Author: Emily Varga
Genre: Fantasy, romantasy, dystopia, BIPOC rep
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: Ebook (NetGalley Copy)
Release Date: August 18th, 2026
TW: Death, child death (on page) racism, body horror, torture
This book was blurbed as 'The Mummy meets the Cruel Prince,' and I can see why. This was a fun read, but some aspects were weaker than others.
But first, the plot: Yasmeena works as a relic hunter-scholar (think archaeologist) for the Citadel, the conquering empire currently oppressing her people. They've been using her knowledge to dig up her people's sacred land rejuvenating relics. These relics (of fey make) will be shipped out of her country, and put into a private museum that her people don't have access to. In addition to this, the Citadel has banned self-expression among Yasmeena's people; they can't wear their traditional clothing or bury their dead. Yasmeena has spent years trying to find the Crown of the Fae Queen, an artifact that will reverse the ravages of her land and take it before the citadel does. But when she crosses the river to escape the Citadel after discovering the vault, she ends up in the fae realm, and ends up in a whole other oppressive regime. Will she be able to survive in this new realm? And who is Kiyan, the handsome and intense captain of the guard, that Yasmeena is drawn to?
The worldbuilding in this book is amazing (on the fae side). I love the fae, and this book spends eighty percent of its time in the fae realm. We spend a lot of time setting up the intricacies of the fey Courts and their powers. There is a very cool parallel between the Citadel and the Court of Salt, where they both extract resources (the Court of Salt steals powers, and the Citadel takes relics), but their speed is different. The Court of Salt can take people's language and powers, whereas the Citadel takes culture, and is just as brutal, if slower. I felt the fae's pain, and was easily abler to connect them back to the human realm due to the tight worldbuilding for the fae.
The characters are also quite compelling. The MMC, the captain Kiyan, is a wonderful character, and is a part of his rebellion while secretly working for the villain. He is complex and grapples with a lot of moral questions, which I enjoyed. His power set is also very cool, and is a result of adaptation rather than 'new powers.' Yasmeena is a brilliant character as well, and very competent. I appreciate the BIPOC representation, as both Kiyan and Yasmeena are dark skinned, which is sadly rare in mainstream romantacy.
As this is a romantasy, the central relationship is nice. There are a few sex scenes that were competently written, and the leads have chemistry. Also, consent is emphasized, and power dynamics are negotiated and discussed.
However, for a book blurbed as 'The Mummy' Yasmeena didn't really do much relic hunting outside of the inciting incident. I wish that we could've seen the cultural strata of the fae realm, and would've connected with Yasmeena's work in her world.
Speaking of her world, the human world is not given much focus after the inciting incident. There is enough there to draw the above-mentioned parallel, but the world feels sketched-in, and very clearly didn't get the worldbuilding the fae realm did, outside of a few things. Yasmeena cares deeply about her people, but the reader doesn't have much of a chance to, aside from basic empathy. (I like that there are unique possibly Middle Eastern inspired elements to their culture, but I want more.)
I hope that Yasmeena's people will get their time to shine in the sequel which I will definitely be reading. If you like a story of revolution and can forgive some thready worldbuilding, this could be a wonderful read for you.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!
Final Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Drink Paring: Darjeeling tea for the sweet bite
