I will go ahead and prepare you for the fact that this won’t be one of my typical book reviews. And why is that, you ask? Because The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1) by S.A. Chakraborty is literally PERFECTION…. Seriously.

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles.

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass?a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for . . .

I’m not lying when I say this either but I loved every single thing about this book. The characters are so amazing and unique, the world building is one of the best that I’ve ever read, and the plot is so intricate and exciting from start to finish. I wish I had some negatives or critiques to give you, just to make things more exciting for this review, but I don’t. I have not been able to stop thinking about this book since I finished it. I’m being completely honest when I say that this book is now in my top all-time favorites. IT’S THAT GOOD.

Bottom line for this book is that you need to read it.. No, you MUST read it. There is a lack of diversity within the fantasy genre (or most genres, really) and now we finally have one that exceeds any and all expectations. This story will excite you like nothing else and I promise that you’ll finish it already begging for more. I seriously have a hole in my heart right now that can only be filled by more of Nahri, Dara, and Ali. The wait until the sequel’s release this fall just might kill me.

Join me in obsessing over this story and the characters!

Final Verdict: 5/5 stars (DUH!)

Have you read The City of Brass? If so, what did you think of it? Do you think it was worth all of the hype?