The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

**We received an early copy of this book from both NetGalley and BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review. We’d like to thank G. Willow Wilson and Grove Press for the opportunity to read and review this early. This book comes out on March 12th, 2019 and you can get it here.**

What I drank prior: I have been drinking all damn day. Wine, vodka, and a lot of it.

Spoiler-free Overview: ok so, setting: Grenada during the Spanish Inquisition. Fatima is a courtesan in the suktan’s harem and Hassan is the court map maker. Fun fact: everything Hassan draws becomes real. Anywho, Luz, an almost-nun comes in and figures shit out and is after Hassan and wants to convert Fatima. They run away and this is their story.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: guys… just. Just. Guys.

Characters: one of my favorite parts of this book is the friendship between Fatima and Hassan. Hassan is gay and Fatima is literally so beautiful everyone wants to bang her. She doesn’t know any different so she’s also sexually attracted to a bunch of dudes, funny enough Hassan likes ’em too and he gets pissed when they want her instead of him. So he’ll grumble and get mad until someone fucks (not actually fucks but) fucks with Fatima and then he’s like “bitch, whatchu say?” God it’s fantastic. There’s also the jinn, who is hysterical in a really cynical way and I love him. Vikram I think his name is. He’s great.

Plot: so the beginning was go go go, and then there’s the chase, which got old, but I still loved it. I had some issues with the end but otherwise it was great.

Writing Style: the writing style in this is fucking stunning. It’s lyrical a-la-Laini Taylor. Not as good as Laini but really really close.

World Building: we’re in a religiously diverse world during the Inquisition. That part was really really interesting. Then we have the jinn and other demons involved and trying to make “fairy tales” come true. It’s a beautiful world.

What to pair it with: this is like sherry. In Islamic countries you’re really not supposed to drink so might as well have something tasty that packs a punch even if you only have a little bit.

Rating: 4.5/5 shots

COMMENT DOWN BELOW:

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam