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The Alamaxa Duology #1
The Daughters of Izdihar
As a waterweaver, Nehal can move and shape any water to her will, but she's limited by her lack of formal education. She desires nothing more than to attend the newly opened Weaving Academy, take complete control of her powers, and pursue a glorious future on the battlefield with the first all-female military regiment. But her family cannot afford to let her go--crushed under her father's gambling debt, Nehal is forcibly married into a wealthy merchant family. Her new spouse, Nico, is indifferent and distant and in love with another woman, a bookseller named Giorgina.
Giorgina has her own secret, however: she is an earthweaver with dangerously uncontrollable powers. She has no money and no prospects. Her only solace comes from her activities with the Daughters of Izdihar, a radical women's rights group at the forefront of a movement with a simple goal: to attain recognition for women to have a say in their own lives. They live very different lives and come from very different means, yet Nehal and Giorgina have more in common than they think. The cause--and Nico--brings them into each other's orbit, drawn in by the group's enigmatic leader, Malak Mamdouh, and the urge to do what is right.
But their problems may seem small in the broader context of their world, as tensions are rising with a neighboring nation that desires an end to weaving and weavers. As Nehal and Giorgina fight for their rights, the threat of war looms in the background, and the two women find themselves struggling to earn--and keep--a lasting freedom.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 10, 2023
257 people are currently reading
28326 people want to read
About the author
Hadeer Elsbai
7 books258 followersHadeer Elsbai is an Egyptian-American writer and librarian. Born in New York City, she grew up being shuffled between Queens and Cairo. Hadeer studied history at Hunter College and later earned her Master’s degree in library science from Queens College, making her a CUNY alum twice over. Aside from writing, Hadeer enjoys cats, iced drinks, live theater, and studying the 19th century.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 897 reviews
January 14, 2023
3.50 Stars. This is one of those times that I truly wish that we could use half stars. 3 stars really is low, but 4 stars is too high so in the end the real rating is 3.50 stars, but 3 stars is the best I can do. This was an average fantasy story that was entertaining, but I didn’t feel like I was reading about anything that new. This was a story about women who are very oppressed, while some are trying to take back their agency. Not to mention the fact that I can literally count on one hand the number of men (not boys) who were considered normal and not bad/awful/mean/evil in the whole book. It got a bit tiresome of all of the men being so horrible in this book. The magic system was very elemental based, which was also familiar -although it had some interesting changes near the end so hopefully it will get better in book 2-.
What was unexpected was the character of Nahel. Nahel, does not react like someone who lives being used to being repressed all the time. Instead, she is angry and yells and screams at everyone until she gets her way. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. She is this ball of fire that does not fit, and you can’t help but like her even when you want her to tone it done since her way is not always the best way to get results. In comparison, the character Giorgina is a dull boor. It is not really her fault, the type of oppression she lives under would crack anyone, so I think the way she acts is much more normal, but up against Nahel in this, Giorgina just doesn’t stand a chance.
There was some speculation of a love triangle, and as of this first book that is not true. There were the beginnings of a sweet sapphic romance, and there was a HET romance that was in a bit of turmoil. I wouldn’t mind if there ends up being an all sapphic poly triangle in book 2, as I have a feeling Giorgina might end up shedding her skin and turning into that badass that is hiding underneath.
While I complained that I didn’t feel like there was a lot of uniqueness in this first book, I think it had a lot to do with the set-up and getting the book ready to launch the next part. I think the next part has a chance to be interesting, distinct, and even more entertaining than this first half was. I felt like I was reading a spark waiting to ignite and I have a good feeling that the second part will be a much better fit for my personal tastes.
An ARC was given to me for an honest review.
What was unexpected was the character of Nahel. Nahel, does not react like someone who lives being used to being repressed all the time. Instead, she is angry and yells and screams at everyone until she gets her way. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. She is this ball of fire that does not fit, and you can’t help but like her even when you want her to tone it done since her way is not always the best way to get results. In comparison, the character Giorgina is a dull boor. It is not really her fault, the type of oppression she lives under would crack anyone, so I think the way she acts is much more normal, but up against Nahel in this, Giorgina just doesn’t stand a chance.
There was some speculation of a love triangle, and as of this first book that is not true. There were the beginnings of a sweet sapphic romance, and there was a HET romance that was in a bit of turmoil. I wouldn’t mind if there ends up being an all sapphic poly triangle in book 2, as I have a feeling Giorgina might end up shedding her skin and turning into that badass that is hiding underneath.
While I complained that I didn’t feel like there was a lot of uniqueness in this first book, I think it had a lot to do with the set-up and getting the book ready to launch the next part. I think the next part has a chance to be interesting, distinct, and even more entertaining than this first half was. I felt like I was reading a spark waiting to ignite and I have a good feeling that the second part will be a much better fit for my personal tastes.
An ARC was given to me for an honest review.
January 23, 2023
One of my best friends wrote this book and I could not be prouder!!!! I read an early draft of THE DAUGHTERS OF IZDIHAR and it was remarkable; you all want to add this to your TBRs posthaste. Awaiting Spring 2023 VERY impatiently.
February 12, 2025
Actual Rating 3.5
It's been so long since I read this, and I got approved to read the second work in the duology, so it was time for a reread. I still feel mostly the same about the book as a whole, and overall it held up well on the reread. I'm rating it a bit lower because this work felt very YA to me (especially the characters) even though it's supposed to be an Adult Fantasy. On to book two!
Original Rating 4
Nahel is the daughter of a nobleman who wants nothing more than to join the Academy and fight in the military. But she discovers that she is going to be married off to help her family’s finances. Giorgina is from a poor family, and she spends her time working at a bookshop and fundraising for the Daughters of Izdihar, an activist group for women’s rights. The paths of the two women begin to converge as they find themselves both struggling to learn about their magic and to fight for their rights.
I loved the setting of this work. The author did an excellent job incorporating cultural details as well as details of the surrounding world into the narrative without it ever feeling like an info-dump. I wanted a bit more from the worldbuilding, especially more details concerning the magic, its origins, etc., but there was enough included to make the setting feel realistic and give it depth. The only thing I disliked was that the parameters of the world weren’t clearly established – the beginning of the work made this feel like a traditional fantasy world, but then there was a casual mention of travelling by rail/train, and some more modern words were used in the dialogue. This did break the immersion a bit for me.
The characters were well written and had great depth and development. I enjoyed that the work was told from Nehal’s and Giorgina’s POVs and that they were almost opposites of each other. This added interesting depth to the story. Despite Nehal being hard-headed and a bit spoiled, it was impossible not to like her. There wasn’t much romance included in the work although there was a love triangle (which was surprisingly well done and added much needed depth/tension to the plot!). That being said, I did feel that there wasn’t much plot in this work. Plenty of things happened that were interesting and added to the characters and the world, but it was light on plot overall.
I highly recommend this work to fantasy lovers, especially non-western fantasy that explores women’s rights. I’m looking forward to reading the second book! My thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read and review this work, which will be published on January 10th, 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
It's been so long since I read this, and I got approved to read the second work in the duology, so it was time for a reread. I still feel mostly the same about the book as a whole, and overall it held up well on the reread. I'm rating it a bit lower because this work felt very YA to me (especially the characters) even though it's supposed to be an Adult Fantasy. On to book two!
Original Rating 4
Nahel is the daughter of a nobleman who wants nothing more than to join the Academy and fight in the military. But she discovers that she is going to be married off to help her family’s finances. Giorgina is from a poor family, and she spends her time working at a bookshop and fundraising for the Daughters of Izdihar, an activist group for women’s rights. The paths of the two women begin to converge as they find themselves both struggling to learn about their magic and to fight for their rights.
I loved the setting of this work. The author did an excellent job incorporating cultural details as well as details of the surrounding world into the narrative without it ever feeling like an info-dump. I wanted a bit more from the worldbuilding, especially more details concerning the magic, its origins, etc., but there was enough included to make the setting feel realistic and give it depth. The only thing I disliked was that the parameters of the world weren’t clearly established – the beginning of the work made this feel like a traditional fantasy world, but then there was a casual mention of travelling by rail/train, and some more modern words were used in the dialogue. This did break the immersion a bit for me.
The characters were well written and had great depth and development. I enjoyed that the work was told from Nehal’s and Giorgina’s POVs and that they were almost opposites of each other. This added interesting depth to the story. Despite Nehal being hard-headed and a bit spoiled, it was impossible not to like her. There wasn’t much romance included in the work although there was a love triangle (which was surprisingly well done and added much needed depth/tension to the plot!). That being said, I did feel that there wasn’t much plot in this work. Plenty of things happened that were interesting and added to the characters and the world, but it was light on plot overall.
