Published by: Balzer+Bray, October 7th 2014
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Pages: 480
Format: Ebook
Source: Balzer+Bray, via Edelweiss
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.
Exquisite Captive of one of those books where I've finished it and I'm not sure if I actually liked it. There were parts I enjoyed, sure, but overall? I literally can't tell.
The book is about Nalia, a wish granting Jinni held captive by a master - Malek - but Nalia's secretly the last in a line of royal Jinnis and she gets dragged into a rebellion led by the 'enigmatic' Raif, all the while being hunted for being royal.
Okay so, at first I was like okay. The jinni part was cool and I hadn't read about it in a YA, the world Nalia kept thinking about was also intriguing. But it began to lose me at Hollywood. I just ... there's something about Hollywood that doesn't interest me at all. California, too. And the way everything was described, positively mind you, did nothing to make me enjoy the setting. So that was one mark down against Exquisite Captive.
The characters were alright. I didn't mind Nalia but I somehow got wound up in loving Malek, which is really screwed up. Malek is abusive, problematic, and downright awful, but he managed to grab my heart. And I'm pretty pissed about it. I know everything he's doing is wrong, but still I'm rooting for him, wanting Nalia/Malek to be real. Malek's behaviour is portrayed in a grey light, excused by him being [spoilers] part Ifrit which I HATED. You can't make abuse acceptable, no matter what. Don't even try. So that was pretty icky, and my love for him was even ickier.
But Raif ... I didn't feel a single thing for. No attachment. I wished he hadn't been a part of the book so many times, especially near the end. Just let Nalia save herself for Christ's sake! So yeah ... could've done without that guy. But lo and behold, he's the guy, the one, the love interest. (he's dishwater dull and Nalia fell instantly in love with him for next to no reason.) Their kisses made me nauseous.
Anyway, I'm still pretty conflicted about this book. I liked some of the characters, enjoyed the premise and the fantasy world, but hated the real world and other characters. I don't know if I'll read the next book, but you can be sure if I do it'll be to find out more about Malek. Because I am horribly invested in him now.
Characters ★★★☆☆
Setting/world building ★★☆☆☆
Writing Style ★★★☆☆
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(from galley:)
"Blood, bone, and breath to a master bound."
"His was a magic of mismatched patches, sewn together with hope and desperation."
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