Member Reviews
Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. Tahereh Mari has done it again! This fantasy novel will keep you turning pages. I appreciate the lack of profanity and explicit romance, so that I can recommend this to students. The vocabulary usage is impressive. Alizeh as a strong female shows many important virtues. I think honesty and compassion are important themes in this book. I hope Mafi uses some magic to conjure up the sequel, as I can’t wait to read it!!
I loved this novel! The romance was intriguing and swoon worthy, but full of high stakes. I was never sure quite what was going to happen. and that ENDING I can't wait to get my hands on the next book.
I was unable to read the copy. My computer does not have the Microsoft capabilities. I am looking forward to reading this when it comes out.
Tahereh Mafi shines again in this epic first book to her new young adult trilogy, This Woven Kingdom. Fans of Shatter Me and other favorites of Mafi’s will be ecstatic to finally get their hands on this masterpiece. This book is a brilliant dystopian work of art that will leave you begging for more. Filled with plot twists and a shocking ending you'll be on the edge of your seat the entire book. Readers will be hooked from the very first sentence. Make sure that you reserve plenty of time to start the book because you won't put it back down till every single word has been engulfed. Mafi truly transports readers into a different universe filled with magic, excitement, forbidden love, action, and best of all, characters that feel like they have been with readers their whole lives. The ending will have you wanting to run and grab the next book as quickly as you can, the anticipation for the second book might just be too much for some readers to handle.
4.5 - This Woven Kingdom is an atmospheric, beautifully written Persian-inspired fairytale that captivates from the first page. Mafi's prose is exquisite, crafting a closet bedroom or a gilded palace with equally lush descriptions; she will make you feel the cold in your bones, the ache in your heart, the scalding tea on the roof of your mouth. While the beginning was a bit slow, once I was hooked I couldn't put the book down; I read the last 70% in a day.
Recommended for readers who love atmospheric reads full of rich set pieces and evocative worldbuilding and fans of enemies to lovers romance with Pride and Prejudice-esque banter between the leads and actual knife-to-throat stakes.
Tahereh Mafi is a truly gifted storyteller and the wonderful story she weaved within This Woven Kingdom, no pun intended, was magnificent.
There was so much world building in the first book of this trilogy and I cannot say much without spoilers, but Ms. Mafi has an uncanny ability to make my heart ache for her characters. Alizeh has endured unimaginable loss and her grief and loneliness were palpable in This Woven Kingdom.
Although I could never quite guess who was the "villain" within this story, I can say that I am rooting for Alizeh with my whole heart and I hope to see her become the Queen she was always meant to be. I am also pretty certain that I can guess the love triangle and I am definitely interested in reading more on that. I cannot wait for the next installment in the series, because that cliffhanger ending was amazing.
This Woven Kingdom was a fantastic read that any fan of high fantasy, romance and mythology will be sure to enjoy.
This Woven Kingdom is a phenomenal Fantasy inspired by Persian mythology. Reading it, you can tell that Tahereh Mafi put a lot of thought and time into writing the novel and crafting the world. I have read all of her books, and she never disappoints.
Alizeh is the perfect main character. She's everything I want in a YA fantasy protagonist. Alizeh is strong, intelligent, and has a really interesting perspective to read about. Kamran is my newest book boyfriend. I absolutely adored him. His part of the story was just as interesting as Alizeh's, and helped build opposite ends of this world so perfectly. They are both very complex characters who felt real.
Alizeh and Kamran have so much chemistry and compliment each other so well. Their relationship reminds me of Laia and Elias from An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. I like how they both needed someone to see and understand who they really are, but sadly don't seem like they can be together any time soon. I also like how their romance didn't take over the plot of the book (Like it kind of did in the Shatter Me series).
Tahereh crafted this world in a way that sucked me in and made me feel like I was actually there. That's exactly the feeling I want with fantasies, and This Woven Kingdom outdid itself.
The ending left me with my mouth gaping.
I wish the next book was out yesterday, I can only hope that I will be able to get an arc of the next one.
Tahereh Mafi has done it again. She has me hooked on this series!!!! I’m only so sad that I don’t have the next book to read yet. She writes so eloquently, pulling you into the story. She leaves you on the edge of your seat and there were several jaw dropping moments in this story. I promise you this book is worth your time!
Thank you for granting my request for this book. Due to a current situation with the author I am not wishing to read this book during this current time. I may change my mind one day if I become interested again, but not currently at this time.
Loved every page and will absolutely be recommending.
From world building to plotting, Mafi’s most exhilarating novel to date!
From the first page this story takes you. Alizeh is a wonderful character who can take care of herself, but is also kind. I loved her complex character. I can’t wait to read the next book.
This is one of the best books I've read this year! The writing style/plot s very different then The Shatter Me series, but I found I liked this style more. The writing was brilliant and I fell in love with the characters right away! There is such great quotes in this book that were a pleasure to read, and I found myself up at 2 a.m. to finish it last night. The end left me extremely excited for the sequel and I can't wait to get this book in my own two hands!
Tahereh Mafi does it again! This is by far my favorite of all of Tahereh’s books due to the intricate plot and writing style and the diverse cast of characters. I found the book to be very well paced and the magic system was articulated well. I loved Azlieh as a main character, she was the perfect combination of compassionate and brave. The authors note at the beginning of the book resonated with me due to the fact that Mafi felt that she was able to express herself and her culture through this story. I would definitely recommend this to my students!