I highly recommend this work to fantasy lovers, especially non-western fantasy that explores women’s rights. I’m looking forward to reading the second book! My thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read and review this work, which will be published on January 10th, 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
May 8, 2023
I found this utterly gripping and can't wait for the sequel.
Read
March 4, 2025A queer historical political feminist fantasy novel about social struggle set in an alt-Egypt, so
I was absolutely primed to love this. And it does have lots of good things, particularly Nehal, who is one of the most impressively obnoxious leads I've read in a while. She's sulky, bad-tempered, impulsive, and incredibly selfish. She is hugely privileged but doesn't have the common sense to leverage her privilege, so she just goes around putting people's backs up all the time. She becomes a fighter for the rights of women, but her sense of injustice is 100% based around how it applies to herself. She's a right cow, in fact, and she leapt off the page in a very enjoyable manner. I very much liked her clever, slightly manipulative political leader love interest and wanted more of her on page, and more on them together.
So, loads of potential here but it didn't really come together for me. The Giorgina plotline (a woman from a poor background who is inexplicably in love with Nehal's flaccid arranged-marriage husband) just didn't come across with the same zizz. The politics are a bit one-note; the setting is hard to pin down--guns are a relative novelty and people travel by camel or mule or palanquins, but photography is commonplace and the political turmoil is heavily based in Egypt post WW2. And the magic doesn't make sense to me in the political or social context, though to be fair the theme of "magicians are incredibly powerful and dangerous so we will oppress them and refuse them training, rather than exploit this incredibly powerful resource" is very common in fantasy governments, who are apparently just as stupid as real ones.
Heh. I wanted to love this because there's so much to love, and it's admirably ambitious, but it just didn't quite click for me. Debut book, though, and first of a duet, so will be really interesting to see how the author develops.
I was absolutely primed to love this. And it does have lots of good things, particularly Nehal, who is one of the most impressively obnoxious leads I've read in a while. She's sulky, bad-tempered, impulsive, and incredibly selfish. She is hugely privileged but doesn't have the common sense to leverage her privilege, so she just goes around putting people's backs up all the time. She becomes a fighter for the rights of women, but her sense of injustice is 100% based around how it applies to herself. She's a right cow, in fact, and she leapt off the page in a very enjoyable manner. I very much liked her clever, slightly manipulative political leader love interest and wanted more of her on page, and more on them together.
So, loads of potential here but it didn't really come together for me. The Giorgina plotline (a woman from a poor background who is inexplicably in love with Nehal's flaccid arranged-marriage husband) just didn't come across with the same zizz. The politics are a bit one-note; the setting is hard to pin down--guns are a relative novelty and people travel by camel or mule or palanquins, but photography is commonplace and the political turmoil is heavily based in Egypt post WW2. And the magic doesn't make sense to me in the political or social context, though to be fair the theme of "magicians are incredibly powerful and dangerous so we will oppress them and refuse them training, rather than exploit this incredibly powerful resource" is very common in fantasy governments, who are apparently just as stupid as real ones.
Heh. I wanted to love this because there's so much to love, and it's admirably ambitious, but it just didn't quite click for me. Debut book, though, and first of a duet, so will be really interesting to see how the author develops.
Want to read
May 14, 2021a woman in an Egyptian-inspired city using her elemental magic to fight for women's rights? Sexy™. say no more, you had me at woman.
April 10, 2023
(this is going to be a long review that's not... very nice and contains mild spoilers as well (I don't really think they're spoilers though) so yeah here's your warning i guess)
First of all i have to say that my biggest problem with this book was its premise. So why have i read it? I saw someone on twitter post a picture of their recent book purchases and i spotted this book among them, the author's name stood out as very Egyptian and i got really excited and immediately looked it up. When i read the synopsis i was so disappointed but i thought i should give it a chance anyway. I really shouldn't have bothered.
This book is just another attempt at recycling the extremely tiresome narrative of Arab/Egyptian women being helpless and oppressed by the evil, regressive Arab/Egyptian men. Yes, I know it's a fantasy book, but it's inspired by Egyptian culture/history. And of course, surprising absolutely no one, the only man who supports women's fight to liberate themselves has to be a blond “Talyani” (Egyptian Arabic for Italian, the author didn't even bother with coming up with new countries lol. A wholly new world, i heard.) with blue eyes and everything. The man who rescued our heroine from her backwards family and lets her pursue the studies she has always wanted. Wow *heart fucking eyes*. You can't convince me that this book, aimed mainly at a western audience, doesn't reinforce harmful stereotypes with these frankly bizarre choices in 2023.
Anyway, i also thought that maybe the feminist stuff in this book would be good to read about. What's not to love about women with superpowers trying to dismantle the patriarchy? Oh, a whole fucking lot. The sexism/misogyny in this book was, again, recycled arguments that you've heard millions of times before, that have been done in thousands of books before and sometimes they were caricature-ishly funny from how forced and convoluted they were because the author had a checklist of misogynistic things to put in the book just to make a point. The retorts at said misogynist arguments were also recycled. That shit was just fucking boring to read and it was also like 70% of the whole book. The other 30% was just the astonishingly uninteresting characters doing the most stupid bullshit.
I also heard this was a queer story which was another reason i put my suspicions about a book with such a premise aside and picked it up anyway. *sigh* there is a gay side character in here that gets introduced at the beginning of the book to Nehal, one of the protagonists, from nowhere for no reason but i was like “ok, whatever” and she immediately befriends him, then he just disappears for the rest of the book (she also gets told by her in-laws that he's “a queer”, and she should stay away from him because of her reputation bla bla bla. What a homophobic people!!) and appears again only a few pages before the book ends so that Nehal can tell him “hey i think I'm gay too” and he goes “damn, sucks for us doesn't it”, then disappears again. Like???? He just felt like a plot device to me. (Other characters felt the same btw, they appeared to be important characters at first who clearly should have some influence on whatever tf was going on but then they just abruptly disappear from the story and we move on lol) Nehal's relationship with the female love interest wasn't dealt with in much better ways, it felt rushed and most of the supposed development of their feelings for each other happened behind the scenes and we just got told about it.
Oh, i forgot the fantasy aspect of this book...which wasn't really there? The author barely changed the names of a few Egyptian places, came up with an extremely boring religion (that didn't get exolored at all and the reader barely knows shit about it), then decided to choose the most boring, overdone magic system and rolled with it. There was a ton of references to Egyptian culture (clothes and food) and that was supposed to be enough world building? I thought this book was, uh, “set in a wholly new world”. (The exotic orient?? Lol)
That magic system too, again,as recycled as it is, didn't get explored enough, if at all. Surely people with superpowers to control elements would fight more against the oppression they supposedly endure. What about the bad people who could weave? What did they do with their abilities? Like there have to be consequences for something like that especially with how much only two/three of the bunch of characters we encounter do so much with their weaving but no, the story could as well be set in real Egypt in like the 1800s and not much would be different. What about male weavers? Yes, they were allowed to to go to school to master their weaving but there was still a lot of prejudice against weaving, what did they do about said prejudice?
I don't want to be mean to a young Egyptian author and especially since this is her debut novel but this book pissed me the hell off. And lastly, if someone saw this review and got mad at me for it: i simply don't care. I'm obviously entitled to my opinion.
First of all i have to say that my biggest problem with this book was its premise. So why have i read it? I saw someone on twitter post a picture of their recent book purchases and i spotted this book among them, the author's name stood out as very Egyptian and i got really excited and immediately looked it up. When i read the synopsis i was so disappointed but i thought i should give it a chance anyway. I really shouldn't have bothered.
This book is just another attempt at recycling the extremely tiresome narrative of Arab/Egyptian women being helpless and oppressed by the evil, regressive Arab/Egyptian men. Yes, I know it's a fantasy book, but it's inspired by Egyptian culture/history. And of course, surprising absolutely no one, the only man who supports women's fight to liberate themselves has to be a blond “Talyani” (Egyptian Arabic for Italian, the author didn't even bother with coming up with new countries lol. A wholly new world, i heard.) with blue eyes and everything. The man who rescued our heroine from her backwards family and lets her pursue the studies she has always wanted. Wow *heart fucking eyes*. You can't convince me that this book, aimed mainly at a western audience, doesn't reinforce harmful stereotypes with these frankly bizarre choices in 2023.
