The Daughters of Izdihar

Kirkus says this is reminiscent of Tamora Pierce's fantasies, but grown up. I'm intrigued.

4.5 stars, rounding down to 4 for now.* Let me start with, did I enjoy it? When a book so masterfully shows: 1) the oppression of one group, justified by those in power for reasons of fear and ignorance; 2) the reinforcement of that oppression by the people you love; 3) the internal struggle of the oppressed person to just survive, to be able to work, feed their family, not be killed or harmed, have shelter, with the aching desire to just have choice and live freely - that makes it a very hard and tense read for me. But did I like it? It is a phenomenal and fast-paced work that kept me at the edge of my seat and it had a great mix of politics, power-dynamics, romance, and characters I now deeply care about. So, yes! Well, what's it about? It's a dual POV story set in Alamaxa, where elemental magic is wielded by “weavers,” a woman's life is dictated by her husband or father, and a women's suffrage movement is underway. Not only is weaving debated and feared, especially when the weaver is a woman, by the elected officials, but also by their war-mongering border neighbors. I think folks who are a fan of “Babel,”not for the pacing or writing style, but for the themes and plot, should check out this one.

GIVE. ME. MORE. FEMININE. RAGE. BOOKS.

This book had me by the eyeballs. And the rage! There is so much rage in this book and it is definitely warranted. I was standing with the characters cheering, screaming for them at each moment.

While the elemental magic was amazing, it was the suffragette themes that drew me in and wouldn't let go. Everyone needs to read this book. Women fighting for their rights, how the government and police force would twist things to make them come out in a good light, and add elemental magic where some people are denied the ability to learn how to control it, and you have chaos.

Characters.

Both main characters drew me in in vastly different ways. There is N strong willed, determined, hardstrong in the best way. She would fight tooth and claw for what she wants.
Then there is G who is subdued, quiet, stuffing down her emotions to protect others.

7/10

Interesting setting (Egyptian) and plot background (women's suffrage), with interesting characters that suffers a bit from cliche or basic dialogue in more complex situations, and a subpar magic system. The magic system is quite literally ATLA. Not inspired by...it is exactly the same, to the point that there is a conversation in this book about bloodbending (“bloodweaving”) that is almost identical to the conversation Katara has with that old lady in ATLA. It was so frustratingly similiar I docked half a star. Rookie mistake.

But otherwise, a lot to like here. All three of the main characters felt distinct and despite setting up an obvious love triangle, actually veered away from it and did interesting things. If the author improves in the sequel, it could be very good.

3.5 -4 stars!

Nehal comes from a noble family. Noble in name only. Her father has squandered all their money away. To pay for the sins of her father, she is being forced into marriage for the bride price.
Nehal is also a water weaver. She has very little control of her weaving and wants to join the Alamaxa Academy to learn to control it. Then she could join the military and fight.

Unfortunately, women have no rights so it doesn't matter what she wants. All she can do is hope her husband is a decent man that will allow her some freedom.

There's so much more going on in this book, but I don't want to spoil anything. I loved it!
I love the women taking a stand. I really liked the magic and characters. It would've been 5 stars, but I wanted more world building and I also wanted to know more about the history of the magic. Other than that, I thought it was great.
The ending was fantastic! There is a lot to resolve in the next book and I am ready for it right now!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an e-arc.

this was phenomenal and i didn't want to put it down! i can't wait to see how things go in book 2.