This story was hard for me to finish. It’s the story of a queen and the challenges she faces to find love and keep it. I am not a historical fiction reader but thought I would try.


I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

This was a DNF for me. I felt that the story was not cohesive and it was very hard to get into. The characters were shallow and didn't offer much subtance.

Trigger Warning: Rape. Though the world building was awesome, the rape aspect and the fact the main character’s enjoys it is very unsettling.
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The book has a lot of explicit sex scenes that seem thrown in for measure and not because it makes sense. The first two chapters pull you in, but as the book goes on it becomes a never-ending complexity of war and rape and that takes away from all of the effort the author put in at building this world. Women are objectified and the sexist overtones are overt.
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I rarely give a review this low, but this author had the promise of something really good and then somehow became lost between the sheets.

--I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the author and Reedsy Discovery. This is an honest, spoiler-free review that has not been impacted by receiving the book for free, and all opinions are solely my own--

First of all this book has amazing world development! I loved the fantasy aspect of this! Personally, I did not feel this book's summary, adequately sets a reader up for how much erotica it has. I was anticipating much more of a fantasy romance type of book. A few sensual nights are okay for me but it was very dirty and very intense in the progressiveness on the outlook of sex. I got to more than halfway and decided to call it quits just because I could not stand the perspective of Nahar. It felt fabricated and did not hit the mark I thought it would. It brings in rape as if it's something hot and sexy, which is repulsive. It also describes women as if they were objects. Overall this book has many themes of war and sex intertwined and the gore-yness in the description is offputting. I did not finish it after 65%.
I gave this book 2 stars because the first few chapters were genuinely intriguing, the cover is also very beautiful. The plot and writing were not my styles though.

Sexist, orientalist, and overall bizarre. Feels like it was written by a man who hates women. Not sure what I expected but it wasn’t what I read. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone and I did not finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read an ARC of this story. An honest review was requested but not required.

I was drawn to this by the cover blurb and the references to Dune with more romance. Unfortunately, as much as I absolutely hate to one-star a book (let alone an ARC) this one just was not for me.

It had all the most extreme and ridiculed elements of fantasy: an absolute plethora of names and titles, convoluted politics and customs, revolving viewpoints, and overly descriptive and flowery language. Add to that some VERY VERY VERY descriptive (and very, very frequent) depictions of rape, which almost every time the victims end up ... loving? And then being ashamed? And then ... wanting more? (seriously.) Then there's graphic depictions of war (including what the Mrrrg do to their enemy fallen, and what Bahadur the noble captain does to HIS enemy fallen), all of which seemed a tad gratuitous. Lastly there are the abundant depictions of women, all of whom sound like they stepped straight off of a Marvel comic book: glistening skin, perky, globe-shaped breasts, tiny waists, lithe limbs, shining sheets of hair, beautiful one and all. The many, many references to Nahar's beauty and sexual allure came across as redundant and adolescent. I don't know.
Lastly, I would agree with other reviewers that the book would more rightly be named Samandal, not Nahar. Nahar was an active character in maybe, 25% of the book? And frankly I'd say the majority of her page time was spent being sexually assaulted. Whether or not she ended up (gulp) loving every minute of that assault, it WAS assault. And so I can't honestly say I enjoyed the book.

This was not my cup of tea, but don't let me stop you from trying it out.

DNF'ed at 12%. TW for RAPE.

I couldn't get behind the excessive rape scenes and the depiction of the Female MC's enjoyment of them.

Not my favorite book… the description sounded interesting but I couldn’t get into it and the rape wasn’t something I could wrap my head around.

I couldn't get into this book. The story started off interesting and at first I enjoyed the world building, but it quickly turned too rapey for my taste and it made me not want to continue reading.

I just could not get into this book. I just could not like the lead female character. She was just not like able.

i asked for this book because of description "Naharis [sic] comparable to Dune in the sweep and complexity of its alternative reality". Unfortunately, I did not find the reading was as described,
"Nahar" was just not to my taste.

This was not like romance novels that I like. This was more like a wheel of time with some really sad sex scenes in it. Almost all the sex scenes were rape. She learns that she really enjoys being raped so I guess that is a plus...... The world was a interesting one and the story was good. I just really couldn't buy the love story AT ALL.. They spend NO time together, None. Just not my type of book.

An interesting read with a good storyline and well developed characters. The story keeps you intrigued. Overall a very good read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Whereas some people love giant sweeping literary vistas, with a bunch of storylines and far too many people to remember who’s who, I don’t, so that’s probably why this book didn’t get to me like I hoped it would. I was enjoying it at the start, when it really looked like the main character, the one the book’s named after, would be the star throughout. But there were areas after that where the character wasn’t heard from for long stretches, making me rethink that she really was the main character; There were three others that might have picked up that moniker better than her. Should have named the book after the city. I definitely would have enjoyed it more if it focused on her the whole time.
For those of you who have read Richard Adams’ Maia, this book is trying too hard to be like it, or an erotic Dune. Just too big.

It wasn't very inspired or logical. I thought that the plot could've been a little more thought out and certain parts in more detail. I felt less like a book for Nahar then for other characters.

This is an incredible read! First I have to talk about the writing. It is beautifully descriptive and the author clearly has a gift with words. There is war, there is love, and the story is captivating in every way.