ahhhh another great book by one of the greats 🥺

After reading Shadow Thief, I knew Sunbolt was going to be good, but I had no idea where things were headed.

The world is so expansive and interesting, and while we got a glimpse of it in Shadow Thief, I wasn't expecting to see more of the Eleven Kingdoms so soon. I'm so curious to know if there's a map of this world. You know me and my maps 😂 I wanna see where Hitomi ends up.

Hitomi is a very loveable character you can't help rooting for. She finds her way out of every single mess, and her resourcefulness and ability to think on the spot and not take "no" for an answer makes me love her even more. I wish we got to spend more time with Kenta and the Ghost though, because after reading Shadow Thief, I really loved the dynamic we saw between the the three characters. That being said, I was not a fan of the Ghost sidelining Hitomi on all their missions, even though half the time he meant for her to follow them anyway. In a way, without the Ghost and Kenta, Hitomi was able to have so much more agency throughout this book, and I really liked seeing her problem solve and strategize. 

The whole seen with Kol and Alia in the holding cells was absolutely terrifying. First of all, I was not expecting vampires to show up in this book. Secondly, this book is DARK. And intense. And disturbing. But it keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes it very difficult to put it down. I felt like I was watching a scary movie with my hands covering most of my eyes, but in book form. The torture, the murder, the violence...all of it was so engaging, but also absolutely necessary to the plot. I love how Intisar doesn't shy away from stuff like this. We saw it in her Dauntless Path and we see it here too. Both series have very similar vibes, with disappearances and evil mages, and magic that's tied with the environment, but they're also different. I just love the familiarity of it though and if you miss Dauntless Path, the re-release of this series, will definitely be one you'll enjoy.

Anyway, this book took turns I wasn't expecting. Every time I think Hitomi will escape, she doesn't, and I'm literally SO STRESSED for her. But the whole thing with Val...like dsjfskdjfskdfj. I got major Graceling vibes in the last bit of the book and it made me squeal so much. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book, and while I was thinking of waiting until the re-release, I'm going to read it now and then reread everything when the third book comes out.

I'm so glad I finally got around to reading the Sunbolt Chronicles. I'm honestly disappointed in myself for waiting this long to start them, but if you've been putting it off too, and you're feeling slumpy and want something that'll hold your attention, definitely add this book to your tbr!

I think this broke my reading slump.

Intisar Khanani's writing and world-building are so comforting and exactly what I needed to feel like reading again. 

I haven't gotten around to reading Sunbolt, so when I got the opportunity to read the prequel I hopped on it because it seemed like a good time. There's just something so familiar about this new world. In some ways it reminds me of Dauntless Path. It's refreshing and different, but filled with the same loveable and charming characters. Prequels aren't usually my favourite books to read because they're kind of an awkward length, but Shadow Thief has the perfect build up for what I think Sunbolt will continue. It ended off so well and as a prequel I think it gives us a good background on Hitomi before jumping into her story. 

I'm really looking forward to picking up Sunbolt now. I guess sometimes you have to revisit your favourite authors to get out of a reading slump. 

This was cute. Bitty is adorable. The best baker and organizer. My only thought is I’m jealous of his fridge organizational skills. And his baking. 

Love the art style. A bit hesitant about where this is going with Sun wanting surgery for the curse that made her “ugly”

At the same time, Sun is really a mood. All I do is work so I can have money to afford to live lol

I did like the other characters and I’m curious to see what happens next.

This was actually really cute. I wish I had books like this one growing up. It would have been nice to see a bunch of Muslim kids going on an adventure and becoming friends. Also adventure involving finding a missing cat 🙌🏼

Each character was very unique and they were all dealing with different problems in their personal lives. I liked how all the kids got together to discuss what was going on and how to address it. And I also love how communication was the main factor, and seeing their parents actually communicate was refreshing because it’s definitely something not a lot of us grew up with, but something I hope the younger generation gets to experience.

I’m biased but Hanna was obviously my favourite. And I want to see more of her so badly. But I also really related a lot with Sami and his anxiety. It was nice to see him realizing that his anxiety isn’t always a negative thing and how he can use it to help himself and his friends. And also just seeing him become more confident in himself and speaking up!

Definitely a book I would have liked as a kid and would recommend to all the Muslim kids who want to see themselves in a book. Also, while airport anxiety is a think that is briefly hinted at in the book (with the kids being Muslim and all), this book doesn’t focus on Islamophobia and how Muslims are treated at airports, which I really appreciated because it felt like just a bunch of normal kids at an airport, doing things they shouldn’t, but no stress about them getting actually arrested and harassed and violated. Muslim kids are allowed to have fun after all.

