Reader Rayna

Title: All This Twisted Glory
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: This Woven Kingdom #3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publish Date: February 7, 2023
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance/Romantasy
Pages: 397
Format: Paperback

The highly anticipated third novel in the This Woven Kingdom series, full of explosive magic, searing romance, and heartbreaking betrayal, from the award-winning and bestselling author of the Shatter Me series. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sabaa Tahir, and Tomi Adeyemi.

As the long-lost heir to the Jinn throne, Alizeh has finally found her people—and she might’ve found her crown. Cyrus, the mercurial ruler of Tulan, has offered her his kingdom in a twisted exchange: one that would begin with their marriage and end with his murder.

Cyrus’s dark reputation precedes him; all the world knows of his blood-soaked past. Killing him should be easy—and accepting his offer might be the only way to fulfill her destiny and save her people. But the more Alizeh learns of him, the more she questions whether the terrible stories about him are true.

Ensnared by secrets, Cyrus has ached for Alizeh since she first appeared in his dreams many months ago. Now that he knows those visions were planted by the devil, he can hardly bear to look at her—much less endure her company. But despite their best efforts to despise each other, Alizeh and Cyrus are drawn together over and over with an all-consuming thirst that threatens to destroy them both.

Meanwhile, Prince Kamran has arrived in Tulan, ready to exact revenge. . . .

Layered with exquisite tension and heart-stopping romance, All This Twisted Glory is the explosive third book in the captivating, bestselling Woven Kingdom series.

As this is a sequel, there may be spoilers!

This series just continues to impress me. The writing is impeccable, the details of environments are incredible and gruesome or beautiful and wondrous, the tension is through the ceiling, and there are events that have been set in motion that cannot be stopped now.

Not only do we have our usual Alizeh and Kamran perspective chapters, chapters from Cyrus’s point of view were added and man oh man did I love to read them. They were beautifully tragic and I felt my heart break for this poor young man and the things that he’s had to endure and continues to endure through this series. The way some of the things were described shocked me, grossed me out, angered me, etc. The devil is cruel in many ways, and the way he shows up for Cyrus is always bleak.

I think adding his perspectives in the third book was honestly a smart move, as well, because it allows us into the mind of someone who we’ve been told we’re supposed to not trust or to hate based on past actions, but there’s always something more, isn’t there? The way secrets were revealed to us, the reader, but not the characters was both infuriating and sad, because he has to shoulder those burdens on his own. I think one of the best things that Mafi does throughout this book from every character’s perspective is being able to show how much each character learns of one another through actions, discussion, or otherwise, rather than just telling us.

As far as following perspectives goes, as well, we got a lot less Kamran chapters in this book, which I wasn’t upset about because he’s pissing me off now lol He’s being extremely arrogant and self-centered, and even when he’s called out on it and vaguely reflects on it, he still makes decisions and thinks in that way. It’s ingrained in him and I don’t foresee him growing out of it. He wants to get revenge so bad that he doesn’t care about others, and that’s what he’s being tested about: how much is he able to rely on others as a king rather than only relying on himself. But he hasn’t realized this yet.

Alizeh’s points of view were just as enlightening to me as Cyrus’s. She’s steadily growing and trying her best to make decisions in the moment, but she feels muddied and troubled, rushed really, to make a decision regarding her kingdom and future. Not only that, her moments with Cyrus are always tense, and you can feel how palpable their chemistry is on the page in excruciating detail.

One of the things I still admire about Alizeh is her compassion for others. Even when they put her or someone she cares for down, she still manages to find a way to be compassionate in the face of it all. That takes true strength to do so. She relies on others, she wants to better herself and the world, to do better for her people. I wonder how she will do that, for there’s been some hints, but not many to come.

The romantic tension was incredibly palpable in this sequel. You could stick a knife in it, for crying out loud. I think it’s one of the biggest draws of these books is the romance between Cyrus and Alizeh because for both of them it can feel so one sided, or perplexing and something to figure out, but it’s so obvious that they’re meant to be together.

OH, another thing I really appreciated was the use of rhyme when Iblees was talking to Cyrus. It felt cruel and calculating, just enough of a riddle to keep Cyrus guessing while you, the reader, might be able to figure out what he’s saying. Some of the best parts were the more gruesome ones, the more horrific ones, as they really packed a punch in the story.

Another thing that I think Mafi does well is allowing emotion to really come to the forefront of conversations and decisions and everything that’s happening with the characters. More than once I found myself angry at a character, my heart breaking for one, my own heart racing, etc. I think she did a fantastic job of being able to capture those feelings on the page – even humor, which is hard to capture in my opinion!

Overall, I highly, highly enjoyed this sequel! Like the rest, there were some typos and whatnot, but it’s fine. I loved how much more backstory we got into who Cyrus is, how we got to see more of Tulan, how we got to see how much more wretched Sarra is, how each character plays a critical part in the story overall. This series has been captivating and I’ve been highly enjoying it. This is my favorite installment thus far, though for some reason it doesn’t feel quite like a full five star for me. It just needed a little something to push it to that five (I think I know what it is, and it starts with a K and ends in an ISS).

4.75 stars