Anyway, i also thought that maybe the feminist stuff in this book would be good to read about. What's not to love about women with superpowers trying to dismantle the patriarchy? Oh, a whole fucking lot. The sexism/misogyny in this book was, again, recycled arguments that you've heard millions of times before, that have been done in thousands of books before and sometimes they were caricature-ishly funny from how forced and convoluted they were because the author had a checklist of misogynistic things to put in the book just to make a point. The retorts at said misogynist arguments were also recycled. That shit was just fucking boring to read and it was also like 70% of the whole book. The other 30% was just the astonishingly uninteresting characters doing the most stupid bullshit.
I also heard this was a queer story which was another reason i put my suspicions about a book with such a premise aside and picked it up anyway. *sigh* there is a gay side character in here that gets introduced at the beginning of the book to Nehal, one of the protagonists, from nowhere for no reason but i was like “ok, whatever” and she immediately befriends him, then he just disappears for the rest of the book (she also gets told by her in-laws that he's “a queer”, and she should stay away from him because of her reputation bla bla bla. What a homophobic people!!) and appears again only a few pages before the book ends so that Nehal can tell him “hey i think I'm gay too” and he goes “damn, sucks for us doesn't it”, then disappears again. Like???? He just felt like a plot device to me. (Other characters felt the same btw, they appeared to be important characters at first who clearly should have some influence on whatever tf was going on but then they just abruptly disappear from the story and we move on lol) Nehal's relationship with the female love interest wasn't dealt with in much better ways, it felt rushed and most of the supposed development of their feelings for each other happened behind the scenes and we just got told about it.
Oh, i forgot the fantasy aspect of this book...which wasn't really there? The author barely changed the names of a few Egyptian places, came up with an extremely boring religion (that didn't get exolored at all and the reader barely knows shit about it), then decided to choose the most boring, overdone magic system and rolled with it. There was a ton of references to Egyptian culture (clothes and food) and that was supposed to be enough world building? I thought this book was, uh, “set in a wholly new world”. (The exotic orient?? Lol)
That magic system too, again,as recycled as it is, didn't get explored enough, if at all. Surely people with superpowers to control elements would fight more against the oppression they supposedly endure. What about the bad people who could weave? What did they do with their abilities? Like there have to be consequences for something like that especially with how much only two/three of the bunch of characters we encounter do so much with their weaving but no, the story could as well be set in real Egypt in like the 1800s and not much would be different. What about male weavers? Yes, they were allowed to to go to school to master their weaving but there was still a lot of prejudice against weaving, what did they do about said prejudice?
I don't want to be mean to a young Egyptian author and especially since this is her debut novel but this book pissed me the hell off. And lastly, if someone saw this review and got mad at me for it: i simply don't care. I'm obviously entitled to my opinion.
January 13, 2023
HELLO FEMALE RAGE LOVERS, DO I HAVE THE PERFECT BOOK FOR YOU!
The Daughters of Izdihar is a feminist fantasy. That's it. Read it now. NOW I SAY.
We follow two PoVs, that of Nehal (our resident angry girl) and Giorgina (Nehal's complete opposite). Both of these girls want different things, Nehal to join a magical academy of sorts that only men were allowed to join up until now, and Giorgina wants something more simple, Nehal's new husband and her own ex Nico.
Both of them are entangled with The Daughters of Izdihar, and its leader Malak. Now Malak has been a favourite of mine ever since she popped up on page. I think she's the coolest character in the book and I can't wait to see even more of her in the sequel.
Nehal is my other favourite, she's spoiled rotten and acts like it the entire book, she's selfish, and like I said angry. But I like angry, she wants to burn down the whole world and I support her!! I preferred her PoV to Giorgina's, it had more going on.
Giorgina was kind of quiet, trying not to cause too much trouble and most of her thoughts revolved around Nico. I didn't care much for their romance, but I did like that it was happening so Nehal and Malak could get their own chance to shine.
I normally like love triangles, but if this had ended up being a love triangle between Nehal, Nico and Giorgina I would've been disappointed. So if you're reading this and thinking it might turn into one, TRUST ME IT WON'T, JUST KEEP READING.
Malak and Nehal though, I love them together, I love them so much, they're my life and I need more of them.
There wasn't a lot of romance in this book overall, so I hope we'll get some more in the next book.
Something about the plot and ~vibes~ reminded me of The Unbroken, so if you liked that you might like this too.
I wish we got to see more of the academy, and while I liked the world building it wasn't totally clear what the world looked like. I don't mind too much, especially since everything else was great, but I felt like mentioning it.
4.5 for this one, and probably a full 5 for the next!
*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*
The Daughters of Izdihar is a feminist fantasy. That's it. Read it now. NOW I SAY.
We follow two PoVs, that of Nehal (our resident angry girl) and Giorgina (Nehal's complete opposite). Both of these girls want different things, Nehal to join a magical academy of sorts that only men were allowed to join up until now, and Giorgina wants something more simple, Nehal's new husband and her own ex Nico.
Both of them are entangled with The Daughters of Izdihar, and its leader Malak. Now Malak has been a favourite of mine ever since she popped up on page. I think she's the coolest character in the book and I can't wait to see even more of her in the sequel.
Nehal is my other favourite, she's spoiled rotten and acts like it the entire book, she's selfish, and like I said angry. But I like angry, she wants to burn down the whole world and I support her!! I preferred her PoV to Giorgina's, it had more going on.
Giorgina was kind of quiet, trying not to cause too much trouble and most of her thoughts revolved around Nico. I didn't care much for their romance, but I did like that it was happening so Nehal and Malak could get their own chance to shine.
I normally like love triangles, but if this had ended up being a love triangle between Nehal, Nico and Giorgina I would've been disappointed. So if you're reading this and thinking it might turn into one, TRUST ME IT WON'T, JUST KEEP READING.
Malak and Nehal though, I love them together, I love them so much, they're my life and I need more of them.
There wasn't a lot of romance in this book overall, so I hope we'll get some more in the next book.
Something about the plot and ~vibes~ reminded me of The Unbroken, so if you liked that you might like this too.
I wish we got to see more of the academy, and while I liked the world building it wasn't totally clear what the world looked like. I don't mind too much, especially since everything else was great, but I felt like mentioning it.
4.5 for this one, and probably a full 5 for the next!
*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*
December 30, 2023
Another great book that fits into the category of "anti-imperialistic, non-European sapphic badass fantasy", right beside The Unbroken and The Jasmine Throne (and probably many I just forgot). I hope this sub-genre never ends growing.
This is a story about two women magicians living in a country that oppresses both women and magicians. What I really liked about this book is how nuanced Hadeer Elsbai described the lives of the women of this world - not only the protagonists but many side-characters as well. I think this world has much potential, and I'm excited about what else might happen in this series. I mean, this story has it all: magic schools, family drama, politics, suffragettes and female friendships, bookworm need husbands, rebellions, history, there is so much to marvel at and enjoy.
It was a little too plot-driven for my taste, and I would have enjoyed a few more scenes developing the beautiful sapphic relationship we got here. Still, a great start to the new releases this year for me.
This is a story about two women magicians living in a country that oppresses both women and magicians. What I really liked about this book is how nuanced Hadeer Elsbai described the lives of the women of this world - not only the protagonists but many side-characters as well. I think this world has much potential, and I'm excited about what else might happen in this series. I mean, this story has it all: magic schools, family drama, politics, suffragettes and female friendships, bookworm need husbands, rebellions, history, there is so much to marvel at and enjoy.
It was a little too plot-driven for my taste, and I would have enjoyed a few more scenes developing the beautiful sapphic relationship we got here. Still, a great start to the new releases this year for me.
March 28, 2024
“A country cannot be free if its women are not.”
The Daughters of Izdihar is an Egyptian-inspired fantasy story that follows two women from different social classes: Nehal is a spoiled socialite who is forced into an arranged marriage, while Giorgina is a poor worker who is secretly part of the women’s suffrage movement. But they’re both weavers, people with powers tied to elemental magic: Nehal is a waterweaver and Giorgina is a earthweaver, neither of them trained in the use of their powers. Both women live very different lives but when Nehal is forced to marry Nico—Giogina’s lover—and decides to join the Daughters of Izdihar, their lives get irreversibly entwined.
I really enjoyed this first installment in the duology, how it focuses on suffragism and forbidden elemental magic. I liked both main characters, their different personal journeys and their determination fighting for their rights. I also enjoyed how the book explores different areas of the city of Alamaxa, the romance (one of them sapphic, which is always a plus for me) and the fact that one of the settings is a magical school, the Weaving Academy where Nehal trains.
I really can’t wait for the sequel to see how the author wraps up this duology.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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October 7, 2022
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023…but I hate it.
