"The Jasad Heir" by Sara Hashem is a gripping and enigmatic fantasy novel that immerses readers in a world of magic, danger, and difficult choices. Following Sylvia, the Heir of Jasad, as she faces a devastated kingdom and a relentless pursuer, the story delves into themes of identity, sacrifice, and the consequences of power.

Hashem's evocative prose and well-crafted characters captivate from the outset, drawing readers into a realm where magic is suppressed and war looms. As Sylvia's journey unfolds, her resilience and resourcefulness are put to the test, leading her to confront the complexities of her own desires and the fate of her homeland.

The introduction of Arin, the Nizahl Heir, adds an intriguing dynamic to the narrative, blurring the lines between manipulation, survival, and an underlying romantic tension. Through their encounters, Sylvia must navigate a treacherous path to freedom while weighing the costs of her actions.

With a skillful balance of action, suspense, and introspection, "The Jasad Heir" invites readers to reflect on themes of loyalty, identity, and the choices we make in the face of adversity. Hashem's elegant storytelling and thought-provoking exploration of power make for a compelling read.

In conclusion, "The Jasad Heir" is a mysterious and engrossing fantasy novel that transports readers to a world teetering on the brink of destruction. Sara Hashem's intricate narrative and intriguing characters will captivate fans of the genre, offering a satisfying and enigmatic reading experience.

Beyond what I'd ever imagined it to be. I thoroughly enjoyed this, start to end and cannot wait for the next book. A thrilling tale, the chemistry between characters was just perfect and oh the writing...I lost track of the quotes I kept highlighting throughout. Will definitely be reading this again!

Special thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for providing me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure this is the genre for me but it was nice to try it to see about all the hype. It's really well written and a good storyline.

The Jasad heir is a fantasy novel with enemies to lovers romance, a complex fantasy world with 5 kingdoms and a hunger games-esque contest. Sylvia is royalty in hiding after a massacre where her whole kingdom was wiped out and her race - the Jasadi are hunted down and executed to eliminate their magic. Meanwhile, a religious contest is being held where contestants from every kingdom (bar the scorched lands\Jasad kingdom) compete, sometimes to the death, to honour the sacrifice their gods made. The commander and heir of the Nizahl throne comes across Sylvia and makes her his champion, knowing she is a Jasadi hoping to draw Jasad rebels out. There are two problems - as her sworn enemy he must never find out who she is and also that her magic is bound and unpredictable…

I feel like I was reading a different book to everyone else because I loved the initial premise but this book just wasn’t anything special for me. It was an enjoyable enough read but I didn’t feel like it brought much new to the fantasy genre and I was sometimes confused by all the world building going on. I just didn’t find it that gripping and I knew from about a third of the way in that although I was enjoying it well enough, it didn’t merit me buying a physical copy and my opinion did not change by the end. The story would have read just as well without the romance element and it felt a bit tacked on at the end and I didn’t really root for them to get together. Plus, it didn’t make sense - he still hated her race, demonstrated some very black and white thinking and there was no real moment of softening that could make it plausible to make Sylvia think “hey, maybe we could make this work!” The contest was basically the hunger games but without the social nuances that make that book great and there just seemed to be no point to it, it was just another plot point?

3. Stars, thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an arc of this to read in return for an honest review.

The classic forbidden magic trope, but with some excellent twists. Our main character Sylvia has magic and is a Jasadi, but no one can know. For these reason’s she is very closed off, and protective of herself and her feelings. Watching her character grow throughout the book was beautiful, and seeing her viewpoint on situations really let you understand her, and see her character development.
The pacing was a little off at the beginning, but the book has such a beautiful setting (Egyptian-inspired!) it was worth it. I almost felt the setting was a whole extra character we tally got to see and understand the world. A lot happens all in one go towards the start, but it all weaves together and becomes clear towards the end. And the wonderful array of side characters really adds to the flavour of the book, and helps round it off.
Ultimately, a really fun, exciting read, and I am already eagerly awaiting the sequel.

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

Astonishing debut by one of the most visceral voices I've ever read!

cw: emotional and physical abuse (from the past), murder, side character's past sexual abuse (only mentioned indirectly)

I loved everything about The Jasad Heir: its authenticity, its brutality, the banter, the characters, the worldbuilding, but most of all, I loved the Jasad Heir herself: Sylvia.