I would love to write a proper review for this book, but it took me almost a month to read because of work, so it's very difficult to get my thoughts together.

I studied Classics in university, so parts of this book were familiar, while other parts were new because I have forgotten a lot. But one thing that stayed with me was the stark contrast between the male and female characters in these plays. The women were always used to further the plot/storyline for the men, while the men did whatever they felt like doing, and were always supported by the gods.

But Clytemnestra really turns this around and gives our main character the agency to take back her story and make it her very own. And in contrast with how some ya/adult fantasy authors write female characters who supposedly want revenge, but always end up falling short of making it actually believable, this book does not do that. You really get to feel the pain and anger Clytemnestra feels. She's strong, cunning, yet patient. Not everything goes her way, but she fights with every last strength in her bones to get her revenge, and the ending is really satisfying, yet realistic.

I think this is a book I'll end up revisiting at some point because there were a lot of relatable quotes that I can't stop thinking about.

<blockquote>"She knows that, in moments of pain, some words are spoken with a harshness that is not truly meant. But, even so, words can grow roots inside one's heart. You can bury them, hoping they will wither and die, but roots keep finding something to latch on to."</blockquote>

Adorable. Perfect. I'm so excited to watch the movie. 10/10 recommend.

When I first heard about this book, I immediately thought two things:

1. has the author been a fly on my wall because how did she write this book to specifically attack ME??
2. this is the book I wish I had written

Y'all know how picky I am when it comes to contemporary books, especially written by Muslim authors. Half the time the rep we're given isn't the rep I want to see in a book, so I'm always a little hesitant. But first the title, and then the synopsis of this book, took a hold on me and wouldn't let go. So, I decided to risk it and request from edelweiss (who love to decline me for arcs, so I had little hope), and to my surprise they approved me. Did I mention the book is practically my life and I've also in a way run away from my brown family...no of course not. Why would I profit off my trauma? Anyways...

This was a book I needed five years ago. Or maybe even last year. I think it would have given me the hope that maybe life could get better and I could be happier and find a home that felt like home. I'm still glad I got to read this in 2023, because things do not miraculously get better the second you get away. It's a journey and a process as Zahra experiences. 

I do think in many ways Zahra was lucky. She had money in her own bank account and the ability to travel to another state. And she was able to find people to take her in, who in return helped her stand on her own two feet without asking too many questions. I won't lie. I considered doing what Zahra did many times. But not having money or a plan to survive in a new city with nothing was daunting. And reaching out for help from a mosque would have been dangerous since I come from a minority within a minority, and that would mean news travelling back very fast. 

The whole premise of this book is Zahra running away from home a few days before she's set to be married. And while she does "agree" to get married, it's not exactly one of those "yes, I really want to get married!" but more of a "yes, I'll get married because it'll make my mom happy and keep the peace at home and I don't know what I want to do with my life and I'm too depressed to care anymore even though I do care but it doesn't matter if I care because no one cares what I want" and to say I felt that would be an understatement.

Zahra running away from home to escape a marriage and life she doesn't want 🤝 Sakina moving away from home to escape a marriage and life she doesn't want. 

And while my "When A Brown Girl Flees" story is less dramatic than Zahra's, I related in every way to her story.

I don't know what it is about brown families, but why is the dad always never getting along with the son and more soft-hearted and forgiving towards his daughter, whereas the mom is ready to throw hands and insults and be passive aggressive and openly abusive. Because it was captured perfectly in this book.

Zahra's relationship with her mother was so eerily familiar. The silent treatment, feeling unwelcome in your own home, having to hide certain things from other family members, feeling like your own mother hates you and would rather you were dead. These are such real feelings and experiences. And I know a lot of people want to read books about Muslims in love and not going through the "stereotypical" stories we hear about, but stories like this are just as important. 

I think my favourite part about this book was Zahra reconnecting with her faith and with Allah, really learning to speak to him, and asking for forgiveness, and realizing that Allah is always there for her and will accept her with open arms and mercy. The moments when she recognizes Allah's grace and mercy in her day-to-day life, when she says Alhamdulillah or Mashallah or Subhanallah...it's still so rare to see conversations about this in books. I think trials like the one Zahra went through in this book can either push you away from faith or pull you closer, and we kind of get to see both. That sukoon you feel when you realize that no one might have your back except Allah is such a good feeling, I can't even describe it. One thing I've realized in the past year or so of living on my own is that even during the toughest times, when I thought nothing was going to change and life was never going to get better, Allah was always there. And even if I felt completely alone and had no one, he was there to watch over me and comfort me. And I think that's the beauty in difficult situations. You create such a close relationship with your faith sometimes that you almost become protective of it.

