5 stars - I loved it; it made me laugh and cry and sigh.

I was excited for this one because I really enjoyed Mirage, but was a little nervous because I thought it was the middle book and I'd have to suffer through another betrayal before getting the happy ending in the last book. So I was very nervous when I got to 80% and things were going well, and I kept anticipating that betrayal... and then I got my happy ending and realized no, there are only two books. XD Whoops. But also, whew, glad I don't have to wait another year to find out what Amani and Maram and Idris are going to do.

I also loved this book more than Mirage. Mirage is full of Amani being forced into acting as Maram's body double, and her family being punished whenever she steps out of line. The seeds of a friendship between her and Maram are there, but they keep being stamped on.

But this book has that friendship finally develop and shine, as they come to trust and rely on one another. We get a lot of Maram's vulnerability in this one, and a lot of Amani's strength. Showing Maram's softer side through her private interactions and relationship with Aghraas made me root for her all the more. There is a lot of focus on the earlier maneuvering between rebels and royals, with Amani at the center of it all, and the ending ends up a little rushed, but it's all so lovely that I can forgive that.

I love the world and culture and people Somaiya Daud has created here, and I would love to read another book about their adventures as they solidify Maram's rule and remove the Vath's claws from the planet.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Somaiya Daud returns to the world of Mirage with its sequel, Court of Lions. Readers continue with the story of Amani, the girl stolen from her home to become a body double to the heir to the throne, Maram. With a world rich in culture, political intrigue, and rebellion, there are many twists and turns that Amani must navigate.

It is, of course, difficult to discuss a sequel without spoiling the prior book(s). As such, I will leave most of my descriptions vague to avoid doing so.

I much preferred this book to Mirage. Mirage set the stage for this book to happen and had a slower pace to accommodate all the changes happening for Amani. Court of Lions already had roles established and was constantly moving with new information and new challenges to navigate. The faster pace was definitely something that appealed to me.

Court of Lions wrapped up everything neatly and I liked where Daud took each plot point. I think this duology was a fun read that occupied a unique space in YA fantasy and look forward to seeing future works from Daud.

Because those who are unfit to rule do not worry about the sins committed by their masters. And they make no effort to repair the harm done by them.

Court of Lions is the follow up to Mirage (2018) and is the closing to the saga. It begins only a few weeks after the end of the previous book, and the rift that opened up between Amani and Maram at the end of Mirage is still fresh and terrible. What’s different from the previous book is that this is no longer just a solo POV. Maram gets a couple of POV chapters sprinkled throughout the book. What’s great about this is that our two protagonists get to focus on different things in a novel that is high on political intrigue: navigating the ramifications of colonial occupation and your role in it (both girls, but the heightened stakes and clashes with allies are firmly Amani’s) and questions of legacy and what to do when you’ve inherited one set of enacted violence and the other set cut short by said violence and being unable to live authentically (Maram).

Whereas in many YA followups, it seems the trajectory is for the protagonist to pull back or dump their ambitions after encountering a stumbling block or just not care because the author found something else to play with, Amani is still very much set on taking down the Vath and protecting and pushing Maram to be better at the same time. Something that I love from Daud is that Amani is able to react and emote about the situation she’s in rather than writing the easy way out and just having her be passive or a blank slate about it. How it would be so easy to write Amani as delighting in basically role-playing as Idris’ now wife as Maram. How empty that would be, but Daud not only has sense, but skill because these moments are heart wrenching since it’s not a viable way to live or love.

Speaking of Amani and Idris, their conflict here is so good as they stand different sides with how to address colonial rule and what should be done about it. This also ties into how other characters’ respond to Amani’s ambitions especially these characters who hold more political power than her. A lot of them question what a village girl knows of the violence of the Vath and it’s refreshing to read Amani push back and lash out at them minimizing her experiences. What’s the point of the powerful if they do not protect the weak and refuse to empathize with them and weaponize those experiences to paint them as ignorant of oppression? There’s a complexity here about how everyone under colonial rule may not be on the same side (class traitors via imperialist collaboration; self-preservation as a response to targeted killings) that was tough, but welcoming to read. Some people who are ignorant of this will come away with the basic thought that ‘Amani is annoying’ here and just know, they’re wrong and shortsighted.

