Another superb book by Ella Mina

I joined the blogtour... and I missed the date. I am so so sorry about that. A lot has been going on and I have to admit that I am letting a lot of people down right now. I just can't seem to get anything done on time right now. But... I had to read the book anyways. I read 'De zwarte arend' and 'Het paleis onder de sterren' before this new book published and I have to say.... She did it. Again. Ella Mina rocked my whole world again. Let me tell you why and how. I am very very very impressed.. and shocked..

I have so many things to say about this book.. and yet... I have no words...

For starters, you read this book in 3rd perspective from Mustafah, Siya and Talyah. There are also small parts where you can read from Deenah her perspective, but the main storyline comes from the first 3 characters. You instantly get pulled into a heavy story... I prince, in love but already promised to someone else. A girl, imprisoned and tortured. A widow, trying to remarry to save the kingdom (Or is she?). All three of these storylines have very heavy and scarred personalities. You bond with them along the way and I will admit, Talyah got to me the most. Whatever she went through or whatever got her in that place, she did not deserve it. No one deserves to be treated like that. So I hated the fact I got to see so little from her...

Writing wise, this story is amazing. It's easy to get into, you fly through the pages and you just keep reading (Just keep reading, just keep reading..) Little jumps in time make for an intruiging story, it keeps you drawn to the happenings, to the plot. I will admit, sometimes, the story went a little slow and reading in English, for me, is harder. I just have great difficulty getting into an English book, even though my English is not that bad. I just doesn't get to me as much so I need more time to get into the story. Nevertheless, the writing was great, easy and flowy.

When you get a little deeper in the story, you will find complicated pasts, lies, deception and secrets. Every single perception, every single person makes up for an intricate storyline. Every thing just adds up and confuses at the same time. You will find yourself hunting for the answers to the questions you will absolutely have. And the worst part is, you won't know whether you will ever get a real answer. Ella Mina chose her characters, storylines and perspectives very carefully and you can tell she has a great eye for detail and story writing. There are so many layers to this book, so many things to still discover, so many questions unanswered.

I will admit, not every part of the story was as believable. Multiple times, the same kind of encounter happened and it made me.. a little lazy. It didn't keep me on the edge of my seat. The characters did, but the events inbetween just couldn't really get to me somehow. Until everything came together, then it made more sense.

another element of this book is the fact that is plays out kind of in the middle east. This means a lot of words in this books come from that area. A lot of respect has been paid to their day to day life, their way of living, the way they practice their beliefs etc. No worries, every word has been explained in the beginning of the book and in the Hardocver edition, it is very easy to look up the descriptions! I love the fact you get to learn something while reading a book en these little kind of extras make the book more interesting, more magical, at least to me.

Honestly, the ending nearly made me throw away my E-reader. The emotions gor very high, shall we say. I am in need for pat 2 of this series, but.. I am not ready at all...........

To make this easy, I am giving 'An empire of sand and lost souls' 4 stars!

~ Live Your Life Reading