Hunted by the Sky (The Wrath of Ambar #1) by Tanaz Bhathena: ARC Review

Hunted by the Sky
(The Wrath of Ambar #1)
by Tanaz Bhathena

Synopsis:

Gul has spent her life running. She has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, and in the kingdom of Ambar, girls with such birthmarks have been disappearing for years. Gul’s mark is what caused her parents’ murder at the hand of King Lohar’s ruthless soldiers and forced her into hiding to protect her own life. So when a group of rebel women called the Sisters of the Golden Lotus rescue her, take her in, and train her in warrior magic, Gul wants only one thing: revenge.

Cavas lives in the tenements, and he’s just about ready to sign his life over to the king’s army. His father is terminally ill, and Cavas will do anything to save him. But sparks fly when he meets a mysterious girl–Gul–in the capital’s bazaar, and as the chemistry between them undeniably grows, he becomes entangled in a mission of vengeance–and discovers a magic he never expected to find.

Dangerous circumstances have brought Gul and Cavas together at the king’s domain in Ambar Fort . . . a world with secrets deadlier than their own. Exploring identity, class struggles, and high-stakes romance, Hunted by the Sky is a gripping adventure set in a world inspired by medieval India.

Publication Date: June 23rd, 2020

My Rating:      

My Favourite Quote: *subject to change*

“I’m not as weak as you think.”
We both walk in silence for a long time after that.
“Weakness is not always a terrible thing,” I tell her finally. “It can be used as a shield to hide your true strength.”

Links: Goodreads, Amazon 

My Review

Received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Macmillan), via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! 

I started reading Hunted by the Sky as part of the IndLitReadathon organized by Shruti @This Is Lit, Charvi at @Not Just Fiction and Nandini at @Novels and Nebulas. (Drop by their blogs, they’re all darlings <3). However, I couldn’t finish it in time. I was also buddy reading it with a few of my friends who had some lovely things to say about it and gosh it’s just so amazing to read with someone. *wipes away a tear* I wish I were faster though.

I knew as soon I saw this cover with Gul standing in a saree with that look of fierce courage on her face that I needed to read Hunted by the Sky. Thank you God and all the book deities for putting me on a path that lead to this book and giving me the boon of having received an eARC of it!

This book, you guys. This book.

Yes, I have used a GIF for the first time in my blog post. I wish to congratulate HbtS for having broken me enough for me to give in finally and resort to GIFing.

The pace, the writing, the characters, the plot, everything came together beautifully. I don’t even want to say anything about the story because you need to live it. It was both utterly unique and so fantastically familiar (culture wise) and gosh my mouth was watering so much (#FoodReferenceOMG) and I was so shocked every time the reference was just so easy to get and I kept thinking … was this what I was missing all these years? This connection to everything that’s happening in the story … this familiarity and … I don’t even know. It was like home. Magic and myth included. Just me? I hope not.

I think there isn’t a point in this story that isn’t well thought through. Tanaz Bhathena has thought about everything. Every single little hint that she leaves behind for us to notice and follow, every little shocking truth that is revealed, every single emotion that she puts us through and lets us live through just enough to feel but not drown because too many things are happening for us to stick to one single moment in the book.

I’ve always been wary of multiple POVs because I have a certain expectation for it. Tanaz killed it. The difference in the voices of the protagonist was evident and I never felt I needed to check or remind myself whose eyes I was reading through. The protagonists each have their own story and so does every single person in this book and I bet Tanaz could write a story about each and every one of them because her characters have personality and that comes with a certain history that has to exist for it to reflect in the scenes.

I will admit to only one thing that’s perhaps a miiiiiiiild stagger to the story is the reason for the unpredictability of the plot. Instead of being surprising because we never saw it coming, the twists/turns are surprising because the world building was a little slow to happen which means these predictions are harder to make because we don’t have all the information required to make them. But I will agree the slow pace (world building wise) helped on the overall. I was definitely sure about all the terms of the world and the references by the end of the book so that’s a good foundation to build on.

Five stars! Highly highly highly recommend. The best news is, Hunted by the Sky (the name makes so much sense oh gosh) is out! Read read read! You won’t regret! ❤

Be safe and happy reading!