Reviewed by Cassandra, Teen Librarian at Mary Jacobs
During the cold, dark
winter months there is nothing like a guilty pleasure read! This young adult
novel is the first in the Dark Caravan series. The initial draw for this title
is that it reminded me of two series that I absolutely love: The Grisha
Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo and The Daughter of Smoke and Bone series
by Laini Taylor. If you loved those books you will devour Exquisite Captive.
The book follows
the story of Nalia, a jinni who can grant wishes. She is the only survivor of a
coup d’état that killed almost everyone from her caste. Now back on Earth she
is sold into slavery. She is bound by the golden shackles to the rich and
handsome Malek, her human master. She is forced to obey his every command or
else suffer the consequences. Malek is cruel yet on top of
that all, he is also very emotionally manipulative. Nalia, having been
mistreated for so long, living only on the hope of seeing her brother and
freeing him, is immediately drawn by his ‘gentle’ side and falls for his lies.
I say lies because no matter how much he claims to love her, he will never see
her as anything but a possession. It will break your heart to see her go
through all these ordeals and when Raif comes into the picture, you cheer; you
cheer like crazy and hope for Nalia to snap out of it and realize how unhealthy
her relationship with Malek is.
So, yes, this is a
kissing book but the world building and plot are both amazing and make for a
fun, fast paced read. I eagerly await book 2!
