These Infinite Threads by Tahereh Mafi is a YA epic fantasy with romantic elements inspired by Persian mythology, and the second book in the This Woven Kingdom series (4/5 stars)

These Infinite Threads by Tahereh Mafi is a YA epic fantasy with romantic elements inspired by Persian mythology, and the second book in the This Woven Kingdom series. I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by Kate Reading. We follow two characters with alternating points-of-view.

Alizeh, the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom, has been stolen away from the Ardunian empire and its crown prince Kamran. Cyrus, the ruler of neighboring Tulan takes her to his homeland and plans to marry her so she can fulfil her destiny and become the Jinn queen, and so he can fulfil his own bargain with the devil. Cyrus wants nothing more than to pursue her, in hopes he gets there before the impending nuptials.

The plot of this book happens within the span of 48 hours. It definitely suffers a bit from middle book syndrome, where mostly all that happens is the main players move around on the chessboard to set up the final book in the trilogy. There isn’t a huge amount of plot; it’s character-driven with a lot of vibes. That being said, the vibes here are mostly banter and tension and I’m not complaining about that.

There is some worldbuilding here, mostly fleshing out the country of Tulan and providing a bit more information about Jinn folk. We learn more about Kamran’s family history as well.

To keep it vague, I also really enjoyed Kamran’s ragtag group of “helpers.” They were my faves from book one so I’m glad to see them continuing on with helping Alizeh, by helping Kamran.

CW: parental death (referenced), abduction, assault, torture, imprisonment

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