i’ve recently realized that persian mythology is my favorite to read retellings of, and this blended so many elements of existing tales together to create something really special.

 “she had always wanted to extinguish the persistent spark of anger that burned deep in her heart, so sure that it would turn her into a monster. she hadn’t realized that her anger could only exist because she still had hope. once hope was gone, there was no point in fighting, and so she had no need for anger anymore.”

first, i adore soraya. she is not perfect, or forgiving, or even kind at every turn. she has justifiable resentment towards her family for the way she had to grow up. the parallels between her and azad and parvaneh were excellent because ultimately this is a story about making selfish mistakes and how we go about either trying to fix them or committing to what we’ve done so that the original act “wasn’t for nothing.” 

i only wish there had been more scenes of parvaneh and soraya’s relationship, because it seems slightly underdeveloped? i love their dynamic and their attraction to each other makes sense, i guess i just wish there was more of it. 

For those who like twisted fairytales, this unique take of Persian myths follows a princess who is poisonous to the touch, a roguish guard who seems too good to be true, and a snarky moth demon.
Believe me, this YA morally grey, but actually done well. 

This read both very fast yet very slow and I don't really know if I liked it? The whole thing felt very mid. Which is to say I liked the concept and all the cultural elements. But I found the characters a bit meh. And I am a reader who relies heavily on good characters. It certainly wasn't a bad book though. I think the fact that it's a sapphic book based on Persian culture is good and important. Especially since we get to see the main character struggling with what could be interpreted as compulsory heterosexuality. (Those moments hit especially close to home 🫠.) I just think this was less my cup of tea. Like the cup was good, but it's not my fav tea. Ygm?

I thought this was interesting, and I really liked the love triangle. I can't believe I spent my young adult years reading about stupid boys when I could have read about awesome women. More women with powers pleaseeee.

This was a new type of demonology for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Influenced by the Middle East- both ancient and modern- we follow the cursed princess Soraya who is doomed to kill anyone she touches as she discovers not everyone and everything is how it seems. 

Some of the twists are easily predicted but I didn’t feel cheated in figuring them out. In fact, I felt they were justified because Melissa Bashardoust did an exceptional job of capturing our heroine’s choices throughout her evolution.