The Kingdom of Copper
Series: The Daevabad Trilogy #2
Author: S.A. Chakraborty
Published February 21st 2019 by HarperVoyager

Goodreads Synopsis
Return to Daevabad in the spellbinding sequel to THE CITY OF BRASS.

Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad and quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her family and one misstep will doom her tribe.

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid, the unpredictable water spirits, have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad's towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

When I read The City of Brass back in 2018, I was just blown away by the writing and world building, and couldn't wait to read The Kingdom of Copper. For some reason, I never got around to reading book 2 until last month, but I was immediately drawn back in. After five years have passed, our three main characters are all in very different places, both literally and figuratively. Nahri has been married to Muntadhir, the Emir and eldest son of King Ghassan since Dara's 'death', and has had to fight every day to survive and have some privileges that allow her to stay sane in a world that is actively against her. Ali, who some see as a hero for killing Dara, was kicked out of Daevabad, and hunted across the deserts until he found a safe space in the small rural town of Bir Nabat, and has no intention of going back to the city, but finds himself dragged back in time for Navasatem. His unfortunate meeting with the marids before Dara's death has left him with more magic - this time with a water affinity, and he needs to keep this as secret as possible. When he and Nahri remeet after so long, there's a lot of tension, but soon the project of rebuilding the Nahid hospital brings them together, and they want to do whatever they can to stop the injustice and maltreatment of those in Daevabad - namely the shafit - who have suffered for so long under Ghassan's regime. Dara wasn't in fact dead, but has been brought back and freed of Suleiman’s curse by Manizheh, Nahri’s mother, who uses him to help her in her plot to retake the city during the Navasatem festival, and kill Ghassan and all of the Geziri people. With as much intrigue and mystery as there was in the previous book, this book was unputdownable.

Now, you may have noticed that this book doesn't have a five star rating like I gave The City of Brass, and to get the negatives out of the way first, it was because of Dara's chapters. Them, I found boring, and I wasn't invested in what was happening with him of Manizheh, and think I ended up skimming them until I got back to one of Nahri or Ali's chapters. Them two, on the other hand, I couldn't get enough of. I could see their growth and development over the five year time jump, and how they had adapted for the situations they found themselves in. I've seen some reviews that criticise Nahri's actions in this book, but I felt like that was right for her to behave in this way, as a coping mechanism, and how she had adapted to survive, and push the boundaries in a way that wasn't completely destructive. If I'm being honest, Ali was my favourite character this time around, and I felt like he had grown the most, and though he had suffered, all that pain had changed him for the better, and he deserved the ending he got. Because of that ending, I am buzzing that I was approved for a copy of Empire of Gold, and will be starting (I promise!) as soon as this review is written because I'm hooked even more.

April 30-May 7, 2020

Rating
4 Stars