Blog Tour: Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios

Thank you so much, Me, My Shelf and I, for hosting this tour and allowing I Heart YA Fiction to be part of it!

Release Date: October 7, 2014

Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 480
Source: eARC via Edelweiss 

ISBN-10:  006231856X

Rating: 4 Hearts

Find Exquisite Captive online!

Barnes and Noble

Amazon 

Book Description  

"Forced to obey her master.
Compelled to help her enemy.
Determined to free herself.

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.

Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?

Inspired by Arabian Nights, EXQUISITE CAPTIVE brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light."

About Heather Demetrios 

 When she's not traipsing around the world or spending time in imaginary places, Heather Demetrios lives with her husband in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, she now calls the East Coast home. Heather is a recipient of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award for her debut novel, Something Real, which Publisher's Weekly calls “[An] addictive yet thoughtful debut” about reality TV stardom. She is the author of the upcoming EXQUISITE CAPTIVE, a smoldering fantasy about jinn in Los Angeles and what Kirkus called in its starred review "an intoxicating, richly realized realm of magic, politics, spirituality and history" (#1 in the DARK CARAVAN CYCLE). She is also the author of the upcoming I’ll Meet You There (Winter 2015). I’ll Meet You There is a love story about a young combat veteran and a girl trapped in their small town, both struggling to escape the war at home. Heather is the founder of Live Your What, an organization dedicated to fostering passion in people of all ages and creating writing opportunities for youth of limited economic means. She is proud to have an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can always find her on Twitter (@HDemetrios), ogling the military dogs she wants to adopt (but can’t because her NYC apartment is way too small). Find out more about Heather and her other books at www.heatherdemetrios.com and www.darkcaravancycle.com

Review

Short and Sweet:

Exquisite Captive is full of surprise twists, a detailed and incredibly unique world, and a complex main character, all of which made it into a lovely read!

To Elaborate... 

When Nalia's race of jinn were slaughtered, she was taken to the dark caravan and sold to her master, Malek, a man both deadly and desirable. All Nalia wants is her freedom so she that can rescue her brother, and when revolutionary Raif comes along, they make a deal that might get her everything she wants.

I was so excited to see a book about jinn coming out this year. I LOVE mythological/fantasy stories that look at beings who aren't as popular, or as commonly written about as others (at least in the US). The modern and fantasy worlds are meshed in this delightful story set in a place of wealth, lust, and greed. The world-building is marvelous and exciting, and I want to learn even more about it after reading this. 

On an individual level, these characters kick butt. Nalia, Raif, Malek, and the others are all so determined to get what they want (though in some cases, that's not the best thing for other characters). I adore how much strength they reveal through their internal battles. I would say that even with as much external conflict as there is, there is just as much internal conflict. 

As much as I want to make a fan club for each character (even the morally questionable ones), I wasn't as sold on some of the character relationships. Nalia, Raif, and Malek form a solid love triangle (which in this case, I actually super liked, because even though it's not about who Nalia 'chooses', it's about whether or not she actually can choose anything for herself since she's enslaved). I felt one side of the triangle was remarkably intense, complex, and even moving sometimes. It wasn't that the other side wasn't any of those things, but it felt much more flat in comparison. 

Overall, my favorite part of this book is the subtle and utterly sophisticated underlying layers throughout. Consent, slavery, racism, sexuality, etc. are all brought into the story in small, but powerful and meaningful ways. It makes you think hard on where certain lines do or do not fall, and that is one of the most beautiful things I feel a book can do. 

4 Hearts!

 

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Check out the other stops on the tour!

  October 2nd:
Ex Libris REVIEW
Bookish REVIEW + DREAM CAST

October 3rd:
Fiktshun REVIEW + THIS OR THAT
Imagine a World REVIEW

October 4th:
Two Chicks On Books GUEST POST
Books a la Mode REVIEW

October 5th:
Fire and Ice REVIEW + MUSIC PLAYLIST
Me, My Shelf and I SPOTLIGHT

October 6th:
Novel Novice REVIEW
Addicted Readers REVIEW

October 7th:
Such A Novel Idea REVIEW + 10 RANDOM THINGS
Katie's Book Blog REVIEW + AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Forever Young Adult – CHRACTHER INTERVIEW

October 8th:
I Heart YA Fiction REVIEW
Wholly Books REVIEW + WHAT'S ON HEATHER'S DESK

October 9th:
Once Upon A Twilight REVIEW
Crossroad Reviews REVIEW

October 10th:
Mundie Moms REVIEW + EXCERPT
Curling Up With A Good Book REVIEW

October 11th:
Swoony Boys Podcast REVIEW + A DAY IN THE LIFE OF HEATHER
Book Lovers Life REVIEW

October 12th:
A Dream Within A Dream REVIEW + TENS LIST
CBY Book Club – EXCERPT