10% in so far and this one is a 'maybe' as to whether or not I'll finish it.

At 10% in, the story is pretty good, I like the feeling of the world so far, and I like the main character and her friends, and there are plenty of reasons for me to return to this, but I'm not engaging with this as an adult fantasy book, it reads pretty typically YA so far, although there's a bit more to it than the bog-standard YA. The writing style and characters, while they have some life experience, read pretty young, though I don't remember if their ages are mentioned, it doesn't affect the YA feel of this. Maybe it could work as a gateway adult fiction book?

Hopefully, I'll get to read more of this, time permitting, and update this review, but based on the first 10%, it's promising, but I have my doubts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the advance reader copy.

TW: race discrimination, sexual harassment, references of sexual assault, violence, physical abuse (to name a few)

The premise of the book was so promising; the unknown heir to a disgraced nation being found out by the Prince of the current ruling people. Throw in a nationwide battle and some apparent enemies to lovers and this should have been ‘chefs kiss’.

But, it’s not. The male lead wants to exterminate the female leads race and continues to try and kill her regularly; whilst blackmailing her.
The female lead seems to find this all within character and even stoops to find the male lead attractive at points which, honestly I was confused with.

When I started the book I assumed the romance was with some other characters cause I was like how do you get past your ‘love interest’ wanting to kill a race of people, who happens to be the race of people you belong to. Yet, apparently it’s not that big a deal, just getting kidnapped and blackmailed into fighting for a man who wants you and anyone who is from the same place as you dead.

Then we move onto the main story, which happens quite late in the book that was rushed and just meh.

I was so excited for this book and it was one of my anticipated reads but I can’t even think of who to recommend this to.

Characters: 5/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Plot: 7/10
Worldbuilding: 6/10
Writing: 8/10

Score: 3

I'd been following the author since before she got her book deal because the premise sounded up my alley. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the execution. If I weren't buddy reading this, which made the experience more fun, I probably would have dnf'd it.

I'll start with the good: I always enjoy different cultures and when worlds include elements from them.

Now, I don't hate this book, and it's not the worst I've ever read; it just wasn't up to my standards for an adult fantasy and nothing about it satisfied me. The Jasad Heir felt more like a YA book. The only instances where that wasn't the case were one heated scene and random violent actions sprinkled throughout.

The worldbuilding didn't give me a clear picture and was pretty vague. I imagine the final version will have a map; it would have been of great help. I kept getting lost. For a book advertised as a political fantasy, the politics and worldbuilding lack depth. The plot and pacing were all over the place. The second half of the book was dragging, and it felt like nothing was happening for too long.

The tournament the main character, Sylvia, is forced to participate in happens in the last 30% of the book, and as you can imagine, that part wasn't very thorough. Though at that point I was struggling and didn't even care anymore.

The author marketed The Jasad Heir mostly for the romance, which did not land for me either. I think she focused too much on the enemies-to-lovers trope and was just building around that, neglecting the other aspects that I would have preferred to see explored deeper. The enemies-to-lovers arc wasn't even consistent either. Sylvia and Arin were having moments out of seemingly nowhere too early into the book, and then whatever they had was nowhere to be seen until near the end.

The harm Nizahl and its heir Arin caused is just forgotten. The author tries so hard to paint Arin as a good guy in order to establish a romance, while his actions and beliefs contradict that. Being kind to Sylvia on random occasions doesn't count. Instead of trying to resolve the conflicts or maybe having Arin reject the oppressive system he's contributing to, it is just brushed aside. Sylvia even praises him and says he'll be a good supreme leader. It just didn't make sense to me. How do you get from being literally pinned to a tree with knives to being in love with him, all while being forced to participate in some tournament to help him persecute your people while he's holding your friends hostage?

But do not misunderstand; while Sylvia's and Arin's relationship does overshadow the political conflicts, this isn't a spicy book. I wouldn’t even say there was a whole lot of romance, either. I was missing friendships or just anything that wasn't Sylvia and Arin. Her relationship with Marek and Sefa, who are her closest friends, isn't as important as I wish it were. It is shown that she cares for them, but they're mostly just used by Arin to manipulate her. Everyone else is just a minor side character.

