A Failed Queen Without a Kingdom

~This Woven Kingdom~
Book 1
By Tahereh Mafi
Amazon ~ Powell's

Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people—Tahereh Mafi’s first in an epic, romantic trilogy inspired by Persian mythology.

To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight.

The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom—and the world.


I'm obviously no stranger to Mafi's works, having made my way through her entire 11-part Shatter Me series. But upon finishing the last installment of that series last fall, I noticed a 2-chapter preview of her upcoming fantasy work, This Woven Kingdom, and decided to try it. Having also read through her fantasy books, Furthermore & Whichwood, I knew she'd dabbled in the genre before, but I was interested to see what track she'd take with fantasy, romance, and YA. Needless to say, I was immediately hooked, and was then forced to eagerly await the book's release. A secret queen of a magical people, forced to hide her identity in squalor and servitude, tormented by whispers from the devil, and unknowingly headed toward a forbidden romance—what more could I ask for?

Alizeh was a fantastic character. Intelligence balanced out with hope while still being practical, she was kind without being saccharine, strong without being cruel, and cautious without being immobilized. As a Jinn, a race of magical beings vastly outnumbered by humans, she's got a lot of tools at her disposal, from super strength to invisibility to teleportation, but between these abilities being banned due to "peace accords" and knowing her life depends on keeping a low profile, she doesn't use these powers except in the direst of circumstances, instead relying on her wit and cunning. From realizing that hiding her telltale eyes behind the servant class's uniform is the best way to keep herself hidden, to knowing the best way to subtly get her seamstress work noticed by the right people, it was gratifying to know that even as she made mistakes here and there, she definitely had a good head on her shoulders.

The second half of the story's narration team was the equally intelligent, and surprisingly romantic Kamran. A human prince who's seen his fair share of darkness, if not all-out war, and having been trained to be doubly vigilant for his and the kingdom's best interests, Kamran is quick to notice when things don't seem quite right. Thus when he sees a servant girl best a larger, armed attacker, and simply vanish, he's determined to find out everything about her, even if it means getting in close...real close.

Okay, so it's not really love at first sight, but once Kamran sees evidence of Alizeh's kindness, her resilience, her intelligence, and (of course) her beauty, he can't help but be smitten. And, while he isn't rendered as idiotic as his council and grandfather think him to be—seeing how she's prophesied to be a direct threat to the king—he does get a little sappy when the two finally have a conversation. He even makes this declaration:

“You have consumed my thoughts since the moment I met you,” he said to her. “I feel now, in your presence, entirely strange. I think I might fetch you the moon if only to spare your tears again.” [pg 332]

And while that is super mushy when you consider he's only known of her for a couple days, and only spoken to her for maybe a half an hour, there was so much chemistry between these two, in the little dialogue they shared and some genuine smiles, that I couldn't help but support their flirtation 100%. Neither of them acts stupidly in their attraction, each knowing any feelings they have would never work practically, and yet both wishing for an opportunity to extend their time together. It was sweet and practical and charming and I just couldn't get enough!

I also couldn't get enough of the magic and world-building. Between the Jinn having numerous innate abilities, but having them forbidden by the human rulers in a shortsighted attempt at peace between the races, and having magic be a mined but rare resource, the fantastical possibilities were intriguing to say the least. Though, honestly there isn't much magic in the story until the end. Because Jinn in general, and Alizeh in particular, try to keep a low profile, there wasn't much chance to see their magic in action. And because much of the story is set among the lower-classes there's also not much opportunity to see rare and expensive magical enchantments or artifacts. I might have liked to have seen more in Kamran's chapters, in the palace and whatnot, but it's a small ask in the scheme of things.

Actually, one thing that perhaps should have been incorporated more was the prophecy we hear at the beginning of the book. Right off the bat, Alizeh hears the devil's whispers in her ear, prophesying about a man with snakes on his shoulders who apparently harvests children, but then we barely hear of him again. Sure, there's one child character who openly fears disappearing, but that's it. He brings it up all of once, refuses to give specifics, and then never speaks of it again. And no one else ever mentions children disappearing or having been found in gruesome states. And then the whole matter is resolved at the end with hardly any response or fallout?

In fact, the ending as a whole felt completely break-neck fast in comparison to the slow, methodical speed of the rest of the book. I think the story in total only lasts maybe 3 days, and that's over the course of 500 pages. Granted, there's a good bit of backstory to set up, both for our characters and the world as a whole, but when it all comes down to it, there's very little time passing over the course of the story. I personally didn't have a problem with it, being entranced with the characters, their relationships, and the political intrigue that surrounded them, but I can see some who might find the pacing too slow for their liking.

And then to have that finale end, not in a cliffhanger, but a free-fall?! Yeah, nevermind the will-they/won't-they hang on, this is literal plummeting to their death—The End! Add in the utter whirlwind that is the last couple chapters, with questions being answered with even more questions, and fire and death and so much angst and—why did I let myself start yet another unfinished series?!

Overall, this book utterly enchanted me. From its intelligent and passionate main characters, its magical yet logical world, and its promise of even more political intrigue and supernatural twists, this story is absolutely full of things to love and become obsessed by. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in non-European-based fantasy, strong (and memorable) female characters, or a flirty forbidden romance. I'm very curious to know more, both about the characters and story to come, and about its inspiration, as the summary posits, from Persian mythology, and I know I'm not alone. But until the next book decides to magically appear, I'll have to find another series to tide me over.

Performed by Kate Reading
Unabridged Length: 13.4 Hours
Listened at 2x Speed

I don't really have much to say about this audio production.

I thought Ms. Reading had a great voice, not only for Alizeh's narration but Kamran's as well. It was easy to tell the difference between the two's chapters just by voice alone as she tended to be a bit lighter and slightly higher pitched for Alizeh, while using a deeper and more crisp tone for Kamran. I was also able to distinguish fairly easily whether the character was talking or simply thinking, something which I've come to appreciate more after finding it lacking in other productions. Some secondary characters, such as Hazan and Deen, were a little harder to parse out, but others, such as King Zaal and Miss Huda were more recognizable, and others still had distinct accents that set them apart immediately.

Overall, I enjoyed this production. It may not have had any extra bells and whistles, such as music or sound effects or multiple narrators, but it took what it had and delivered it well. As is often the case with fantasy stories, I greatly appreciated the audio for the foreign language sections (when characters spoke Feshtoon) as well as the pronunciations of names (I had assumed Alizeh [ah-lee-zeh] was similar to Elisa [ee-lie-sah]). And maybe I'm biased toward British accents, but I don't think I could imagine another way to have this story told. A solid production for audio newcomers and veterans alike, and one I'll definitely be returning to when future installments come out.