{"id":3760,"date":"2020-08-07T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/araopenpages.com\/?p=3760"},"modified":"2020-08-07T16:22:47","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T08:22:47","slug":"blog-tour-court-of-lions-by-somaiya-daud-ft-book-review-graphics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/?p=3760","title":{"rendered":"BLOG TOUR; Court Of Lions by Somaiya Daud ft. Book Review & Graphics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I was lucky enough to be chosen to be part of the blog tour hosted by Caffiene Book Tours<\/a> for Court Of Lions<\/em> by Somaiya Daud, the sequel to Mirage<\/em>, and I am so excited for everyone to read this amazing novel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The schedule for the tour can be found here<\/a>. Be sure to check out these awesome bloggers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Title:<\/strong> Court Of Lions<\/em>
Author:<\/strong> Somaiya Daud
Genre:<\/strong> YA, science-fiction
Type:<\/strong> E-Book
Publisher: <\/strong>Flatiron Books
Series:<\/strong> The Mirage Duology<\/em>
Publication Date:<\/strong> 6 August 2020
Goodreads<\/a> | Amazon<\/a> | Book Depository<\/a> | Barnes & Noble<\/a> | IndieBound<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Two identical girls, one a princess, the other a rebel. Who will rule the empire?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After being swept up into the brutal Vathek court, Amani, the ordinary girl forced to serve as the half-Vathek princess\u2019s body double, has been forced into complete isolation. The cruel but complex princess, Maram, with whom A<\/em>mani had cultivated a tenuous friendship, discovered Amani\u2019s connection to the rebellion and has forced her into silence, and if Amani crosses Maram once more, her identity \u2013 and her betrayal \u2013 will be revealed to everyone in the court.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Amani is desperate to continue helping the rebellion, to fight for her people\u2019s freedom. But she must make a devastating decision: will she step aside, and watch her people suffer, or continue to aid them, and put herself and her family in mortal danger? And whatever she chooses, can she bear to remain separated, forever, from Maram\u2019s fianc\u00e9, Idris?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

My full mostly spoiler-free review can be found at the bottom of this page. And I couldn\u2019t help but make a few graphics!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Somaiya Daud is the author of Mirage and holds a PhD from the University of Washington in English literature. A former bookseller in the children\u2019s department at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., now she writes and teaches full time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Somaiya can be found on :-<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Website<\/a> | Goodreads<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>| Twitter<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Don’t forget to join the giveaway<\/a>*, where there is a chance to win five (5) paperback copies<\/strong> of Mirage<\/em> and five (5) hardcover copies<\/strong> of Court of Lions<\/em> by Somaiya Daud!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*This giveaway is open to US-based readers or individuals with a US address. It will be accepting entries until 12 August 2020 (12:00 AM, Philippine time).<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Hello, I\u2019d like to report a death. Mine, my death, this was utter perfect and my heart cannot take it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going into this book, I had actually not realised this was the conclusion of the story. I think I\u2019m so used to trilogies and longer series that I forgot duologies were a thing. But oh, wow, what a duogoly this is. The perfect length for such an intricately woven story.

Honestly, the crafting of the politics of this world was so well-done in the first book, the stakes so high already, I had no idea how it could be topped. But it was. The politics are still center stage without being overwhelming – the author manages such a good balance with details to the world itself, the struggle to maintain culture despite occupation, the politics Armani and Maram must use to survive and thrive in a world bent on taking everything about this culture away, the romance and love between the characters. I am in complete awe.

The first book had me rooting for Amani to succeed in her quests. Maram was an interesting character, but she was also frightening in the power she held over so many and the way she wavered between the two halves of her heritage. The chapters devoted to her POV in this book made me fall in love with her character, with the strength she found in herself and the truths she came to realise.

Amani, as always, is a powerful character, and while it is bittersweet that the journey we have undertaken with her is at an end, seeing her grow in courage, face her fears and find herself and love despite everything taken from her was so wonderful.

I spent a large part of the book with my heart lodged in my throat, fearing betrayal or another setback in the friendship and sisterhood between the two women, but instead, we see them lean on each other, see them grow together, see them want nothing but happiness for each other. I adored it.

