ABOUT
Title: Mirage
Author: Somaiya Daud
Series: Mirage #1
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: August 28th 2018
Synopsis:
In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon.
But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place.
As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection...because one wrong move could lead to her death.
I was sent an advance copy from the publisher as part of the blog tour and in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read an excerpt of this book yet? If not, you can find a long excerpt right here!
Mirage follows Amani, a girl from a backwater moon and from a lineage of farmers. She is living under the cruel and oppressive regime of the Vathek empire and it is difficult for someone such as Amani who has dreams and aspirations larger than her farming background and her place in the Vathek regime. On the celebration of her coming of age, the Vathek attack and kidnap Amani to the royal palace where she learns that she is identical to the half Vathek princess of the empire. Princess Maram is cruel and unloved by her people as the Vath are, but the Vath do not see her as truly one of their own either. In order to protect Maram in public, Amani is to play as her double and be ready to die for her. As she is forced into this role, she learns that she can find beauty in the place she is trapped in. But she must not become complacent, as her failure leads to death.
This book is beautiful in the way that it's written with the lush poetry and the incredible world building. Seriously, it's really easy to tell that a lot of thought and time was put into fleshing out the world of Mirage. We learn about the occupation and oppression of Amani's people and the way that they are prevented from flourishing. We learn about the differences between the Vathek and the Andalaan peoples. Where the Vathek are cruel and cold, the Andalaan thrive in poetry and coyness. As Amani loves poetry and aspires to write great poetry herself, there is a large emphasis on it throughout the book. The world that Daud builds in this book is really great and lush.
While this book does take place on various planets and moons, it feels less like a science fiction novel and more of a fantasy novel. You would barely know that it was a science fiction novel if it weren't for the brief mentions of travelling to different planets or Amani having come from a moon. I'm not complaining of course, because I do love a good fantasy. I just wish it had slightly more emphasis on "yes this is happening in SPACE".
Amani is a dreamer and of course dreamers do tend to be romantic. Princess Maram is betrothed to Idris, the last surviving heir of his Andalaan tribe. His family died in the Purge of the rebels as his family was one of the ones who lead the revolt. As a result, he was promised to Maram. He grew up speaking his native tongue of Kushaila, but because he had to grow up in the Vathek courts and learn to survive in them, he has lost the ability to do so. His situation is tragic and so is his budding romance with Amani. Their time spent with one another was really one of my favourite parts of this book.
While this book is beautiful and the world well thought out, I had a problem while reading the book where it felt like Amani was never in any real danger. Nothing terrible happened for her as she played Maram and as she made some moves that she thought were best. The entire book, I was waiting for that other shoe to drop and for Amani to go through a stumble here or there. I just didn't feel that edge of the seat, heart pounding feeling of fear for Amani's situation.
Overall, Mirage is a beautifully crafted novel with clear inspirations and wonderful world building. I'm very interested in seeing where Amani will go next and how she will deal with her situation. Also, seeing more of Idris and Amani together hopefully!
You can find the rest of the blog tour at the following stops!
Happy Reading!
