Friday Favourites – Bookish Siblings

So I haven’t really been posting regularly lately but I’m trying to get back into it so here’s a Friday Favourite post for you all!

This week, I’m sharing my favourite siblings!

The Qahtani Siblings from The City of Brass

The Kaul Siblings from Jade City

Nasir & Altair from We Hunt the Flame

The Kane Siblings from The Kane Chronicles

The Alif sisters from The Candle and the Flame

I love these siblings so much and their dynamics! I highly recommend reading all of these books! Tell me who your favourite siblings are!

Top 10 Tuesday – Books as Outfits

I’m here with another Top 10 Tuesday post and this is a cover freebie so I thought I would do a books as Asian outfits Sherwani edition! I did one a while ago on Pakistani outfits which people loved so I thought I would do another one because these outfits are too beautiful to not share!

I hope you enjoy this post!

1 The City of Brass

2 The Kingdom of Copper

3 The Empire of Gold

4 These Violent Delights

5 Pride Prejudice and Other Flavours

6 A Torch Against the Night

7 The Candle and the Flame

8 The Never Tilting World

9 The Silvered Serpents

10 We Set the Dark on Fire

Let me know which was your favourite one!

Friday Favourite – Favourite Book Covers Of 2019

This is hosted by Something of the Book who created this tag out of a love for lists. There are different topics for us all to be able to take part and you can find the prompts here. There isn’t a specific number of favourites so it’s entirely up to you how many you share.

This week I’m going to share some of my favourite covers of books that released this year! Honestly I can’t get enough of how many beautiful covers we were blessed with this year!

1 The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

2 Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali

3 We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

4 The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

5 The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah

6 The Battle by Karuna Riazi

7 Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

8 The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

9 The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdala

10 The Weight of our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

The Candle and the Flame By Nafiza Azad – Book Review

I have been excited about this book ever since I first heard about it and then I was chosen to be part of the street team and I had so much fun! I was finally able to read the book once it released and I absolutely loved it!

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Fatima lives in the city of Noor, a thriving stop along the Silk Road. There the music of myriad languages fills the air, and people of all faiths weave their lives together. However, the city bears scars of its recent past, when the chaotic tribe of Shayateen djinn slaughtered its entire population — except for Fatima and two other humans. Now ruled by a new maharajah, Noor is protected from the Shayateen by the Ifrit, djinn of order and reason, and by their commander, Zulfikar.

But when one of the most potent of the Ifrit dies, Fatima is changed in ways she cannot fathom, ways that scare even those who love her. Oud in hand, Fatima is drawn into the intrigues of the maharajah and his sister, the affairs of Zulfikar and the djinn, and the dangers of a magical battlefield.

This book is a phenomenal debut and I cannot wait to read more of Nafiza’s books! She has written a very character driven story full of amazing women being their badass selves in the different situations they find themselves in. I absolutely loved reading about every single one of them. And lets not forget to mention the swoon worthy Zulfiqar. Just go read this book you will not be disappointed!

Her writing is so beautiful and completely captivated me from the beginning. I wanted this book to never end and I am so sad that it is a standalone. Her story starts with the call to prayer and Fatima wakes for Fajr. My heart could not contain itself when I read the wonderful diverse Muslim representation in the book. Not only is there Muslim rep but she also showed how people from different cultures and religions can live harmoniously together. Fatima’s adoptive sister is Hindu yet they have a really close relationship which we see from the beginning of the book. I absolutely loved seeing that!

“You can’t judge an entire population of people by the actions of a select few. You can’t use your grief and your sorrow to justify your hate and discrimination.”

Her book is immersed in the culture and traditions of everyone that lives in Noor and it was written so beautifully. I can see the inspiration of the Pakistani/Indian culture throughout the story, from the language to the clothes and the food and traditions/celebrations. Urdu being used by the characters as though it’s the norm and them eating gulab jamun (my fave!) while they work and the clothes that they all wear, every single thing made me so excited to see my culture as the norm.

The story brings several women together who come from different walks in life but have to make the difficult decisions and do what needs to be done to save the people of Noor. They are all badasses in their own ways. Standing up against injustice, not tolerating the sexism and predatory behaviour by powerful men and making the choices that no one else wants to make and thereby showing that they are far more competent at leading than those actually in charge.

“Well, I wasn’t sure whether I would be punished for hurting him.” Fatima Ghazala lets out a short brittle laugh. “What a strange world we live in. He attacked me, yet I am the one worrying about being punished.”

I loved how they supported each other, women empowering women! They all grew and came to realisations about themselves and how they allowed the views on women in the general society to influence and dictate what they themselves think they are capable of. They grow to realise that they are capable of more and are braver and smarter than people give them credit for. That they don’t have to abide by the “rules” of society. It was such an empowering and positive message which is woven seamlessly throughout the story.

The last thing I will mention is that I do not recommend reading this on an empty stomach. There is so many food references and everything sounds so delicious that it will leave your mouth watering and craving all the food!

If you enjoy books which are character driven where we get to read about women being their badass selves and a wonderfully diverse book, then I highly recommend reading this! I mean why wouldn’t you want to read this amazing book?!

Books That Had Me Hooked From The First Line

Do you ever pick up a book and start reading and from that very first line you instantly know you will love the story?

There are some books that had me completely hooked and needing to know more from the very first line. Every single time that happens it always ends up being a book that becomes an absolute favourite of mine!

So I wanted to share some of these books and maybe it will intrigue you enough to want to read it.

1 “He was an easy mark.” – The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

2 “Alizayd Al-Qahtani didn’t last a month with his caravan.” – The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

3 “Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she’d been told that she would kill her true love.” – The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

4 “I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war.” – Red Rising by Pierce Brown

5 “Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.” – Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

6 “People lived because she killed.” – We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

7 “You do not enter a race to lose.” – Wonder Woman Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

8 “Kell wore a very peculiar coat.” – A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

9 “Asha lured the dragon with a story.” – The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccerelli

10 “The desert sings of loss, always loss, and if you stand quiet with your eyes closed, it will grieve you too.” – The Candle and the Flame

So these are the first lines that had me hooked. Every single one of these has become a favourite of mine and highly recommend reading them.

Of course a special shout out to my favourite books ever, The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper! I am completely obsessed with these and how can you not be?! Just look at how intriguing these very first lines are!

Are there any books that had you hooked from the very first line?