Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios

Exquisite Captive (Dark Caravan Cycle, #1)

by Heather Demetrios

For fans of Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy comes the first book in the Dark Caravan Cycle, a modern fantasy-adventure trilogy about a gorgeous, fierce eighteen-year-old jinni who is pitted against two magnetic adversaries, both of whom want her—and need her—to make their wishes come true.

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Now in hiding on the dark caravan—the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command—she’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle. Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to release Nalia from her master so she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle . . . and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him.

Reviewed by Joséphine on

2 of 5 stars

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Actual rating: 1.5 stars

Initial thoughts: Someone option the Dark Caravan Cycle for film, please! I want to know what happens next without reading the sequels. The prose was exceedingly trite. Nearly every single page referred to chiaan which apparently meant magic, though seemed to coincide with soul as well. I got tired of Nalia's inner chanting, "I am Ghan Aisouri." The romance was so poorly developed, it distracted from what could have been a stellar plot. Exquisite Captive minus the romance and the tiring prose would've made for a far less boring book.

What I did like were the djinn's centrality to the book while humans went on with their lives on the sidelines. I also liked the sinister undertones that the ghoul brought to various places across the world and the rich imagery of culture. On screen, I think these would make for lovely scenes. The special effects, if done well, would make Exquisite Captive a great viewing experience. Even little things like a djinn bartender mixing cocktails by swirling he liquids in the air instead of using a shaker would add to this other-worldly quality.

Alas, the core of books are words first, then the stories they convey. I don't have it in me to painfully plough through the rest of the series.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 21 May, 2016: Finished reading
  • 21 May, 2016: Reviewed