Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.
Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.
But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.
How do you even begin to talk about a book like this? I feel like I should try and say something poetic to match the lush prose of the novel. The words simply flow like water, strong in their delicacy but burning images into your mind. For me the mark of a great book is one I need to read, and I needed to read THE JASMINE THRONE. I was excited to pick it back up each day and am sad it’s over…until the sequel comes out at least.
THE JASMINE THRONE attempts a lot, and it accomplishes a lot. It’s a multi-POV story, has romance, politics, a strange illness, a princess in a locked tower, morally grey characters, and more. We follow Priya, a temple child-turned maidservant, who finds herself assigned as the personal maidservant of Princess Malini. Malini has been locked in a tower by her brother because she refused to die by fire. It is her punishment. Priya and Malini develop a slow burn relationship. (Is it weird to say slow burn when fire literally plays a huge role, including in symbolism?) The book employs one of my personal favorite pacing strategies: the slow, even flame of a candle that grows and grows into a roaring fire. There’s never a dull moment. Never a moment the fire dims. It only grows, much like the love between Priya and Malini. Malini’s brother also happens to be the emperor, and Priya’s people have been oppressed greatly under his rule. Some of them have begun rebelling.
There are many more perspectives, including Rao (a follower of the nameless god, who is linked to Malini as an ally), Bhumika (wife of the regent and the woman who hired Priya as a maidservant initially), Ashok (another temple child and de facto leader of the rebels), and more. The book is not without pain nor loss. There’s a backdrop of suffering. Of a whole people suffering under the ruling thumb of a cruel emperor. The tragedy of people who care deeply for one another having to make cruel decisions. And of course, the strangeness of the rot — an illness that essentially turns your body into a human plant — slowly but surely. Priya’s people might have had the cure or might have been the problem; but those who knew for certain have all since perished.
There’s a beautiful grace to this novel in its multitudes. There’s political intrigue for days, and one heck of a slow burn romance. But there are other relationships too: familial, friend, mentor/trainee, bromance (I mean…). There’s so much to say because the book is long. And yet it didn’t feel like it. It feels like I’ve gone underwater for a few moments and come up soaking wet with wrinkly skin — yet born anew. The book makes you lose track of time; it ensnares you in its roots. And it’s wonderful.
(We received an ARC from the publisher.
Buy the book: BookShop.org | Hachette | Misc.
Check out Hiu’s review of the book here.)
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