book info: on sale: now copy from: public library pages: 348 review written: 21.12.17 originally published: 2009 edition read: Penguin NAL 2009 title: Rooftops of Tehran author: Mahbod Seraji In a middle-class neighborhood of Iran's sprawling capital city, 17-year-old Pasha Shahed spends the summer of 1973 on his rooftop with his best friend Ahmed, joking around one minute and asking burning questions about life the next. He also hides a secret love for his beautiful neighbor Zari, who has been betrothed since birth to another man. But the bliss of Pasha and Zari's stolen time together is shattered when Pasha unwittingly acts as a beacon for the Shah's secret police. The violent consequences awaken him to the reality of living under a powerful despot, and lead Zari to make a shocking choice... my thoughts: This book was first published in 2009 and I remember adding it to my list around that time but never actually reading it since I preferred checking out library books to ...
Series: The Ascendance Trilogy #1
Source: bought paperback
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: Feb 1st, 2013
Age Genre: Young Adult
Choose to lie...or choose to die.
Four boys, one treacherous plan, an entire kingdom to fool...
In a faraway land, civil war is brewing. To unify his kingdoms' divided people, a nobleman named Conner devises a cunning plan to place an impersonator of the king's long-lost son on the throne. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant and clever boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of duplicity and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.
Speaking of Sage, I love him as a main character. He is a flawed, brave, sharp-tongued, clever, headstrong boy. His positive qualities overweight his bad ones by a hair, which makes him so human and lovable. Though, he is clearly something special.
Next to him is a cast of interesting characters, from the two other boys - Tobias and Roden, who fought for my affection and my hatred throughout the whole book, Imogen, whom I honestly loved, Mott, Connor's loyal right hand (love you dude!), and Connor himself, who I kept second guessing about.
This book is filled with that - second guessing, I mean. You are never quite sure who's in the right and who's in the wrong. Who you can trust and who you can't. Who will be an ally and who would be an enemy. And I loved it.
I loved that the big twist - though I guessed it from literally the first moment - wasn't obvious. It was actually very underhanded, very subtly hinted at. And the book never failed to surprise me in regard to everything else.
I thought everything was beautifully done.
The style of writing - and honestly, story - strongly reminded me of The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, one of my absolute favorite books. So I highly recommend this book for fans of Turner.
I don't think I'll get the chance to read the sequels any time soon - I have to order them, and I don't know if I've told you, but I'm starting my mandatory services in the army, so I might not have time, but I swear to god I will do it the first chance I get because I just have to know where this is going from here.
Nitzan★
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