Wow I don't think I have ever read a book like this. It is such a unique story. It does the perfect job of gradually exposing secrets, and an even better job of connecting the readers to the characters. I loved reading about this world and I can only hope I get to read more of it soon.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

This book has so much potential, but unfortunately it didn’t quite meet the mark. It’s a YA fantasy about a girl named Mina, placed in a setting reminiscent of the Daevabad trilogy. She’s on a quest to obtain rings associated with Jinn and there are hints of a romance (which I anticipate will develop in future books). It has all the right pieces; they just weren’t delivered in a way that grabs the reader. It starts off too slowly, and I didn’t find myself invested until over halfway through the story. With some additional editing, I think this could be an incredible book.

This book had so much potential, but I do not think it is there yet. The storyline was interesting if not a big confusing from time to time. I also struggled with the amount of dialogue to text. There were many points in the novel where there was too much dialogue and and enough story. I also was about 20% of the way through with the book and I didn't know what the central conflict was. It would have been nice to be introduced to that a bit earlier. I do think that this story was good, and this book has potential, but in it's current state, I would not recommend it.

DNF at 20-25%

I don't know why I couldn't continue reading this book. It might be because it isn't for me, or it isn't the right time, or a combination of both. Which is kind of sad because the premise sounds so good and, everytime the 'aim' is talked about, I was just so excited. But I couldn't and I won't force myself. It doesn't mean that I won't ever read this book.

i liked this! i think the writing style was definitely the strongest aspect. it was beautifully written. and the cover is gorgeous

Daughter of light and dark is a beautifully written book, it is the first part of the rings and chains book series.

The story is about Mina whose realm is slowly falling apart. There’s 2 worlds that are separated by a veil, a long time ago the 12 Jinn kings held up this veil but slowly they started to become weaker and now only one king is left standing. The more time passed, the more people became seers which means that they could see and be bound to jinn. If the last king fell down, chaos would arrive.
Mina’s mission is to collect the eleven rings that are bound to those kings and free them.
Except she’s also a seer whose companion is one of the strongest jinnys to exist the king of chains. Mina is a morally gray character and her companion is very overprotective, he even has been with her since she was young of his own will. 👀

Not only that but theres a murderer going around town, killing women, taking their livers and emptying their blood.

The thing I loved the most was that it’s a fantasy book set in arabian lands. Arabic words are sometimes used and theres a glossary in the back if you dont know the meanings, I didn’t need it personally but if you don’t know arabic its really helpful.

The author is also so sweet and helpful please check out the book and her page. 🤗🤍

4.25 stars.

Daughter of Light and Dark takes on a new spin on fantasy. Prepare to be transported to a mesmerizing world where magic and danger intertwine in "Daughter of Light and Dark" by Ahlam Faris. This enchanting novel took me on a spellbinding journey reminiscent of Arabian Nights and Aladdin, where the exotic and the fantastical blend seamlessly. I was transported into this story, and I cannot wait to be brought back to this realm once the new book comes out!

Mina is a courageous and fierce young woman driven by a singular mission: to free her mother’s Jinn from a golden ring. But this seemingly simple quest spirals into a grand adventure as Mina discovers that liberating one Jinn means she has to collect all of the other rings containing the Kings to release them, too. Her journey to recover the eleven golden rings of the Kings of Jinn is as perilous as it is thrilling, fraught with cunning royals, a troubled friend, and a crumbling world on the brink of chaos.

If a person has a Jinn, a spirit-like being hovering around them, then it either means that they bound the Jinn to them by a ring or they're like a witch who practiced blood rituals to get the Jinn to be attached to them and to covet their powers. Mina, on the other, has done none of these things, yet she has one of the most powerful Jinns with her: the Lord of Chains. Because of this, people call her a witch because she is also able to other Jinns and to do that, one of the two rituals must have happened. Mina doesn't know why she can see every Jinn and interact with them, and she doesn't know why the Lord of Chains chose to protect and follow her. Think of every alpha male character that you've read about, and that is the Lord of Chains. He stands as both a fierce guardian and a symbol of boundless power. His presence adds a layer of intensity and intrigue to Mina’s quest, as he is not just a protector but a force to be reckoned with. His reactions to things that happen to Mina make me laugh. I am excited to learn more about him and Mina as the next book comes out.

Faris's portrayal of the setting vividly evokes the opulence and mystique of a fantastical Arabian realm. I was quite literally transported to this realm that the author created. The rich, immersive world-building drew me into a landscape of ancient magic and shifting allegiances from the very beginning. A true delight and pleasure to be able to experience such a book.

