An exiled princess and a secretive temple maid discover that the surest way to survive an empire built on fire is to burn it down together.

If you love morally grey heroines, slow-burn sapphic romance woven through epic political fantasy, and richly built worlds inspired by South Asian history and myth, The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri belongs on your list. It is especially suited to readers who want a sprawling, patient story where the romance is one thread in a much larger tapestry of rebellion and power.

Our take: this is a densely built, award-winning opener to a trilogy, carried by two unforgettable leads and prose that consistently earns its praise, though the deliberate pacing and wide ensemble cast mean the central romance shares the stage rather than driving every chapter. Readers coming purely for a romance-forward read should adjust their expectations; readers coming for immersive fantasy with a real sapphic relationship at its heart will find plenty to love.

Quick Facts

Author	Tasha Suri
Publisher	Orbit
Publication date	June 8, 2021
Pages	576
Language	English
Series	The Burning Kingdoms
Series order	Book 1 of 3
Genres	Paranormal & Fantasy Lesbian Romance, Slow Burn
Format	Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
ISBN	978-0316538510
ASIN	0316538515

Reader Match

Perfect for readers who…

• ✓ Love epic, politically complex fantasy with a sapphic slow burn woven through the plot
• ✓ Enjoy morally grey heroines who never apologize for wanting power
• ✓ Want immersive, India-inspired world-building with real historical and mythological weight
• ✓ Like ensemble, multiple-POV storytelling that widens the scope of a growing rebellion
• ✓ Don’t mind a deliberately slow-building first act that pays off in the second half

Avoid If

Skip this if you want…

• A fast-paced, plot-first opening (this book takes real time to establish its world)
• A romance-forward read where the central relationship drives every chapter
• A fully resolved ending (this is book one of three, and the story continues)
• A small, easy-to-track cast (the ensemble POV structure is wide)

Book Synopsis

Malini, princess of Parijat, has been exiled by her own brother to the Hirana, a crumbling cliffside temple that once housed the empire’s magical deathless waters. Her crime was refusing to burn alive as a sacrifice for his idea of purification, and now she is left to wither in isolation while he consolidates his power.

Priya is a maidservant in the household of the regent who governs in her brother’s name, content to stay invisible so long as no one discovers the truth of what she survived, or the strange power that still lives in her blood. Cleaning Malini’s chambers is just another task, until the night Malini witnesses something Priya can never take back.

Bound together by what each has seen of the other, the two women realize they need one another: Malini to reclaim the throne from the brother who tried to destroy her, and Priya to uncover what really happened to the family and order she lost. Around them, temple siblings, exiled princes, and zealots loyal to the empire pull the story into a wider rebellion neither woman can control.

What follows is a slow-building, multi-perspective story about empire, faith turned to extremism, and two women from opposite ends of power learning whether they can trust each other enough to burn the old order down.

My Review

The Jasmine Throne asks for patience before it asks for anything else. Suri spends the opening chapters laying track for an enormous cast and an intricately imagined empire, and readers who stay with it are rewarded with a back half that rarely lets up. Priya and Malini anchor the book even when the point of view drifts elsewhere, and the slow unraveling of trust between a maidservant hiding forbidden power and a princess hiding her own ruthlessness is genuinely compelling once it gets going.

The writing is the clearest strength here. Suri’s prose is lush without tipping into overwritten, and the India-inspired setting, drawing on real history, myth, and religious extremism, gives the political stakes a weight that a more generic fantasy world wouldn’t earn. Both leads are allowed to be morally grey without the book flattening them into simple heroes, and side characters like Bhumika and Ashok add real depth to the central themes of family, faith, and what a patriarchal empire chooses to call monstrous.

Where reader consensus is more divided is the pacing and structure. Several additional POV characters beyond Priya and Malini widen the scope of the rebellion but also pull time away from the central relationship, and some readers report wanting more page time for the romance itself, which develops gradually and is handled with restraint rather than heat. The slow first act is the most commonly cited hurdle, though reader discussion consistently notes that the payoff in the second half justifies the setup.

