Genre: YA Fantasy
My Review - 5 Stars
“It was the shame she had to cling to, not the power. It was the shame that made her still feel human. She was a human as dangerous as a div, but unlike a div, she refused to enjoy being deadly or to revel in her monstrosity.”
I loved Bashardoust’s first novel Girls Made of Snow and Glass so I was very excited when I heard about her new book. It was inspired by the poisonous girl in a garden from Rappaccini’s Daughter and the Persian epic Shahnameh (or the Book of Kings.) Reading this solidified how I want to read more non-Western fairy tales and myths in the coming year.
Soraya was cursed to be poisonous to the touch and consequently hasn’t touched anyone in 18 years. She wears gloves at all times and remains in Golvahar, the oldest of the palaces. Her twin brother Sorush is the shah and about to be married to her former friend Laleh, bringing her family back to Golvahar. My heart really went out to Soraya. Can you imagine never touching anyone or being touched in return? She experienced so much loneliness and isolation with no hope of reprieve unless her curse can be broken. Because of this isolation, she knows very few people but we get to know those people fairly well as things unfold and they brought so much to story.
I don’t want to say much more than that because I loved experiencing all the twists and turns of this plot. Not everyone is who they seem and many of the characters have secrets. Add in Soraya’s determination to break the curse at almost any cost and you have a high stakes plot that doesn’t quit.
One of the most interesting parts to me was how much longing and yearning Soraya experienced and how she kept having to tamp down her hopes of ever having more. Then to not have that barrier in place anymore…whew. The story does a great job examining the line between hero and monster and what it means to belong. Soraya has to really grapple with who she is and what her power means. She can be dangerous if she wants but is that what she wants and what will it mean for her family if she acts on that?
She really comes into her own as the story progresses and it was such a great evolution of her character. She’s strong but imperfect and that’s all I ever want in my heroines. The odds were really against her as the Shahmar takes control. I loved watching her navigate all the political intrigue and betrayal, especially as she had to reconcile with her own actions. The Shahmar is a layered character in his own right but I’ll let you figure out why for yourself.
Soraya is bisexual and while there are a couple of possible love interests, the moment we met Parvaneh, I knew something more was there. Parvaneh is a pairk, the most human-looking of the divs, and a prisoner when we first encounter her. I loved how Soraya and Parvaneh danced around one another at first. I do wish we’d gotten to see more of them together at the end, once the dust had settled, but that’s a minor wish compared to how thoroughly I enjoyed this story. I can’t wait to see what Bashardoust does next.
CW: isolation, kidnapping, threat of murder/execution, murder, villain executed his own family in the past, religious shaming
Synopsis
A captivating and utterly original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse...
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.
As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.
Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming...human or demon. Princess or monster.
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Disclosure: I received an advanced copy from Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.