It’s not that it’s technically bad? But I was expecting lush, gorgeous prose to go with the setting and that fabulous cover, and instead the writing is extremely basic, even blunt. The first few chapters are just a barrage of clumsy telling-telling-telling, all of it far more simplistic than I expect from Adult Fantasy. I was looking for intricate, detailed worldbuilding and politics and all, and I just didn’t find it here.
And it’s boring. The sexism the women have to deal with is appropriately rage-inducing, but a whole bunch of people were acting pretty stupidly because, I guess, the plot required them to. (Using blasphemous magic to attack a counter-protestor? Sure, that’s exactly what a real leader of a movement would do, and nevermind that the crowd is a breath away from rioting already! But the riot has to happen for the plot, so insert shrug here, I guess.) Events moved incredibly quickly, so there was no time for any of it to have real emotional impact, which in turn made them uninteresting. It didn’t help that most of the characters felt two-dimensional at best, defined by just one or two traits rather than being fully fleshed out. There was nothing to latch onto with any of the cast, no way to really make myself care about any of the characters.
It's not terrible. But it feels very, very basic, and I was expecting so much more than that.
I really, desperately wanted to love this. I tried to. But it wasn’t meant to be, I guess.
It’s not that it’s technically bad? But I was expecting lush, gorgeous prose to go with the setting and that fabulous cover, and instead the writing is extremely basic, even blunt. The first few chapters are just a barrage of clumsy telling-telling-telling, all of it far more simplistic than I expect from Adult Fantasy. I was looking for intricate, detailed worldbuilding and politics and all, and I just didn’t find it here.
And it’s boring. The sexism the women have to deal with is appropriately rage-inducing, but a whole bunch of people were acting pretty stupidly because, I guess, the plot required them to. (Using blasphemous magic to attack a counter-protestor? Sure, that’s exactly what a real leader of a movement would do, and nevermind that the crowd is a breath away from rioting already! But the riot has to happen for the plot, so insert shrug here, I guess.) Events moved incredibly quickly, so there was no time for any of it to have real emotional impact, which in turn made them uninteresting. It didn’t help that most of the characters felt two-dimensional at best, defined by just one or two traits rather than being fully fleshed out. There was nothing to latch onto with any of the cast, no way to really make myself care about any of the characters.
It's not terrible. But it feels very, very basic, and I was expecting so much more than that.
I really, desperately wanted to love this. I tried to. But it wasn’t meant to be, I guess.
July 19, 2022
First, thank you so much for the eARC. I am so beyond grateful. This book is everything I wanted and more. “The Daughters of Izdihar” is the perfect combination of fantasy and real world problems, which is something I feel can be hard to achieve.
This book follows our two protagonists, Nehal and Giorgina, as they deal with fighting for the rights of women and weavers (the magic system—not unlike bending from Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is AMAZING). Their noble cause is pitted against the crushing patriarchal society in which they live, as well as some unsavory groups that are introduced throughout the story.
To start, the plot and the pacing is perfect. I read over half of the book in one sitting because of how invested I was. There is a good balance of high-stress and low-stress events, and the plot is easy to follow. The world-building is phenomenal in every way. This world is so detailed and interesting, from the society the women are fighting to change to the religion and the weavers. I also really enjoyed that we learned about the culture and history throughout the plot in ways that made sense—I didn’t feel like it was all dumped on me at once. I really enjoyed the various conflicts and how they were handled and intertwined. The biggest is women versus a violently patriarchal society, but weavers versus religious zealots, police brutality, and international relations are all dealt with masterfully.
Next, the characters. I LOVE the characters. Obviously, Nehal and Giorgina are the spotlight and they deserve every bit of it. The women are juxtaposed in many ways, which makes their perspectives so interesting. Not only are they opposites in personality, but they also deal with themes in opposite ways. Think one learning when to bite her tongue and the other learning when to stand up for herself, that kind of thing. It’s amazing. The other major character is Nico, who is such a lovely character. He is well-intentioned but frustrating, and I love that. He, like the women, is a complex character who is easy to like and easy to learn from. He represents a larger problem, which is addressed in the story (but I won’t spoil anything!). I really love so many of the characters, like Nagi and Labiba, and even the antagonists are well-written and so very easy to hate.
I wish I could put to words just how much I love this book. It was such an amazing read and so well-written, in my opinion. I read over half of this book in one sitting because I simply could not put it down, and I really will think about this story for the rest of my days. My only regret is that I now have to wait for publish day to get this book in a physical format and then even longer for the second book. I cannot wait for both of those dates, even if they are far away! Thank you again to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC—I am so grateful for the opportunity to read such an amazing book.
This book follows our two protagonists, Nehal and Giorgina, as they deal with fighting for the rights of women and weavers (the magic system—not unlike bending from Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is AMAZING). Their noble cause is pitted against the crushing patriarchal society in which they live, as well as some unsavory groups that are introduced throughout the story.
To start, the plot and the pacing is perfect. I read over half of the book in one sitting because of how invested I was. There is a good balance of high-stress and low-stress events, and the plot is easy to follow. The world-building is phenomenal in every way. This world is so detailed and interesting, from the society the women are fighting to change to the religion and the weavers. I also really enjoyed that we learned about the culture and history throughout the plot in ways that made sense—I didn’t feel like it was all dumped on me at once. I really enjoyed the various conflicts and how they were handled and intertwined. The biggest is women versus a violently patriarchal society, but weavers versus religious zealots, police brutality, and international relations are all dealt with masterfully.
Next, the characters. I LOVE the characters. Obviously, Nehal and Giorgina are the spotlight and they deserve every bit of it. The women are juxtaposed in many ways, which makes their perspectives so interesting. Not only are they opposites in personality, but they also deal with themes in opposite ways. Think one learning when to bite her tongue and the other learning when to stand up for herself, that kind of thing. It’s amazing. The other major character is Nico, who is such a lovely character. He is well-intentioned but frustrating, and I love that. He, like the women, is a complex character who is easy to like and easy to learn from. He represents a larger problem, which is addressed in the story (but I won’t spoil anything!). I really love so many of the characters, like Nagi and Labiba, and even the antagonists are well-written and so very easy to hate.
I wish I could put to words just how much I love this book. It was such an amazing read and so well-written, in my opinion. I read over half of this book in one sitting because I simply could not put it down, and I really will think about this story for the rest of my days. My only regret is that I now have to wait for publish day to get this book in a physical format and then even longer for the second book. I cannot wait for both of those dates, even if they are far away! Thank you again to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC—I am so grateful for the opportunity to read such an amazing book.
March 5, 2023
[4.5 stars] What a fantastic, feminist, sapphic, political fantasy. I loved both main characters and felt totally compelled for the whole reading experience. Loooveeedd!
December 11, 2022
Such a cool cover, let’s see what’s behind it. Goodies. Lots of goodies. A political upheaval, sapphic romance, magic, and a looming war. In the kingdom of Ramsawa, based on a fantastical Egypt, women have no voice. Nehal Darweesh wants to master her innate waterweaving skills and become a soldier. Instead, she learns her parents have arranged her marriage to Niccolo Baldinotti, the son of another influential family. The marriage surprises Nico, too; He already has someone in his life.
Unfortunately, Nehal’s father’s gambling debts won’t pay for themselves, so the two get married. Nehal persuades Nico to allow her to enroll in the Alamaxa Academy of the Weaving Arts to study waterweaving. In return, he can keep his beloved Giorgina Shukry as a concubine. Giorgina and Nehal were both born with elemental magic, but weren’t allowed to be trained because they were women. Both find their way to the Daughters of Izdihar, a clandestine organization fighting for equality. The traditionalists don’t want any progressive changes and react with ire to women daring to study magic and willing to be heard.
The story focuses on Nehal and Giorgina and their paths to challenge society and its norms. Their arcs strongly differ - Nehal comes from a wealthy family and she knows her name has power in the city. Giorgina has nothing but her reputation. I admit I found Nehal’s voice more interesting. She’s filled with anger and ready to fight for her beliefs. She also rarely listens to anyone, and while she comes from money, she never wastes time worrying about what people say about her. Still, she can afford it, contrary to many women from less privileged backgrounds.
She has a short fuse, and her angry antics entertain and deliver a strong social commentary. Now, the world here lacks nuance, especially in its presentation of gender relations and approach to queerness. It’s actually quite shallow, but it amplifies the message. If you can turn a blind eye to the lack of subtlety and enjoy characters easily engulfed by a feeling of uncontrollable fury, you’ll be good and have a good time. If, however, you appreciate a more nuanced approach, look for entertainment elsewhere.