"Daughter of Light and Dark" is more than just an adventure; it’s a thrilling exploration of freedom, power, and destiny. It's a tale that balances heart-pounding action with deep emotional stakes, and when I tell you I cried, I cried. You begin to feel for these characters as if they are your personal friends. I know fantasy readers will eat this up!

Mina has been called many things in her time, not all of them kind. In a world where humans summon and enslave Jinn into rings, Mina has the uncommon ability to see and speak with them freely. So she knows what it means for a Jinn's freedom to be taken—not just for the Jinn themselves, but for the very fabric of reality. So, with the help of her Jinn protector Ashrush, she sets out to free the powerful spirits trapped inside a dozen gold rings. That includes the one belonging to her late mother.

On the first leg of this daunting task, Mina faces opposition from many fronts. Four of these rings belong to members of the Sultan's family, and Mina must engineer friendships in high places to even get close to them. Meanwhile, a cult is systematically killing off the Seers who commune with Jinn, and it would seem that Mina's friend Saif has some sort of connection to them. And there's something else: a dark power within Mina that has begun to emerge for. Could this have something to do with the name the Jinn use for her—the Daughter of Light and Dark?

Ahlam Faris's first book is enjoyable, with a good structure and an interesting narrative. It does suffer a bit from the common issues of a first book, especially a self-published first book: unchecked typos and occasional grammatical issues, plot points that could be better grounded with a second pass, and so on. But none of these factors counts against Faris's talent. She's brewed up an intriguing story in an equally intriguing setting, and I look forward to seeing her writing grow and evolve over time.

I really wanted to love this. The idea and concept were great and had a lot of potential. Centering the story around Jinn magic was a fresh take I hadn't read before. Sadly the execution was lacking.

The writing was a little undercooked, it felt like the book needed another big round of editing. The pacing was sadly off as well. This especially made me want to DNF the book at times. Especially the beginning probably needs a bit of rearranging. Sometimes there's quick jumps from place to place and in time and the reader barely gets a chance to realize this.

The main character had potential, but also - like the whole book - sadly felt a little underdeveloped. I couldn't get a good read on her right til the end. Her relationships to others sometime feel more like we're told they're friends, but it doesn't really feel like they're close, there's just a certain chemistry lacking.

The ending felt, in comparison to the rest of the book, unnecessarily gore-y.

There were bits I really enjoyed as well, like her relationship with her Jinny, Ashrush, or the bickering with Aziza and Saif.

With some big edits, I feel like this book could be good, but unfortunately those edits weren't made. I hate writing overly negative reviews, especially for self-published authors, but unfortunately the book had some major flaws I couldn't overlook. Sadly I don't think I'll be continuing the series.

I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, thanks to the author and NetGalley!

Let me start by saying that the story here is really really good. Unfortunately it is held back a bit by the writing. I'll get more into that.

This story is inventive and the characters are interesting. We follow Mina, a morally grey character who can see Jinn very clearly without any alterations, tools, or magic. There were 12 Jinn King, each with a ring. Mina's goal during this book is to hunt them down, she already has one that was left to her by her mother. She is joined by her Jinn, Ashrush, and a couple princes. There's a love triangle, and I'm not really sure how Ashrush feels but it comes off as forced, and a little weird, but with that aside Ashrush was the absolute most interesting part of this book. Saif, one of the princes, was boring and a little annoying, and a little petty. Zyed was... fine. I don't have a whole lot to say about him.

With that said, the world the author weaves is sooooo imaginative, but there's a lot of glaring flaws with the writing. It got better as the book went on, but that gives me the impression that the proofreading process may have been skipped. The first thing I noticed picking up the book was the interesting use of transitionary writing however to begin paragraphs made it feel like I was reading a formal essay.

The second thing I noticed was the constant switching between tenses. The book was written primarily in past tense, but randomly would transition to future (sometimes present) tense.

For example:

"But I ran out of the house all the same. I will walk around until she goes to sleep, which is pretty early in the evening."

The last thing, and probably the most frustrating thing to me was the lack of showing me the plot progression, or really, anything. It was a lot of writing of sequential events that made the writing feel soooooo shallow. I want to know how things look, what things feel like, how the characters feel, their thoughts feelings, meaningful things about them, and instead we get shallow sequences like:

"A moment of silence fell upon us. Zyed flipped his striker in the air, Saif tugged at an invisible hair on his chin and I taped my finger on my knee."

