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This book is clearly intended as the first part of a trilogy (or an even longer series) and largely serves to set up the story of the following books. It even ends with a massive cliffhanger. Unfortunately, while interesting in some aspects, the book isn't good enough to make me want to read the next ones.

My main problem with this book is its stilted, repetitive style. The world, based on Persian mythology, is interesting. The story held my attention though was ultimately a bit unsatisfying. There are a lot of reveals in the last 100 pages or so which made it feel rushed. At least one of them comes out of nowhere. In the last third the book also suffers from the rather ridiculous contortions the author has to go through just so that everyone is present at the set-piece in the final chapters even though it doesn't make sense at all for Alizeh, the main protagonist, to be there.

My e-book also contained an excerpt from the sequel and apparently, it continues in the same cumbersome style so I won't pick it up.

This was my book club's pick for May. We follow this year's Illumicrate calendar which shows a fan created illustration of a different book each month. That and the good reviews elsewhere mean that it (or the trilogy it's the first book of) has its fans. I find that slightly puzzling because the content of the book doesn't live up to the great cover and is middling at best. Things are treated as great reveals even though they were telegraphed from a mile away or even explained in an earlier chapter. For the advancement of the plot the protagonists sometimes have to act out-of-character or foolishly and there are a lot of clicheś. The search for Lan Mom's legacy is captivating. Some of the magic is quite interesting and the question of whether it's necessary to destroy something that gives great power to have peace is intriguing. However, the author doesn't give it the room and depth it would deserve. I won't read the second book in the series. #2024reads