Tahereh Mafi strikes again with this beautiful masterpiece! I said it before and I will say it again, no one can paint with words like Tahereh does. Every scene comes to life like with a touch of magic pencil, not only I can see what characters are wearing but also the colour and texture of the fabric and how does it feel against your skin. Her created world is rich and lush with gentle dragons and dark prophecies. And also let's not forget about the romance! If something bad will happen to Cyrus in the next book, heads will fall!!!

I took a little time to get in to the first book in this series; there was a lot of world building and some very poetic but advanced vocabulary. By the end of the first I was however desperate for this sequel and These Infinite Threads did not disappoint. My only negative is that I read this so soon after release that I now have a huge wait on my hands for the next in the series. This Waterstones edition was beautiful and I love that they are now doing sprayed edges on most of their new hardback releases for the same price as a standard copy.

These Infinite Threads is a great sequel, setting up book 3 which releases in January quite nicely! Tahereh's writing continues to be lyrically beautiful as we see more of Alizeh's world come to life. I do enjoy Alizeh and Cyrus' relationship and the back-and-forth they have going on! I have to admit though, Hazan is the real shining star of this sequel! His character arc is perfect and I can't wait to see what he gets up to later in the series. I am also very excited to see what trouble Kamran's dysfunctional crew get into as well. Putting Kamran, Hazan, Deen, Omar and Miss Huda together is a genius concoction and their scenes together were some of my favourites part of the book. I am also looking forward to how Alizeh's character develops in book 3, as she seemed far more interested in picking fights with Cyrus than the future of her people in this one! Thank you to the publisher for sending me a finished copy. All views and opinions are my own.

Mafi is such a talented writer. The second installment to this series was so magical and beautifully written! I can't wait for the next book! I just wish a bit more was revealed in this one as there are still so many missing puzzle pieces!

These Infinite Threads is a lush triumph of a sequel. This series is Mafi’s finest, with rich characters, a detailed magical world and swoon worthy romance that will make you kick your legs and squeal out loud. This novel continues the two POVs set up in This Woven Kingdom: of Kamran, the new King of the Ardunia empire that occupies a third of the world, and Alizeh, former servant in hiding and prophesied saviour of the Jinn. We also get much more of Cyrus in this novel, the mysterious and violent King of Tulan. The highlight of this book for me is Mafi’s character work. Every character is so real, so believable and well crafted. Alizeh is a truly kind, clever and remarkable young woman. She is such a likable and believable heroine: I find everything she does charming and adorable, yet she is also so competent. I root for her constantly. She is one of my favourite protagonists in young adult fantasy (and I have read a lot of young adult fantasy.) The way Mafi writes emotions and feelings is so visceral and charged, and Alizeh’s internal narrative is fantastic. How Alizeh handles the weight of both her destiny and her grief is so interesting and refreshing, and her conflict concerning her feelings for the two Kings is truly delicious to read. Kamran’s character and his reaction to the events that took place at the end of This Woven Kingdom utterly fascinated me. “The Melancholy King” lives up to his nickname, as he rages and broods and comes to terms with his new circumstances. I have such a soft spot for him, and I loved all of his chapters. Cyrus however, is a strange one. He is undoubtedly great, he is an interesting character and I am desperate to learn more about him. He says some very decadent lines in this novel that no doubt will tickle a lot of readers’ interest. His dialogue made me smile a lot and I really think the fantasy romance community is going to adore Cyrus. I did enjoy his interactions with Alizeh (bread ♡), and I am happy with the idea of them being endgame, but something was missing for me. I think that it is because we are literally missing a lot of information. I am sure with the revelations of the third novel I may come around to Cyrus more. The side characters are all brilliant. Hazan is so cool, I could easily read an entire series about him and his life (Tahereh Mafi, pleaaaaase?) The dialogue between all characters is very witty and sharp, which makes it very amusing to read. It’s so quick yet easy to follow when multiple people are talking. Some other pros of this novel is that the book does a good job of subtly recapping previous events, and is written well for readers who read the first book a while ago (me for example, I read a proof of This Woven Kingdom an entire year ago) so I really appreciated the effort Mafi put into that. Also, the world feels so much bigger in this novel. I loved Tulan, I loved the dragon, I loved how magic was used in this book. I found that the balance between POVs was good, I did not prefer one over the other, though I believe I will be in the minority here. I am a Kamran stan though, and I enjoy court politics and intrigue. And of course, Mafi’s writing style is exquisite. It’s such a beautiful experience to read her words. It's not a five star because I feel like the connection that Kamran and Alizeh had in book one was neglected, as well as her relationship to Hazan and other minor characters like Omid, Miss Huda and Deen the apothecarist. The book focuses predominantly on her relationship with Cyrus. Which I am sure sounds very exciting to some readers. Cyrus is great, he is mysterious, nuanced, witty and intimidating, and his chemistry with Alizeh is stellar. But I find we cannot connect with him how we are supposed to because we know so little concerning his situation. I also found the ending unsatisfying and abrupt, and it wasn’t as good of a conclusion or cliff hanger as the first book. Overall, though the first book was better in my opinion, this is still a great sequel and I read it very quickly across a couple of evenings. I enjoyed it and I would highly recommend this series. I am so excited for book three! How am I going to wait another year!? Thank you to El at Harpercollins for sending me a free copy to review. I really appreciate it!