I'm writing this only 10% in, but I'm hooked already, so wanted to get my review in and update it later, giving the book the time it promises to deserve.

The blurb sounded so interesting, and, having just visited Spain, and fittingly, Granada, with it's real-life Gate of the Pomegranates, and pomegranates shaped in the very cobblestones that we walked on, and on the street signs, and all around, the adopted symbol of Ferdinand, Isabella, and Catherine of Aragon, I was really drawn to the medieval Spanish setting. I really want to read more about that period of Spanish history, and reading about something as dark as the expulsion of an entire people from Spain (on March 31, 1492, after Ferdinand and Isabella signed an edict, the Alhambra Decree) but through a fantasy lens, seemed an interesting way to start.

For me, this is what fantasy does best, it communicates human issues, conflicts, beliefs, and worries but from a space of distance - a different or alternate world, so that we can have conversations about them from a place of relative safety.

So yes, 10% in and most of the blurb has already happened, so my expectations of the rest of the book, and series, are high, and I'm already wanting to educate myself more on the history and issues raised just by the premise of the book.

It's a first volume, obviously. The story follows two main characters: Toba, who is a young woman who has a disability that prevents her from running or yelling, and Naftaly, a young man who dreams of a world where people have squared pupils. It takes place in Spain in 1492, when the Jewish were exiled or forced to convert. All the characters are Jewish and we see a lot of their culture and traditions, which is so interesting.
Very early on, Toba crosses a gate and finds herself in the mirror realm where the Mazik live and oh, they have squared pupils! Her grandmother enrolls Naftaly (and an old woman who wants to protect Naftaly from the grandmother) to save Toba.

The beginning was very slow until something happens and "oh no! there's two of them!" The Mazik Naftaly dreams of really surprised me. There are some revelations in this book that were so baffling and promised a lot of captivating intrigues. My only hope is that there will not be a romance between Toba and Asmel.

All in all, it was a very good book, a little slow at the beginning but so fascinating! I will definitely read the sequel!

Rep: disabled main character, suggested queerness, Jewish main and second characters
TW: blood, torture, murder, decapitation, antisemitism

Again a fantasy that thrives of specificity. This is not set in 15th Century Spain, just as the Catholics finally defeat the Moors, and the Inquisition start driving the Jews out. But it basically is, and our two leads are part of a small group being persecuted for their religion. There are some nice takes on the incredulity of most people used to live with tolerance, but also how easy it is to pull out the prejudice in those already being squeezed full of hatred. But this is a fantasy and it is not long before the mysterious origins of our heroine Toba come calling and she is sucked into another dimension through the Pomegranate Gate. At the same time one of her refugee companions Natafly discovers that he is carrying an old relic and keeps dreaming of another dimension.

The Pomegranate Gate rolls itself into its fantasy world relatively quickly, but always with one foot in its real world analog, and that is a world full of its own kind of furtive peril .So while Toba is learning to survive, Beauty And The Beast style in a near-deserted library, Natafly has to dodge soldiers and people trying to sell them out (there is a lovely bit of corpse management at one point). Kaplan pushes the sense of those mythological tales which also functioned as fairy tales, there is something very Arabian Nights about how he adds to particularly Toba's other-worldly travails. Some of this moves from aping tropes to actively subverting them, and there is a development which creates a really quite interesting and eventually moving character beat that makes the ending here more tragic than expected. Its the first of a trilogy that I am looking forward to returning to.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for sending me a copy in exchange for a review.

The premise of this really caught my attention, and the story did not disappoint. It was slow, and I know some people will have problems with the slow pacing of it, but I really enjoyed getting to know every character and all the places we went to.
The Jewish folklore, and fantasy version of Spain was really interesting with the real life Inquisition destroying the lives of anyone not Christian.

I am really looking forward to the next instalment in this series, and to see what Toby gets up to especially.

I'm so sorry, i really wanted to get into this book, but i just really struggled to get my head around what was going on. It just felt too complicated and i had to DNF :(

A fun, beautifully written Fantasy novel! I really enjoyed the plot and the realistic relationships between characters but the most captivating thing was the semi-historical setting inspired by Medieval Spain.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

A very cleverly written book, easy writing style. A bit of a grumble from me though on reading on Kindle, where definitions are given at the start of the book of characters and places and referring back to the definitions on Kindle is a pain compared to a paper book.

