Mirage by Somaiya Daud

Mirage

Author: Somaiya Daud

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release date: September 2018

Pages: 320 pages

R.R.P: $19.99

The crown of Dihya has been stripped from me, my face changed, my body broken. 

But I was not a slave and I was not a spare. 

I was my mother's daughter, and I would survive and endure. I would find my way back home.

In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathrk empire, sixteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation, she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poetry she loved to hear read, she dreams of one day receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon.

But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects. When she is kidnapped by the government and taken in secret to the royal palace, she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathrk Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, 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 one wrong move could lead to her death.

My Review

Thoughts on the book: Mirage is the debut novel from new YA author, Somaiya Daud. Amani and her family have been getting through life since the occupation and while they are celebrating Amani's majority night, where she and twelve other girls will receive their daan and become adults in the eyes of their village and afterwards they will feast and dance all night. After receiving her daan, the celebrations are interrupted when Imperial droids come crashing through the doors and tell all the young girls to stand against a wall where they are all scanned. Buzzers go off when Amani is scanned and suddenly she is ripped away from her family and taken to the Royal Palace where she comes face to face with the half-Vathek Princess, Maram who looks basically identical to Amani. Amani goes through numerous procedures and trainings to become a body double for the cruel princess who is hated by both sides of her heritage. But the longer Amani is forced into Maram's life the more she understands how Maram ended up the way she is and liking the lifestyle she now is living. But when Amani is asked to become part of the rebellion which side will she choose- the side her family and her Kushaila people or the princess who she knows with understanding could be an amazing ruler? One wrong move and it could all be over.

A massive thank you to Amy from Date A Book over at Hachette Australia for sending me an ARC copy of Mirage by Somaiya Daud to read and review. I had heard much hype around this book and couldn't wait to start it but seeing as I'm now sticking to a very strict TBR pile I had to wait a little bit before I could read it. But once I started it I couldn't put it down an was swept up in the magic of the story, the world  and the loveable characters that Somaiya Duad has created. One thing I'll mention is that I had recently finished Imposters by Scott Westerfeld a couple of weeks before hand and I felt a little dejavu as both books are based around a girl who is brought up or forced into being a body double for the other. But both books have very different perspectives and I loved them both so much.

Despite is being a book set in outer space it wasn't too focused on that which I loved and meant that we got more focus on what was happening and the development of the characters and their relationships with each other. Our main character Amani is one you instantly fall in love with because she is rebellious but in a way that most people wouldn't spot and is friendly to all even when she is being Maram. Basically the author is saying that you can change the outside of the person to look like someone else but you can't change the person on the inside which becomes more and more evident in the story as we go on. Her relationships change with Maram and her fiancé Idris as they all get to know each other and its seems Amani sees the good in everyone even if it costs her freedom.  I can't wait for book 2 to see what happens to all my favourite new characters and see what direction Maram will lead the kingdom.

Rating: 4/5