I enjoyed the story despite its shortcomings and cartoonish shortcuts. I found Nehal’s voice delightful, and I cheered for her. Giorgina needed more time to develop as a character and find her strength, but once she did, she became an excellent character.
I recommend it to readers looking for an emotional, character-driven story focused on the fight for women’s rights and sympathetic characters. With its fast-paced storytelling, relatable characters, and solid hooks, The Daughters of Izdihar will hook you from beginning to end.
ARC through Netgalley
Unfortunately, Nehal’s father’s gambling debts won’t pay for themselves, so the two get married. Nehal persuades Nico to allow her to enroll in the Alamaxa Academy of the Weaving Arts to study waterweaving. In return, he can keep his beloved Giorgina Shukry as a concubine. Giorgina and Nehal were both born with elemental magic, but weren’t allowed to be trained because they were women. Both find their way to the Daughters of Izdihar, a clandestine organization fighting for equality. The traditionalists don’t want any progressive changes and react with ire to women daring to study magic and willing to be heard.
The story focuses on Nehal and Giorgina and their paths to challenge society and its norms. Their arcs strongly differ - Nehal comes from a wealthy family and she knows her name has power in the city. Giorgina has nothing but her reputation. I admit I found Nehal’s voice more interesting. She’s filled with anger and ready to fight for her beliefs. She also rarely listens to anyone, and while she comes from money, she never wastes time worrying about what people say about her. Still, she can afford it, contrary to many women from less privileged backgrounds.
She has a short fuse, and her angry antics entertain and deliver a strong social commentary. Now, the world here lacks nuance, especially in its presentation of gender relations and approach to queerness. It’s actually quite shallow, but it amplifies the message. If you can turn a blind eye to the lack of subtlety and enjoy characters easily engulfed by a feeling of uncontrollable fury, you’ll be good and have a good time. If, however, you appreciate a more nuanced approach, look for entertainment elsewhere.
I enjoyed the story despite its shortcomings and cartoonish shortcuts. I found Nehal’s voice delightful, and I cheered for her. Giorgina needed more time to develop as a character and find her strength, but once she did, she became an excellent character.
I recommend it to readers looking for an emotional, character-driven story focused on the fight for women’s rights and sympathetic characters. With its fast-paced storytelling, relatable characters, and solid hooks, The Daughters of Izdihar will hook you from beginning to end.
ARC through Netgalley
February 16, 2023
7/10
Interesting setting (Egyptian) and plot background (women's suffrage), with interesting characters that suffers a bit from cliche or basic dialogue in more complex situations, and a subpar magic system. The magic system is quite literally ATLA. Not inspired by...it is exactly the same, to the point that there is a conversation in this book about bloodbending ("bloodweaving") that is almost identical to the conversation Katara has with that old lady in ATLA. It was so frustratingly similiar I docked half a star. Rookie mistake.
But otherwise, a lot to like here. All three of the main characters felt distinct and despite setting up an obvious love triangle, actually veered away from it and did interesting things. If the author improves in the sequel, it could be very good.
Interesting setting (Egyptian) and plot background (women's suffrage), with interesting characters that suffers a bit from cliche or basic dialogue in more complex situations, and a subpar magic system. The magic system is quite literally ATLA. Not inspired by...it is exactly the same, to the point that there is a conversation in this book about bloodbending ("bloodweaving") that is almost identical to the conversation Katara has with that old lady in ATLA. It was so frustratingly similiar I docked half a star. Rookie mistake.
But otherwise, a lot to like here. All three of the main characters felt distinct and despite setting up an obvious love triangle, actually veered away from it and did interesting things. If the author improves in the sequel, it could be very good.
April 3, 2023
3.0 Stars
I have loved other Middle Eastern inspired fantasy so I was hoping to love this one. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed. My major issue was the fact that this adult fantasy read more like a young adult, which is not an age category I typically read. The focus on themes like the arranged marriage just felt like typical YA tropes that I typically avoid. I hoped I would at least enjoy the world building aspects but those elements felt surface deep.
I have loved other Middle Eastern inspired fantasy so I was hoping to love this one. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed. My major issue was the fact that this adult fantasy read more like a young adult, which is not an age category I typically read. The focus on themes like the arranged marriage just felt like typical YA tropes that I typically avoid. I hoped I would at least enjoy the world building aspects but those elements felt surface deep.
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November 21, 2022
Review pending after HC Strike ends
March 18, 2024
Its gay gay and its slaps. No but fr why is this book so underrated????? I loooove
did-not-finish
June 1, 2024DNF @ 50 pages
Honestly I think I would've mildly liked this book if I finished it, but I just have too many things to read and this doesn't seem like it's something that is really as up my alley as I thought it would be. The combination of a plotline of allegorical oppression and a plotline of oppression copy and pasted from history caused a little friction in my brain, and I felt like though the writing style has lovely descriptions, it was also too direct in approach to characterization and plot.
Weirdly enough, I do think this would make a good musical, either on stage or as an animated movie.
CW (so far): misogyny, abortion (past), forced marriage
Honestly I think I would've mildly liked this book if I finished it, but I just have too many things to read and this doesn't seem like it's something that is really as up my alley as I thought it would be. The combination of a plotline of allegorical oppression and a plotline of oppression copy and pasted from history caused a little friction in my brain, and I felt like though the writing style has lovely descriptions, it was also too direct in approach to characterization and plot.
Weirdly enough, I do think this would make a good musical, either on stage or as an animated movie.
CW (so far): misogyny, abortion (past), forced marriage
December 30, 2022
4.5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I wasn't expecting to love this as much as I did, but it was so so good! It was easy to immerse myself in this world, although I do think that there could have been further development in the worldbuilding as we don't really find out much at all about where the magic comes from - you kind of have to piece it together as you go along which makes the beginning of the story a bit confusing. However, I still found the world fascinating and I'm hoping we get more of an in-depth look into the history of the world in the second novel.
I found it really easy to distinguish between the two POVs of Nehal and Giorgina; they were distinctive, which was helped by the fact that the characters were essentially opposites of each other, They each had a lot of depth and I was invested in both of their very different lives, and enjoyed when they crossed paths with each other too. Despite Nehal typically not being a character I would enjoy reading, as she's quite self-centred and hard-headed, I actually really enjoyed reading from her which I think shows how carefully the author has handled these character traits.
There was a lot of important discussion on women's rights; there is a group of women in this book fighting for their rights called the Daughters of Izdihar, and I really loved seeing how they fought for what they deserved and the oppression they faced, I was really invested in the plot of this and I can't wait to see how this develops in the sequel.
I think this is a fantastic debut and I would highly recommend picking it up!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I wasn't expecting to love this as much as I did, but it was so so good! It was easy to immerse myself in this world, although I do think that there could have been further development in the worldbuilding as we don't really find out much at all about where the magic comes from - you kind of have to piece it together as you go along which makes the beginning of the story a bit confusing. However, I still found the world fascinating and I'm hoping we get more of an in-depth look into the history of the world in the second novel.
I found it really easy to distinguish between the two POVs of Nehal and Giorgina; they were distinctive, which was helped by the fact that the characters were essentially opposites of each other, They each had a lot of depth and I was invested in both of their very different lives, and enjoyed when they crossed paths with each other too. Despite Nehal typically not being a character I would enjoy reading, as she's quite self-centred and hard-headed, I actually really enjoyed reading from her which I think shows how carefully the author has handled these character traits.
There was a lot of important discussion on women's rights; there is a group of women in this book fighting for their rights called the Daughters of Izdihar, and I really loved seeing how they fought for what they deserved and the oppression they faced, I was really invested in the plot of this and I can't wait to see how this develops in the sequel.
I think this is a fantastic debut and I would highly recommend picking it up!
August 9, 2022
No one is more shocked than me that this book was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps I had the wrong expectations going in, but the magic system wasn’t all that interesting to me, one of the protagonists was so boring I almost skipped her chapters, and there were too many repetitive setbacks for my taste.
I really did love Nehal and Malak, though. I also liked the supporting character who wanted to burn everything down. I think if the book was about the three of them, or about Nehal and Malak and Yusry, a gay man who tries his best to live his life truthfully, I could have enjoyed it a bit more.
Giorgina and her love interest are so boring, their conflicts so uninterested to me, I couldn’t really care for them at all.
I also wish that less of the plot was the women in this oppressive society trying to do a pacific protest, being sabotaged, beaten, arrested. Telling men what happened, being ignored. Rinse, repeat.