Although an enjoyable read, the pace was slow to begin with, then didn't really pick up throughout. A bit of editing might make it more compelling, although too late now as it's published soon. But maybe for the next book in the trilogy? None-the-less, the character development is good, despite constantly going back to the definitions to check on things.....and Jewish terms.

I'm a bit 3.5-ish on this, but maybe just me. Doesn't hit a 4, but I will read the second book when it's released.

An enjoyable romp through a magical land! I loved toba and naftaly’s characters and the others I met along the way. If you like fantasy I think you’ll enjoy this. Thank you for allowing me to read the ARC copy.

Such a unique setting in fantasy, I have never read anything quite like this, but the world building is incredible, and the Jewish folklore is so interesting to read about! It combines fantasy with elements of historical fiction from an era I knew nothing about but which I am intrigued to get to know more. The characters were compelling and complex from the get go, and we’re overall well written. I really appreciated having the character list at the start as there were a lot, and the glossary was useful too.

The only thing is despite it still being gripping, it’s a little too long than I thought was necessary, I would have appreciated it being cut down slightly.

Overall I would highly recommend, and I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was apprehensive going into this book, purely based on the number of pages, and to some extent, I was right to be. This book is long, at around 500 pages, and at times, it drags.

The concept of the two worlds is very well created and executed. Toba was an instantly intriguing character, and Naftaly grew more and more interesting throughout.

The setting made for an interesting novel - not often you read a magic fantasy set in Inquisition Spain.

Overall, an enjoyable read, and one that sets up many potential twists for the remaining books in the trilogy.

There was much that I loved about this book - the setting for one; I will admit that I don't know much about Jewish folklore or the Spanish Inquisition for that matter, but I found this to be a very immersive tale that blended reality and fantasy very well. I also love the characters, who stand out to me as the best part of this book - I loved all of our main cast, and I get the feeling I will come to love the Courser as the series continues, too (she kind of gives me Harrowhawk vibes).

Unfortunately, this book took me a long time to read. Part of that is definitely because the formatting is off in the eARC; I am sure that this will be fixed for release (and I will find out soonish as I have a copy ordered!), but it made dealing with the PoV switches really tough. If that's fixed though, that's obviously not a mark against this book. What does remain though, is the pacing, which is for the most part far too slow. I was enjoying myself and I loved the characters, but I never quite felt the 'hook' that would keep me reading for longer periods of time, until near the end. My excitement was always dampened. As this is book 1 in a series, a lot of world building had to be done, but I do believe that the individual instalments of a series must hold up on their own, and from a plot/pacing pov, this one doesn't.

Having said that, if you're the kind of reader who loves this kind of slow paced, multi-pov epic fantasy, then this is exactly the book for you. I am also very much looking forward to seeing where our characters go next (hopefully with a bit of a faster plot next time!).

A richly woven historical fantasy with elements of Jewish folklore and history from the era of the Spanish Inquisition.

As with any fantasy book that has this level of world building, it takes a little time to get into the story. But once you do, the characters and their arcs unfold beautifully.

It's definitely set up to be the first in a series, and I'm looking forward to reading more about this universe!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Let's start with how much I love the cover of this, although it seems to have little to do with the story!

The Pomegranate Gate is an alternative world fantasy, set in the period of the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of the Jewish community at that time, which resulted in mass migration to other European countries. Interestingly, within this reflection of our own history, are two mirrored worlds: the world Naftaly and Toba live in, and the Mazik world. Both are in a state of upheaval, with power and political clashes.

This is proper immersive fantasy, the sort you can't put down. I found the mythology, which was new to me, fascinating, and the world-building detailed and complex. The characters were solid - they felt like real people (even the ones who weren't actually human), in fact I was so invested in the old woman that I got irritated when she didn't do what I expected!

Once or twice I got a bit confused, particularly when the storyline switched back and forth between characters, and I had totally missed that this was the first in a series, so I was a bit put out that it didn't finish with all the ends tied in, but on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed The Pomegranate Gate, and I cannot wait for the next book.

3.5 Stars.

I really liked the world building and feel of this book. I was also very intrigued by the plot, and enjoyed most of the characters. I've not read much based on Jewish folklore before, so it felt quite different to other fantasy I've read.

Some of the transitions between POVs were a bit confusing, and perhaps these will be better sign-postsed in the final publication.