The names were throwing me off. Let's ignore the fact that there are guys named Felix and Caleb. The name-dropping of people and places confused me so much. In hindsight, they might have been briefly mentioned previously, but I think some names just appeared without an introduction. Other information is also dumped all over the place with little explanation.

I didn't love any of the characters. Sylvia was clearly the author's favourite; arrogant, strong, skilled, and very badass. She didn't make many smart choices, which makes me question how on earth she stayed undetected through the years. Arin was the more interesting of the two. though he was also quite overpowering. I'm a bit tired of exceptional characters. I wish we had more insight into his character. I found his povs completely unnecessary. There were three short ones that only existed to forward the story while Sylvia was passed out.

If you don't mind nonsensical romance and vague worldbuilding, and are just interested in a fantasy with Egyptian influences and quite straightforward politics, then you may enjoy The Jasad Heir.

Arc provided by publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Reading Review 🧐 📖 "The Jasad Heir", The Scorched Throne tome 1, Sara Hashem, 🇪🇬👑
Press department Abandoned at 60%😭

10 years ago, the Empire of Jasad was overthrown, the royal family hunted down and murdered down to the last member of the line... In any case, that's what everyone thinks and what allows Sylvia, the surviving heiress, to live hidden within her former empire, now in the hands of the enemy.
But when our heroine uses her magic, she attracts the gaze of Arin, heir to the family that decimated hers. Sylvia will have to make a deal with the young man and do everything so that he does not discover his true identity.

Ouch ouch ouch... 😭😬 Second big disappointment of the month and I'm so disgusted because of many points. First, it is a YA absolutely not an adult Fantasy as claimed by the publishing house or the author. It's not serious in itself but I ended up with a lot of clichés that I don't like in YA.
Added to this is an Enemies to lovers romance, which is not necessarily what I prefer but... When it's done well I adhere to it without problem... But here, I found it rather problematic .
I was able to see some interviews with the author who put forward, according to her, a whole theme revolving around colonization and there again I found that it was overlooked. Which is such a shame, even the romance could have been interesting here for once.
I couldn't get attached to the main character of Sylvia at all, and I regret it 😭 and I find that the Egyptian inspiration is quite anecdotal...
Or maybe I expected more as well... I expected more! I recognize it and I have the impression that the publishing house and the author praised me for a completely different book and that there was an error on the merchandise.😭

A book can not please everyone, but I admit to being sad and disappointed with this one.

What a brilliant debut!

In the Jasad heir we are introduced to Sylvia, previously known as Essiya, the Jasad heir. When she was 10 years old, she witnessed the massacre of her family and people, at the hands of their enemies. She nows lives in a small village as Sylvia, an apprentice, whilst hiding her magic, as the Jasadi are persecuted, and killled, throughout the 4 kingdoms. During a visit from the Nizhalm heir, Sylvia reveals her magic and the story begins. The life that she now knows and her safety are forever changed.

I found the first 25% of the book very slow and, at times, confusing, going between her memories and current time. That was one of the hardest parts for me throughout the book and I wished there was a way to differentiate it when reading. As this was an e-ARC, it might be different in the edited physical book.

In the beginning I was not emphatising with Sylvia, thinking she was naive, lead by emotion, and not rational, quite immature. Her actions were questionable and frustrating. But as the story evolves, I started loving her smart wits and funny personality, her loyalty to the people who care about her, her bravery and toughness. She doesn't retract from violence, and you learn why. She's dealing with grief and trauma, and this powers her magic. Throughout the story she deals with a lot of questions, a lot of doubts. It's mainly her POV that the reader gets and you, sometimes, question who is the wrong.

Now her enemy? Arin? Loved him from their very first contact and that increased as the book and the story develops. He is moraly grey and he is her enemy. The son of the man who, she believes, sent the attack to Jasad.
We learn that Arin is a great leader, he cares about this people, he's honourable, committed, and loyal to his promises. I do feel there is so much more about him that we don't know, as he's still quite guarded, and stoic in this book.