The new characters were also such a treat – individual enough to make the story pop off the page, but not too much to take away from the heart of the matter. Between them, the characters we are returned to, and of course our heroines, this world is so wonderfully crafted, I am in love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was lucky enough to be chosen to be part of the blog tour hosted by Caffiene Book Tours for Court Of Lions by Somaiya Daud, the sequel to Mirage, and I am so excited for everyone to read this amazing novel! The schedule for the tour can be found here. Be sure to check out these awesome bloggers! Title: Court Of LionsAuthor: Somaiya DaudGenre: YA, science-fictionType: E-BookPublisher: Flatiron BooksSeries: The Mirage DuologyPublication Date: 6 August 2020Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound Two identical girls, one a princess, the other a rebel. Who will rule the empire? After being swept up into the brutal Vathek court, Amani, the ordinary girl forced to serve as the half-Vathek princess\u2019s body double, has been forced into complete isolation. The cruel but complex princess, Maram, with whom Amani had cultivated a tenuous friendship, discovered Amani\u2019s connection to the rebellion and has forced her into silence, and if Amani crosses Maram once more, her identity \u2013 and her betrayal \u2013 will be revealed to everyone in the court. Amani is desperate to continue helping the rebellion, to fight for her people\u2019s freedom. But she must make a devastating decision: will she step aside, and watch her people suffer, or continue to aid them, and put herself and her family in mortal danger? And whatever she chooses, can she bear to remain separated, forever, from Maram\u2019s fianc\u00e9, Idris? My full mostly spoiler-free review can be found at the bottom of this page. And I couldn\u2019t help but make a few graphics! Somaiya Daud is the author of Mirage and holds a PhD from the University of Washington in English literature. A former bookseller in the children\u2019s department at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., now she writes and teaches full time. Somaiya can be found on :- Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Facebook| Twitter Don’t forget to join the giveaway*, where there is a chance to win five (5) paperback copies of Mirage and five (5) hardcover copies of Court of Lions by Somaiya Daud! *This giveaway is open to US-based readers or individuals with a US address. It will be accepting entries until 12 August 2020 (12:00 AM, Philippine time). Hello, I\u2019d like to report a death. Mine, my death, this was utter perfect and my heart cannot take it. Going into this book, I had actually not realised this was the conclusion of the story. I think I\u2019m so used to trilogies and longer series that I forgot duologies were a thing. But oh, wow, what a duogoly this is. The perfect length for such an intricately woven story. Honestly, the crafting of the politics of this world was so well-done in the first book, the stakes so high already, I had no idea how it could be topped. But it was. The politics are still center stage without being overwhelming – the author manages such a good balance with details to the world itself, the struggle to maintain culture despite occupation, the politics Armani and Maram must use to survive and thrive in a world bent on taking everything about this culture away, the romance and love between the characters. I am in complete awe. The first book had me rooting for Amani to succeed in her quests. Maram was an interesting character, but she was also frightening in the power she held over so many and the way she wavered between the two halves of her heritage. The chapters devoted to her POV in this book made me fall in love with her character, with the strength she found in herself and the truths she came to realise. Amani, as always, is a powerful character, and while it is bittersweet that the journey we have undertaken with her is at an end, seeing her grow in courage, face her fears and find herself and love despite everything taken from her was so wonderful. I spent a large part of the book with my heart lodged in my throat, fearing betrayal or another setback in the friendship and sisterhood between the two women, but instead, we see them lean on each other, see them grow together, see them want nothing but happiness for each other. I adored it. The new characters were also such a treat – individual enough to make the story pop off the page, but not too much to take away from the heart of the matter. Between them, the characters we are returned to, and of course our heroines, this world is so wonderfully crafted, I am in love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[226,5],"tags":[218,227,698,545,699,6,543],"class_list":["post-3760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-tour","category-book-reviews","tag-arc-reviews","tag-blog-tour","tag-court-of-lions","tag-mirage-series","tag-not-really-spoilers-ahead-but-take-care","tag-reviews","tag-somaiya-daud"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3772,"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3760\/revisions\/3772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}