A powerful, searing fantasy debut!!

The world of Khansadun is a world of wealth, power, magic, gods, castes, clans, poverty and desperation. The land was once fertile, rich and full of magic. Now there is drought, the magic is limited, hard to find and available to only the higher castes. Roma is a devadasi, a sacred slave of god, specifically of Lamia, residing with her fellow sister slaves, waiting to be auctioned to patrons who pay for the privilege of lying with a goddess. Her prior experience with a patron has left scars, both physical and psychological on Roma. As the son of the ruling Firawn, Leviathan is both feared and despised, as his mother was of the casteless clans and died giving birth to him. He was sent away to a military academy where he was indoctrinated and forged into a brutal soldier, leader and his father's weapon. Both Roma and Levi have secrets buried not only in their pasts, but within themselves, with abilities that set them apart and which connect them in ways they cannot understand.

I was immediately hooked by this story, the world feels so fully realized with vivid descriptions of the the cities, rituals and landscapes. The cast of characters around Roma and Levi are rich and varied, I especially liked Malev and Almaguir. Roma and Levi each struggle in their own way for an identity that is their own and not one that was forced upon them by others. The depths of the pain and anguish that both Roma and Levi live with ground the story with incredible realism. Choosing survival and the freedom that picking a path of their own, no matter how difficult, makes this story a remarkable one of redemption. This was a totally gripping story right through to the "oh, now I really need the next book right now" ending and I was thoroughly immersed in this amazing world and by these outstanding characters. This truly is a wonderful debut and I so look forward to what comes next.

It makes me sad to only give this book 2 stars because I love that it's an "own voices" book and I know the author is trying to bring awareness to actual horrible practices. But, almost the whole time I was reading, I was not enjoying it. It was very sad. I had to take breaks from reading and I wasn't excited to turn the page or see what would happen next. The main reason I finished it instead of DNFing it is because some buddies I was reading it with said that it would get better, which it did. But, it got better very close to the end. I would have liked more moments of hope or action against the opposing regime sprinkled throughout the sadness so it wasn't so weighed down. It is fiction and fantasy after all so while the real-world instances of these horrible practices might be hopeless, a fantasy and fiction version can have more hope and more rebellion. I think I will continue the series because it ended on a cliffhanger and the last act was good and very intriguing. But, if the next one has the same hopelessness and complete sadness, I will probably DNF.

I really liked the way this book is written it is very unique and unlike anything, I have ever read before I would definitely recommend it to those who are looking for a new YA book to read.

The Descent of The Drowned is the first book I finished in 2021 and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Everything about this book is phenomenal.

Ana Lal Din captivated me with her writing of richly reimagined of pre-Islamic Indo-Persian era. It's almost like she told me a tale that happened one time in Jahiliyyah era. Some entities name mentioned were familiar to me like Hubal, Manat, etc (my teachers taught them in Islamic History classes in school). But nothing will prepared me of the lore of Mother Lamia, and how powerful she is. You really don't want to provoke the wrath of a goddess.

Roma and Levi characterizations also very special to me. Especially Roma, the pain she had endured, how she survived, and all painful journey of her. She was the best story teller of I could ask for. Her pain was so raw and real.

Ana Lal Din also touched so many important topics. Deep-rooted misogyny, abuse, and manipulation to a lot of women by men, even by their closest family members. The broken, tyrannical system that failed poor people the most. People lied behind God's name to enrich themselves. Human trafficking, especially of kids and women. Transphobia. Ethnic cleansing. And so many more.

The end of this book is hit-and-miss for me, because if I interpreted this as open ending, the epilogue is a perfect conclusion. But I cannot ignore the build up about the resistance and the rebel—the Wolves, and I am dying to know about what happened to them.

Lastly. Albeit this book is marketed as young adult fantasy (maybe because the main characters, Roma is around 18 and Levi is around 20), this book is not by all means an easy read. At all. I had to stop mid paragraph (some) and I have to pause for a minute for them to pass. So be mindful and check the trigger warning before you read this book, always take care of yourself.