It made the second half of the book feel a bit deflated of tension and momentum, because anytime the book seemed to be gearing up for an escalation, it just handled the women the same setbacks instead. I needed a bit more variety in the plot, I guess, in addition to a protagonists that felt like she had more reason to be the POV character.
I really did love Nehal and Malak, though. I also liked the supporting character who wanted to burn everything down. I think if the book was about the three of them, or about Nehal and Malak and Yusry, a gay man who tries his best to live his life truthfully, I could have enjoyed it a bit more.
Giorgina and her love interest are so boring, their conflicts so uninterested to me, I couldn’t really care for them at all.
I also wish that less of the plot was the women in this oppressive society trying to do a pacific protest, being sabotaged, beaten, arrested. Telling men what happened, being ignored. Rinse, repeat.
It made the second half of the book feel a bit deflated of tension and momentum, because anytime the book seemed to be gearing up for an escalation, it just handled the women the same setbacks instead. I needed a bit more variety in the plot, I guess, in addition to a protagonists that felt like she had more reason to be the POV character.
March 4, 2023
Wonderful Arabic-inspired fantasy with a women suffrage theme.
I really liked this book, it was well written and novel in the way to approach fantasy, from a more "modern" perspective. The issue of women suffrage in a very patriarchal society, and the difficulty of this journey are very well explored.
The ending is a bit open and both protagonists (and the main male character) grated on me in a few points. Nehal especially: she was often too much in a frenzy. But this is also the beauty of this book: the characters are very realistic, full of personality and flaws. I might have wanted a bit more exploration of them (it felt like we were rushing through a bit), but it was otherwise a splendid book.
Highly recommend.
I really liked this book, it was well written and novel in the way to approach fantasy, from a more "modern" perspective. The issue of women suffrage in a very patriarchal society, and the difficulty of this journey are very well explored.
The ending is a bit open and both protagonists (and the main male character) grated on me in a few points. Nehal especially: she was often too much in a frenzy. But this is also the beauty of this book: the characters are very realistic, full of personality and flaws. I might have wanted a bit more exploration of them (it felt like we were rushing through a bit), but it was otherwise a splendid book.
Highly recommend.
May 19, 2025
My thanks to Hadeer Elsbai and Harper Voyager for an uncorrected proof that I won in a Goodreads giveaway.
Sadly, this Egyptian-based fantasy novel is a DNF for me. It all comes down to a single sentence: “You can’t punish all weavers because of the actions of a single deranged woman.” The reason why I am upset with this sentence is the usage of the word “ deranged “ due to the fact that I am mentally disabled. I have been treated in the same cruel manner by people throughout my entire life.
I enjoyed the characters and the magical world building of the novel and the focus on woman rights and reading a book based on Egyptian mythology and culture.
Sadly, this Egyptian-based fantasy novel is a DNF for me. It all comes down to a single sentence: “You can’t punish all weavers because of the actions of a single deranged woman.” The reason why I am upset with this sentence is the usage of the word “ deranged “ due to the fact that I am mentally disabled. I have been treated in the same cruel manner by people throughout my entire life.
I enjoyed the characters and the magical world building of the novel and the focus on woman rights and reading a book based on Egyptian mythology and culture.
January 11, 2023
I finished this in one sitting because I could not put it down.
Queer ladies, elemental magic, beautiful Egyptian-inspired world and hardcore feminism.
A bunch of big yeses from me. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.
*FULL REVIEW ON MY CHANNELS*
Queer ladies, elemental magic, beautiful Egyptian-inspired world and hardcore feminism.
A bunch of big yeses from me. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.
*FULL REVIEW ON MY CHANNELS*
September 25, 2023
i mean it has two of my favorite things - revolution and elemental magic so it's literally the perfect book
August 6, 2022
Before I get started, I'd like to say thank you to both to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I'd also like to offer a disclaimer: I've known the author for years online. While I would like to say that my opinions are unbiased, I'm afraid that I cannot claim to be wholly unprejudiced where my friends are concerned, even if that bias is subconscious. However, I will do my best to offer my unsolicited, earnest feedback with this review.
Now that we are all on the same page...
Have you ever heard of "lightning in a bottle"? Or it may be more appropriate to call what Elsbai has captured as "djinn in a bottle," because novels like The Daughters of Izdihar, the first of a series called The Alamaxa Duology, make storytelling look less like craft and more like magic. The writing is propulsive and thoroughly cinematic -- utterly unputdownable after you read that first page -- which is a quality that made series like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games absolute blockbusters. If this isn't the novel everyone on BookTok is talking about in 2023, I'll eat my hat.
Daughters is set in a fantastical country inspired by a historical Egypt known as Ramsawa. There, manipulators of one of the four elements (fire, earth, air, and water), known as weavers, are tolerated for their innate powers at best and scorned as heretical by religious acolytes at worst. They are feared for their capabilities; as are Ramsawi women, who are held in just as much contempt as weavers, if not more so.
In the face of such oppression, two women -- Nehal and Giorgina -- are coming of age in the Ramsawi city of Alamaxa amidst a rising tide of change for both women and weavers. Both are involved in the feminist organization known as The Daughters of Izdihar, which not only serves women practically by offering food and sourcing healthcare, but also politically, as its members fight for suffrage and equal protection under the law. Both are also weavers, and weavers are also beginning to experience some amount of freedom, as the long-shuttered Alamaxa Academy of the Weaving Arts reopens for the first time in two centuries. It's the only formal school where men can learn to harness and utilize their magical gift (and women, too, for an exorbitant price). Looming on the horizon, however, is the threat of war from a neighboring country, not to mention the threats posed by violence from within, like police who brutalize protestors with impunity. One stray gust of errant wind could bring a tempest to Ramsawa, and that tension is illustrated on every page.
It is a delicate balancing act to propel the plot forward and not lose sight of any one of these disparate elements, which a lesser author might be prone to do. But Elsbai handles her narrative with ease, much like a water weaver who transforms liquid into ice into steam back to liquid again. A lot of this ease is owed to the specificity of the world-building, and how readers slip undetected between each narrative, experiencing first-hand how a privileged aristocrat like Nehal and a working-class romantic like Giorgina can inhabit the same city, but entirely different worlds.
What also makes this balance possible is how each character is rendered, primarily, with empathy and compassion. This is a choice that runs parallel to the hero's journey Nehal and Giorgina are both on, as Nehal learns how to advocate for others, and Giorgina learns how to advocate for herself. That these lessons are inextricable from their pursuit of justice in the face of overwhelming odds is the point. The personal is political in The Daughters of Izdihar. They may be able to manipulate grains of sand or gusts of wind, but it is these women believing in each other which grants them their most salient, fearsome power: the power to effect change.
Most importantly, though? This book is fun. It is *extremely* hard not to root for a ragtag group of characters who are fighting against a violent heteropatriarchy, which I would argue will be refreshingly cathartic to read in 2023. (It was in 2022!)
Five out of five stars.
Now that we are all on the same page...
Have you ever heard of "lightning in a bottle"? Or it may be more appropriate to call what Elsbai has captured as "djinn in a bottle," because novels like The Daughters of Izdihar, the first of a series called The Alamaxa Duology, make storytelling look less like craft and more like magic. The writing is propulsive and thoroughly cinematic -- utterly unputdownable after you read that first page -- which is a quality that made series like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games absolute blockbusters. If this isn't the novel everyone on BookTok is talking about in 2023, I'll eat my hat.
Daughters is set in a fantastical country inspired by a historical Egypt known as Ramsawa. There, manipulators of one of the four elements (fire, earth, air, and water), known as weavers, are tolerated for their innate powers at best and scorned as heretical by religious acolytes at worst. They are feared for their capabilities; as are Ramsawi women, who are held in just as much contempt as weavers, if not more so.
In the face of such oppression, two women -- Nehal and Giorgina -- are coming of age in the Ramsawi city of Alamaxa amidst a rising tide of change for both women and weavers. Both are involved in the feminist organization known as The Daughters of Izdihar, which not only serves women practically by offering food and sourcing healthcare, but also politically, as its members fight for suffrage and equal protection under the law. Both are also weavers, and weavers are also beginning to experience some amount of freedom, as the long-shuttered Alamaxa Academy of the Weaving Arts reopens for the first time in two centuries. It's the only formal school where men can learn to harness and utilize their magical gift (and women, too, for an exorbitant price). Looming on the horizon, however, is the threat of war from a neighboring country, not to mention the threats posed by violence from within, like police who brutalize protestors with impunity. One stray gust of errant wind could bring a tempest to Ramsawa, and that tension is illustrated on every page.
