Rate: 3/5
Medium: Audiobook
Overview (No Spoiler):
The Jasad Heir is Hashem’s debut novel and the first of a duology that dismantles the skewed truths that the youth construct their worlds around. Essiya is the heir to the fallen kingdom of Jasad, though she has lived a life of anonymity as Silvia after impossibly surviving the events that led to the death of her entire family. Sylvia tries to live a normal life, but is haunted, in more ways than one by the ghost of her tormentor in the years immediately following her kingdom’s collapse. Sylvia finds a second home in a town that she starts to grow roots. A series of convenient sequences align to force Sylvia into the limelight and under the scrutiny of her mortal enemy, the heir of Nizhal. Will her true identity stay hidden under such unparalleled access to the expansive mind of Arin?
There’s just so much to like about the premise of The Jasad Heir. All of my favorite ingredients are there, from a complex magical system and well developed world, to a hidden heir and deadly trials. Despite all of that potential, The Jasad Heir manages to hit a flat note every time momentum starts to build. Arin is fascinating and complex, but most of our time is spent with Essiya who is difficult to connect to. The pacing also suffered from these odd breaks as every time Hashem would find a rhythm, she would add an odd jump in time. For example, almost all of Arin and Essiya’s training is glossed over. They emerged from this training with a respect and a foundation that evolves into chemistry. As the reader though, we are not privy to the relationship growing into trust, leaving us catching up to them.
While trials are featured in fantasy often, these were fitting and checked all the boxes, though some of the deviations within the trials did not fit into the puzzle, and seemed too convenient or forced.
Overall, The Jasad Heir is ruthlessly delightful, though a few hiccups in pacing and the constant brooding can cause the reader to momentarily lose the flow.
Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):
- Will Essiya meet her Grandmother?
- Sefa and Marek were always getting into trouble.
- I was honestly pretty confused with the vague kingdom boundaries.
- What did the trapped visions and prophesy mean?
- Will Mahar really be safe?
- Will Arin hunt Essiya down?
The Critiquing Chemist 