Extreme Fantasy And Not Your Usual Genie In A Bottle: Kingdom of Copper Book Review

Hello everybody!! * waves frantically* Sooo, I finished KoC a while back and I was super incoherent and baffled as something major had happen and I just couldn’t sleep, thinking about what will happen next and about my precious little babies!😭

NEED.THE.THIRD.BOOK!!!

Now, it might have some spoilers pertaining to the first book, City of Brass, so proceed with caution. 😌

*A physical copy was provided to me by the publishers. This review is in no way influenced by that fact. Thank you Harper Collins India.*

Name: Kingdom of Copper
Author: S.A Chakraborty
Pages: 619
Publisher: Harper Collins/ Harper Voyager

 

Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabadand quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.
Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her family and one misstep will doom her tribe.
Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid the unpredictable water spirits have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.
And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad’s towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve.

My Review

You don’t stop fighting a war just because you’re losing battles.

⭐⭐⭐⭐. 5

What I’ve seen with this series is that, either people love it or just hate it and dnf it. I belong to the former category!! I really liked City of Brass, albeit the slow pace but Kingdom of Copper just blew me away!! 😱

Before getting into the whole review thing, let me first talk about the fantabulous (fantastic+fabulous) covers of both the books! I love the details and that subtle glow *.*

If you’ve read City of Brass, you’ll know the setting is inspired from Islamic culture and will also feel the pain I felt when some of the characters were killed (yeah, there are killings of beautifully developed side characters so, keep the tissues ready). 😭

Kingdom of Copper takes a leap of 5 years from the ending of the 1st book, after a prologue. We have a our very fierce and feisty protagonist, Nahri, who is learning to heal and survive in the court where deceit is the first language, under the oppressive thumb of the manipulative king, not knowing who to trust, except her mentor. Meanwhile, Ali, who has been exiled from the kingdom is just trying to keep his head low and survive and Dara is well… *no spoilers* 🤫🙊.

 

I should have been more aggressive in my dowry demands, she suddenly thought. Because she had not been paid enough to marry into this family.

 

Coming to KoC, the word building is yet again brilliant, with exquisite writing, greater turmoil, more intense political intrigue and twists you won’t see coming, dead people who are not dead (?) and the romance, which is such a tease! 😜

What I saw in City of Brass, which has been further developed upon in KoC is that how the masses, shafits in this case, were treated like rats, left to fend for themselves against the daevas and other privileged folks and if they ever rose in protest to demand for better living conditions, they were suppressed and killed. This is something which is concurrent with our times. 

We get introduced to new characters, and secrets are unearthed along with allies in the most unusual places. There is so much character development as we explore each character in more depth. 

I know what’s it like to have ambitions, to be the cleverest in the room- and have those ambitions crushed. To have men who are less than you bully and threaten you into a place you know you don’t belong. 

In short, 

🙂

Let me know if you’ve read it or plan to in the comments below! Bye until next time! 😀