Here is also the list of triggers I collected:
- death of loved one's
- slavery
- self-harm
- rape
- sexual violence
- gun violence
- femicide
- emotional abuse
- manipulation
- intrusive thoughts
- transphobia
- suicide
- human trafficking
- genocide
- child abuse
- physical torture
- gore
- drug abuse & addiction

While the concept for this book is fascinating the execution falls far short of expectations. The writing is painfully dry and often feels like reading a textbook instead of a rich work of fantastical fiction. Ideas and actions are shoved in your face and the characters lacked any development outside of what felt like bullet point steps to conveniently further the plot.
I think this author has vast potential as the underlying story was there, I could almost taste it, but it just didn't come out as a fleshed out fantasy novel.

I would definitely recommend this book! The emotional storytelling and the rich characters allows for a gripping tale full of despair, danger and joy Ana Lal Din successfully creates a vivid world full of intricate details, leading to you wanting more. I can’t wait to see what else comes from Lal Din!

I was incredibly excited to read "The Descent of the Drowned". I haven't really read many fantasy books based on Arabian mythology which I find fascinating. I wanted to love this book so much. I ended up only liking it.
This is a debut novel and it reads like one, but there is so much potential here. The writing is lush and beautiful, the world creative and deep. It was fun diving into this new, different world.
In the end, I did feel a little overwhelmed - there was just so much information, so much world building that I couldn't keep up and was left confused. Maybe this would have been different for readers with some preknowledge of Arabian myths and the Indo-Persian culture. Still, it was fascinating and enjoyable to read because of Ana Lal Din's beautiful writing style.

The two protagonists, Leviathan and Roma, fell a little flat for me. There is a lot of potential in both of them but I feel like their character development was hindered by the fact that nothing really actually happens in this book. Sure, there is a lot of suffering, there are some minor plots, but "The Descent of the Drowned" reads more like an introduction to this new world. The overarching plot of this series seems to start basically on the last pages, so everything that came before is more or less a very long prologue. The pacing is rather slow, too.

There ist also the matter of agency: Roma barely has any during the whole book. She is an observer most of the time, there are entire chapters from her point of view that consist solely of her watching other characters, including Leviathan, do things while she stands in the background. A lot of time is spent on her suffering, getting hurt, getting abused or dealing with the aftermath of said abuse. Where she goes and what she does is almost always determined by other characters - she is sent to do chores, dances when she is told to, is bought by a new patron, sold to a brothel and so on. There are blink-and-you-miss-it scenes of her taking action of her own volition, but mostly she reacts, observes. This made me enjoy her chapters less than Leviathan's, who is the by far more active protagonist.

It should be noted that this book deals with a lot of very heavy topics: rape and abuse (of minors too), suicide, self-harm, torture. This world is a dark one and there isn't much happiness to be had. Death and trauma are constant companions, there aren't many moments that allow for a little relief. I personally like dark fantasy stories so this didn't bother me, but I do hope that the next book in this series adds some more light-hearted moments and chapters too (and more Ashar please! I love him and he adds some much-needed humour). Without happiness and peace on the horizon, why should we fight through all this darkness after all?

***ARC received from White Tigress Press and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

This is a book that is not going to be for everyone, it deals with a lot of heavy subjects from forced prostitution, murder, physical and emotional abuse, rape, torture and so on. Most of it, particularly the rape is not described in any level of explicit detail but it can be triggering to people. It never felt like it was there to be gratuitous, it is there to help tell the story of Roma and Levi and their people. Its also a slow burn of a book, more set on world building and fleshing out its characters than rushing headfirst into the confrontation. This is a series you are in for the long haul because there are no satisfactory answers or conclusions to really anything this book sets up and I am here for it.

The book jumps between Roma and Levi and I loved them both equally. Roma is a slave girl, a sacred prostitute to serve the upper class. She is traumatized by her first patron and much of what happens shapes her into the character that she is. She is still a compassionate and caring individual not yet fully broken down by the world around her. I liked that she is complex, wanting both to be good and serve but also longing desperately for her own freedom and the freedom for her brother. There is more to Roma though that only gets hinted at right at the end but is set up well for the next book.