It is a delicate balancing act to propel the plot forward and not lose sight of any one of these disparate elements, which a lesser author might be prone to do. But Elsbai handles her narrative with ease, much like a water weaver who transforms liquid into ice into steam back to liquid again. A lot of this ease is owed to the specificity of the world-building, and how readers slip undetected between each narrative, experiencing first-hand how a privileged aristocrat like Nehal and a working-class romantic like Giorgina can inhabit the same city, but entirely different worlds.
What also makes this balance possible is how each character is rendered, primarily, with empathy and compassion. This is a choice that runs parallel to the hero's journey Nehal and Giorgina are both on, as Nehal learns how to advocate for others, and Giorgina learns how to advocate for herself. That these lessons are inextricable from their pursuit of justice in the face of overwhelming odds is the point. The personal is political in The Daughters of Izdihar. They may be able to manipulate grains of sand or gusts of wind, but it is these women believing in each other which grants them their most salient, fearsome power: the power to effect change.
Most importantly, though? This book is fun. It is *extremely* hard not to root for a ragtag group of characters who are fighting against a violent heteropatriarchy, which I would argue will be refreshingly cathartic to read in 2023. (It was in 2022!)
Five out of five stars.
March 3, 2024
Rating: Absolutely Loved It, 5 stars
The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai is a debut, Egyptian inspired fantasy that features elemental magic, and women rising up against the society that oppresses them. We follow two women from different walks of life, Nehal and Giorgianna, but connected in their fight for revolution and justice within their society.
I will say that there are a lot of content warnings in this book. It is set in a bigoted fantasy society with a corrupt police force, oppression of women and LGBTQ folk, and some very violent actions against characters in this book, both on and off page, as a result of these things. So, please look further into CW if needed.
I think that one of my favorite parts about this book is how clear and straightforward the writing is. I was immediately drawn into the world and the plot. I came to care greatly about the characters and am very distressed on their behalves for how everything will wrap up. At first, I thought that this writing style would be a detriment and that the political pieces would be too on the nose and sort of beating you over the head. But I feel like it ended up making the story more powerful.
Nehal and Giorgianna are incredibly compelling characters to follow. I feel like we get to see them change so much in the course of the book, and my favorite part is that they are so very messy in their growth. Both characters are deeply flawed, but we get to see them come to terms with who they are, what they want, and how they are going to accomplish their goals. It is a very different journey for both, but no less meaningful for them as a character.
Nehal is brash and outspoken, born in a privileged position but with waterweaving powers, a sexual identity that would lead to her ostracism from polite society, and forced into an arranged marriage for the sake of her family’s reputation and wealth.
Giorgianna is a quiet, bookish woman who was born into the lower class, with earthweaving powers she fears, and a father who would disown her were he to ever find out about her sexual past and her illegal abortion. She is in love with a man whose family marries him off to another woman under threat of revealing Giorgianna’s past and ruining her in the process.
I genuinely enjoyed both perspectives so much. At first, I preferred Nehal’s chapters, but I came to love both women and never felt like it was a chore to switch perspectives and spend time with the other. I also got the vibes that Nehal has some ADHD tendencies and Giorgianna intense anxiety. I thought that these were portrayed very well without making it the focal point of the women. I appreciated the representation.
I also really loved the elemental magic and look forward to learning more about that history and what all is possible in this world. I also have to say that the descriptions of food, while there weren’t a huge number, sounded delicious and made me hungry.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it with the caveat of checking content warnings if needed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Harper Voyager is an imprint of HarperCollins Publisher, and this full review was withheld until they reached an agreement with the HarperCollins Union. Daughters of Izdihar releases on January 10, 2023.
The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai is a debut, Egyptian inspired fantasy that features elemental magic, and women rising up against the society that oppresses them. We follow two women from different walks of life, Nehal and Giorgianna, but connected in their fight for revolution and justice within their society.
I will say that there are a lot of content warnings in this book. It is set in a bigoted fantasy society with a corrupt police force, oppression of women and LGBTQ folk, and some very violent actions against characters in this book, both on and off page, as a result of these things. So, please look further into CW if needed.
I think that one of my favorite parts about this book is how clear and straightforward the writing is. I was immediately drawn into the world and the plot. I came to care greatly about the characters and am very distressed on their behalves for how everything will wrap up. At first, I thought that this writing style would be a detriment and that the political pieces would be too on the nose and sort of beating you over the head. But I feel like it ended up making the story more powerful.
Nehal and Giorgianna are incredibly compelling characters to follow. I feel like we get to see them change so much in the course of the book, and my favorite part is that they are so very messy in their growth. Both characters are deeply flawed, but we get to see them come to terms with who they are, what they want, and how they are going to accomplish their goals. It is a very different journey for both, but no less meaningful for them as a character.
Nehal is brash and outspoken, born in a privileged position but with waterweaving powers, a sexual identity that would lead to her ostracism from polite society, and forced into an arranged marriage for the sake of her family’s reputation and wealth.
Giorgianna is a quiet, bookish woman who was born into the lower class, with earthweaving powers she fears, and a father who would disown her were he to ever find out about her sexual past and her illegal abortion. She is in love with a man whose family marries him off to another woman under threat of revealing Giorgianna’s past and ruining her in the process.
I genuinely enjoyed both perspectives so much. At first, I preferred Nehal’s chapters, but I came to love both women and never felt like it was a chore to switch perspectives and spend time with the other. I also got the vibes that Nehal has some ADHD tendencies and Giorgianna intense anxiety. I thought that these were portrayed very well without making it the focal point of the women. I appreciated the representation.
I also really loved the elemental magic and look forward to learning more about that history and what all is possible in this world. I also have to say that the descriptions of food, while there weren’t a huge number, sounded delicious and made me hungry.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it with the caveat of checking content warnings if needed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Harper Voyager is an imprint of HarperCollins Publisher, and this full review was withheld until they reached an agreement with the HarperCollins Union. Daughters of Izdihar releases on January 10, 2023.
did-not-finish
June 11, 2023I wanted to like this one, but at five chapters and 50 pages in, I'm just not enjoying myself and it's time to DNF.
The pros: the setting is engaging and I really wanted to dig into the inner workings of a protest movement based on securing voting rights for women.
The cons: the sentences. I felt the red-pen itch in my editing hands on about page 3 and that didn't really let up. Frankly, the ways that this is a debut novel are showing everywhere, from clunky sentence structure to repetitive dialogue tags, like the author doesn't trust the words or other character cues like body language to convey tone and meaning. For example:
I would shrug the "Anas snapped" twice in three paragraphs off as a one-time revision error if the main character's mother hadn't also had three tags (snapped Shaheera, Shaheera snapped, she snapped) in one page worth of text on pages 2-3 (bottom of one page, midway on the next), when I first noticed this tic. We're well into "learn a different word, damn" territory, and I can't help but wonder where the line edits for this book were. It clearly got proofreading, since I don't see many typos, but the nuts and bolts of making the existing words better just... didn't seem to happen.
This is partly on me: it's nitpicky, asshole stuff to complain about, but once I start noticing it, I can't stop. For a book I'm reading for pleasure in my free time, I want to get immersed in a story, not feel like this is an extension of my editing side gig. And frankly, it's a weakness in the writing craft that extends to other areas for me.
Nehal feels like a bratty teenager, not an adult, so her arranged marriage feels more like an inconvenience than a tragedy-- her bland new husband has the personality of mayonnaise on saltines. Giorgina is noble and long-suffering, blamed for things that aren't her fault, and her internal monologue reads like a freshman's LiveJournal about how she should just accept her miserable place in the world. They're both too thinly sketched to support the wide-ranging political revolution story that's brewing in the background. Characters don't need to be likeable, but they need depth, and there's just not enough subtlety here, in either the politics or the people, to motivate me into the later chapters.
I half-regret the DNF, because I'm sure the political angle heats up, but I skimmed a few pages later in the book and didn't feel my attention caught there either. I would try this author's work again with a fresh series a few years down the road, but I'm done with this one.
As always, no star rating for books I didn't finish.
Other recommendations:
-If you're interested in the tension of magic users in a diverse city being persecuted (but while women have more freedom) in a loosely Middle Eastern setting, try Notorious Sorcerer. That was also a DNF for me, but I got farther into it and thought the arranged marriage angle for one of the secondary characters had a lot more depth.
-For a specifically Egyptian setting seething with magic and change, try A Master of Djinn. The mystery is more in the foreground there, but political unrest shapes the book.