On the other hand, we finally get Maram’s POV and as I said in my Mirage review, I had been looking forward to it and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s hard to believe this was the same girl I hated in the first 30% of Mirage, when I hissed ‘Be nice to her’ at anyone who upset her at various points of CoL. We get to see what Maram was up to between the short time jump between Mirage and CoL and how she wrestles with her dual heritage and her role the Vath’s rule. It’s fascinating to watch Maram come into her own here with her desire to live authentically and the mental and emotional turbulence she goes when unable and the strides she’s made in comparison to Mirage and this is something that rings true in not only her own chapters, but is still present when the focus is Amani. It’s hard to talk about Maram because it feels like I’ll dive in spoiler territory, but I truly adore her. Her romance with Aghraas is also wonderful and is part of that desire for authenticity and choice since it’s contrasted with her arranged marriage with Idris. Also simple note, but Aghraas is super dreamy, who couldn’t love her, a master of falcons?

In more lifting what I’ve said from my Mirage review and doubling down on Daud being a consistent creator, I want to pickup an air horn and scream because relationships between women are still the foundation of this book and it’s so wonderful. Amani and Maram repair their relationship and Maram leans on her for support; in order for the plot to move forward, alliances between women must be created and maintained; we get so many more insights into mother-daughter relationships here; women get to fall in love with each other like everyone else as we see with Maram and Aghraas. You can so easily see that Daud loves and appreciates women and it’s not a struggle for her to depict and center them. A lot of other people should take notes.

Oh how I wish this was a trilogy instead of a duology, just to see how everything shift sin the aftermath of this book’s conclusion. But, that’s the sign of the good ending to me: I enjoy how it concludes, but so many things are given, so many questions are planted, that I would love to see a continuation, not to correct for any flaws, but to go through doors that have been constructed for us. If Daud ever decides to revist the Mirage universe, I will be here.

I fell back in love with Maram and Amani from the beginning of Court of Lions. This stunning sequel to Mirage has fabulous, heartfelt, and emotional characters paired with a story of rebellion and bravery. There's yearning which could fill an ocean with tears and a sapphic romance that had my heart in both knots and contagious grinning. I loved how Court of Lions was both character driven and action focused. Striking a great balance between high stakes and character depth, I found myself gripped in the clutches of Court of Lions.

Court of Lions had so many moments where my heart broke in a way that made tears leak from my eyes, but also in the best way? The ways Maram is struggling with her identity - having to erase and ignore pieces of herself - and her coming to terms with her queer identity. At the same time, there's my precious Amani who is brave, clever, and totally fierce - her scenes with that yearning made my heart weep. Sometimes systems cannot be rebuilt. They cannot be fixed and, instead, need to burn down.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of “Court of Lions” by Somaiya Daud. Thoughts and opinions are my own. Also please admire my restraint for not writing this introduction in all excited caps as I was so thrilled to get approved for this eARC!

“Mirage” is such a gorgeous book to experience. I’ve never read anything like it- sci-fi, fantasy, but somehow also feels historical? Just stunning! I read “Mirage” physically last year and decided to listen to the “Mirage” audio book after getting approved for the “Court of Lions” ARC. I wanted to refresh my memory of the story and I’m glad I gave the audio book a try for my reread as the narrator was wonderful. Also I may have been pronouncing some of the words and names wrong (like Idris) so I was glad to have the correct pronunciations in mind going into the sequel.

“Court of Lions” provides some insight into Maram’s viewpoint which I liked. She had just started to thaw in the first book before the ending when she’d steeled herself back up again. I did feel like she under-reacted to events in this book when compared with the first. She never seemed like a ‘shrug things off’ kind of person but it seemed like she did a lot of that in the second book.

Amani’s world continues to plunge into angst and turmoil until she finally reaches her limit. She could be indecisive at times in the first book regarding the rebellion and her role in it, so it was nice to see her take charge and start to shape things as Maram’s double but also as her friend. There was a lot of political maneuvering with other royal families that could be beneficial to the rebellion. I found it interesting but could see where other readers might find these parts to drag. Especially when the ending felt a bit rushed to me.

As with the first book, the descriptions in this world are opulent and gorgeous. The jewels, the gowns, the buildings, the ceremonies, the poetry- these all weave a lush and unique world. These are so descriptive but same as in the first book, they lull me into forgetting the sci-fi elements of the book so when droids or technology reappears it took me a moment to readjust and remember that was part of the story too.

All in all a strong duology and well worth the read. Also some queer rep in the second book was a welcome addition. I highly recommend the audiobooks to get a sense of the pronunciations and the poetry of the language of audiobooks are your thing.

4/5 stars

Thank You Netgalley for the ARC!

I like this story, but sometimes i forget that they have tech. The author hides it well in the story until something happens and then you have that moment where it takes a minute to remember they have it. I am usually not one for stories like that but this one was good.

The only thing i didn't like about the book was having the ending set up where there was no real lead to a 3rd, which Goodreads indicates there is. I really thought that was the ending and was fine with it. Now i have to hope that the 3rd is good and not just drawn out.

This literally hurts my heart. I expected so much more!

For starters, the romances BOTH OF THEM were insta love and awkward. Maram being queer was a cute addition to her character because without it, she’s pretty basic. A stuck up princess whose who entire personality is that they’re mixed. But her romance with Aghraas was weird and random. Sis came out of nowhere, and finessed her way into MARAMS heart 😂. We don’t know where she really comes from, we don’t know about her family or why she ends up following Maram. Whenever anyone asks her about herself all she says is “I’m here for Maram”......great. Idris and Amani never really had a strong bond from Mirage but I’m a sap and I do like seeing them together. Still the relationships were dry.

Second: It became very clear from the blurb that this book was going to center around Amani trying to be a spy and not getting caught by Maram. As well as helping Maram build political allies with the tribes. But there was hardly any action. I feel like if you’re gonna give me political intrigue YOU BETTER GIVE ME POLITICAL INTRIGUE!! I’m expecting some Olivia Pope from Scandal level of political intrigue. There was no action in this book. Barely any fight scenes. It needed more angst and suspense. I wanted higher stakes and more risks. Also Maram wasn’t even around for any of the politics. Amani did all the work while Maram got to reap the rewards.

That leads us into my third biggest issue... Maram is coddled by Everyone around her (other than her father). Even Amani, (who probably has Stockholm syndrome) was constantly telling Maram how amazing of a queen she would be.....BASED ON WHATTTTT. Sure Maram knew how to be cold and demand respect but she knows NOTHING about this planet, the people, the tribes, their traditions and showed NO INTEREST in getting to know them. She cried about how the Kushailas didn’t like her but made no moves to change their perception of her. She was immensely spoiled and coddled and I think it really stunted her character development.

I’m so mad that I didn’t love this book. I wanted to love it SOOO BAD! But it was just very lack luster and rushed to me. And pleaseeee don’t get me started on the making up of Quran verses thing.
2/5 ✨✨ (Copies form my goodreads account)

***I received an uncorrected proof of this ebook from netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

"I am not a compromise- I am the rightful heir to this planet, and I will not be undermined by those who believe me to be."✝

⭐⭐⭐

I did somewhat enjoy this volume, but not nearly as much as the first. I love the pre-existing world-building. I've never read anything quite like it before, which just makes it feel really magical and sucks me in when I'm reading.

I was SO excited to see Maram's POV... I was honestly really desperate for her perspective on a lot of things. And babygirl grew a little and found her inner-self, which was nice... but I was also hoping for a little bit more uniqueness between their perspectives. Amani and Maram are very different people, but some of their chapters could honestly have gone either way narrator wise. Maybe this is why Amani was in first person and Maram was in third? (Which is stylistic choice I personally really don't like, but to each their own).

I was super pumped for the *gay* but... it wasn't very good gay. It was VERY love-at-first-sight. I wanted so much more on-page emotional development. It felt more like the reader was just *told* these characters are in love. I also kept expecting the girlfriend to be a villain the whole time, because we knew basically nothing about her. 🙈

The middle of this book did feel like it dragged quite a bit, and then the "final scenes" kind of snuck up out of NOWHERE. This weakened the plot of the duology as a whole for the closure to happen so abruptly. I was reading an e-arc so I was like WAIT.... it's over?! Just like that? (I believe this was originally a trilogy, or perhaps still is??? But the end did feel pretty~final~so I am unsure about that).

Also, Amani should have ended up on the throne. She got the people on their side... she did all the work. I feel like Miram did grow as a person, but did she grow ENOUGH? No, she really didn't. I said what I said. 🤷🏻‍♀️

And finally... PUBLISHERS, PLEASE STOP CHANGING COVERS MID-SERIES. Words truly cannot express how much I hate this. And it hurts your authors! This was on my to-purchase list, but now that it does not match book 1 I am undecided if I want a copy for my shelf. 🙃

✝check against final text

This was the long-awaited sequel to Mirage, which I hadn’t read in a while so I reread in preparation for this book. I liked it even more the second time around and found this story of rebellion against colonialism even more refreshing, so I was particularly excited to read the sequel. Court of Lions takes us back to this lush world amidst a bed of beautiful prose and wonderful characterization.

After revealing her rebel connections, Amani is kept isolated, only to be brought back into Maram’s life for her wedding to Idris. She returns to her duties as Maram’s body double, but she also starts plotting to keep Maram on the throne as the rightful ruler of Andala. Meanwhile, Maram faces her fears of being queen and of being married when she forms a relationship with her mysterious new falconer.

The prose was stunning, as always. It had such a soft tone, which lent beauty to the words. I also thought it was fascinating to include Maram’s chapters, albeit how few of them we have. Being in her head allowed us to see more of her: her doubt, her wanting to be loved and not feared, her desire to be known as someone other than the cruel princess.

The plot was drenched in political intrigue, so much so that I had a little bit of trouble following certain details. It was interesting though, and I liked how everything resolved.

I also liked the characters; it was nice to return to them. Amani is strong-willed and resilient, Maram finds herself anew, and Idris realizes that he doesn’t have to live his life in fear. They all have such compelling dynamics as well. Despite her seeminly traitorous betrayal, Amani really does believe Maram will be a good queen, and she rebuilds her sister-like relationship with her. They put more trust in each other, as well as with Idris.

The romance was as passionate as the first book, but now we have two to follow in this book! Amani and Idris are wonderful, and I loved the growth in their interactions. They do have to face the fact that Idris is technically married to Maram, but I thought this was handled with grace. Anyways, Maram is a lesbian and she has a love interest; their romance was so soft. I loved them, and I loved seeing all of them happy!

I did have a few complaints about this book. First, much like the first book, I found that the romances moved far too quickly. Amani and Idris build up their relationship more here, but I thought they declared their love for each other without much development in the first book. Similarly, Maram and Aghraas have very little build-up before they were suddenly at the “I would do anything for you” stage. Don’t get me wrong, I loved both of these relationships and thought there was attraction between them, and there’s nothing wrong with falling in love quickly. I just would have preferred a little more build-up.

The other issue was the pacing; Maram only has a few chapters, which was fine because they were more about her personal characterization and didn’t contribute much to the plot. However, the first few of them took place before the contents of this book and then they caught up in the middle, which felt very uneven to me. Also, while I really enjoyed the first and last quarters, I thought the middle half dragged a bit. None of these were big issues and were more to my personal tastes, but I did still really enjoy this book!

Court of Lions was a wondrous sequel that had all the passion and heart of the first book. It was more plot-heavy, full of political intrigue and machinations, but the character development was carefully interspersed, particularly in Maram. Pick up Mirage if you haven’t already because this series is not to be missed!

Ooh, I'm so happy I got to read this!

I loved the first book and this is a great follow up. The story is engaging and the pacing is great, I flew through this in one sitting. Probably the best thing about these books is the amount of Moroccan culture embedded in the story. The poems and stories, the religion and ceremonies are all beautiful and helped me feel totally immersed in the book.

In this book we get another point of view besides Amani and I loved seeing things from their perspective. There's also a new LGBTQ romance I adored, plus Amani and Idris' relationship grows even more. I loved how smart Amani is to help plan the rebellion and that she used her kindness and ability to make friends to her advantage and was able to recruit others to her cause.

There are several new characters and though it took me a bit to keep them all straight, I enjoyed the friendships and seeing Maram come out of her shell and become the queen she is meant to be.

The only thing I didn't love about this was that the fight at the end seemed over too soon and I hoped for a bigger climax. I know a lot of planning happened leading up and that affected things, but I just hoped for a bit more.

I adored this book and it's a great ending to the duology. I'm so excited for it to be out in the world!

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I have tried to read this book 6 different times. Each time I got a little further along, but eventually I gave up. It's quite a boring story for me. There's a LOT of talking, but given the blurb and beautiful cover, I expected there to be a lot of plotting and intrigue. At 65%, I got none of that. it was very slow-moving. I don't want to include any spoilers but will say that the story also seemed rather implausible for various reasons. The cover alone is worth3 stars but given that the rest was a fail for me, I'll be putting this at 2 stars. DNF

The Quick Cut: A girl who is a physical twin to the queen continues to try to figure out the balance between staying true to her rebel roots and following her role as the queen's double. 
A Real Review: Thank you to Flatiron Books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.  
 Sometimes what you believe can clash with the role you play in life or the job you have. Which do you choose to stay true to? And how do you reconcile the two when they are so very different? This is the internal battle for Amani, the queen's body double. 
 In this sequel, Amani continues to struggle with being the queen's body double. Although her role is not voluntary, she has managed to create a friendship with the queen. However, when she seems unable to fulfill her role in the marriage to her fiance, Idris, Amani is left in an awkward position between the two in their marriage. As if that's not enough trouble, Maram struggles to maintain her foothold on the people she is supposed to be the monarchy for. Will Maram find a way to keep a hold of her position or will she find that Amani goes back to her alliance with the rebels? 
 This book certainly suffers from the sophomore slump. Where the first book is thrilling and succeeds by using beautiful descriptions of the characters & world, the second book fails to match that with the failure of activity and ill pacing. There are some moments where I got pulled into the story and enjoyed the interaction between characters, but far more often I was speed reading in order to get to the more interesting material. Far too much of the story felt like filler with details that were unnecessary to what was going on. 
 I will say that the chemistry between Amani and Maram was easily the best part of the story. Every time these two were together (whether they were getting along or not), these two play off each other in such an intense way. It makes me wonder if there isn't more going on there than meets the eye. They truly are so different personality wise that it makes you wonder if they bring out the best in each other. 
 A second book in the series that fails in action and timing. 
My rating: 3 out of 5

I was so excited for this followup to Somaiya Daud's debut book, Mirage. I loved the world-building and characters and the sequel did not disappoint. The world was still incredible and the characters were still interesting even when I wasn't sure who to root for or when the complicated alien political issues were confusing.

The pacing of this book fell a little flat for me, but it felt like Daud was trying to fit so much into the story that it made sense things were a little confusing. Amani and Maram are really complex characters and I loved watching their interactions and drama.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A stunning conclusion to the Mirage duology, Court of Lions continues Amani and Maram's journey. The book picks up about 6 weeks after the end of Mirage, but mostly fills in what has gone on during this time. A different aspect of Court of Lions that we didn't see in Mirage is POV chapters from Maram - some in flashback and some in real time. Maram undergoes a lot of character development in this book, and this insight into her character really helps give her depth.

This book is really centered around Amani and Maram's friendship. Their development around each other, with each other, BECAUSE of each other, is truly a marvel to read. These characters were written so well, and seem to be meant to be seen as polar opposites, whereas they are actually two ends of a spectrum and eventually meet in the middle. The side characters and plotting are great as well, but this book truly is about Amani and Maram.

The pacing of this book is a tad off, some things happen too quickly, without enough time or justification. Some of it seems too "easy". As an avid reader of fantasy novels I've come to expect certain hiccups or things to go wrong in the plot - but there wasn't much in this book. It reads as a touch unbelievable. I found myself confused about how quickly events were happening & there just didn't seem to be much struggle for the characters.

Overall, I really did enjoy this conclusion and found the world-building just as amazing as the first book. Also, there is LGBTQIA representation in this one, which helped you understand a character a bit better.

This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair, honest review.

This book was truly about relationships, particularly Maram’s and Amani’s. This to me elevated this above the first book, as the relationship was emphasized seemingly almost more than Mirage. What can I say— I’m a sucker for platonic relationships and for people being friends and working together!

The romantic relationships seemed well done and I was very pleasantly surprised by Maram’s! Maram’s alone would have made this book a happy reading for me, though it was only the beta romance.

Familial relationships also played important roles— Maram’s to both her tyrant father and dead mother, Idris and Amani to his cousins, newly introduced characters with each other. Family is something valued, by all our protagonists, which is exceedingly refreshing, to see the true care and love, the anxiety and hopes well-conveyed throughout this book.

Politicking also took up a substantial part, and was defy enough to not feel overwhelming or disingenuous to any character involved.

An enjoyable read!

I don't want to give this book any negative press because I don't feel like it was a bad book. For me, personally, it fell a little flat. I enjoyed Mirage a good deal and was interested where the book would go in book two. Court of Lions I feel could've gone any way and the way it went was just a little boring for me.

3-3.5 stars

I love what Somaiya was trying to achieve with this story, but I had technical issues with the pacing and placement and execution of character moments. I'm glad Maram finally proved herself and her arc in concept is amazing. Amani and Maram's relationship is the heart of this series.. However their respective romances are really hit or miss and for me it was a miss in both cases.

The rebellion is supposed to be brewing throughout the book, but I feel like the other makhzen players were underdeveloped and so it was hard to care about what was going on with Amani's negotiations. Again I have to point out that the writing tends to gloss over key events such as the climax which was what I found to be true about Mirage as well. I do also have issue with how Maram's character and position is used within the rebellion plots. Part of this is understandable because she has an internal conflict of whether she is fit to rule, but she is just straight up not present for a lot of the politics and just lets Amani do her homework for her. Maram is not a bad character, she's just not utilized to her best potential again in this book. She came through in the end, but I think she really needed to do more work on her end to get to that juicy, culminating end.

I have no words. This was one of the top books I wanted to read this year and it did not disappoint. I missed Somaiya's writing style.

I wish u could remember the first book to give a better review. I think if you liked the first book you will like this one.

This was wonderful and well worth the wait. I loved how this duology concluded, and I look forward to reading future books from Somaiya Daud.