Thank you to #Netgalley and the Flatiron Books for the E-arc copy of this novel.
I cannot say enough about what a exciting and well written novel this really turned out to be. The main character, Amani, is spunky, witty, and intelligently written. #Mirage has the potential to be a wonderful series for fantasy readers. If the next one is as well written, I see these becoming the next big series in YA!

Mirage is a beautifully written book with amazing world building. It has deeply developed characters and relationships.

Even though I knew from the blurb about the book that Amani was going to get kidnapped, it still happened so abruptly that I never felt like I recovered! From that point on, I was instantly whipped into this world that was sometimes delightful and sometimes made me want to hold my breath in anticipation.

While reading you hope for things you know probably are not going to happen, but you allow yourself to wish for them nevertheless.

Mirage: something that appears real or possible but is not in fact so.

The title of MIRAGE may suggest an optical illusion of sorts, but the story in this book felt so real and touching when I read it. This Moroccan-inspired fantasy brings readers across planets and kingdoms. It touches upon colonization, oppression, and the underlying belief of hope. We follow the adventure of Amani, a poetry-lover from a poor village, who gets taken on a day of celebration to act as the body double of the cruel princess of the realm, Maram. This book was exciting from start to finish, and Daud’s exquisite prose only contributes to the exhilarating atmosphere that MIRAGE shares. I highly recommend this book to fantasy readers looking for a refreshing, unique read!

“In the wake of this - of life - I had no need for a sign. I wanted something else, something more tangible and immediate. I wanted the world.”

Told from the first person perspective of Amani, MIRAGE is less on the action side and more on the introspection and court politics side. That’s not to say it’s slow-paced, as events are constantly happening, but much of the scenes stay in the Vathek court. The background of the story features the domination of the Ouamalaich System by the Vatheks. Under the strict regime of King Mathis, a Purge was formed that wiped out the powerful royals of the Andalaans who resisted the Vathek takeover. Amani is Kushaila, one of the oldest tribe groups in Andala. Because of the Vatheks’ domination, much of their customs and traditions have dissipated. Amani keeps her heritage close to her heart though, especially with the rare book of poetry. While Amani longs for adventure, the one she gets isn’t what she was quite looking for.

“The crown of Dihya had been stripped from me, my face changed, my body broken. But I was not a slave and I was not a spare. I was my mother’s daughter, and I would survive and endure. I would find my way back home.”

Amani’s a strong and resourceful girl that really grows into her character throughout the story. Although she’s scared when she gets taken by the Vatheks, she remains defiant. She turns this nervous and angry energy in becoming a successful body double of the cruel Princess Maram, who is biracial (half-Vathek and half-Kushaila). The story is very driven by the characters and the relationships that they make. While Maram is first introduced as very mean and spiteful, she also has a lot of inner turmoil that is explored later through dialogue. I thought Daud did an amazing job in bringing Maram to life. She has doubts and insecurities, and her upbringing guided her to the cruel lifestyle that she uses as a defense. She begins to slowly open up through interactions with Amani, who has her own agenda in mind.

Another galvanizing relationship is Amani’s slow-growing attraction with Idris, who is betrothed to Maram. Idris seems like a wild card at first, especially as Amani is untrusting of anyone in the palace, but he turns out to be an awesome advocate and overall sweet guy. The role of fiance was thrust upon him after most of his family was killed off in the Purge, and he’s taught himself to play by the games of the Vathek court to survive. My heart really went out to him, and I loved his playful and empathetic interactions with Amani. There’s a major forbidden-love component in their romance, which brings a nice twist of angst, but overall both characters complemented the other very well. (And their scenes were so sweet!)

“All choices had been taken from us, and still we’d found a way to forge paths independent of what our masters wanted.”

There’s a hidden rebellion that comes into picture later on, but the majority of the book is Amani just trying to survive. She goes from being a poor village girl to the body double of the princess of the star system. That’s definitely an adjustment, and I think Daud did an incredible job of writing her character development.

The world-building in terms of kingdom hierarchy was really well-done, although the outer space aspect wasn’t explored as much. We traveled to different planets in the book, but other than some superficial descriptions, their discoveries and function wasn’t very in-depth. The atmosphere felt more like a historical fantasy than space fantasy, although I guess I would describe it as a traditional fantasy set in space? Because of this, the technology was a bit of a moot point. There were some instances of sci-fi gadgets, but they were always small, convenient inventions put on the sides of the storyline.

