Review: "The Daughters of Izdihar" by Hadeer Elsbai

Quick Summary

Type: Novel, Book 1 in duology "The Alamaxa Duology"

Genre: Fiction, fantasy, LGBTQIA+

Blurb: "From debut author Hadeer Elsbai comes the first book in an incredibly powerful new duology, set wholly in a new world, but inspired by modern Egyptian history, about two young women - Nehal, a spoiled aristocrat used to getting what she wants and Giorgina, a poor bookshop worker used to having nothing - who find they have far more in common, particularly in their struggle for the rights of women and their ability to fight for it with forbidden elemental magic." Read Time: 7 days

Rating: 2.5 stars

Review

I really, really wanted to love this. I was excited for a story about fighting oppression mixed in with a little magic. And while those elements were present, I don't really feel like that's what I got.

First, the good. There were a lot of good things in this story. The author is very good at provoking rage in the reader on behalf of the women in the story. My heart ached at the oppression these women suffer.

The death of Labiba was also done with care. Giorgina's friendship with Labiba was well demonstrated and explored, leading to a powerful moment when Labiba was murdered by an antagonistic policeman. In fact, the entire march to the Parliament was well done.

Now the bad.

First, Nehal. Nehal was an annoying character. Not because she was spoiled and petulant - I expected that. What annoyed me is that things were routinely explained to her and she refused to listen because she knew better. She is in the upper echelons of society and has the privilege that comes with it. But somehow, she doesn't understand how the world works. She refuses to understand that sometimes, diplomacy works better to change things than anger and hostility. She was so quick to violent action against every injustice, which frustrated me. Sometimes, the way to get public opinion on your side is to not defend yourself. As hard as it is to swallow, sometimes civil disobedience is incredibly powerful - it forces people with privilege to confront the injustice.

I also did not appreciate that Nehal would routinely alienate her most powerful ally. Yes, her husband is nonconfrontational and annoying in his own way, but routinely calling him a coward, not letting him speak his opinions for himself - I know that would make me less likely to support a person, even if I agreed with them.

Finally, her storyline. Nehal desperately wants to go to the Alamaxa Academy for weavers. Great. That's a good goal. She enjoys her time there, makes a few connections. Also great. She very quickly becomes the best waterweaver by a lot (like, a lot). A little Mary Sue, but okay - she has plenty of other flaws (intentional or not) that prevent her from being a true Mary Sue despite her amazing control of her abilities in such a short time frame.

But what does the Academy add? She gets expelled after (what feels like) a short amount of time. Many of the people she meets at the Academy are footnotes, who we barely hear about after her expulsion. Wouldn't the result have been the same if she had stayed at home with a weaving tutor? She could still have joined the Daughters of Izdihar - her curiosity about her husband's lover would have driven her to it whether or not she had been at the Academy.

And her relationship with Malak - it's meant to be a romance, and it was clear it was building up to that. But did their relationship develop quickly or slowly? It probably grew in a longer timeframe than it felt like, but in the story, the relationship feels a little rushed. I feel like I'm told that Malak and Nehal spend all their weekends together, and then suddenly Nehal is showing up at Malak's house to hook up with her. It felt rushed. Personally, I'm a fan of the slow burn.

Now Giorgina. Her story started off far slower. Initially, I was more interested in Nehal's storyline - after all, she was the one embracing her weaving abilities. Not to mention, Giorgina's indecisiveness - despite my understanding of her situation - was also a little frustrating. I think my main problem is that she was so insistent on moving on from Nico to protect her family, only to refuse to move on from Nico when the opportunity presents itself. Again, I understand that her would-be husband was conservative and wouldn't have let her do anything. But why were those her only two choices? Why couldn't she just run away, disappear like Etedal and Labiba had done? It's basically what she did in the end.

When Giorgina declared she wasn't a virgin should have been a turning point for her. At that point, she should have gone from someone who let things happen to her to someone who did things. But no, she still let Nehal drag her everywhere for a good portion of time. Even when she caused the earthquake at the courthouse, it felt more like the earthquake was happening to her, not because of her.

That being said, the courthouse was her turning point. From then on, she became a much more interesting character. She took charge of what was left of the Daughters, organized what I felt were more effective protests, gave speeches hoping to effect change, and led an escape from the jail. She said she was free many times, but I only believed it based on her actions following the courthouse.

Now onto things unrelated from the two main characters.

First, I was frustrated by how many characters were introduced only to not show up again or show up only once later in inconsequential ways.

Second, I was not a fan of the cliffhanger. I believe that the first novel in a series - especially a debut novel - should be able to stand alone and have some kind of resolution. I didn't get that in this book. The best I can come up with is the jailbreak, but even that has left me with quite a few unanswered questions. Add to that the invasion marking the beginning of a war and Nehal's disappearance, and I just don't feel satisfied.

Lastly, I just didn't think there was much of a plot. The entire novel seemed to be a way to show how unjust the world was to women, but beyond that, I couldn't really tell you what the plot was. Getting women's rights into the new constitution? But that was only mentioned a few times and overshadowed by other things. Overall, the plot - whatever it really was - was circuitous and frankly, exhausting.

I realize that this is more of a character-driven story. I understand that. But with Nehal not showing much evolution (she says she has evolved, but I don't buy it - she's as rash and selfish at the end as she was at the start) and Giorgina having a very rushed evolution right at the end led to a disappointing character-driven story. Add that to an obscured plot, and I have trouble enjoying the book.

Edit: after thinking about it, and reading a whole bunch of books that were way worse than this, I've decided to upgrade it's rating. It wasn't actually bad enough to deserve 2 stars. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it or think it was extremely stupid, which is more than I can say for some other books I've read this year.