Review: Exquisite Captive

Title: Exquisite Captive

Series: The Dark Caravan Cycle

Author: Heather Demetrios

Rating: ★★★★

This was actually a really good read. I have never read a book about jinni before so this was definitely something new for me and I loved it. The beginning can be confusing because of all the different types of jinni and the different names that we learn about. However, I thought the author did an amazing job of slowly explaining the jinni world so that it wasn't too much information too fast, because it definitely is a lot of information to take in. The story is told in third person and follows a jinni named Nalia who has been sold as a slave by the Dark Caravan. Her "master" is a man named Malek who treats her like any master would, property. Nalia however isn't any old jinni she is Ghan Aisouri, the last of her kind. The Ghan Aisouri were looked at as the superior race in Arjinni (the jinni world) because they can wield every element. the other castes of jinni can only wield one type of element. Because of the amount of power the Ghan Aisouri had they used that to their advantage and eventually there was a coup that overthrew their reign in Arjinna. All of the Ghan Aisouri were killed, except Nalia who pretended she was dead and escaped Arjinna by trusting a man who happened to be a slave trader. Now she is forced to make wishes on Malek's behalf and watch as her master climbs to power. However, a boy named Raif enters the story who is the leader of the revolution in Arjinna  but is on Earth to find Nalia. He promises to free her from Malek's control in exchange for helping him gain access to an item that will help the revolution. 


Now I'll stop there with the non-spoilers. There will only be minor spoilers from here on. Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the characters, the narration, and just the whole story. Ok I'm just going to come out and say it, I really like Malek. I'M SORRY. I just get this Aaron Warner vibe from him that made me really like him and I want to know more about him. But the thing is I should hate him, Nalia hates him and for good reason, SHE'S HIS SLAVE. Still, Malek has made A LOT of mistakes with Nalia so I don't think a relationship will be able to form between the two of them. It seems Nalia's heart is set on Raif. Which is great, cool, whatever. BUT THAT IS TOTALLY INSTA-LOVE. And after we find out that Nalia actually killed Raif's best friend, I'm not sure a strong relationship can persevere through this. I have to root for Malek, I know it makes me a horrible person. But reminds so much of Warner from Shatter Me and even a little bit of the Darkling from Shadow and Bone. 


I probably gave this book for 4 stars because of Raif and Nalia. Raif just annoyed me. He was very back and forth. The parts where it was just him I couldn't stand because it was always about the revolution, and what he feels for Nalia is wrong and blah blah blah Also by the end of the book I was ready for it to be over. I liked the parts where the we see the Haran's perspective but soon they just became too much and I was ready for him and Nalia to meet. And then there was some stuff that was left unresolved, which I hope is picked up on in the next book. Like the all the stuff with Jordif and Sergei. 


I definitely would recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy and all that. I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next book. I loved Heather Demetrios' writing and now I'm going to see if I can pick up anything else she's written. Usually, third person makes it hard for me to connect to a book and the characters in but I really connected with this book.