This was a solid debut novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and feel of ancient Arabia. I loved the descriptions, the inclusion of Arabic words, the world Faizal created, and the prose used to describe everything. I'm also desperate to try that emaa iced cream now.
Sadly, I thought the characters lacked more depth. Zafira was fantastic. I loved her and I got her. But the others? Not so much. Nasir was a terrible character. I felt like he was a shell of a character. He was filled with traits, but it was like labels across his skin, and he had no personality. Kifah also had no personality. She was just there. Honestly, if you removed her from the story, I would not have noticed. I felt like Benyamin and Altair were the same guy, just Altair cracked jokes. They were both "guy with secrets about plot that will unfold later at opportune moment but reader knows this whole time and is not impressed".
I'm hoping that we'll get more into the character development in the next book, which despite my complaints, I am still excited to read. The world Faizal built was that addicting, I need to go back for another visit.
Sadly, I thought the characters lacked more depth. Zafira was fantastic. I loved her and I got her. But the others? Not so much. Nasir was a terrible character. I felt like he was a shell of a character. He was filled with traits, but it was like labels across his skin, and he had no personality. Kifah also had no personality. She was just there. Honestly, if you removed her from the story, I would not have noticed. I felt like Benyamin and Altair were the same guy, just Altair cracked jokes. They were both "guy with secrets about plot that will unfold later at opportune moment but reader knows this whole time and is not impressed".
I'm hoping that we'll get more into the character development in the next book, which despite my complaints, I am still excited to read. The world Faizal built was that addicting, I need to go back for another visit.