Review: The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

The Jasmine Throne was everything I ever wanted from a fantasy novel and more! The characters were vibrant and lifelike, and the worldbuilding was immersive, with a fascinating yet deadly magic system. I’m both kicking and thanking myself for putting off reading this book for so long. On one hand, how could I sit on such a fabulous tale?! On the other, I now only have to wait for a little over a month for the sequel to come out.

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Blurb

Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess’s traitor brother.

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

Review of The Jasmine Throne

• Format: paperback
• Slow-paced
• A mix of plot and character-driven
• Multiple POVs
• Lesbian and bisexual MCs
• Powerful morally grey women
• Burning down an empire

The Jasmine Throne was a beautifully written, epic fantasy tale that begins and ends in flames. I definitely recommend it to any fantasy fans!! I can’t wait to find out what happens next in the sequel, The Oleander Sword.

Characters

The story followed a large cast of characters but mostly focused on two women whose fates intertwined within a crumbling ancient temple. Malini was the princess of a powerful empire, but she was imprisoned by her brother for refusing to burn on the pyre. Priya was one of the maidservants sent to serve the princess and her caretaker. As the princess grew weaker, the two women grew closer and a mysterious power began to awaken within Priya. 

Between Priya and Malini, I found Priya a little easier to like, not that Malini wasn’t a fabulous character. Priya was just a bit softer around the edges. She worked as a maidservant and used what little she had to care for sick orphans. Despite her tragic past, she always reached out to help others and strived for a better world. 

Malini, on the other hand, was sharp and cunning. She’d experienced her brother’s cruelty firsthand and had no intention of letting him continue to rule the empire. It was easy for me to see why people both feared and respected Malini. She was easily the most determined character in the story and was willing to do anything to achieve her goals.

Although Priya and Malini were the main characters, the rest of the characters were no less fascinating and important to the plot. Even seemingly minor characters held the potential to change the fate of the empire. I loved how each of the characters’ fates intertwined to create the overall story. It made the expansive plot easier to digest when each character connected me to different parts of the story.

Style and Tone

The Jasmine Throne has multiple POVs, which worked well for the large-scale plot. It was interesting to see the story from different angles, especially because the main characters were imprisoned for most of the story. The other characters provided a window into the outside world and what was happening throughout the empire.

The only downside to multi-POV stories is that inevitably there are characters that are narrators that are less interesting than others. I enjoyed getting to see the plot from different angles, but sometimes I just wanted to get back to the main characters.

Worldbuilding

Tasha Suri created a vivid and imaginative world inspired by India. Suri’s world was a combination of worldly and mythic features of fantasy, which was also expressed through the characters. Malini seemed to represent the tangible politics and violence of the fantasy world while Priya represented the more fairytale-like aspects. I loved how Suri wove everything together in her work. Although the world was often violent and bloody, it still had an ethereal quality to it.

The story began in the Empire of Parijatdvipa, where a sadistic emperor assumed the throne. The looming threat of the emperor’s violent objectives and the bloody history between the Parijati and their conquered nations created palpable tension throughout the story.

Within the Empire of Parijatvipa, most of the book took place in Ayiranya, one of 5 other nations conquered by Parijat. I loved learning about the history of Ayiranya, and how the consequences of war with Parijat continued to affect its people. It was clear that a lot of Ayiranyi culture was lost because the nation was forced to assimilate with Parijat. I thought it was interesting to see how the Ayiranyi people fought to preserve their culture in different ways.

I also really enjoyed learning about the magic system in The Jasmine Throne. It was unique and fascinating without being too complicated. I loved that it reflected the overarching theme of characters sacrificing parts of themselves in order to gain power. It’s always interesting to see how far a character will go to achieve their goals, and how that power and sacrifice change them. It’s a very believable representation of magic that leaves a lot of room for Suri to explore her characters.

You’ll Like This Book if You Enjoy…

• Tense relationships
• Immersive worldbuilding
• Morally grey characters
• Women with power
• Enemies to tentative allies

I’d recommend The Jasmine Throne to anyone who even remotely enjoys fantasy. It’s so good!

Where to find The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Have you read The Jasmine Throne? Let’s chat in the comments!