Their relationship is *french kiss*. They hate each other, they challenge each other, she gets under his skin, he finds her fascinating! You can just feel the tension between them, as it's so beautifully written. You're constantly in the: "are they, are they not going to kiss?" "Are they going to express their feelings for each other?" It's a slow burn (which normally I'm not a fan), but it's worth it!

Bur forget about the romance. For me this is not a book about it, but in fact, Sylvia/Essiya's journey in finding herself. Her journey in discovering the truth, uncovering the past, opening up her mind and getting her freedom. It's also focused on the politics of a very detailed and complex world.

I do have to mention the side characters that just bring joy to the story. Sefa and Marek are so well written. They are true, loyal friends, that accept Sylvia with no questions asked. Wes and Jeru and the friendship (although they shouldn't have) and banter with Sylvia, brought a smite to my face every time I read it.

The only thing I would say, is that the trials were underwhelming and just happened too fast. It read as every trial ended in 10 minutes and lacked the action you would expected when you're fighting to be a champion.
I would also want to know more about Essiya's training. In the trials she mentions some aspects of it, but I couldn't relate as I didn't know how and what she practiced.

Now, the ending!!!
I can't believe we were left like that, what a cliffhanger...it broke my heart!
I want more, I need more! I can't wait for the second book. How long do we have to wait?

Overall it was an exciting read. If you like enemies to lovers, slow (VERY! 462 pages!!!) burn, strong, loveable characters, a world full of magic and unknowns, a beautifully, and very detailed written world-building, Egyptian inspired, then this book is for you.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to immerse in this beautiful world.

Sara Hashem you get five stars, The Jasad Heir you get five stars, Sylvia and Arin you get five stars, and you, you get five stars ! Oh my God how much did I love this, it is so fantastic. I loved everything about this. The world building magic systems, the monsters, the Gods, the strong leads, just everything about this amazing story. The plot was fantastic , I kept me on the edge of my seat, twists, and turns and oh that ending, what a way to go out on a bang, I need the sequel and I’m here for any more books. Sara is going to write.


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

Thank you so much to Orbit UK and Netgalley for approving me of an arc of the Jasad Heir!

The Jasad Heir was one of my most anticipated releases this year and I was very excited to get into it. One thing that I realized as soon as I started reading the book was how this book was definitely romance-heavy and this would be a great hit for those who love romantasy! I sadly am a bit picky when it comes to romance in fantasy books and the main issue I had with the romance was that it felt so much like a colonized/colonizer romance and I am not one to enjoy that type of romance (this is a me problem). Sylvia was technically Arin's "prisoner" in this and not to mention the kingdom all full of hatred towards Sylvia and her people. Also the amount of times Arin reminded Sylvia about the power leverage he had, I am not comfortable when the romance clearly shows a power imbalance between the two people.

One thing I did enjoy was Sylvia's character and her friendship! I enjoyed reading more about her friendship with Sefa and Marek, and also her character in general. I also enjoyed the politics although I do feel that it was a bit confusing at first? I think I would love for these two aspects to be explored better instead of highlighting the romance.

Set in an Egyptian inspired world this book is full of political intrigue, a deadly competition and a slow burn enemies to lovers romance complete with a knife to the throat and who did this to you.
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The MC, Sylvia, is heir to a kingdom that no longer exists and people like her are hunted down and killed. So she has spent half her life hiding but a chance encounter with the prince throws her back into the world she thought she left behind.
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Sylvia is reckless at times but also fierce and tenacious. She has a dark and painful past and tries to keep everyone out but despite this she does develop true and deep friendships and learns trust in herself more.
Arin is reserved and broody but also sarcastic and sharp witted and I love their back and forth as they constantly try to gain the upper hand over each other.
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Throughout the story we slowly learn what happened to Sylvia’s home and just how dangerous it is for her. From royals wanting her dead to rebels trying to manipulate her to serve their goals and as we delve deeper into her past we are slowly able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
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The last few chapters of the book were action packed and had me on the edge of my seat and the revelations at the end? Well I absolutely need the sequel asap! I also want to know more about Arin because he was so intriguing!

