Review: Mirage by Somaiya Daud

Title: Mirage

Author: Somaiya Daud

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Date: 28th August 2018

I was given a chance to review this book on NetGalley, but the first time I tried reading it I was in a reading slump. However, I knew I wanted to read this book as the premise sounded interesting and I left it to a later date. Overall, I enjoyed reading Mirage, but it wasn’t my favourite book and I think that is because I had been reading so many amazing 5-star reads, it was hard to keep up with them. I love that this is inspired by Middle-Eastern culture, which definitely came across in the writing and I love the sci-fi edge that this book had.

Amani’s home is ruled by the Vathek, a brutal empire who invaded the star system and sent her family into poverty. She dreams of being able to escape her life and go on an adventure, but one day she is kidnapped by the Vathek and brought to the home of the half-Vathek Princess Maram. It is there that she discovers the two of them look identical and how they plan to use Amani as a body double in dangerous situations. Amani has to become the princess if she wants to keep her family safe, which means she is thrust into a world full of politics and beautiful palaces, with Maram’s fiance, Idris, by her side.

I will start off by saying that I found the worldbuilding to be quite interesting at times, such as how it is set on a completely different planet, but it was also a little confusing. There was quite a bit of info-dumping at the beginning, which I don’t mind too much but it slowed the book down a lot. Some things were mentioned and never really explained properly, so I just had to have a guess at what they were. I think it was too much at times and it didn’t need to be as the idea itself is interesting enough to capture my attention, as well as the characters.

This is definitely a character-driven book, which is something I enjoyed as I loved reading about Amani. I felt her pain as she was taken away from her family and thrust into this unknown world. The first meeting between Amani and Maram doesn’t go well, as can be expected with a cruel princess who doesn’t care about anyone but herself, but along the way we see something growing between the two. We begin to realise why Maram acts the way she does and I might even say that it made her likeable towards the end of the book.

Something else that I enjoyed was the romance. It isn’t epic like some of the other books I have read, but it was pleasant enough and has made me excited to read more about the characters. While Idris might be engaged to Maram, you can see that he really cares about Amani and they both share their own stories of how the Vathek had ruined their lives.

While there are sci-fi elements in this book, it reads like a fantasy book, which is one of the reasons why I liked it. If you’re looking for an action-packed book, this isn’t the one for you. It is a lot slower, focusing on the history of the world and the relationships between the characters instead. I really enjoyed the unique setting and would be interested in reading the sequel to see what happens. Overall, I’m going to give Mirage a solid 3 stars.