The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

The politics, the magic, the romantic subplot–every little detail in The Jasmine Throne worked. I was immediately sucked into the worldbuilding, the beautiful prose, and the complex characters. The two main characters are Priya and Malini. Priya is a former temple child, trying to live under the radar as a servant in the regent’s mahal. Malini is a disgraced princess, trying to remove her cruel brother from his role as emperor. When Malini is imprisoned in the temple ruins, Priya is assigned to serve her. Malini and Priya grow closer as Priya rediscovers the temple’s secrets. Although they come from different worlds and have different goals, the two women form an alliance–Priya will help Malini escape if Malini will ensure the freedom of her people.

I thought that the pacing of this book worked really well–something was always happening, momentum was always building. A big part of the complex pacing and worldbuilding was the multiple point of views. There were chapters from Priya and Malini’s POV, but the reader also gets to see the perspective of secondary and tertiary characters. So many perspectives has the potential to get confusing, but Tasha Suri was able to weave everything together coherently.

One of my favorite things about The Jasmine Throne was how it examined power. Power is necessary for survival, but it comes at a cost. Power shapes people, twists them. In Priya’s case, power twists her into something inhuman. Both Priya and Malini are trying to make their world a better place. Both Priya and Malini have to sacrifice themselves, have to make themselves monsters, to accomplish what needs to be done to save their people. The Jasmine Throne forces readers to question if the ends are worth the means, if change is worth any cost, if burning is necessary for rebirth.

I’m super excited to continue this trilogy and see what happens next.

Thanks for reading with me,
Katie