4.25⭐️

Thank you NetGalley & Little Brown Book group for this ARC, this fantasy was giving me TOG vibes where the Royal Heir has magic she can't admit to, her family killed when she's young and she was taught to fight and protect herself but she was trained in a really brutal way.

Set in the kingdom of Jasad, the Royal family are murdered, the kingdom burned down & all magic outlawed. 15 year old Sylvia manages to escape, and we are now 5 years on and she is living in a village called Mahair, and she is an apprentice to a chemist.

In order to suppress her magic when she was a child she wears these cuffs only she can see and them and as all of her family have died she doesn't know how to remove them but it's probably for the best as noone can know who she is or what she can do.

She has to team up with the Nizahl Heir (Arin) as he knows she has magic and wants her to be his champion (he can sense magic just by touching someone) in a series of trials & games she also needs to find a group of other Jasad who are using magic and aparently looking for anyone who is Jasad and has magic in exchange she will be given, housing, riches, guards and her freedom.

They have this weird connection, and slowly, Sylvia starts to learn. There is more behind why her kingdom was destroyed and why her whole family unalived.

Serious enemies to lovers, FMC can handle herself and unalive just as much as the MMC, not complicated world building, lots of delicious tension and great back stories where the time is taken to go over past events that lead to the present.

I can't wait for book 2 after that cliffhanger.

This was good!! Sara created a brutal world, with a dark and bloody history. Sylvia(the FMC) is the product you would expect from a kingdom that was scorched to the ground, and the people that were lost. I loved her. The whole enemies to lovers/slowburn/tension, and banter 🤌🏻 perfection, really.

When I was reading, only the book existed. I will be eagerly waiting for book 2. Yes, there’s a cliffhanger. But, it’s not *too* bad 🙃

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the arc and the opportunity to read.

“What appeal can reason have in the face of your tears?”

I have been waiting for this book for a year and around four months at least. I've been so exited for it, so sure I'd love it, and there's no better feeling than proving yourself right when it comes to a book, I think.

The Jasad Heir is one of those brilliant books that sucks you in so fast and doesn't give you time to breathe until it's over and you're left in a puddle of your own tears.

THAT'S RIGHT FRIENDS, I CRIED. I have been HURT by this book to extreme levels that I'm wondering how I'm even writing this now. But it's a good kind of pain, the best, caused by the best book in the universe. I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.

If I could give this 10 billion stars I would, but not even 10 billion would be enough. Sara Hashem, you have ruined me for all future books. I've said this once before, but NOW I am well and truly ruined.

I just love everything about this, the writing, the story, the characters, the setting, the magic the romance. How is it possible that everything was so perfect???

Sylvia is our main character, a Jasadi queen hiding in a village until her past catches up with her. Hers is the main PoV we follow throughout the book. The other PoV is that of Arin, the heir to another kingdom and the villain.

I have loved both of them from the moment they were introduced on page, and I kept wondering if we'd get Arin's PoV at some point. Lo and behold, we did!! I think it's only around three chapters, but I adored reading them. I hope the next book will have even more of him.

Both Sylvia and Arin developed from start to finish, I'm of the firm belief that it wouldn't have been possible if they didn't have each other.

They start off as enemies and become lovers while still wanting to end the other person, naturally. It's so delicious to read, and the fact that it's a slow burn too makes it even better. I was SUFFERING, waiting to see if they'll kiss or not. And you know what? My suffering paid off, that's all I'll say.

I also loved Sefa, Marek, Fairel, Rory, Dawoud, Wes, Jeru, Diya, all the Jasadis (even the not-so-nice ones)...

Speaking of Sefa and Marek, their relationship is unclear until a certain point where we learn that it's a relationship on the ace spectrum which is so cool!!! I was not expecting ace rep at all, if I didn't already love this book, then this would make me love it for sure.

Now let me complain about the ending and by complain I mean scream at the sky in frustration because the second book isn't available yet. Of course, we get a cliffhanger that's perfectly designed to make you frantically flip the pages hoping there's more and that it's not truly the end.