Typo aside, this is soooooooooo shallow. Where are the details, where is the feeling. I know the characters are silent, but are they bored? Sad? Angry? You could argue context, but I know the context and still have no clue what any of the present characters were feeling.
There are no feelings. There is no depth. There is just this then this then that. And that's what 90% of the book felt like to me. Interesting premise, but shallow, dull, and unfeeling writing.

This feels like a first draft, even an extremely detailed outline of what is to come next. It feels like the skeleton of a book, something that hasn't been fleshed out into its full potential.

2.5, but I can't in good conscience round up to 3.

3.75 stars!! This book was right up my alley! Conflict between Jinn and humans, a seemingly random group taking action, and a strong FMC!! The world was so interesting and the little moments between characters while seeming random actually help develop the plot really well. I tend to find the MC having this big secret to be kind of annoying but I feel like the balance between full truths and keeping secrets was done really well and I could understand the reasoning behind each secret. At times the characters could be a little different from how they seemed to be portrayed but that could just be due to the emotions in the moment or new personality developments. Idk but it threw me off at times but overall I had a great time with this book and can’t wait for more

Thanks you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a lot of promise and the characters are fun, however I felt that a large portion of the book is really rushed and the world building feels insubstantial. There end up being several villains in the end, but none of them feel like fully fleshed out characters whose motivations and actions line up with the effort they go through. Focusing on one villain would probably have worked better

I am curious as to where this series is going, so I hope the next book takes more time with the plot and elaborates on the world, as the idea has a lot of promise.

I wasn’t quite sure what kind of rating I shall give this one. I liked the story, I like the concept, I liked where this is heading. Where I had my issues were the writing style - the constant inner monologue and exposition and over explanations.

That starts from the beginning with the prologue. It’s an info dump that, when reading the book for the first time, felt a bit on the short site. Then, one chapters later, the information will be revealed to the reader again anyways, so why have it in the book?

There are also many rhetorical questions tbpihjt by the main character that were interrupting my reading rhythm. Same with exclamation marks. It felt a bit over dramatic. In general, many things were explained instead of shown, which really is a shame, because the story is interesting and has such potential to bring a new colour in this oversaturated YA fantasy market.

I felt torn about the characters as well. I liked them, however, I felt like I did not get enough information about them to connect with them, especially at the beginning. We get everything narrated by the FMCs, and thus, the characters don’t shine on their own. It was frustrating that those people that Mina did not know, had a bigger and better first impression than for example Ashrush. The only action we got from him was being broody and flinging his chains, especially in the first quarter of the book.
Mina is alright, we find out about the fire early on (and the explanation on why she is alone). The TOG influence was a bit strong in the beginning (trusted chef of the thieves betrayed her so she was locked in prison for a while - although only a handful of months).
Again, even though we live in her inner world throughout the book, I did not connect that much with her.

Another point I would like to point out is pace - it felt off. I know this is still a work in progress, but some chapters felt super long, when suddenly, 2 years passed, but we don’t see that, the information just drops in our laps. The inner monologue of Mina didn’t seem more adult either in her wording and lexicon, so that was a bit confusing to wrap my head around.

Most if not all questions that drove me to finish this book were left unanswered by the end, setting up the need for Book 2, which I doubt I’ll add to my reading list.

There is also the good though - the world and the magic system. The world we explore seems vast and full of magic and creatures. Jinns come in all forms and shapes and those were the best parts. It’s so boring when there are three species in fantasy worlds and everyone is (hot) and looking alike. Here, you have every shape and form imaginable! I loved the eel jinns of the witch, somehow they really put a lasting impression.

So, I think I will go with 2 stars. A heartfelt thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The review will be posted on Instagram closer to the release date.

This book was amazing! The story was perfectly written and it was so entertaining. And I loved the main characters so much!

I havent read many books that include Jinn mythology and now I know I need to find more. I like the way the magic and the veil are woven into the heart of the story with seers and Jinn fighting for survival to a degree.

Our FMC is on a quest of some sort that is told as a nursery story to children about how the Jinn and the veil came to be. She deals with so much loss and mistrust on this journey and I really loved her connection with the Jinn ‘The lord of chains’, their companionship during this book is a real highlight for me.

Mina is a Seer, a person capable of seeing and speaking to the mythical and magical jinn. Long ago the Jinn Kings were betrayed, trapped, and sealed inside golden rings. Their power was the only thing keeping the jinn world from colliding with the human world. Mina’s mission in life is to set free the Jinn King Hakim, who is sealed in a ring belonging to her mother. Along the way she reunites with old friends, makes new ones, and finds herself thrust into the dangerous rebellion by the Nonbelievers: a group of humans who seek to destroy Seers and their control over jinn once and for all.