Taken as a whole, this is an ambitious, critically decorated opener, the World Fantasy Award win is well earned, that rewards readers willing to sit with a wide cast and a deliberately unhurried structure in exchange for a richly built world and a sapphic relationship that feels earned rather than assumed.

Romance Profile

Relationship	FF
Trope	Morally Grey Characters, Political Intrigue, Slow Burn
Age Gap	No
Slow Burn	Yes
Forced Proximity	Yes
Heat	Low to Medium
Ending	Cliffhanger (series continues)
Representation	Lesbian, South Asian-coded cast
Dual POV	Ensemble (multiple POV, centered on Priya & Malini)
Steam	[Add rating]

Emotional Profile

• Tense
• Epic
• Bittersweet
• Empowering
• Foreboding

Content Warnings

Not officially published by the author or publisher.

• Murder, war, and graphic violence
• Homophobia, including internalized homophobia
• Self-immolation and body horror
• Familial abuse and religious extremism

Book DNA

Main Tropes	Morally Grey Characters, Political Intrigue, Slow Burn Romance Subplot, Multiple POV
Relationship Dynamics	Servant and exiled princess from opposing sides of an empire, bound together by a shared secret
Emotional Journey	Suspicion to reluctant alliance to devotion, set against a rebellion neither can walk away from
Reader Moods	Tense, Epic, Bittersweet, Empowering
Themes	Empire and colonization, faith twisted into extremism, what makes a woman “monstrous,” found family
Tone	Lush, atmospheric, morally complex, slow-building
Heat	Low to Medium
Ending	Cliffhanger, series continues
Representation	Lesbian leads, South Asian-coded cast

Similar Books

• The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
• She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
• The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
• The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri
• Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

For more similar books visit: Paranormal & Fantasy Lesbian Romance

About the Author

Tasha Suri was born in London to Punjabi parents and studied English and Creative Writing at Warwick University. Before becoming a full-time novelist she worked as a librarian, and her lifelong love of period Bollywood films, history, and South Asian mythology directly shaped the world of The Burning Kingdoms. Her debut novel, Empire of Sand, was named one of the 100 best fantasy books of all time by TIME magazine, and she followed it with a companion novel, Realm of Ash. The Jasmine Throne, the first book in her Burning Kingdoms trilogy, won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and was named one of the best books of 2021 by Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and the New York Public Library. Suri has also won the British Fantasy Society’s Best Newcomer Award and been nominated for the Astounding and Locus Awards. She lives with her family in London.

Read more Tasha Suri reviews →

FAQ

Is The Jasmine Throne a romance novel?

Not primarily. It’s an epic fantasy first, with a significant sapphic romance subplot between the two leads rather than a romance-driven plot structure.

Is there a lesbian relationship in The Jasmine Throne?

Yes. The central relationship is between Priya and Malini, two women who fall for each other while working toward opposing goals within the same rebellion.

Does The Jasmine Throne have a happy ending?

No, not yet. It’s the first book in a trilogy, and the story ends on an unresolved note that continues directly into The Oleander Sword.

Is The Jasmine Throne slow-paced?

Yes. The first act is deliberately slow as it builds out the world and cast, with most readers agreeing the pace picks up considerably in the second half.

Can The Jasmine Throne be read as a standalone?

No. It’s the first of three books in The Burning Kingdoms trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger rather than a resolution.

Is The Jasmine Throne sexually explicit?

No. The romance is handled with restraint, built more on emotional and physical tension than explicit on-page content.

What inspired The Jasmine Throne?

Author Tasha Suri has cited Indian history, mythology, and period Bollywood films as key influences on the empire, magic system, and world of the novel.

Who narrates The Jasmine Throne audiobook?

The audiobook is narrated by Shiromi Arserio.

Final Verdict

Who should read it: fans of epic political fantasy, morally grey heroines, ensemble multiple-POV storytelling, and sapphic romance woven into a much larger story.

Who shouldn’t: readers who want a romance-first plot, full resolution by the end of book one, or a fast-moving opening chapter.

Final score: [9.2]

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