Levi, Levi, Leviathan… How much I adore him. Levi is all sorts of shades of grey, he is not a good man nor does he ever admit to being a good man but he has a broken heart that can’t fully get on board with all the horrible things he has done. Levi is a weapon and uses his skill as best he can, his means to an end are at times violent and bloody but there is no enjoyment in what he does. Levi is trying to do right by his people, trying to help as best that he can. We get glimpse of his past, the soft boy he was that completely conflicts with the hard edges of his current self. I liked the interaction between Levi and Roma, they do not trust each other at all but there is a connection there that I look forward to see who it is explored in the next book. They also play well off each other, two good people broken down and rebuilt by their society and the treatment of others into who they are.

The mythology and world building in this book is lovely. The author is clearly crafting a story using stories and themes that mean a great deal to her. The depiction of the caste system and the abuse easily inflicted upon those without voices by those in power is stark and at times difficult to read. Even though this is set in a fantasy world you can still draw parallels to what is happening then to what still occurs in modern times. There are at times that the writing gets a little clunky and scenes go on a little longer than they should but the writer has a passion for what she is writing about and the characters and themes dragged me in and kept going.

My only complaint is I wish the glossary had been at the front of the book and not the back especially on a digital copy, since bookmarking it from the start would make going back to it easy to reference even if after a little while I was able to pick up what the words meant.

3.5 stars rounded up

This is a fantasy based on some very real horrible practices that occurred in the Indo-Persian world. Female children were given to temples by their parents to appease the gods and give favor to the families. The children were sex slaves, forced into prostitution and never able to leave or have their own lives. Because of this, there is quite a lot of rape in this book so please be aware if that's an issue for you.

I know nothing about Islamic Arabian mythology or Indo-Persian practices so I did like learning about the magical stories and how society functioned. I felt bad for Roma and the other girls who endured some pretty terrible things. It's hard for me to believe that it was considered regular and people didn't see that they were abusing children.

I would have liked some romance between Roma and Leviathan, but they started out as sort of enemies so they have to work through that first. They did push each other's buttons and Roma challenged Levi's actions, forcing him to reevaluate his stance. There was some character development for him and I look forward to seeing what he does in the next book.

The pacing of this is very slow, with all the action happening in the last quarter. It was a bit difficult to get through all the despair and abuse, but the ending was intriguing and I am interested in seeing what happens next.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was A LOT to process. I was hooked by the synopsis that presents a classic enemies unite under a common cause, but any similarities stopped there.

I absolutely adored the main character, Roma, and admired her for her perseverance through the challenging life she has had thus far. Leviathan was nothing like I expected. Anticipating a morally grey character, he fought more for the under privileged and refuses to follow his tyrant of a father blindly. Although romance between the main characters was not a large influence in the plot, I found myself still enjoying the plot. Normally, I can’t deal with a book without romance, but with this book, I found myself more invested in the characters lives than the romance itself.

In a generalized sense, this book felt more like a prequel plot wise. The characters have not shown the growth and interactions we typically see, but I saw this as a book to introduce readers to this world. We learned the traumatic backgrounds of our love interests, and I can see in future books how the growth may play a factor.

In addition, the world-building was slightly hard to follow. While I enjoyed reading an Indo-Persian inspired fantasy world and found many similarities to We Hunt the Flames (another one of my favorites), I got confused often with the magic and people introduced to this world. But, as it’s a debut novel, I could see the effort and research the author has put into her world building. Once I read the second, I’m sure to reread the world building parts to familiarize me in that setting. The plot has major potential, and I can’t wait to see the path the author takes in the upcoming book.

This book deals with a lot of dark issues that unfortunately occur today. The author did an amazing job integrating these issues into the story to shine light on the realistic and terrible nature of them. Some of the issues include abuse, rape culture (although no graphic description is included), and the human trafficking of young children.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who’s a fan of We Hunt the Flames and Dark Shores.

