Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai

Source: NetGalley – Thank you to the publisher!
TL;DR: Another YA book marketed at adult readers. Definitely not my favorite read, if you want something with this setting and inspiration there are better books out there.

Plot: Two girls, who naturally end up in a messy love triangle, and the fight for women’s rights with the added element of magic
Characters: One sad girl and one angry girl, that’s kind of the extent of it
Setting: I did enjoy a lot of the setting, but it felt as if we lost a lot of that description and beauty towards the second half?
Magic: Very basic. Elemental weaving, think Avatar the Last Airbender and you have it

Thoughts:

I have had a string of disappointments this month. I’m telling you what. The Daughters of Izdihar was pitched as an adult fantasy set in a world inspired by Egyptian history about women fighting for the rights of magic. All with a touch of a queer relationship. That sounded great to me. Unfortunately on my initial pickup several months ago I put it down ‘Maybe this just isn’t the time for this one’. On finally returning I don’t know that it was meant for me at all.

This focuses in on two girls on opposite ends of the class structure. One is our classic ‘fiery girl’, Nehal. She talks back, she has attitude, and she tries to take charge. She ends up in an arranged marriage and uses it to her advantage to enroll in the magical school that will teach her to control her Weaving. The other girl, Giorgina, is of a lower class and was deeply in love with the man that ends up married to Nehal. She is quiet, meek, and frankly depressing to read about. They make up a messy love triangle? Shape? That seems to connect the plot together.

The plot itself is that The Daughters of Izdihar, a women’s protest group, is attempting to gain voting rights for women. Nehal joins mid way through the book and Giorgina has been a member from the beginning. And let me tell you, the theme of ‘men are bad’ is pretty much it. There is magic, yes. There are hints and starts of romances, yes. But Men Are Bad – that’s what we should take away. The girls get leered at, touched, attacked, treated poorly, talked down too, etc. I can’t recall one male character who had any consistently ‘good attributes’. Even Nico, our poor fella caught in marriage with Nehal, starts promising and ends badly.

This is such a strong theme that it completely overwhelms any of the magic or world building. There were snips of beautiful settings and cultural references but it gets washed away by the rage inducing ‘Men are bad’ messaging. There were a lot of things that had me confused as well, character descriptions and motivations. The writing was very Young Adult in tone and pacing and overall I was incredibly disappointed.

I’ve got to say this is a big miss for me. I won’t be continuing the series, and I’m genuinely very tired of seeing this kind of book pitched as adult fantasy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with selling this as Young Adult, and in fact I think a lot of lovers of that bracket would love this. But for someone looking for a more complicated, and mature style? This is not it.

2.5 out of 5. (I can’t even remember a fun reference to this, yikes)