Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! It’s that easy, and I like easy 🙂
Basically I pulled up my “Want to Read” list on Goodreads, sorted it by number, and asked Siri to pick a random number from the approx 800 on the list. She chose 597, and that gave us…
The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad
Azad’s debut YA fantasy is set in a city along the Silk Road that is a refuge for those of all faiths, where a young woman is threatened by the war between two clans of powerful djinn.
Fatima lives in the city of Noor, a thriving stop along the Silk Road. There the music of myriad languages fills the air, and people of all faiths weave their lives together. However, the city bears scars of its recent past, when the chaotic tribe of Shayateen djinn slaughtered its entire population — except for Fatima and two other humans. Now ruled by a new maharajah, Noor is protected from the Shayateen by the Ifrit, djinn of order and reason, and by their commander, Zulfikar.
But when one of the most potent of the Ifrit dies, Fatima is changed in ways she cannot fathom, ways that scare even those who love her. Oud in hand, Fatima is drawn into the intrigues of the maharajah and his sister, the affairs of Zulfikar and the djinn, and the dangers of a magical battlefield.
Nafiza Azad weaves an immersive tale of magic and the importance of names; fiercely independent women; and, perhaps most importantly, the work for harmony within a city of a thousand cultures and cadences.
This book has been on my radar since they first did a cover reveal, and I’m not sure why I haven’t actually purchased and read it yet (other than the obvious reason of “too many books, not enough time”). It sounds like something I would LOVE, especially since I adore Arabic/Middle-Eastern inspired stories. I will definitely be moving this high up my “to buy” list, which puts it one step closer to my actual physical TBR!
Megabunny Reads 