4 stars *may change
Trigger Warnings (And thanks to the author for providing these at the beginning of the book): physical and emotional abuse, mentions of rape (not described in detail), mention of sodomy (not described), human trafficking, child trafficking, drug abuse, suicide (off-page), sexual assault, transphobia (mentioned)
While I usually love books that are carried by the character interactions in them (I really don't pay attention to the plots), I also prefer them to be very fast-paced. I'm someone who likes books to throw boom-boom-boom at me constantly. That being said, this was more of a booooooooooooooooooooom-boom.
A better way to put it: this is slow-paced for real. It took to the 50% mark until things actually really caught on. It's not that it was uninteresting before that (I liked the characters fine enough and wanted to know what happened next), but it didn't catch on until halfway through, and it didn't take a full hold on me until around 80%. now THAT"S when things were crazy. It's like the first 2/3 was a normal car ride and the last bit was a crash.
Although I really don't like when fantasy books are slow, I understand all of the character and world-building that went into this. The author even provided a glossary, which I'm forever grateful for because I've got a horrible memory. This is set in a colonized Indo-Persian inspired world (Allegedly, according to Goodreads, whom I don't trust) and has influences from Pre-Islamic Arabian mythology. I enjoyed how every part of this world seemed researched and like one of its own. I also liked all of the details, like how the Devadasis wore cholis and lehengas, and all of the titles used. It made the world seem a lot more real to me.
What stood out the most, in my opinion, was the characters. Roma is strong-willed and a survivor. She's been a Lamiadasi all her life and goes through some of the most horrific things in this book. Seriously. Ana Lal Din does not shy away from recounting the terrible experiences these women had to go through. I was aware of the triggers beforehand, but I still felt incredibly sick reading it. I had to keep taking breaks.
On the other hand, Leviathan is the son of the Firawn and far above in zaat (caste) to Roma. He's a ruthless killer dealing with his own internal struggles and rage. Their dynamic was interesting throughout the book. I'm a big fan of protagonists hating each other. Don't know why, but there's just something about powerful hatred that is just so compelling. I loved it.
The Firawn is a character I hope to see a lot more of in the next book. He didn't really cross my mind for most of it until near the end, where he was in one of my favorite scenes.
I think the second book in the series will be far more compelling in terms of pacing since this one was really just setting up the world and characters. I'm excited to see how the story will carry on from there.
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for providing an arc.

I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

In Ana Lal Din's debut novel, a young woman and a young man's destinies interlock as a Tyrant hunts an ancient treasure that will doom humankind-- a living treasure to which Roma and Levathian are the ultimate key.

Roma is a Dēvadasi, slave of God,  a lower caste that serves patrons to sustain the balance between the Gods and men, and all she wants is her freedom. Roma has faced many hardships already as we first meet her and  when Roma and Levathian's paths meet... she again is faced with even more problems. Levathian is not a good man, however he isn't heartless. He is a killer. A monster. ‘The worst kind of monsters are those who pretend they’re human.’ However he is entirely selfless although he never admits that to himself. Neither one of these characters is the "perfect hero", they are reckless and flawed and it helped me connect and see these characters as more then fiction.

Ana Lal Din's story telling is captivating, artistic, and sophisticated.

This book deals with a lot of heavy topics, I would definitely check out the trigger warnings before reading. Some of the themes include rape, suicide, assault and human trafficking.

I definitely do recommend this book, just not for the faint of heart. I give this book 5 stars! Once I started this novel, I could not put it down! The Descent of the Drowned is available for pre-order now! Its release date is March 15th 2021.

Thank you to Netgalley, Books Forward and Ana Lal Din for the opportunity to read this masterpiece for my honest review!

"Men. [...] They'll tell a woman she's less, so they can believe they're more."

This book hurt in the best way possible and I cannot wait for a sequel! I need to know more!