SADLY, it is the end. For now. I am not okay. I need another box of tissues and a hug. Many hugs.

If you trust my taste in fantasy books, and want to read something that's proper enemies to lovers, full of politics and magic then READ THE JASAD HEIR!!!!! You won't be disappointed.

*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

There's a lot to love in this book and it promises to be an exciting new fantasy series set in an Egypt like world.
The author did a good job in using classic fantasy tropes like forbidden magic, lost heir, fallen kingdoms and make them fresh and exciting.
The characters are interesting and well rounded.
If you are a fan of anything Egyptian you will appreciate the complex and detailed world building even if some guides or reference would help.
My main issue was the pacing: it's very slow at the beginning and quite uneven in the rest of the book.
It's an entertaining book that I recommend, be aware that it's not a fast-paced-action-packed story.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you Little, Brown Book Group and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oooooh okay okay I basically read this obsessively in 2 days 🙈 this is such a classic, fun fantasy book.

Admittedly, during my first read of fantasy books, I never completely absorb the politics cause I'm super into the action and never really pause to digest so I'm gonna refrain from commenting on that right now hahah

Aside from that, the characters Sylvia and Arin were so fun to read, and I knew it was slow burn but I didn't realise it was a SLOW slow burn. Their moments together and relationship development was super fun and interesting (not suuuper sold on Arin as a love interest yet but hoping book 2 delves into that more). Also loved Sefa and Marek so much, wish we got a bit more of Wes and Jeru cause they were amazing as well. Hope we get to delve into their lives and see their relationship with Sylvia develop and even more of their relationship with Arin.

Sylvia's whole internal struggle about what she owes or doesn't owe to a place she's from but barely knows was also really interesting to see. And the writing style was so good too, looking at the prose it did not feel like a debut.

This was such an enjoyable read, I will definitely be getting ready for book 2 🫶🫶

Sylvia has been in hiding for years with no one knowing her true identity, the last heir of the Jasad house. A turn of events lead her in the company Arin the heir of her enemy House of Nizahl. Sylvia having no choice to keep her identity safe has to team up with her number one enemy.

This is such a refreshing read and I hope it skyrockets on the charts!! As a debut book, Sara Hashem weaves a fast paced, high stakes fantasy that just kept me engrossed in what will happen next! The world building is stacked so neatly and expressively, I truly felt like I was in the book. I also liked how the author weaves in her own background into the novel to really represent the setting! I am so excited to follow this authors journey in the publishing world and so pumped for the next installment!

4.5 stars

THE JASAD HEIR is a strong debut, full of forbidden magic, a deadly competition, and a commander who's very cold and precise.

This is a book that takes a bag full of great fantasy tropes, shakes them about, and then goes and has so much fun with them. It's such a ride, with fights full of tension (hatred at first...) and conversations where everything is a knife edge of information control as Sylvia and Arin verbally spar. I loved every minute of it. There is also a magic competition in the final third (having trained and found herself mired in a scheme to catch her people, which leads to a lot of feelings about guilt and what you owe people - and whether you owe people yourself just because of who you were born.)

Although a lot of characters are mentioned, particularly in relation to Sylvia's past, I liked that the core on-page cast was quite small. It meant there was much more time to get to know them and form a relationship with them. There's Sefa and Marek, Sylvia's friends (that she can't believe she let herself have) from the village (aside, but I loved getting to see the ace rep in Sefa! Funny that the ace character would have such a similar name to me!) and the guards with their mix of paranoid suspicion and kindness.

Arin was a lot of fun - probably my favourite character. The cold, calculating, precise nature was pulled off so well to be very intimidating at first but then very revealing the longer spent with him as familiarity allowed cracks to be seen and that reserved nature to be understood.

I also really loved that we saw a character with a compulsion for neatness not have that compulsion be treated as a joke/bizarre thing. Sylvia's perception of this trait changes and softens across the book as a nice mirror to how her feelings are changing. I really hope we get more from this perspective than three short scenes because I loved getting that glimpse behind his eyes.

