The Jealousy of Jalice

4.5/5 Stars

The Jealousy of Jalice is a dark fantasy/sci-fi book.

"The Realms have split apart, the Stones of Elation have been hidden, and warnings of dokojin drift among the tribes. The land and its people are corrupted. The Sachem, chief of the Unified Tribes, is to blame."

Firstly, I loved this book. From the moment I read the first line until the ending. Not only was the writing easy to read, but it had a flow that kept the story moving. It balanced on a fine line between telling my what I needed to know and not telling me enough in order to peak my curiosity.

The next thing that pulled me into the story was the representation. Not only were the people diverse representing different sexualities and genders but also the cultures. This is not your average fantasy story that is based off of Medieval Europe. The book enthralled me into learning about all of the customs in this story that I could have ignored the plot entirely and enjoyed it.

And yet... the plot held up too. I felt like I couldn't predict what was coming next, but was not surprised to the point of disinterest. The story mostly follows two females as one kidnaps the other, who just so happens to be the "queen" of this land (the quotes are because she is never referred to as a queen but instead the Tecalica). They used to be friends as children, but something happened and now one is a ruler and the other an assassin. Shortly you learn that one of them has lost many of their memories, and the story turns to helping them solve their pasts in order to protect the kingdom's future.

I didn't necessarily like these woman, but I never felt like I should. The idea that I could read a book about two woman and not love either of them but not be annoyed by them is a breath of fresh air. They were well rounded with faults and strengths, allowing them to feel more real than many other characters I get to read about today.

The ONLY thing keeping this book from being a five star review is the ending. I was loving the twists and turns of the plot up until the last 5%. At that point I felt a though I should have known more about the world than I did. Since the author blessedly never did an info dump, I had to learn about the culture as the characters interacted with it. This opened up a great way for my to be slowly introduced to new things, but also meant that right up until the end I was still learning. So not a necessarily bad thing, just a small matter of preference on my part.

Also I didn't realize this was going to be a series until the last page... All I can say now is, sign me up for the sequel!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is a sci-fi dark fantasy that revolves around three women. Jalice, the wife of a tribe’s chief is kidnapped by Annilasia and Delilee. These two women, attempt to purify the corrupt tribe grounds. The story gets really interesting when Jalice discovers her own past and realises her true self. The story is a great treat for fantasy lovers and has magic almost everywhere. Some parts seems slow, because of the dialogues, but overall the story flow is well suited for scifi fantasy. Its a woman against man story thats very well written. The language is easy to understand and this book is definitely going in my re-read pile!
Thank you NetGalley, the author Jesse Nolan Bailey for a reader’s copy of the book.

This book was just brilliant!! I loved the writing and how it drew me into the scenes. It was atmospheric and very refreshing. The story read really fast. The characters weren't necessarily likeable, and it worked out great.
I was hooked from start to finish. I highly recommend this book.