Spoiler-Free Review

If you liked the main character of Throne of Glass and would enjoy a setting based on Egyptian and Middle Eastern cultures, you might like The Jasad Heir.

What’s The Jasad Heir about?

Sylvia, the long-lost heir to a destroyed empire now living a small life in a faraway village, must train as her enemy’s Champion if she wants to keep her secret.

It has potential.

Don’t take my rating to heart – I think a lot of people will enjoy this one. I liked several things about The Jasad Heir, and some moments throughout kept me invested, but my frustrations with the writing tended to overshadow that.

The characters were this book’s strength. Side characters were distinct enough to stand out, and I appreciated that even those who are normally just part of the background, like guards, had personalities of their own too. The relationship dynamics were also interesting. Not only did we have lots of fighting and banter, but the friendships played important roles in the story, as well.

Where it tended to lose me was in both its exposition and pacing. I felt we got a fair amount of telling instead of showing, and I struggled to stay focused on some stretches. The plot lurched along, and parts that I thought would be bigger or more important got less page time than I expected.

Beyond the writing, I also felt that this book slots nicely in with recent romantic fantasy books, but doesn’t necessarily add anything new. I often got the sense I’d read this story before in other books. But, to be fair, I read a lot. Perhaps I’m overexposed to the genre at this point.

All in all, I’ll definitely read the sequel or at least listen to the audiobook, and I’ll be interested in what this author writes in the future with a few more books under her belt.

Should you read The Jasad Heir?

If a story can grab you regardless of writing style, you’ll probably enjoy this book a lot! If you have a hard time with worldbuilding via exposition though, just be aware that the setup at the beginning has a lot of that, and it could be a little confusing at times.

I’d recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of recent romantic fantasy trends. The sequel and conclusion to this duology comes out later this summer.