The book follows Sylvia, who's the lost heir to the burned kingdom of Jasad and presumed dead by the brutal Nizhal Empire that killed her parents. Hiding out in a small village, Sylvia is both concealing her true identity and her magical powers, which are outlawed by the Empire. When the Heir and general to the Empire, Arin, arrives in the village and uncovers Sylvia's abilities, the two strike a deal: Sylvia will partake in a deadly tournament to lure other Jasadis out of hiding. If they are captured by the Empire, Sylvia will gain her freedom and that of her friends. As Sylvia and Arin grow closer, Sylvia uncovers some truths about Jasad and her own past that might topple everything she thought she knew.

The first 25% of the book, I was all in. The exposition was great, I loved the Egyptian inspired setting and how the worldbuilding was woven seamlessly into the plot and descriptions. No infodumps, I thought I'd never see the day! Immediately, I fell in love with Sylvia's friends Marek and Sefa, as well as her mentor Rory. They had little a found family dynamic that was believable and heartfelt. The world felt incredibly rich in lore, culture and politics and to say the least I was very intrigued.

However, my enthusiasm for the book changed drastically once Arin arrived on the scene. The next 50% of the book consisted solely of two things: training Sylvia for the trials, an developing the romance. As such, the actual trials were crammed into the last quarter and rushed. Dare I say, they were almost inconsequential. There was no real reason for having trials in the first place, apart from entertainment, I guess? In her inner monologue, Sylvia even agrees the trials are random and nonsensical. Even the reason to involve Sylvia in the Alcalah to draw out the Jasadi rebels was flimsy, at best. Had the training part been interspersed with the trials, the book would have been far more engaging. As it was, the middle of the book dragged immensely and had me considering DNFing the book.

One of the book's biggest strengths was the character work with Sylvia. It became clear very quickly that Sylvia had suffered a lot of trauma and was very unstable and paranoid as a result. Her utmost priority was her own survival, which she placed before all else. Claiming to have no ties or feelings towards Jasad and its people, she agreed to help in their persecution, instead, if it secures her own freedom. Sylvia was a fascinating character, she struggled a lot with her sense of self. A severely unreliable narrator, there was this constant cognitive dissonance as Sylvia tried to justify betraying her own people. I loved how realistically the author portrayed Sylvia's trauma and the toll it took on her mind. In the author's note, Hashem mentioned she poured a lot of her own experiences as the eldest daughter of an immigrant family into the book and it was apparent throughout the book how much Sylvia meant to her. Consequently, the book raised a lot of interesting questions. Such as, how much one owes to their home country if they have been raised in the diaspora.

For a debut author, the prose, descriptions and dialogue in this book were very well-done, I found myself going back and highlighting what must be hundreds of passages.

Despite these great aspects, the politics in this book were a bit muddled. Basically, there were four different kingdoms, Jasad being the most powerful because of its magic users. Eventually, another kingdom, Nizhal is created to police the Jasadi. I don't know what they thought would happen when they founded a powerful, independent military state, but oh well. Jasad was burned, the royal family killed and magic users were persecuted.

Most magic users were in hiding, but there were two groups of Jasadis trying to reclaim their kingdom and rebelling against Nizhal rule. You'd think our MC would try to join them, but think again. Throughout the book, the rebels were painted as at least just as bad as the Nizhal Empire which seemed incredibly backwards to me. The author did say the book was influenced by her own experiences as a child living through the Arab Spring, so there is obviously a lot to unpack here, which I will leave to Arab / Egyptian reviewers.

Despite liking their dynamic overall, the romance between Sylvia and Arin made me a bit uncomfortable. Now, enemies to lovers fans will absolutely eat this up. Sylvia and Arin actually despise each other and try to murder each other, there are multiple knife to throat scenes, "who did this to you", all that good stuff. But the power balance was seriously off here. Sylvia throughout the book was essentially Arin's prisoner with him knowing about her magical abilities and holding it over her head, knowing she'll be killed if it comes out. Moreover, there's the aspect of this being a (white) colonizer x colonized romance. In itself, that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but did make me cringe here. Had the two of them reached some moral / political middleground throughout the book, my opinion would be different perhaps. Yet to the very end of the book, Arin (as far as we know) never changed his prejudiced viewpoints about magic users and Jasad and actively participated in the persecution of Sylvia's people.

