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A review by micaelamariem
The Spice Gate by Prashanth Srivatsa
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I’m so thankful to the author and HarperCollins for granting me this arc to review. All thoughts are my own.
This was an epic fantasy with the very creative idea of having kingdoms be separated by “spice gates” and only those with the mark can travel through these gates and trade spices between kingdoms. Those with the mark however are also treated as lowly, like the main character, Amir, who is fighting to change this and stumbles on a much bigger political conspiracy in the process.
I thought the concept of the plot was awesome and creative. There was a lot to it when the different kingdom leaders got involved, but at the heart, it was truly about the way people misrepresent religion to look down on others and how that is a system that needs to change.
I also really liked the writing style. The descriptions were beautifully done and at first, the book was comforting to read.
However, I lost interest about a third of the way through the 450 pages. Some of the worldbuilding was a bit too complex to follow, the characters’ relationships seemed unbelievable, and even though this was a story based around spice, there may have been too much of it.
While I thought this book was super promising, I think there were scenes and lines that could have been cut that would’ve made the story a more compelling read.
This was an epic fantasy with the very creative idea of having kingdoms be separated by “spice gates” and only those with the mark can travel through these gates and trade spices between kingdoms. Those with the mark however are also treated as lowly, like the main character, Amir, who is fighting to change this and stumbles on a much bigger political conspiracy in the process.
I thought the concept of the plot was awesome and creative. There was a lot to it when the different kingdom leaders got involved, but at the heart, it was truly about the way people misrepresent religion to look down on others and how that is a system that needs to change.
I also really liked the writing style. The descriptions were beautifully done and at first, the book was comforting to read.
However, I lost interest about a third of the way through the 450 pages. Some of the worldbuilding was a bit too complex to follow, the characters’ relationships seemed unbelievable, and even though this was a story based around spice, there may have been too much of it.
While I thought this book was super promising, I think there were scenes and lines that could have been cut that would’ve made the story a more compelling read.