Mirage (Mirage, #1)

by Somaiya Daud

He does not feel young.

I'm just so impressed with the characterization in this prologue and especially in this paragraph (hungry, hard, angry)-- how efficient it is at establishing who this person is and how the power structures in his society have affected him and why he has been driven to this dangerous point.

She’d survived two wars: the civil war, and then the Vathek invasion and following occupation. She was hard, with a spine of steel, unbendable, unbindable, and unbreakable.

A BADASS MOM, one of my favorite things

I wanted something else, something more tangible and immediate. I wanted the world.

<3

Our souls will return home, we will return, the first poem read. We will set our feet in the rose of the citadel.

The author (full disclosure: a friend of mine) has a video about how she translated Arabic poetry (with the help of her mother) for this book and the sequel, Court of Lions, on her Instagram page (@somaiiiya)-- definitely worth a watch, as it is interesting and a very difficult undertaking!

The absolute silence, followed by the soft, near imperceptible click of metal against stone. The soft whir of gears just loud enough to announce itself.

I can hear these things so clearly in my mind.

Their faces were blank except for the white line of light that passed for eyes, and their heads were framed by a fan of solid metal.

One thing I love about this book is the balance between the rich history and the futuristic elements. People don't abandon their language, their religion, their culture when they develop technologically-- they carry those things with them. That Mirage holds the past and the "future" (or the present, I guess, in the context of the story) in tension makes the world feel more real and complex than many science fiction universes.

The Andalaan comfort and luxury had finally given way to sanitized Vathek splendor. No life, no warmth—only stone and water.

I always imagine Vathek homes as ultra minimalist (is that a contradiction? hehe) and modern.

folded it over and over again, and put it away.

such a beautiful way of putting it

And she looked exactly like me.

A real Dark Princess Amidala scenario! I love it.

“I am not a spare,” I gritted out.

!

“What a barbaric practice,” she said, and I flinched. “I thought we had outlawed such things.”

REALLY rich to hear Maram call this barbaric after, you know, SETTING A VICIOUS BIRD ON HER the day before

And then, I lifted my hands to my face, and felt bandages.

For me, this is one of the more devastating moments in this book-- the ceremony to receive the daan was so beautiful and such an expression of Amani's family's love and care for her, as well as her family's history and her culture. And then just like that, they're erased. It's the cruelty of the Vath in miniature-- the history of a people obliterated so easily by Vathek domination, on this planet as well as on Amani's face.

Husnain’s handwriting was like a beacon after a long and dark night.

Love that the poetry becomes an anchor for her here (and throughout the books).

“Walk with a straight back”—she snapped the thin whip at my back—“with your shoulders and head high”—another snap at my neck. “Again.” And again and again.

This is like a twisted version of The Princess Diaries' makeover scenes. You know, when Julie Andrews is teaching Anne Hathaway how to wave? Except sinister.

even darker beneath a desert sun.

HELLO THERE, IDRIS

Andalaan nobility who were folded into the new world order—

I always thought this was a particularly smart world-building element-- new regimes don't take hold by completely destroying old regimes. They fold the old strategically into the new, keep some people benefiting from their reign so that those people won't fight for freedom.

“My,” she said, examining me with a sharp eye. “I could almost believe you were beautiful.”

The moment you realize that every time Maram insults Amani, she's insulting herself, which makes sense because she's been taught to hate the parts of herself that Amani represents - COMPLEXITY! Love it.

And hanging from the shoulders was a sheer, gauzy cape that was feet longer than the skirt of the dress, studded with embroidered snowflakes.

the descriptions of clothing in this book are so good.

silver. The food itself was from various regions, all of it finger food. Small Vathek biscuits, Kushaila briouat stuffed with lamb, Norgak vilgotzi.

So many details in this book have such a distinct sense of origin, which makes sense given Amani's displacement. They make this world feel lived in and bigger than the scope of the novel, which is A+ work from Somaiya Daud.

“That is a horrible translation,” I said flatly. He turned to look at me a second before I realized my mistake.

AHHH!!!! I LOVE that this is where she slips up-- she just cannot allow a bad translation of poetry.

Drenched in water and struck by sunlight, he seemed to glow as if he’d emerged out of another realm entirely.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

“I could read it,” I said.

this is both DEVASTATING and...HOT? somehow?!

“You should know,” I said. “Whoever inked that khitaam for you loves you beyond imagining.”

AHHHH I just love them so much-- how she gives parts of him back to himself, and he does the same for her.

I imagined she’d never heard Maram speak in Kushaila.

SUCH A GOOD WAY TO REVEAL ONE'S SECRET IDENTITY: speak a language your double doesn't know.

Her father sent her to Luna-Vaxor after the coup, and I think it only made her more paranoid. The Vath have no love for her, you know. She is a half-breed, so far as they are concerned, and those who do not outright hate her for her heritage resent her for being the presumed heir to the imperial throne. But they bred a deep mistrust of us in her—she believes if I am allowed freedom I will take up arms against her.”

Maram's character continues to develop complexity, despite her monstrous introduction, and I love that she becomes so much more layered as Amani gets to know her, not just in Mirage but in Court of Lions (which I have also read). And Maram's complexity is inextricable from the political complexities at work here-- she is hated by the people she was taught to prize most highly (the Vath), and hated by the people she was taught to denigrate; she occupies an impossible space between two groups. I sometimes see her characterized as a typical spoiled princess in reviews of this book that I stumble across-- I feel that those reviews fail to acknowledge the impossibility of her situation and the limits of her understanding of herself, and the fact that while she is a perpetrator of the violence done to the colonized, she is also a victim of the same violence, simultaneously. Which isn't me trying to excuse her behavior, but there is undeniably more to her than "typical spoiled princess", which is what makes her such an interesting character.

Even your happiness is rebellion.”

<3

Gratitude flowed through me as I hugged her back.

I just want to note that there are so many women in this book-- complicated women with different histories and personalities and desires, who rarely discuss romance with Amani (why would they?) or focus on the affairs of men. Women who make things HAPPEN, for better or for worse. Mirage explodes the Bechdel test.

“I am tired of being at the mercy of the world.”

a very good line.

“It means she—you are not defined by the men in your life, no matter how powerful. You lived before them and you shall live after them. You can’t let them determine your path.”

<3

“Only your daughters will have the stomach for the future,”

LOVE THIS

“A collection of Kushaila poetry.

Wooing someone through poetry is such an old school romance thing, I never thought I would like it. But when that poetry is tied to identity and defiance and rebellion....turns out I do.

“No,” I said, too quickly. “Yes.”

Love Amani's bashful reaction to this poetry.

I didn’t need words. A hundred women had already spoken for me.

!!!!

eyes. “There are days where I think she won’t forgive me for what I’ve done. For what I’ve watched other people do.”

</3

“I am the youngest of my siblings,” I said at last. “My elder brothers always watched over me. And now—now I will try to watch over you.”

I know I am into Idris and Amani, but the real duo I'm rooting for in this book is Maram and Amani, becoming sisters.

And from His first creatures He made stars, glowing hot with their fire and warmth.

I'm a little weepy right now! THE TESLEET!

I would make sure of it.

I am obsessed with how the book begins with Amani and the feather and ends with Amani and the bird. It is in many ways a dark ending, but the tesleet provides hope and purpose, and I know for a fact that Court of Lions is a wonderful and powerful and satisfying ending to this duology. (And it gives the people what they want-- if "the people" are me, and "what they want" is MARAM!!!) I hope you enjoyed Mirage, one of my favorite books by one of my favorite people. <3 'Court of Lions,' the second book in the series, is out now! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38621113-court-of-lions