Hello Bookworms, I am so excited to be apart of the Court of Lions Blog Tour with Caffeine Book Tours! I fell in love with these characters in the first book, Mirage(which I reviewed here) so being apart of this tour means the world to me!
About the Book
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Rating:
Diversity tags: own-voices, authors of color (moroccan author), poc representation (moroccan-inspired world, moroccan characters, biracial lead), lgbtqiap+ representation (lesbian lead)
Publication date: 06 August 2020, ebook, 336 pages
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Summary:
Two identical girls, one a princess, the other a rebel. Who will rule the empire?
After being swept up into the brutal Vathek court, Amani, the ordinary girl forced to serve as the half-Vathek princess’s body double, has been forced into complete isolation. The cruel but complex princess, Maram, with whom Amani had cultivated a tenuous friendship, discovered Amani’s connection to the rebellion and has forced her into silence, and if Amani crosses Maram once more, her identity – and her betrayal – will be revealed to everyone in the court.
Amani is desperate to continue helping the rebellion, to fight for her people’s freedom. But she must make a devastating decision: will she step aside, and watch her people suffer, or continue to aid them, and put herself and her family in mortal danger? And whatever she chooses, can she bear to remain separated, forever, from Maram’s fiancé, Idris? ☕ Add this book on goodreads
My Thoughts
It’s honestly impossible to give this book a bad review. After reading and LOVING Mirage, I was a little skeptical as to how this book would hold up against my ~very~ high expectations. Nevertheless, there were some bumps in the road, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book!!
Characters :
This duology has ruined me. I am crushed to be leaving these characters(I guess I’m going to have to resort to re-reading this book every month😢😋).
In my review for Mirage, I talked A LOT about how I hoped there would be character development with all the characters, but especially with Maram. And I am SO GLAD that Court of Lions focused on her maturity, and allowed her to portray her personality.
In comparison to Amani or Idris, Maram takes the cake with outstanding growth. And once again, Amani and Maram’s relationship was another highlight in the novel, and one could say is the heart of the series. Regrettably, the romance going on in the sidelines in this sequel didn’t seem genuine and felt a little rushed in contrast to Mirage. I wasn’t nearly as invested as I was before, but thankfully Maram’s AMAZING personality made up for it(can you tell how much I love her?….)
All in all, the character development(okay, how many times have I said that in this review?) was SO SO SO well-written, and left me feeling VERY pleased.
Plot :
In regards to the plot of Court of Lions, I’ll be honest, I was a little(sometimes a lot) confused as to what was going on. It’s clear that the plot is fast-paced, and does draw the reader in, but in my case was unable to hold my attention. I was SO invested when I began reading Court of Lions, but near the middle, it seemed like Somaiya dropped the ball.
Don’t get me wrong, there were dozens of little moments that I LOVED, in which I was so interested in the book(I don’t even think I blinked when reading), but the middle did ruin the momentum the book had. And unfortunately, the ending didn’t leave me wanting more as Mirage had.
Overall, this duology is an exquisitely written YA fantasy, that is a must-read for those who love female-led novels(a.k.a. everyone!!). Although I had some issues with this novel, I also have a million wonderful things to say about it. I would recommend this to the ages of 16-25.
About the Author
Somaiya Daud was born in a Midwestern city, and spent a large part of her childhood and adolescence moving around. Like most writers, she started when she was young and never really stopped. Her love of all things books propelled her to get a degree in English literature (specializing in the medieval and early modern), and while she worked on her Master’s degree she doubled as a bookseller at Politics and Prose in their children’s department. Determined to remain in school for as long as possible, she packed her bags in 2014 and moved the west coast to pursue a doctoral degree in English literature. Now she’s preparing to write a dissertation on Victorians, rocks, race, and the environment. Mirage is her debut, and is due from Flatiron Books in 8/28/2018. (goodreads)
Make sure to check out all the other bloggers on this tour!
Would you like to enter to win a Paperback copy of Mirage OR Court of Lions : ENTER HERE!
Reading On A Star 
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