I love this author so I was so excited for this book when I heard about it. It did not disappoint my expectations and I devoured it in one sitting. The plot was so good and the main characters were extremely interesting. Such a good read!
What can I say? Tahereh mafi has done it again!
Now, I’ve been keeping up with tahereh mafi for many many many years! That also means that I’ve been excited for her upcoming fantasy project since shatter me had ended. And it didn’t disappoint not in the slightest.
Where do I even begin? First of all, Alizeh. Alizeh is by far one of the best written female characters I’ve ever read about. The emotional depth Mafi put into her was brilliant. I loved everything about her. I thought Tahereh really went in with Alizeh’s charisma because it literally faded through the pages. It was beautiful. Alizeh is a servant girl, a jinn, caught between a boy she’s helplessly fallen for and an empire itching to destroy her. She was brave, she was smart and she was fun to read about. I thought Alizeh had one of the best character introductions I’ve read about it in a while. She was hilarious when needed to be and absolutely perfect. I could ramble about alizeh for hours. She was also one of the sweetest female characters I’ve come across.
Now kamran. Kamran was a pretty interesting and complex character. Though a few times I will say I was shocked by the revelations in this book, I enjoyed the constant development Kamran was taken through. It was a journey, truly. But that’s why it was so much fun. Kamran is hard headed and extremely cold, from the years of subjection to war, death and loss, he’s incapable of showing his feelings if not for anger and relief. I thought he was developed amazingly and Tahereh has never lacked when it comes to her characters.
The romance was amazing. It was great. The need and want between kamran and Alizeh made my heart ache. As usual with forbidden romances, you are rooting for them the entire book knowing it’ll take a while for anything to progress. The tension that you’re first hit with when reading this book is insane and the exact reason why it’s so exciting!
The ending. really caught me off guard and I can’t say I’m surprised but in a good way - of course! This is a Tahereh mafi book after all! But I loved the ending and honestly, if anything? It’s really got me at the edge of my seat even more. I can’t wait, I’m extremely excited and I have my brain working on over time building theories and coming up with different scenarios for the next book.
This was everything I wanted and more and absolutely worth the wait that Tahereh took. It was perfect and I couldn’t have asked for a better beginning for a book like this. Persian empire? Check! Myths and legends incorporated? Check! Interesting characters? Check! The cliffhanger has me hooked and I cannot wait for Tahereh to come forward with the next book. This was an absolute delight to read and I’ve had a smile oh my face since. 5 out of 5 stars!
So, I know this book is not out for a while so I am going to try to refrain from anything spoilery in this review. I also want to say that I know when I reread this book, I'll probably bump my rating up to a 5, but right now, it's just a little bit below that perfect star rating.
Unsurprisingly, the writing in this book is really amazing. Tahereh Mafi really brought it with this book and after being kind of disappointed in the lack of descriptive work in some of her more recent books like Defy Me for example, I was blown away by the prose in this novel. Every moment in this book is depicted with theatrics and nothing is written with mundane language. I loved the way the settings in this book were written and I was just truly not expecting how well-written this book would be. It was immaculate.
Going into this book, I was not really sure what the plot would be. The synopsis was very vague and did not give much insight into what the storyline would actually be. I went into this book thinking it'd be almost like a quest or adventure book and it's definitely...not. There's nothing wrong with that but I kind of had to change my expectations once I got a couple of chapters in the book and I could see the main trajectory of the story. I really liked the slow burn of the story, though, and I liked how the pacing built and built with each chapter. There were parts that were a little too slow and dragged out for me, but those sections were few and far between. THAT ENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still shook.
In the beginning, I felt like I wouldn't really be able to connect with Alizeh or Kamran because while the writing was amazing, I was not the biggest fan of the narration style. It felt very removed and like one step away from omniscient because it felt at points very telly and not showy. It was very similar in that way to Tahereh's middle-grade books which I really liked, but don't think had a narration style that would fit YA necessarily. BUT, by the middle and end of the book, I definitely liked both of them way more. We got more of their backstories and read more from their inner conflict and about their struggles which I think brought to light who they were as people really well. I also really liked Miss Huda by the end because she was the comedic relief that Tahereh does so well. Deen was cool too and I eventually warmed up to Hazan too. Also, the king of Ardunia was pretty intriguing to read about as I never knew what was really going on inside his head. I'm also VERY intrigued to see what will happen with Iblees in the next two books in the series. By the end of the book, all the characters were pretty solid and I'm excited to see how they grow in future installments.
The world-building was surprisingly very complex. Usually, Tahereh isn't great at the world-building parts of her books, but this was really well-done in my opinion. Everything felt so real and well-imagined and I definitely felt like I was in Ardunia or Setar or Baz House. I'm excited to see more locations in the world too in Books 2 & 3.
This Woven Kingdom is an amazing series opener with deft world-building, complex characters, intense political intrigue, flawless prose, and slow-burn pacing and romance. With twists throughout the book that will keep you on the edge of your seat, heart-pounding character moments that will leave you craving more, unmatched poetic writing, and an ending that will leave you begging for the next installment, Tahereh Mafi has crafted what will surely be the next YA blockbuster fantasy.
I'm unable to give feedback as there is no kindle copy for me to download. I will update my feedback /rating accordingly once I'm able to read the e-arc.