The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms, 1) Paperback – June 8, 2021

Malini has opposed her brother, a despot who claimed their father's kingdom. As a result, she was exiled and sent to live in the Hirana for "reflection" until she either falls in line or dies. The Hirana is a cliffside temple that once housed many priests and priestesses and was the source of the deathless waters, though after all of the priests and priestesses, including the children, were murdered - immolated - the temple is little more than a ruin.Priya is a servant who has been chosen to take care of the Hirana and Malini without allowing her to see and interact with them. She also does what she can to help children in the area who are suffering from the rot, a disease with no known cure, though its progress can be slowed. But Priya has a secret, and when Malini discovers it one night, the two women become tied together, seeking the secrets of the temple and using each other to achieve their own goals: Malini to steal the throne and Priya to find her family.What started out somewhat slow turned into a fascinating story combining politics, betrayal, mystery, magic, and absolutely wonderful storytelling. Once the story really got going, which took about 2 hours of listening for me to really get into the meat of the story, I found it difficult to stop listening when I needed to.Though most of the book is centered around Priya and Malini, there are many other characters that we get to know through their own POV chapters which add an immense amount of depth and perspective to the story, particularly where the simmering tensions are concerned. Though the vast cast of characters could seem off-putting to some, Suri is able to draw the reader in and introduce them to the characters in such a way that I didn't feel lost or disconnected, and I found myself rather enjoying the many interludes with the other characters and the larger picture they helped paint of what is happening. I will absolutely be continuing this series with the next book.As I mentioned above, I listened to the audiobook of The Jasmine Throne, which was narrated by Shiromi Arserio. Though this is the first book of hers that I have listened to, I have several others in my TBR, and after her wonderful performance here, I look forward to listening to her read me other novels. If you enjoy listening to audiobooks, I encourage you to add this one to your TBR.

I read this for the Kindle Spring Challenge, it was one of the qualifying reads for the #booktok and ended up due to the great price purchasing it.Did like the author Tasha Siri, writing in 'the Jasmine Throne', definitely will read the sequel and anything else released by her with the Burning Kingdoms series.I found the first part of 'the Jasmine Throne' to be slow tedious read, a lot of characters to keep straight, although it was good enough reading that I continued to read it, and found the 2nd half to be perfectly paced. Did have to continually read through the character listing to refresh who was who, any time it got confusing and was kept engaged enough to know what happens to Priya.My favorite character was Priya, thought both Malini and Bhumika were likable yet they where devious and felt the only miss step was Meena character could really add to the storyline to the end verse having her killed by Priya after revealing she's a rebel, and led to her becoming Malian's maid servant. In all it's a good dark fantasy, great escapism and perfect enough to escape from today's World for a while.

"Chandra is a man with a vision of what the world should be. It's a horrible vision. And he will cut the world bloody to make it fit."The Jasmine Throne is a vibrant start to a new fantasy trilogy by Tasha Suri. It follows the ruthless Princess Malini exiled to Ahiranya and confined to a treacherous and ever-changing temple by her brother, Emperor Chandra, and Priya, a maidservant with forbidden temple magic who serves in the nearby regent's house. Through deals, manipulation, and a lot of mutual pining, the two must work together if they are to achieve their own ends: keeping Ahiranya safe and overthrowing the emperor."This was what she had needed. Not forgiveness, not a balm for this strange writhing fury inside her, but the promise of someone to care for-- to love-- that she could not harm. Even if she had to. Even if she tried."I love morally-grey female characters and that's exactly what I got with the slow-burn romance in The Jasmine Throne. Exiled by her dictatorial brother, Malini fell from her powerful position at court to being drugged and alone in the decaying Hirana. She is willing to do whatever it takes to save herself and the empire from the despotic grip of the emperor. After losing so many people she has held close, Priya wants nothing more than to protect the people of the city-state of Ahiranya, even if that means standing against the rebels and Malini to do so. Wielding their own types of power in a world not made for strong queer women, Priya and Malini became two of my favorite fantasy characters by the end.Though we primarily see the story through the eyes of Priya and Malini, we also get POVs from a handful of other side characters. While I wasn't expecting to get view points from anyone outside of the main two, Suri's choice definitely paid off. Each side character felt fully fleshed out with their own personalities and desires. Bhumika, wife of the regent of Ahiranya, ended up as one of my favorite characters in the entire book, and I hope we see more from her in the sequels."[T]he people you care about can be used against you. And strength-- strength is a knife turned on the parts of yourself that care."One of my favorite parts of the story was the richness of the world. Every time I picked up the book, I felt transported into Parijatdvipa and could picture so vividly the Hirana, the temple where a large portion of the story takes place. Yet, I can't mention the atmospheric nature of the story without discussing the magic that seems to inextricable from world Suri built. Unlike anything I've read before, the soft magic systems of Parijatdvipa involve grotesque fantastical diseases, journeying through deathless waters, prophetic names, the burning of women on pyres, powerful and mysterious spirits, and a temple that moves under your feet.Often times, atmospheric fantasy stories wind up lacking in other areas of worldbuilding, but not The Jasmine Throne. Suri's story contained complex political machinations from a variety of actors. Factions from the Parijat, the five different city-states, rebel groups inside and outside Ahiranya, and various religious sects each vie for power in Parijatdvipa."Take me away from here, he wanted to say. Spin me a tale that allows me to leave the pain and the loss and the rot of this place for a time. Please give me that comfort."After reading only a few chapters of The Jasmine Throne, I immediately picked up Suri's other book, Empire of Sand, because I knew I would need more from her as soon as I finished. I would recommend this to fans of the complex politics and rich worldbuilding in Daevabad trilogy by SA Chakraborty. 5/5 stars to The Jasmine Throne and I have no doubts that this book will end up on my favorites of the year list!*Thank you to Orbit Books for providing me an eARC of this book via NetGalley**Quotes come from the eARC and are thus subject to change before publication