For me the area where this book really fell down and made some parts a bit more difficult to get invested in was that neither of the main characters had a great deal of agency. They didn't really know what was going on, or why anything was happening, so it made a lot of the events, both positive and negative, feel a bit like random chance. Though this improved for me as the story went on and they learn more about the world.

I'm definitely intrigued enough to pick up the sequel when it comes out!

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a masterpiece.

When the Queen of Sefarad orders all the nation’s Jews to either leave or convert, Toba Peres and Naftaly Cresques are forced to leave their homes and flee to another country, but an unlucky encounter causes them to become separated from their caravan. Toba follows an orange-eyed stranger through a magical gateway, leaving Naftaly behind and determined to bring her back.

This is quite a complex work of fantasy that peaked in the middle and started to lose me in the second half. It is by no means bad or poorly written, but got a bit over-complicated towards the end and I lost track of where each plot element was going. On the plus side, it does have great characters and fantastic world-building.

The narration alternates mainly between Toba and Naftaly’s perspectives, and I have to say I hugely favoured Naftaly’s storyline. Toba’s narrative was interesting and integral to the story (I particularly enjoyed her rapport with Barsilay and the appearance of Toba Bet), but I found Naftaly’s vastly more entertaining, largely because of his relationships with the old woman and Elena.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the Jewish folklore woven into the story, which I am not at all familiar with but found really interesting.

I was initially drawn to this book because it's a Jewish fantasy. I loved the natural weaving in of Shabbat, mikveh and other Jewish cultural & religious aspects of life. I think they fell into the story perfectly and were just allowed to exist as part of the world - I loved that because at times it seems authors are made to labour too much over educating the reader over elements like this.

I really enjoyed how this story differed from my expectations. I was expecting Toba and Naftaly to be LIs for one another, given that they're the MCs. However they weren't! Instead we got what a beautiful relationship between Naftaly and Barsilay which I'm really hoping grows in the sequel.

I also loved Toba as an MC, especially when it came to her relationships with other characters. Elena's brutal, selfish love for her granddaughter was so compelling to read. Toba's dynamic with Toba Bet was also amazing - two characters from one was just such a fun concept that played into the plot so well. I mean the ending was just incredible - it was not something I saw coming but I loved it (brutal as it was for one character). Toba Bet and Asmel's relationship was interesting - I'm not sure how into her infatuation with him I am, especially since she's a descendant of his wife. I enjoy the dynamic between Toba and Asmel as a mentor/mentee kind of thing (or something paternal).

I'm so excited for the rest of this series - there's so many characters I want to spend more time with including all I've already mentioned as well as the Courser, the Peregrine and the Old Woman (who I feel must have more going on than we realise).

The Spanish Inquisition, the exile of Jews in the XV century from the Iberian Peninsula, and Jewish kabala are enough to make me interested. These are the basics of this book. Add to it magic, mystery, fight for survival, and parallel worlds and it sounds like a perfect fantasy novel.
Indeed there is a lot to like in this book. The idea, the characters, the story building, everything seems to be really well done, yet I have lost my interest at around 60% of the book. From that point onwards I felt like this story just drags on and on to a not-so-big wham. That "wham" I think will actually happen in a book of this series?
One more thing: the phrase "a great deal" repeats on almost every page, or at least on every second page and it's extremely annoying! Where is the editor? If I open my next book and will see just once a great deal of anything I will scream and kick! Aggrrrrrhhhhh

I strongly believe though, that the author has huge potential and will keep an eye out for his next book.

Fantasy inspired by Jewish folklore.

This book was quite slow and unremarkable. It was written quite well, and seemed different and interesting in the beginning, but things got too complicated and unexplained as the story progressed. I was expecting some new strange things, but we got fae-like creatures instead. There are 3 main points of view that only really intersect at the end, and not all too much. There is a lot of moving from one place to the next and some obscure politicking. I was somewhat enjoying it for the first half, because I thought we were going somewhere, but the ending really annoyed me, because it left a lot of things unresolved. The book just ends with a million threads left hanging and a lot of things left nebulous and unclear.
Character development is what would have made me enjoy a book like this, but there is very little character development in this story. Only one character changes at all, and that's just because she basically becomes two different people, one annoying and one weak and bland.

I think fans of political fantasy would like this, but it lacked focus and direction, as well as character development for me.

A really interesting read. Inspired by Jewish folklore this is a mix of historical fiction and fantasy with an interesting plot and huge cast of characters. I found it a bit hard to follow at first but quickly got absorbed by the story and really enjoyed it.