At a performance to con a family needing help healing their daughter, she accidentally summons a djinn, Dara, which in turn awakens a graveyard full of ifrit, and sends Nahri on the run. She knows nothing of her past, but is able to pick up any language after hearing a few words. To survive she relies on her healing abilities and her ability to steal, cheat, and con her way to food and shelter. She is completely alone and always has been. I’m only reviewing the first book, and I think 14 years and up can handle it, I know my 14 year old and I haven’t stopped talking about it, and it has been quite fun to fan girl with her over it. There is also Middle Eastern culture, Islam, and a fiery protagonist that make the 530 pages in the first book fly by. There is complex world building, implied physical interactions, one hinted at gay romance, alcohol, concubines, violence, djinn, ifrits, killing and one kiss/slight make out session. So why am I reviewing it? Because it is so good, and I’ve heard of a lot of people letting/encouraging their teens to read it, and honestly, I did as well. I’ve contacted the author to get her perspective on the matter, and will update this if I hear back. I think the series as a whole is definitely not YA, as the main characters would age out of the target demographic, but I think that book one could qualify. This series is adult fantasy written by a Muslim author for her ummah and contains Muslim characters.
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