Another part of this book I loved were all the friendships Zahra made with the other Muslim girls, specifically Haya and Sadaf. To find a community that accepts you and makes you feel like you're one of them and loved and cared for is so rare. It's not something I've yet to experience, but I wish for it so badly because you get to be surrounded by people who believe the same things you believe and if you truly trust them, you can talk about some of your deepest struggles and get the kind of religious sisterly support you need. Haya's love and support honestly made me cry. Seeing their friendship develop and how close her and Zahra become made me so happy. Finding your own found family is so important when you can't be close to your own.

The other Muslim girls were also so much fun, and I'm excited to read Aamna's next book that focuses on one of them. I have a feeling we might also get a certain wedding, so I'm just all round ready to squeal. In some ways this is giving me flashbacks to Misfit in Love, which makes me happy.

I'm really glad we got to see Zahra make a life for herself before she goes back home. But I think what fell through for me was the ending of this book.

I understand Zahra missing her family. I understand her hating her mom, yet also loving her and missing her. And the need to have family be a part of your life. It's something I still struggle with. The dichotomy between setting boundaries and trying to build a life I want to live where I can be myself and not be subjected to abuse, yet also wishing I could be with my family and live the life I used to live (or at least all the happy parts). Everyone wants support and love from their family, and it might be because we've been conditioned to believe that that love is superior to all other love, so we begin to make excuses for certain behaviours... My main issue for the ending was that while Zahra understood she had to do what she did (ie. running away from home), she recognizes it was wrong to leave without telling her family where she was going. And for me that just doesn't make a lot of sense. Sometimes running away is the only way because if you were to try and talk about it with your family you'll end up nowhere and probably more stuck or worse off. And everything we saw (from Zahra's perspective), her mom did not seem like the kind of person who wants to sit and listen to her daughter's opinion. It was pretty clear early on she made her daughter's life miserable after finding out what her daughter did, to the point where Zahra felt like she couldn't breathe in her own house, where she felt like if she ever spoke up or argued about something that everything she said would be twisted back to what she had done, where she felt she had no choice and was walking on eggshells around her mother. That environment is not conducive to a healthy, sit-down discussion. And most brown kids know that that isn't possible.

The initial scene where her mom sees her again for the first time in so many months went exactly how I would have expected it to go. But Zahra is determined to get her mom's forgiveness because she can't move on without it. The conversation she eventually has with her mom though, really made no sense to me. It contradicted all her previous behaviour and blamed it on miscommunication when it really wasn't miscommunication??

Zahra asks her mom for a second chance and her mom is all like "I don't need to give you a second chance, I know you're a good girl, I would never think you're an awful person just because you made one mistake" ...yet her mom's actions were what forced Zahra to finally runaway. And then when Zahra says something about her mom hating her, her mom denies hating her and I don't think people have the same definition of hatred as I do, but sometimes actions speak louder than words and I don't think Zahra's mom's actions could be described as love. And while we do get some cultural background which makes sense and explains some of Zahra's mom's actions and ways of thinking, things continue and everything is kind of blamed on Zahra shutting everyone out and not talking to her mom about her feelings (except apparently her mom wanted to help and talk to her and be there for her) and because of that her mom got angry and did all those horrible things... and it just made zero logical sense to me.

It almost felt like they were just going in circles and her mom was actually a whole different person this entire time. And while they both accept they're at fault, it just didn't feel like a realistic conversation for me. And I get that the author was going for a happier ending, where things are still awkward and there's a lot of healing left to go, and maybe this is like a best case scenario kind of thing and maybe I'm just salty cause I cannot see this same conversation going this way with my mom, but it just annoyed me how her mom changes into a completely different person. And maybe we can blame this on almost losing her daughter causing this change, but the way I see it, and Zahra even sums it up pretty well in the book, that her mom, and I feel like brown moms in general, seem to easily forgive and forget their son's mistakes, but constantly bring up their daughter's mistakes to make sure they never forget what they did.

So, while the ending is nice and Zahra goes back to NYC with the support and love from her family, I can't help feeling like irl this wouldn't happen. And a part of me wants to know what to do in that case. How do you live a life knowing your family doesn't like you and resents you and probably doesn't love you the way you want to be loved and won't change? Because I think that's a real experience many people face. So how do you deal with not being forgiven or accepted. I'm definitely projecting my life experiences too much onto this book which makes it difficult for me to enjoy the ending and maybe, who knows, I could have an ending like this one day, but because that seems so far right now, it just makes me more sad than anything.