Sylvia is so emotionally traumatized and yet so full of life. Witnessing a massacre, being hunted from those in the massacre, surviving an abusive kidnapper (physical, mental abuse here), and surviving the brutal world with all its flaws and dangers. In her mind, she fears she's a coward but it takes courage to step away from the world's expectations and into your desired version of life. I loved Sylvia so much that the word love is miniscule. If you read the book summary and think "oh another the one trope, a lost heir beloved by everyone" kind of book, you're so wrong that it's funny. Here we have a girl who wants to survive, who wants to live her life, and who criticizes monarchy. I've never seen any book heir do that.

Did I say banter? Because Sylvia is a firecracker and an endless source of witty comebacks. And the author gave us an incredible main love interest to banter with! He's the calm/Sylvia is chaos. He's calculating/ she's running. He is alone/Sylvia thinks and feels like she's alone. Both are brutal and scarred for life (literally and figuratively), and they respect each other's boundaries in a way that their conversations feel like a dance.

I really liked Arin, our calm, patient, cunning love interest. And I liked the nuances in creating his character: he's cruel because he needs to be. I loved that the author didn't sugarcoat him and his relationship with Sylvia. This is a true enemies to lovers romance, nothing shy about it. If you've been waiting for a reallllll enemies to lovers romance, this is it. Trust me!

I don't want to get into the plot or worldbuilding much because this is an outstanding book! It'd be a robbery to reveal something when the book is this beautiful. You should experience it yourself!

I would like to say, though, that the worldbuilding makes you THIRSTY FOR MORE and the pacing is fantastic. Everything is crystal clear, and yet, there's this hint of more to come. Furthermore, while you're never bored, you're also not running for your life all the time. A masterful book in all aspects: an entire cast of fully fleshed characters that feel like real people, a history and a plot that also feels real, and a mesmerizing COMPELLING VOICE that hooks you in and doesn't let you go. I just can't believe that this is a debut!!!!!!!!! Sara Hashem, I love you. You're a queen of writers, and this is only your beginning. I'll read and instant buy anything you ever write.

I devoured this book and I cannot wait for book 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I absolutely adored this book! It took a little while for my brain to build the world and the political and magical dynamics. But once I did I was hooked. I love the secret heir trope, as well as being secretly a magic wielder. This is a very unique story and great if you want a break away from the typical fantasy books. I can't wait for the next book!

3.5 stars

The Jasad Heir is an interesting take on the hidden heir in exile fantasy genre, with a nice side helping of friends to lovers and a lethal challenge in an intriguing mash up of The Assasins Blade and The Hunger Games.

Sylvia has spent five years hiding out in a small village, apprenticed to the local chemist and hoping nobody ever finds out who she really is - the assumed dead heir Jasadi heir. Following a massacre ten years ago the magical Jasadi people have been wiped out, their country burnt to the ground. Sylvia has no interest in revenge or leading her people out of hiding, she just wants to remain alive and safe. But when Arin, the heir to the warrior kingdom of Nizahl, arrives in her village she knows her dreams of a quiet life is at an end, because Arin can detect magic with just a touch and he is clearly suspicous of her. But instead of denouncing her he recruits her, as his champion for the forthcoming Alcalah, a competition where the champions compete against the supernatural and each other in honour of theirkingdom.

There were many things I really enjoyed about this book. The story is interesting, the characters are well drawn and once I got into it the plot raced along. It did take me a while to get into it, the beginning was a little slow with an excess of similes and metaphors to wade through which luckily isn't sustained throughout otherwise I might have had to give up. The worldbuilding is also super complex and at times I was really confused about who what and why! However overall I enjoyed it and will absolutely read the sequel.

This was an enjoyable enough read for me, but there was definitely aspects of the book that dulled that enjoyment a little bit. The pacing of the book seemed off to me in parts and I feel like the characters and magic system could have been fleshed out a bit more. I also have no clue what the purpose of the tournament was and I kept waiting for more context that just never came.

I did find myself attached to the story. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel and seeing where the author take it.

For something pitched as Egyptian-inspired political fantasy, the book turned out to be eerily generic. It has loads of cliches that feel aged at this point, the setting doesn’t feel anything at all like Chakraborty’s or Djeli Clark’s stuff — if anything it feels detached from any solid history and culture? It didn’t help that the names were a mishmash of generic Western and loosely Middle Eastern; but I felt if you replaced all names with Jakes and Bobs it wouldn’t have felt vastly different — which is a shame. I would have welcomed more real, substantive texture to the story.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of the book, all opinions my own.

2023 has been a good year for romantic fantasy with the Jasad Heir being the most recent in a great run.

