The Jasmine Throne

An interesting tale of rebellion and forbidden love. Tasha Suri has created a well developed and intriguing world of mysterious temples, jungles and old magic, and characters who are not afraid to burn it all down.

The story unfolds in a vassal state to an empire where a previous atrocity led to the destruction of its temple elite and ever since then a slow creeping disease related to the surrounding forest. This dark, dank and mysterious setting provides a wonderful sense of overarching gloom, and the world building here really is top notch.

The motivations for the main characters on the other hand are somewhat over convoluted for me and that is where the momentum of the story suffers. At times this slows down too much and begins to drag.

The world building here is top notch though - a unique and fascinating place.