Aicha was a book I thought I’d love. I had the highest hope, but it just didn’t get quite there. I loved the setting and premise! Keep reading this book review of Aicha for my full thoughts.
Summary
The Portuguese flag has been planted across Morocco, its empire ruling with an iron fist. But eventually, all empires must fall.
Aicha, the daughter of a Moroccan freedom-fighter, was born for battle. She has witnessed the death of her people, their starvation and torture at the hands of the occupiers, and it has awakened an anger within her. An anger that burns hot and bright, and speaks to Aicha’s soul.
Only Aicha’s secret lover Rachid, a rebellion leader, knows how to soothe her. But as the fight for Morocco’s freedom reaches its violent climax, the creature that simmers beneath Aicha’s skin begs to be unleashed. It hungers for the screams of those who have caused her pain, and it will not be ignored.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Aicha is a book where the premise absolutely hooked me. I loved the setting and this story of settler violence, colonialism, and folktales. Aicha and her people are trying to survive despite the worsening conditions, under siege, and being oppressed. She’s grounded with her family all contributing to the rebellion, to trying to fight for their future no matter what it holds. I want more settings which feel so vivid. But while there’s this groundwork, even though this book counts down the days till the siege, I felt like there wasn’t this steady thrum of urgency forcing us to continue reading. It was this feeling of wanting to be absolutely obsessed, but the pacing just didn’t match what it needed.
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Secondly, this book is definitely marketed as a fantasy, but the fantasy is so light that it felt a bit misleading. While there are fantastical elements, they are developed so late that I was always wondering when the other shoe, the twist, was going to drop – even though we all saw it coming. This could have contributed to the pacing issues. Thirdly, the side characters fell a little flat for me. I saw the importance they had, but it was more in name, as I wished they had a bit more depth to round them out as fully embodied characters in their own right. The themes of Aicha should have pulled us, but because of the lateness, they almost felt like an afterthought? I wanted to love Aicha, the uniqueness of the premise, and the voice, but it just didn’t quite get there for me.
Find Aicha on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.