Review: ‘This Woven Kingdom’ by Tahereh Mafi (on familiar yarns and patterns)

Shout out to my local library, they have really been coming through with the new titles lately. It’s a small, very small, library, and the YA and SF/Fantasy sections are even smaller, and yet every time I go in (or check the online catalogue to reserve) I’m surprised by what I find.

Tahereh Mafi’s anticipated release ‘This Woven Kingdom’ was just sitting there on the YA shelf. I wasn’t even sure I was ever actually going to read this book, but when a title appears in my beloved library, I take it as a sign from the universe.

Apparently the universe hates me, because the short review: I didn’t love it.

Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people—bestselling author Tahereh Mafi’s first in an epic, romantic trilogy inspired by Persian mythology.

To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight.

The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom—and the world.

What I truly enjoyed about this story was the dual perspective, and that is a real rarity for me. I often struggle with multiple POVs but in this case it provides a much needed balance to be able to understand the full scale of the narrative. We see Alizeh, very much at the bottom of the pile and treated appallingly, and then we have Kamran, a dashing prince. A clash of destinies, and I’m always here for that.

I really wanted to like Kamran and the quickly blossoming romance between him and Alizeh. But, and it’s a big but, Kamran gave me the ick.

I am all for a flawed and damaged creature to swoon over. Give me tall, dark and emotionally unavailable. Give me moody and troubled and tortured. But please don’t give me a guy who is awful about all other women, save for “the one”. I was truly taken aback by the way Kamran thinks towards women, and he’s very careful to point out that it’s not just women in his immediate social circle because he’s tried ‘em all! And they’re all insipid, desperate, simpering leeches, only after his money, or his status.

He needs an educated woman. No dumb chicks for this chap. But also beautiful. And she can’t be interested in his position as hier to the throne.

It’s a tall order, but luckily for him, Alizeh ticks all the boxes.

Give me strength.

But ok, fine, I pushed through that aspect. It’s quite a long book (512 pages) and not a lot actually happens, however, I enjoyed the careful world building, and there are some really interesting aspects that seem to come from that Persian mythology influence.

Loved, loved, LOVED the moments Alizeh has with what she calls “the devil”. Fantastic scenes. I wish that was explored further, but maybe this will be more prevelant in book two.

*SPOILER ALERTS*

I’m just going to round up a few aspects of the plot I struggled to suspend my disbelief for: a magic dress, and then some magic shoes, Miss Huda (I feel like this character was a bit throw-away and she could have been much more realised), snakes out of the back of the King (again, I feel like this was almost skimmed over), an invisible dragon, a kidnapping and alluding to forced wedlock.

Ultimately, this was a bit of a swing and miss, for me. Whereas I found it easy to sink into and it didn’t take me very long to read considering how long it is, I got stuck on the tropes and cliches. And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a well-used or subverted trope. But here I found them clunky and well-worn.

I can’t say whether I’ll continue with this series. I’m intrigued, considering where the book leaves off, and I’d be interested to see if Kamran bucks his ideas up, and I’d like to see Alizeh step into her power.

In the end I went with my gut feeling and gave it 2 stars on Goodreads. But I can readily see how people might come to adore this book. It just wasn’t a good fit for me, unfortunately.

Written by Sarah