Audiobook Review: The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri, narrated by Shiromi Arserio

Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne begins the powerful Burning Kingdoms trilogy, in which two women–a long-imprisoned princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic–come together to rewrite the fate of an empire.

Exiled by her despotic brother when he claimed their father’s kingdom, Malini spends her days trapped in the Hirana: an ancient, cliffside temple that was once the source of the magical deathless waters, but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

A servant in the regent’s household, Priya makes the treacherous climb to the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to play the role of a drudge so long as it keeps anyone from discovering her ties to the temple and the dark secret of her past.

But when Malini bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to steal a throne. The other is a powerful priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.

My review

I have this as a physical book as well as an audiobook. I really needed to read it but I didn’t have time so I got the audiobook and listened to it while I was out on my walks to the pool and shop and back.

Priya is deeply confused and conflicted by her abilities with the terrifying and powerful magic she has developed as a Temple Child of the Hirana. Her family was murdered and those who are left are messed up, and she believes she is monstrous. After a childhood of poverty, once she and her brother escaped the massacre on the Hirana, Priya gets a job as a maid for her highn

born Temple sister, Bhumika, now the wife of the Regent, and living at the Mahal at the centre of Ahirani. Priya has done her best with her life, grieves her brother, who she believes is dead, and tries to help people cursed with the ‘Rot’, a strange disease that turns humans into trees slowly and painfully.

Malini is a princess, the only daughter in the Imperial family. Her eldest brother give up the throne to become a priest of the Nameless God and her other brother is a vicious zealot of the Mothers of Flame. Malini doesn’t believe in either. It doesn’t help that her brother tried to burn her alive, for being ‘unnatural’ – an educated, political woman. Exiled to the turbulent Ahiraniprushta, to the Hirana itself, with the soot still on the walls where dozens of children and the priests were burnt alive on the previous Emperor’s orders because their power scared him. Malini is angry and wants revenge.

Priya serves Malini as her maid, but they become allies over time as she saves her from the slow poisoning the Emperor is forcing her ‘guardian’ to feed her. Said guardian is the mother of one of the young women Malini grew up with and who were burnt when she refused to burn. In the chaos of an attack on the city by Ahirani rebels, the pair escapes, desperate to get to Malini’s older brother in his monastery. It all goes a bit wild from there.

The setting is inspired by the Moghul Empire and imperialism is critiqued by this book, but it isn’t the main point of the book. It also critiques religious extremism and the role of women in politics and society, and religious extremism and nostalgia for a glorious past are important driving forces for some of the characters.

It was so good! There was conflict, anger, a complex history and religion, and women on a mission to kick arse. There is also love in many forms, which balances the horror of their person and national history and the present rebellion. The main characters develop a good understanding of themselves and each other. Priya’s lack of political nouse is balanced by Malini’s political scepticism and skills. Priya’s magical skills are balanced by Malini’s theoretical understanding and philosophical education. I really enjoyed their spiky relationship and the way it develops into a clear love and devotion that drives them in the end.

I wanted to cry when they had to part.

I hoped Malini would do what she does at the end, but I didn’t know how she would get there. I thought she’d do things one way but she didn’t. She was a lot more advanced, and Rao helped her. I knew his name would be something about Malini’s role in the rebellion against Chandra and her elder brother’s position.

I was gripped from beginning to end. I had to know what was going to happen to everyone and how they were going to get out of an incredibly sticky situation.

The descriptions of the country and the magic is gorgeous. I couldn’t picture Priya or any of the characters, but then I have aphantasia so that’s not unexpected. I love the fan art Tasha Suri is sharing on her Instagram, the work is beautiful and help me see the characters.

The narration is brilliant, great voice and pacing.

I really need to read the next book, and their needs to be a film of this, with an Indian/South-East Asian cast. It would be cool is Tasha Suri had a walk on role as a rebel, whore or maid (because those are the main jobs for women, even the Sages have to pretend to be maids).

All in all, highly recommended historical fantasy.