I really enjoyed this fantasy, and definitely urge readers to pick it up! (If anything, just look at the gorgeous cover!) Daud’s voice is extremely refreshing as she stirs up the beginnings of a rebellion set in space. The character and relationship development is basically all I ever want in a novel, and I can’t wait to see how Amani’s adventure continues in the sequel. There’s a hint of a cliffhanger, but for the most part the story provided a satisfying resolution that got me ready for the next book!

CW: abuse, violence, trauma, torture

Thank you Flatiron Books for the review copy!

I really wanted to like this book. I love the fight for a kingdom, rise up from the ashes, girl finding herself genre, and this book seemed to be all of that, plus it was in space!
As I began reading, I kept getting caught up in the writing of the book. Unfortunately not in a good way. I felt myself rereading the same lines over and over without getting anything out of them. When I went back, there was a story, it just seemed to be elongated to add more and more details that may not have been necessary. I could not connect with this main character. She was both strong and weak, yet I couldn’t get behind her either way. There was a lot of world building with unfamiliar names of both people and places that all sounded the same that I couldn’t keep them straight.
Around 30% of the book I started skimming because I was just not interested in the story at all. I got all the way to 77% and had to throw in the towel. I admit that there is a story here, and probably a good one, I was just not a fan of this writing style and could not get into it. I liked the dynamic of the triangle between main character, Princess, and Prince (as I referred to them, usually by actions and tone rather than names). I wish there was a little more adventure/action to keeps things moving.
I will look for more in the future from this author to see how her writing style develops. It is a promising book that simply wasn’t my style.

This one was just okay for me. Maybe I just didn’t like the scifi elements, but I’m sure there are a lot of people that will. The MC was likable, but the pacing felt slow, and I didn’t care as much about the story as I would have liked.

Mirage was a special kind of book. I couldn't put it down. I fell in love with the synposis last year when the book was first announced to the world. I found Amani to be a fantastic main character who's life was changed so fast. Honestly, my favorite character by the end was Maram. I understood her the most. Hated for being a promised heir but also not loved by either her late mother or her father's people. She became cruel just to survive. Her growing friendship with Amani was so great and I completely understand Maram's turn back to violence by the end. Honestly, everything about this book was amazing and so well thought out. The characters, the world building, the plot were all superb. I truly truly, enjoyed this book and can't wait to own a copy in August!!

In a fantastic beginning to a new series, “The Mirage” manages to blend politics, religion and the teachings of various cultures into a book that symbolizes the idea that we wear many faces, some we are born into and some we choose.

Amani is just a regular girl surrounded by the love and support of her family with a deep spiritual connection that guides her through life, but when she is kidnapped and sent to the palace she discovers that she shares the face of the cruel hearted princess who is in need of a body double in order to navigate court and prove her worthiness to her father in order to be named the rightful queen and soon, Amani discovers there is more than just assassination to fear and with the rebels on one side and her family’s safety on the other, she is forced to play the part and make decisions that could have deadly consequences.

Right off the bat I have to say I missed the part in the synopsis that hinted that this was sci fi but if anything that made it more interesting to see that this wasn’t just a variety of kingdoms with interwoven histories and conflicts that are riddled with tension and ready to boil over, but separate moons and galaxies. It was a nice addition that really helped create the complexities of the different cultures and the idea that where you come from and the blood that runs in your veins plays a large role in who you are and to ignore one part does a great disservice to your overall wellbeing.

I loved Amani she was such a strong character who from beginning to end was unbelievably kind and always working to do what’s best for the people she cared about even if it meant putting herself into harms way and I was nice to see how her traits influenced those who came in contact with her and those character developments really helped to show depth to otherwise awful (in a good villain way) characters.

The use of mythology, religion, storytelling and language itself was so well done and really stands out as some of my favorite aspects of the book and I really hope we get to see more of it in the future sequels. The overall construct of navigating court is pretty much something we have all read before but these additions helped to make it something a bit different and show just how capable Amani was when left to rely on what she knows best.

This was a great read and I look forward to what all the rest of the series has to offer!

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**