Mirage by Somaiya Daud

Synopsis: In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon.

But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place.

As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection...because one wrong move could lead to her death.

Review: I highly enjoyed Mirage and it was certainly a great debut. Amani is a great character filled with an incredible amount of love for her family and her culture. She is strong as she has to endure being stripped from her home and dragged as a prisoner to a far off planet. She meets additional characters and learns more about the world she finds herself in. Maram, the princess, is harsh but broken. She was interesting to read about, but I know some people might have a hard time sympathizing with her. Her fiance, Idris, seems much more kind and Amani cannot help but get close to him. 

The story follows the same trope of the fake princess, but with a Moroccan flair. The setting is beautiful. Everything from Amani's majority night to the princess' palace is vivid. I will say, there is a heavy emphasis of colonialism in this book. Amani even comes to sympathize with some of her captors, so I would be careful if anyone does not like those kinds of plot points. I do think that could lead to great conversations about modern colonialism since those discussions tend to get pushed aside. I don't know anything about Moroccan culture, but some of the terms used like "majority night" made me think of Greek life at universities. I don't know if these are established things in Moroccan culture and if it was a coincidence, but seeing stuff like that helped me to understand what was happening in the story a bit more.

Beautiful story of a false princess. Curious to see if my suspicions about this story are correct. 

4 howls