Review by Booklist Review
The second book in Elsbai's Alamaxa duology (after The Daughters of Izdihar, 2023) starts right where the first book ends and does not let up. The Daughters of Izdihar, women who fight for their freedom, are scattered after a fierce battle. Nehal, the headstrong rich woman who can weave water, is kidnapped by an antagonistic king and queen and given a drug that replaces her power with pain. Giorgina, poor and in love with Nehal's husband, is a fugitive, hiding inside a brothel and disguising her ability to weave all of the elements. At first, they only fought for representation in their own company, but now the women must come together to fight a threat from the outside: the nation of Zirana. As the war escalates, Nehal and Giorgina are caught in the middle. The stakes are much higher in this book as Elsbai deftly combines battle scenes and political machinations, leading to a compelling conclusion. A must-read for fans of fantasy authors like S. A. Chakraborty, Renée Ahdieh, and L. Penelope.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
This second book of the "Alamaxa Duology" picks up where The Daughters of Izdihar left off. The women fighting for both their civil rights and their rights to magical training in their home city of Alamaxa are in hiding, as their revolution is adjudicated legally and politically. In the first book, upper-crust Nehal and working-class Giorgina were separated by wealth and status. This time around, Nehal has been kidnapped by an enemy who believes that any magical powers are abominations and is determined to use her as an example of their solution. Nehal and her friends have somewhat different--and even more explosive--plans. This feminist fantasy, inspired by modern Egyptian history, turns into a wilder adventure as Nehal fights her way back across the desert while those remaining in Alamaxa do the hard business of political infighting to achieve their aims--all while an implacable enemy moves against them both from the shadows. VERDICT Readers looking for fantasy inspired by the wide world of voices out there will find this story's incorporation of Egyptian history fascinating, while those who love feminist fantasy such as Jenna Glass's "Women's War" series will dig right into this fight.--Marlene Harris
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Magic, political upheaval, and outside invaders collide in the second installment of the duology begun in The Daughters of Izdihar (2023). For Giorgina Shukry, Nehal Darweesh, and Malak Mamdouh, things have gone from bad to worse. While at first it seemed the Daughters of Izdihar were making headway in their fight for women's equality, including being in training to use the magical practice of elemental weaving, Giorgina and Malak are now fugitives and Nehal is trapped in a neighboring kingdom--a kingdom whose troops, along with frightening new technology, are fast approaching the women's home of Alamaxa. With war on the horizon, the three fight both to save those they love and to build a new world, while contending with new, occasionally dubious, allies and revelations about weaving that could mean salvation or devastation. As the world of Ramsawa, based on Egypt, expands in this second installment, Elsbai has more room to explore prescient topics of social and political change and their fallout. The new characters add more complications to an already gripping setting without overwhelming the narrative. But, at its core, this is an exploration of the platonic and romantic relationships among women and their own personal journeys as they realize their ambitions and come to terms with all aspects of themselves. The fully formed grounded setting, exhilarating magic, and all-too-real political machinations make a satisfying backdrop for further exploration of Nehal and Giorgina's journeys. A strong conclusion that never fumbles with the themes or ideas it seeks to tackle. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