Anyway, to leave on a brighter note. If you're brown and Muslim this is a must read. The Muslim rep was done so well and all the Pakistani culture was so relatable and felt like home. Literally at one point, Zahra makes chicken pulao and I'm going to make pulao tomorrow cause I'm craving it now. I think if you're a fan of Love from A to Z/Misfits in Love etc. you'll get very similar vibes in this book. I loved the focus on faith and finding yourself and realizing who you are away from a toxic environment. There's a line where Zahra is trying to listen to something Haya is saying but all she can hear is her mom's voice in her head and she realizes how she's lived her life with her mom's voice in her head constantly criticizing everything. Zahra really grows into her own and I loved her character development throughout the book. It has its ups and downs because that's life, and just because you come to realize some important things about yourself, doesn't mean the depression and anxiety goes away immediately. I really did love the representation we got about that.

(Make sure to check out the trigger warnings before reading this book though, since there are a few).

Okay, this was actually pretty good. I loved the lore behind the Gift and the Remarkables, and its connection with the enslavement of Black people in the US and the Underground Railway. Such a cool way to mix history in with some fantasy elements. I definitely got Percy Jackson vibes from this book, which made it super enjoyable to read. It was fast-paced and jumped around from setting to setting (again, so similar to PJO), and the world-building was done really well. I'm curious to see what happens next, especially now that we've seen a bit of Uhuru. It sounds like a dream world, but I like how this book doesn't shy from the darker and ugly parts of Remarkable history either. 

The main characters were fun and loveable. I loved the dynamic between the three by the end of the book. And I loved the family aspects especially. It was just very sweet and wholesome at times.

Definitely a book series I would recommend for middle grade readers. It's nice to diverge from reading the same popular middle-grade books, yet have the familiarity of the story style, but with a diverse cast of characters and a back story and world that is so unique. 

I have no idea if it is possible to review this book properly. All I can say is, it's a must read and you'll get what I mean once you've read it.

When I turned the last page, I sat there for a good minute. My brain was like "ugh, of course" and "white people don't know when to stop" and "why do they always want to twist everything so they're the victim."

This book can be so frustrating to read, especially since it is written from the perspective of a white woman who steals her "friend's" manuscript and convinces herself she hasn't done anything wrong. But at the same time, it captures the real life experiences of POC and diaspora writers so well, it was almost haunting in its accuracy. 

One thing about this book, your experience reading it vastly changes if you've spent any amount of time on book Twitter or bookstagram. Because many of us have seen "book drama" happen live, when "book drama" starts to happen in Yellowface, it's so reminiscent of things you've seen or heard, it's almost funny. And if you're a POC on book twitter or bookstagram you get to see how one tweet can set everything off. All your friends and their friends are suddenly hating on someone, only to find out that they should be hating someone else, and then finding out none of us know the entire story, and everyone was slightly in the wrong, but also not really, and you're left more confused than anything else. And yet...this is such a niche book world we live in, that in the grand scheme of things it does not actually impact sales all that much and "drama" can actually hype up a book even more.

June's POV honestly gave me a mix of emotions. She's an unreliable narrator at times, and it's very difficult to tell if her perception of Athena is who Athena actually was. Yet at the same time, she reveals truths about the publishing industry that I think most people would be too scared to voice out loud, and I think is one of the benefits of having a white mc. I hated and despised June. I wanted her to go to jail. Yet at the same time, you get so engrossed in her lies and ruse, and in the hate she's receiving online, you almost begin to pity her. I think Rebecca did an incredible job creating such a complex character as Juniper Hayward. 

Getting to see the ins and outs of the publishing industry was also very interesting. And honestly, as someone who wanted to publish when I was younger, and then grew up and realized just surviving life was more than enough work, I'm now a bit hesitant to enter the publishing world. It's scary seeing how focused publishing can get on POC trauma stories, and how they like to lump AOC into one big group. And as someone with no publishing experience, this wasn't surprising to me because I've heard these stories again and again. Yet, as Rebecca said during her signing in Toronto on May 14th, the book focuses on bad experiences in publishing, yet it was her good experience in publishing that allowed her to publish this book.

Also, the stairs scene...gave me chills. It was incredible.

R. F. Kuang keeps outdoing herself with every book (yes, I know I'm a hypocrite because I haven't read The Poppy War trilogy yet). But her ability to tackle different genres shows how talented she is as a writer. I can't wait to see what she writes next!