Definitely not what I expected and it was a very pleasant surprised! The synopsis led me to believe there was only one Pov, so in the beginning I was a little confused when I realized there were multiple ones but I quickly recovered. I expected an easy quick read; instead the story was far more complex and more violent than I predicted. It is rich in description but without being unnecessarily rambling and the kingdoms are almost all well described (we still know very little about Verdaan). The whole storyline about the rug and its effects and importance for each kingdom was really interesting. I was totally captivated! One thing I was not completely satisfied was the fact that the narration didn't give the main characters the same importance because we can‘t see the whole story from every perspective. For example: we see a lot from the princess‘ point of view while Timak‘s thoughts are limited to the first part of the book; we know nothing about Matisse‘s thoughts (we can only guess them through other characters) while we often read from his sister‘s or his uncle‘s point of view. I think it would have been better if the characters were given equal importance. But that‘s the only thing! Great beginning for trilogy, I can‘t wait to read the sequel!

Dark Djinn had my full attention at first but the multiple POVs throughout the story made it difficult to stay interested and engaged. I loved the uniqueness of the story and the characters were well developed but there was just a little too much jumping around for me. It made it too easy to put the book down.
The book is also very long. I think had it been broken up into more than one book and focused on different characters in each, it might have been a bigger success for my personal tastes. That said, it is very original and has a great story line so I think fantasy readers would still enjoy it. 3.5 Stars

not what i expected
I loved it!
interesting storyline with characters that did it justice
I can't wait to read the next one

It had an interesting storyline with characters that did it justice, this tale tells of an addiction that is ruining its citizens and the other border countries. The ones fighting to eradicate it, are corrupted by their politics and desires, bringing about a very violent and volatile situation. The innocents were being destroyed by depraved and perverted men and women in power with their sickening cravings. They force these innocent individuals into these dirty and unthinkable acts through fear. It's a brutal and cruel society that preys on its innocents. This book has been quite an eye-opener for me, although there are those out there who are drawn to these type of stories, this one is not my thing, I didn’t like the suffering and the cruelty that was meshed out to the innocent like Timak, so sad.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is not short, but the plot moves quickly enough that the reader doesn't really notice any lag. It's rich in descriptive worldbuilding, but not unnecessarily so---I've seen so many books whose authors clearly fell in love with their thesaurus, and this doesn't fall into that particular trap---though I didn't think it necessarily did anything new with the 'djinn' idea.

Recommended.

A interesting idea, unfortunately it did not hold my attention. The world building was fine, the characters were fine. That was my issue, everything was just fine. I felt too neutral while reading it, which made me feel bored. I won't be continuing with this series.

I received a copy of this for a fair and honest review. I have read many legend of making deals with Djinn. They can't be trusted and they always play dark games. This story is no exception to the rules. It is one of the dangerous things a person can do, but sometimes there is no choice in the matter. Princess has to do something to change her fate regardless of the outcome. But I can't give away too much. I did like that there was a map include in the story. It gave more detail then just the description. I can't wait for the next one.