Review: Mirage (Mirage #1)

Mirage (Mirage #1)
by Somaiya Daud

Published By: Hodder and Stoughton
Publication Date: August 28, 2018
Date Read: September 27, 2020
Genre: YA – Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 320

From Goodreads:
In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation, and of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventures, and travel beyond her isolated moon.

But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double to appear in public, ready to die in her place.

As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear and if Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection… because one wrong move could lead to her death.

“The ties they forged have broken and Fate has led out feet to freedom.”

Mirage is one of those books that I’ve been waiting to read for a while. I picked it up at YALC in 2019 and it has sat on my shelf for a good year since then. During lockdown I decided to finally pick it up and I am glad that I did. Mirage is an intriguing and exciting story. Is it the best book I’ve ever read? No… but it was enjoyable.

Mirage tells the story of Amani. A young girl who is the spitting image of an intergalactic Princess, Maram. She is taken from her home to be Maram’s double. Amani goes into dangerous situations so as not to endanger Maram’s life. Honestly, Mirage was a little bit slow to start and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about it but I was really intrigued about Amani as a character and what was going to happen to her. After the first 100 or so pages the pacing really started to pick up and I enjoyed the storyline a lot more. I was really intrigued about the relationship between Amani and Maram. They kind of start as enemies but slowly start developing an unlikely and precarious friendship. I really enjoyed the journey with both of these characters and I can’t wait to see where it goes in the next book.

One of my small complaints about Mirage is that it has a strange mix of genres and I’m still unsure which genre to consider this book as. At the story’s heart it’s a sci-fi. It’s got different planets and species etc. However, it really reads like a fantasy. Most of the time I forgot I was reading a sci-fi story and then there would be a few mentions of other planets mentioned that just made me think oh yeah it’s a sci-fi. It was kind of strange for me.

Mirage was an interesting and fascinating tale. It’s got dopplegangers, intrigue, danger and romance. I ended up enjoying it and although it took me a while to get into, I can’t wait to read book 2 and find out what is going to happen next. If you’re a fantasy / sci-fi fan then I highly recommend picking this one up.

“Being with you is like being home. I haven’t felt this way since… since before.”

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