Okay but let me explain: this book deals with a lot of heavy topics so please look up trigger warnings before reading it. Some themes of the novel are prostitution, the caste system and human trafficking of adults and children, which made it hard to read at times. There were certain scenes where I had to put the book down because I physically couldn't look at the page anymore. But what this really means to me is that Ana Lal Din is an exceptionally powerful writer for making a reader feel so hard and deep for a fictional character in a (mostly) fictional world. It felt horrible and disturbing and terrifying but most importantly of all, it felt real.

The world building was tricky for me to get into but as soon as you understand the basics of it, it becomes fascinating. I especially loved the magical element of the story that was introduced later on. I also had difficulties understanding all the foreign terms sometimes but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story at all, and also, there is a glossary explaining all the words at the end of the book, which is super practical!

Now, let me talk about my favorite part of this novel: the characters! Roma is one of many badass heroines in YA fantasy books, but the way that she differs from them is that she is not supposed to be fearless or invincible. It's quite the opposite, actually. She is a young and sometimes naive girl that has faced way too many hardships in life and still remains strong. That doesn't mean she's not scared. One thing I especially appreciated about her character is her anger. Roma had every right to be angry at the world, at the gods, at men, and she never hid that anger. She was mad. And I love that. Our other main character, Levi, on the other hand, was fearless but not heartless. He was tough on the outside, a warrior and killer, but soft on the inside. He cared about other people and even though he'd never admit it to himself, he's entirely selfless. One more thing I enjoyed about the two characters was that they were never made out to be 'perfect heroes'. They were messy and flawed and acted recklessly at times, which made the story way more captivating.

Now, Ana Lal Din is a fabulous storyteller, I think I already mentioned that. But damn, this woman can write like nobody's business! The amount of quotes and passages I have highlighted in this book is a lot. The writing was so sophisticated and artistic, I would never have believed her to be a debut author.

Okay, I think this is all I have to say, except for: READ THIS BOOK! PREORDER THIS BOOK! PLEASE! (Also, thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this masterpiece).

this was fun, and look at that book cover! i enjoyed it, but i think i expected a bit more from it, but this is my first book from this author and i would love to read more to see her progress and growth! a solid read and would recommend!

Thank you NetGalley, White Tigress Press, and Ana Lal Din for the opportunity to review this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Before I review the book itself, it is important to note the many trigger warnings that this book has: rape, self-harm, torture, addiction, miscarriage, and physical abuse. While these topics do contribute to the depth of the story and compassion for the characters, they can certainly be problematic for unsuspecting readers.

As for the book itself, the prose is beautiful. As the title implies, you feel yourself being drawn into this dark, imaginative, Indo-Persian world following two characters Roma and Levi. Roma is a member of a lower caste who tries to sustain the balance between the gods and men. Levi (Leviathan) is the bastard son of an immortal tyrant and is considered casteless - the lowest of the low. We follow these two characters as their stories wind together in their attempt to move forward from their heartbreaking past and deal with what life currently has in store. Their story lines build and build and I enjoyed the way it all came together in the end.

This book gave me chills. The descriptions of past traumatic events were so visceral that I had to put the book down for a little as it affected me so. I think that this book is considered truly character driven and as such, the first few chapters were a little challenging for me to keep all of the information straight. I would have loved and benefitted from the author including some information about pre-Islamic mythology because I found myself looking up some of the information to find out more for myself or I felt I would not quite understand the story. It also made the world itself a little hard to understand and follow. I could totally see this being a book where this is a set up for a second book in a series that could be action-packed as well.

Overall, I recommend reading this book and am looking forward to what comes next from Ana Lal Din.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Descent of the Drowned was one of those books that I really wanted once I saw the cover. It was just beautiful and intrigued me so freaking much. Then I read the synopsis and I was basically sold. So when I got the beautiful eARC to read it, well - I freaked the freak out!

So, yeah, long story short - I was really excited to dive into it. Once I did though, meh, it was an okay book. I wouldn't necessarily say the entire book blew me away because it felt like for most of this book - nothing happened. Zero. Zilch. Yeah, we see Roma's eyes finally opening up to how horrible her life is and that she lives near or with a bunch of assholes.

In other words, she gets in trouble a lot. It just sucks that she does because she makes some really good points and everyone's like - stop spreading lies and start spreading your legs. Yeah, no thanks.

Back to Roma, now she was an interesting character that we didn't know much about. There was something dark about her and I just wanted to know more about that. Eventually we did get to see it and that's when the action really picked up. I mean, the entire book was just better in the last 25% of it.

Plus I kind of like her and Levi together as work partners. Not sure if there's going to be a romance between them or not but after that ending - I really want the next book. I need revenge and fire so freaking badly. Bring it on.

3.5/5

Reading this was truly a slow descent into an imaginative world unlike anything I've read in a very long time. The Descent of the Drowned is a captivating novel that follows the lives of Roma and Leviathan, two vastly different people, whose destinies intersect as they struggle to rebuild themselves and protect the people they love. As an ancient treasure is sought after, one that will have terrible ramifications should it be found, the two of them become more important than they realize as to whether or not it will be and the fate of humankind.

It is incredibly important to note that this book deals with some very triggering topics. I have listed them at the bottom of this review and I highly recommend checking them out before you consider reading. This is a book that grabs your attention, first with its lush descriptions, and then with its characters and their distinct emotional and physical journeys. There really is a lot of page time devoted to laying out the background for these characters, which payed off in the long run as they were the strongest aspect of this book. Character driven stories only really work if the characters can stand on their own, and that was definitely the case here. The story itself was so intricately layered, building up the plot development in the most subtle way, I almost missed it entirely. You could almost say it was too subtle. The last few chapters were where I drew breath, waiting to acknowledge everything that had happened from start to finish. As to the things that didn't work for me, this was primarily the pacing. It really dragged at times, especially during the beginning chunk of the book, or it was simply too fast. Trying to immerse myself with the story and understand the conflict occurring became even more difficult. Build up too, could have been less slow, and clearer upon reaching the end of the book. This clearly is a well thought out story, just not executed to that exact same degree. However, I can already tell that this is just the opening act in Roma and Leviathan's story. The potential build off from this is absolutely something I am looking forward to reading in the future.

Trigger warnings: rape, miscarriage, blood, violence, murder, suicide, death of a loved one, sexual harassment, slavery, physical abuse, self-harm (mentioned), grief, addiction, drug abuse

Beautiful. This book was captivating and stunning the entire way through. I had to check several times to make sure I read the genre correctly though. I am a bit shocked that this book is Young Adult. The themes in it are so dark and strong and descriptive. There is a ton of rape and abuse which are not things you typically find in young adult books.

From the start, I was very curious if there was going to be actual Magic involved with Roma. The cobra was happy to see her and seemed to understand her. I loved the imagery and the intertwining of cultural lore and mythology that was present throughout the entire book. I am greatly hoping that number two comes out sometime soon so that I can devour it as well! I love the characters and learning about they discontent with the way things are and how they go about trying to fix it.

I would recommend this book to older young adults and to adults. Once again, the story was amazing and I loved every bit of it, but it is dark and filled with violence and rape.

When this book is released, I will write a more detailed review of the actual story but I do not want to give away too many spoilers before its out.

There are some books where, no matter how much you want to love it, you just can't click with a story. Such is the case with this one. And I think it stems from the fact that this story very much feels like a debut novel, with so much room for growth and development.

The inspiration of Arabian mythology is something I find fascinating, but the world-building in this is soooo confusing and assumes the reader is already familiar with Indo-Persian culture and folklore (which I am not). It got to the point where I completely gave up on trying to understand the world-building and just focused on the plot. There is also so much potential for the characters and many opportunities for their development, but they all fell flat for me. Like, I could tell they had depth to them, but there is too much focus on their trauma itself, rather than how the traumas affect them. And the stagnated writing style takes some getting used it, too.

So while there is so much great representation and inherent positives about this story, I'm not quite sure it plays to all its strengths. Although I probably won't be picking up the next book in the series, I hope the author develops her style a little more with progression of the story.