-For protagonists who are significantly more clever in the their long-range revolution planning, try The Jasmine Throne. The setting is Indian rather than Egyptian, but there are some common threads here around oppressed power and poor treatment of women.
The pros: the setting is engaging and I really wanted to dig into the inner workings of a protest movement based on securing voting rights for women.
The cons: the sentences. I felt the red-pen itch in my editing hands on about page 3 and that didn't really let up. Frankly, the ways that this is a debut novel are showing everywhere, from clunky sentence structure to repetitive dialogue tags, like the author doesn't trust the words or other character cues like body language to convey tone and meaning. For example:
Anas snapped, "If you can't show up on time, what is the point of you?"
"There was a dust storm," Giorgina finally managed to say.
"I don't care if Setuket himself descended up on the city and tore it in half," Anas snapped.
I would shrug the "Anas snapped" twice in three paragraphs off as a one-time revision error if the main character's mother hadn't also had three tags (snapped Shaheera, Shaheera snapped, she snapped) in one page worth of text on pages 2-3 (bottom of one page, midway on the next), when I first noticed this tic. We're well into "learn a different word, damn" territory, and I can't help but wonder where the line edits for this book were. It clearly got proofreading, since I don't see many typos, but the nuts and bolts of making the existing words better just... didn't seem to happen.
This is partly on me: it's nitpicky, asshole stuff to complain about, but once I start noticing it, I can't stop. For a book I'm reading for pleasure in my free time, I want to get immersed in a story, not feel like this is an extension of my editing side gig. And frankly, it's a weakness in the writing craft that extends to other areas for me.
Nehal feels like a bratty teenager, not an adult, so her arranged marriage feels more like an inconvenience than a tragedy-- her bland new husband has the personality of mayonnaise on saltines. Giorgina is noble and long-suffering, blamed for things that aren't her fault, and her internal monologue reads like a freshman's LiveJournal about how she should just accept her miserable place in the world. They're both too thinly sketched to support the wide-ranging political revolution story that's brewing in the background. Characters don't need to be likeable, but they need depth, and there's just not enough subtlety here, in either the politics or the people, to motivate me into the later chapters.
I half-regret the DNF, because I'm sure the political angle heats up, but I skimmed a few pages later in the book and didn't feel my attention caught there either. I would try this author's work again with a fresh series a few years down the road, but I'm done with this one.
As always, no star rating for books I didn't finish.
Other recommendations:
-If you're interested in the tension of magic users in a diverse city being persecuted (but while women have more freedom) in a loosely Middle Eastern setting, try Notorious Sorcerer. That was also a DNF for me, but I got farther into it and thought the arranged marriage angle for one of the secondary characters had a lot more depth.
-For a specifically Egyptian setting seething with magic and change, try A Master of Djinn. The mystery is more in the foreground there, but political unrest shapes the book.
-For protagonists who are significantly more clever in the their long-range revolution planning, try The Jasmine Throne. The setting is Indian rather than Egyptian, but there are some common threads here around oppressed power and poor treatment of women.
June 2, 2024
First read 2023: 4 stars
Second read 2024: 4 stars
In The Daughters of Izdihar, Hadeer Elsbai weaves a breathtaking and empowering fantasy tale full of richly lush Egyptian-inspired world building, powerful elemental magic, slow-burn queer love, and all the female rage.
From the very first page, this story is just deliciously messy, and I mean that in the most loving way possible. Both Nehal and Giorgina are beautifully complex and realistically flawed young women, and I absolutely loved exploring this dark yet alluring world through their eyes. Their strong personalities and intense emotions practically bleed off the page, which is exactly what makes this story so incredibly engrossing.
The beginning of this story can feel quite slow, but I personally loved that we got to spend so much time getting to know these characters by diving deep into their personal backstories and exploring their own dreams and motivations. Even though Nehal and Giorgina should be polar opposites, they have way more in common than they first might believe, and I loved the slow progression from reluctant toleration to tentative friendship. Especially with their complicated connection through and to Nico (who is just the most precious bean ever), I was truly eating up all the strong heightened emotions and messy situations.
Through both of their eyes, we get a very nuanced view of this world, and I loved learning about the magic system with them. Even though elemental magic is not a unique concept, Elsbai manages to give a refreshing spin on it by interweaving it with the themes of female rage and embracing one’s inner power. Plus, all the displays of power are just undeniably cool and awe-inspiring, which makes the moments of action so pulse-pounding.
Much as I enjoyed Nahel and Giorgina though, I actually think it was Malak who truly stole the show for me. This leader of the rebellion group Daughters of Izdihar immediately got me weak in the knees, and I can’t blame Nahel for being drawn in by her irresistible allure and charm. Honestly, this woman deserves an entire spin-off series, thank you very much!
Every aspect of this story is just beautifully in tune with each other and masterfully woven together, which makes for such a smooth and immersive reading experience. Moreover, Elsbai is not afraid to go down some darker paths, and I appreciated that actions are shown to have dire consequences for everyone. While some of the more emotional moments did unfortunately fall a bit flat for me personally, I nonetheless really liked that there was believable loss and sacrifice in this story given how dangerously high the stakes are.
The Daughters of Izdihar is an incredibly strong start to the Alamaxa Duology, and its enticing ending makes me want to jump into book 2 immediately. If you like your fantasy to be diverse, immersive, empowering, and intimately character-driven, then you have to check out this absolute gem of a story!
Second read 2024: 4 stars
In The Daughters of Izdihar, Hadeer Elsbai weaves a breathtaking and empowering fantasy tale full of richly lush Egyptian-inspired world building, powerful elemental magic, slow-burn queer love, and all the female rage.
From the very first page, this story is just deliciously messy, and I mean that in the most loving way possible. Both Nehal and Giorgina are beautifully complex and realistically flawed young women, and I absolutely loved exploring this dark yet alluring world through their eyes. Their strong personalities and intense emotions practically bleed off the page, which is exactly what makes this story so incredibly engrossing.
The beginning of this story can feel quite slow, but I personally loved that we got to spend so much time getting to know these characters by diving deep into their personal backstories and exploring their own dreams and motivations. Even though Nehal and Giorgina should be polar opposites, they have way more in common than they first might believe, and I loved the slow progression from reluctant toleration to tentative friendship. Especially with their complicated connection through and to Nico (who is just the most precious bean ever), I was truly eating up all the strong heightened emotions and messy situations.
Through both of their eyes, we get a very nuanced view of this world, and I loved learning about the magic system with them. Even though elemental magic is not a unique concept, Elsbai manages to give a refreshing spin on it by interweaving it with the themes of female rage and embracing one’s inner power. Plus, all the displays of power are just undeniably cool and awe-inspiring, which makes the moments of action so pulse-pounding.
Much as I enjoyed Nahel and Giorgina though, I actually think it was Malak who truly stole the show for me. This leader of the rebellion group Daughters of Izdihar immediately got me weak in the knees, and I can’t blame Nahel for being drawn in by her irresistible allure and charm. Honestly, this woman deserves an entire spin-off series, thank you very much!
Every aspect of this story is just beautifully in tune with each other and masterfully woven together, which makes for such a smooth and immersive reading experience. Moreover, Elsbai is not afraid to go down some darker paths, and I appreciated that actions are shown to have dire consequences for everyone. While some of the more emotional moments did unfortunately fall a bit flat for me personally, I nonetheless really liked that there was believable loss and sacrifice in this story given how dangerously high the stakes are.
The Daughters of Izdihar is an incredibly strong start to the Alamaxa Duology, and its enticing ending makes me want to jump into book 2 immediately. If you like your fantasy to be diverse, immersive, empowering, and intimately character-driven, then you have to check out this absolute gem of a story!
March 31, 2023
Some good and bad. The bad....mostly boring, too many politics, made me angry in all too many familiar ways. The men are mostly pigs, the women are oppressed. I hated how naive and selfish Elsbai made many of the women characters.
The good....It was at times engaging, the premise is good, the characters had glimpses of brilliance, the setting is non Western world which I liked. Elsbai did a good job of capturing a culture that oppresses women in many ways, very similar to our own.
I get that progress is made by people pushing hard against barriers and breaking things to remake them better but I got tired of the charging in like a bull and finding out that there actually were consequences.
Not going to read the next one.
The good....It was at times engaging, the premise is good, the characters had glimpses of brilliance, the setting is non Western world which I liked. Elsbai did a good job of capturing a culture that oppresses women in many ways, very similar to our own.
I get that progress is made by people pushing hard against barriers and breaking things to remake them better but I got tired of the charging in like a bull and finding out that there actually were consequences.
Not going to read the next one.
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