’ great and 100% the part that made me cry the most!
Nahri was excellent. She was somehow more vulnerable but stronger than ever in this last installment. It’s been fantastic to watch her adapt to all of the horrors and political scheming and emotions over the years and she’s just grown into an incredibly smart, loving and TRUSTING (!) woman. I love her a lot. This book was great for me since Nahri and Ali spend a majority of it with each other, and I so wish I could ramble on and on about how much I love them, but I don’t want to spoil too much.
In the end, I was very happy with this book as a series finale, but it just didn’t quite hit the 5-star mark for me. There were parts that were a taaaaad slow, and though the (many) twists of the plot were thrilling, it’s still a LOT of information to process, and at times I was just so frickin’ anxious I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was terrified when the battle was over and I realized that there were still a hundred pages left, but afterwards I’m so glad I got those pages. It made the ending not rushed and I was able to just take in all the extra details. THAT BEING SAID, I still somehow wish I had gotten...a tiny bit more? The ending is not really open-ended, but it just alludes to a future that I wish had been a bit more concrete. Don’t get me wrong, I am SO THRILLED by what that future entails, I was just hoping for that little extra something. Overall, Daevabad was magical and wonderful and I will definitely be returning again.