In the middle of the book, there were attempts to humanise Arin by mentioning how he doesn't allow soldiers to brutalize women and allows exemptions from conscription, like ... wow. The bar is in hell, isn't it? The yucky aspects of this did make me sad because I otherwise enjoyed their scenes together and how witty their dialogue was. I would have really enjoyed the romance had the power imbalance not been there.

All in all, my feelings on this book are very conflicting, which is why I settled on a 3.5 stars. Thinking back on it, the world was just incredible to me with sleeping gods, fearsome monsters and a fierce heroine and I wished I liked the rest of the book as much as those aspects. The Jasad Heir did go out with a bang and made me curious for the sequel, so I'm considering continuing this series. I recommend The Jasad Heir to fans of An Ember in the Ashes and The Cruel Prince.

An Egyptian-inspired story that follows a girl who is the lost heir to a kingdom, and the only surviving member of the royal family. She lives in hiding, hopping from villages to keep her identity her secret, and it's not difficult when her magic is suppressed. But then she meets Arin, the heir, who knows and decides to throw her into a trial that can cost her her life.

This was quite a slow book, which surprised me. I did enjoy the writing and the plot, but it took quite a while for it to take off. I liked the main character and her friends, but I wish it was quicker to pick up on the action!

Still, I would highly recommend this if you're looking for the long lost princess trope but with a twist!

The Jasad Heir

This is a really great debut and just a great fantasy book in general. I think one of this books best bits is the characters! They were really well written and really captivated my attention.

The only issues I found with this book was the pacing and the world building- but not hugely. I just found everything a little bit complicated. There was so much going on and a whole bunch of Egyptian terminology that I ended up a little bit mixed up but nothing major!!

I really liked this book and would recommend to other fantasy readers! Thanks to NetGalley, little brown book and the author for the ARC!

When the gods succame to magic madness, they sacrificed themselves for their people and entered an eternal sleep. As a consequence of this, their magic slowly left all the kingdoms but Jasad.

Even the gods sacrifice couldn’t save the kingdoms from each other though and Jasad was destroyed.

Fast forward and we find the Jasad Heir hiding in a lower village of another kingdom while the remaining people from her kingdom are hunted and killed simply for still having magic while hers is under restraint.

When she accidentally catches the eye of the Nizahl Heir, Sylvia strikes a deal for her freedom by competing in their deadly trials.

I adored this book, the trials, the politics, the tension and slow burn, the fierceness and trauma of our main characters. The world building was excellent and I really enjoyed having the cultural influences.

My only slight criticism is I could have done with a bit more of the trials as these are later into the book and I do feel a bit more could have been done with them.

However, overall I thoroughly enjoyed this and cannot wait for the second instalment, the cliffhanger was top tier.

The Jasad Heir is a promising debut, it just fell a bit short on the pacing and world-building. All of the elements for a great fantasy are there and it's all really well thought out.

My main issue was with the world building, we're thrown into this vibrant Egyptian inspired world which sounded amazing but it's so hard to actually understand what's going on. There's a whole host of terminology that's just there with no explanation, it made it really hard to feel connected to the world because I didn't know what most of the words meant.

The pacing was also a bit iffy, the first half was the best because things moved at a steady pace, there was a good amount of characters and a clear plot direction. Around the 50% mark, things started to wander off, there was a lot of filler material and overly political explanations and the overall plot seemed to get lost. And then came the tropes, the fighting in an arena, the quick transition from enemies to lovers - it suddenly felt like a generic fantasy.

The writing itself was very nice, I highlighted quite a few sentences. The overarching themes were explored well, Sylvia spends a long time coming to terms with her place in the world and what her heritage means for her. I do think I would read the next book, mainly to see what happens after the cliffhanger.