By Megan Amato
Content warning: body horror, murder, gore, violence, torture, homophobia, forced opium use, child death, public executions by fire
If you have read any of my previous reviews, you may think these next words have no meaning, but nevertheless, Tasha Suri’s fantasy, The Jasmine Throne, is my favourite read of the year and easily tops my top ten of all time. Her layers-upon-layers of worldbuilding wrapped in breathtaking prose and her extremely fleshed out and flawed protagonists slowly burning for each other around a complex plot had me flipping the pages faster than my group read had assigned. I simply devoured it.
Princess Malini is supposed to burn like the Mothers before her. When she refuses, her Emperor brother exiles her to the temple where their late father once sentenced all inhabitants to burn—including the children who gained power from the river hidden beneath. Priya, who escaped that massacre and is now a maidservant for the local regent, volunteers to work in the temple with hopes of finding the river. But even drugged and isolated, the Princess Malini has other plans and will use anyone to free herself and get revenge against her tyrannical brother—including the kind maidservant she is starting to care for. But as their feelings for each other grow, and the complications with it, so are two diverging rebellions—one that Malini set in motion to depose her brother from the throne and the other led by Priya’s wrathful temple brother who plans to burn the whole corrupt empire to the ground.
Even just thinking about the plot, I get chills. Despite the added layers of questionable morality from both characters—or maybe because of it—I am almost immediately sympathetic to their situation and motives. I love angry woman characters who act upon their fury, and this plot delivers. I am fully invested in seeing the two of them destroy and remake their perspective worlds. Malini is clever, determined, and well versed in court politics and intrigue, which makes her a brilliant opponent to all that stand in her way. Priya has a kind heart, has always looked out for others, and is more than happy to play the supporting role—but she will not be used. Not by the woman who makes her knees weak or by the brother who once saved her life. The river beneath the temple can be found by her alone, and she will let neither of them utilize it to destroy all she cares about in their search for vengeance.
Sometimes when I read books with multiple POVs, I am pulled out of the story and frustrated that I have to read certain POVs. I didn’t have that problem with The Jasmine Throne. Suri’s side characters are just as full of depth and well-developed. She ekes out the mystery surrounding them and the ways they fit into the plot, and I found myself eager to learn more about them with every chapter I read. My favourite was Bhumika, the regent’s seemingly kind wife who adopts people into her household staff and is pulling more strings than we can ever imagine behind the scenes. Aside from the emperor, whom we don’t get to know too well in this book, there is no clear baddie. Everyone is wrapped in shades of grey to aid their cause, and it only makes them more appealing.
One thing I haven’t touched on but is equally deserving of praise is the magic system. As a reader, I’m not too picky about magic systems; I love them loosey-goosey and extremely detailed alike. Suri’s falls more into the latter, as she constructed a history that explains the river beneath the temple and those who gain power from it, and the naturalistic and horrifying consequences that are spreading across the continent. I won’t give too much away, but I loved every single detail of it, and I think Suri should do a course on creating magic systems.
The Jasmine Throne doesn’t live in my head rent-free; it pays for it with every single detail that lingers in my dreams. I am supremely jealous of all of you who will get to read it for the first time. I am begging you to read this beautiful story so I can rave about it with you.