The best part of this book was the exploration of Middle Eastern Mythology. Of course Westerners are all familiar with the magical powers of the djinn(genies) and their magical lamps. It was really neat to delve into the different classifications and powers of the jinn. I love that they had their own cultures and politics. I wish we could have explored more of the jinn world (but I fear that’s probably something for another book).

The romance in the book is a little one-sided. Although Mina is nineteen (she doesn’t really know when her birthday is) she has no interest in either boys or girls and is quick to shut down anyone who tries to get close to her. Mina is very driven by her mission, despite the fact that she is clever and beautiful—which makes her appealing not only to her friend/“brother” Saif but also the prince (was honestly expecting a love triangle so I was shocked it didn’t go that route). Her motives (her mother’s death and her wish to free the jinn kings) spur her on in a way that seems uncharacteristic of a teenager(dare I say she is rather obsessed) and they leave little room for her to develop as a character that actually finds enjoyment in friendship and life in general(she has no hobbies beyond being good at a board game, no dreams for what she will do after she finished her quest, no roots to return to).

My biggest issue with the plot was the fact that it took forever to get any momentum and then felt super rushed at the end. So much happened in the last few chapters and honestly the majority of the questions I had (Mina’s father, how did her mother end up with the ring, her own strange powers, Ashresh’s identity/past, the missing Jinn King, etc) remained frustrating and unanswered. I don’t think I will be continuing with the series.

Thanks you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars to this one!!!

It started at a very promising note. The intersection of Middle Eastern mythology with fantasy was definitely the catch for me. I loved the protagonist for the way she was written. She’s strong, doesn’t rely on a man to her needs and is witty enough to retort when the time calls for it. Besides, her and Ashrush’s bonding was the most beautiful part for me about this book. I think this is where the author should be thoroughly praised because in most of the fiction, we find the negative sides of djinns and spirits which have no other purpose but to haunt ordinary people. This one did justice in portraying “their side of the story”. The devilish and greedy nature of the humanity was beautifully described. I loved the adventurous spirit the book possessed right at the beginning.

However, as you move on, things get a bit bland (not that they become downright boring but you find an element of repetition within the narrative; considering the fact how protagonist brings up a peculiar incident times and again). It could have been better. Besides, I totally get the idea that the protagonist was not shown to be romantically involved with the two male characters, but her indecisiveness was apparent. At one point, bonding with one of the characters seems more than of a romantic nature. As I always leave a room for angst, so it was really difficult for me to evaluate whether the author actually wanted to be with that one character because of her inner thoughts.

Besides, I wanted the revelation of Ashrush’s mysterious companionship in this book, because we find that the characters talk about it, discuss it but not much is revealed which should have been there (though my fingers are crossed to read that in the second part of the series). Saif’s death broke my heart and I cried a lot because somewhere the poor boy didn’t deserve it and he was the character I liked the most from the book. Even at the final moments, I was hoping for a miracle, so this high-voltage scene is the beauty of the book.

I believe that the end was pretty much rushed and the epilogue could have been made much better than the repetitive ramblings of all that what we had read right on the previous pages. The ending was too open and equally incomplete to me as I didn’t get the hint of a final resolution and it was pretty much disappointing to find that nothing more was said about the ifrits and their fates which were discussed through consecutive chapters. It seemed that in the end nothing significant happens and the book rather ends at a reverse note. It stops where it actually started so that made no sense at all to me. Though the concept is really great and I hope the writer comes up with her second instalment soon because a lot of my questions are still unanswered about this one.

Daughter Of Light and Dark has wonderful world building and a super interesting setting. Unfortunately, the interactions between characters was snappish, rough, and snarky wordplay that is found very often in fantasy novels. Communication is mostly sarcasm, which is a tiring trope. I can see this novel and ultimate series becoming very popular, it just wasn't for me.

Loved this book. I gave it 5 stars because I couldn't give any higher! This book is a masterpiece and deserves more than "just" 5 stars. I recommend everyone to read this book asap.

This was a fantastic beginning to the Rings and Chains series; the mythological element was wonderfully balanced with an original overall concept. It was a fantastic first chapter in the series and the characters felt like they belonged in this environment. I found the Jinn part to be really well done, and I was really interested in what was happening with Mina. Ahlam Faris writes books of this genre so well that I'm looking forward to more from her. The worldbuilding in this case, which combined a fantasy element with a setting modeled after the Ottoman Middle East, was excellent. I am grateful to the author for providing me with an eARC!