I enjoyed Sylvia's arc, the themes of identity and the greyness surrounding what is 'right' and loyalty.

The tension between Sylvia and
Arin was exquisite. This is an example of enemies to lovers done right and I can't wait to see more in the next book. This would have been a five star read but I'm knocking a star off because the ending felt a bit rushed.

I'm not normally one for reading author interviews at the end of books but I really liked Sara Hashem's. Her list of favourite authors and influences had lots of crossovers so we definitely have similar book tastes and I'll be looking out for any book recommendations from her while I impatiently await The Jasad Heir's sequel.

A highlgy political world with a struggeling magic-wielding main character - the stuff many a fantasy book is made of.
This said, the book is quite enjoyable. Sylvia is an interesting character, daughter of her times and circumstances and thus everything but perfect. Also, she's a bit of an unreliable narrator, which adds to the reader's insecurity on who's good and bad in this world. Moreover, I enjoyed that it's a political book much more than a romantic one.

2.5★

I really want to like this book, but I'm having difficulties following the writing for some reason. The writing is excellent, yet it is difficult to understand. I also believe the plot is a little jumbled, and I'm having trouble connecting with the characters.

That's a shame, because the concept is intriguing. Maybe this book isn't for me :/

I spent the whole day reading this book completely immersed in the story. It’s impressive for a debut novel. Sara Hashem wrote it really well - I could picture everything in my mind and felt the heartbreak as if it were my own. There are so many endearing characters in the book - Arin being my favourite. I wanted to rush to find out what was going to happen while also dreading when the book would end. It hasn’t even been released yet and I’m already anticipating the second one!

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.

Could not put this book down. I was instantly hooked on the plot, and the storytelling and narrative were absolutely breathtaking.

I really liked this book. I love political fantasy and I think Hashem does a really job of including it in this story. I can't wait for book 2.

The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem is an Egyptian-inspired political fantasy that revolves around a girl hiding her identity as an heir to the lost throne that has been brutally destroyed.

I really loved this book for many reasons, but my favourite aspect was that the foreshadowing felt like realised mythology that was unravelling and coming to life. The political intrigue set out early in the book left me wanting to delve deeper into the world to uncover all the hidden motives and secrets.

The characters were complex and endearing; friendships, enemies and a slow-burn romance all ensued amidst the chaotic political upheaval. The author's skillfull incorporation of a love interest, with a complicated back story, leaves the reader compelled to find out how the romance would blossom in such unlikely circumstances.

I gave this book 5 stars! It was very refreshing to see an Egyptian Muslim author write this fantasy - I loved it!

There are some books that you read that you know you’ll love forever. Jasad Heir is one of those books. It has absolutely everything I wanted in an action-packed, thoughtful, angst-filled, stunning fantasy. The writing was fantastic, Sara Hashem’s humour is amazing and the way she weaves words together is truly an art. The ending left me absolutely shattered, and when I say I couldn’t put this book down, I mean it! I was reading till 1AM, despite having work the next day at 6AM because I just needed to know what happened next!

Five fabulous stars ,nuff said!
Oh you wanted a review ? Well this Egyptian inspired work didn't particularly strike me as that particularly although it's definitely an Eastern vibe that flows through it. Our protagonist is Sylvia, a survivor of a mass massacre that has left any survivors of her kingdom hunted and killed. It's no wonder she's reinvented herself because she too would be persecuted for her magic and birthright. The sad thing is yes she possess powerful magic but absolutely, categorically cannot access it ! So when the Commander finds her and begins to suspect she's from the despised Jasad kingdom unbelievably Sylvia finds herself blackmailed into helping him and ultimately betraying all those she has lost !
I really enjoyed this and heartily recommend it. The fact that Sylvia is the rightful Queen is masterfully played down as she doesn't see herself that way and indeed feels separate to the survivors of her people. I loved not just her journey because this girl is absolutely no pushover but the political machinations that whilst integral didn't take over but kept the reader wondering how it had really happened. Not an obvious romance because yes Sylvia and Arin are definitely enemies but as he knows he and his people fight for right not exactly a sure thing , well not as this ends hee hee !
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Orbit books did it again by publishing another amazing fantasy. The Jasad Heir is amazing, with incredible worldbuilding, which is inspired by Egypt and Egyptian myth and a great romance - plus a strong FMC who can fight and magic. So basically there's nothing not to love in this book, especially as it's incredibly well written, you're hooked right in and I couldn't put it down.

If you love enemies-to-lovers, strong female characters and amazing fantasy worldbuilding I highly recommend this.