In the Ashoka Empire, magic is mined in the quarries and is the key to its survival but it’s quickly running out. Even with the loss of the original quarries and Ashoka’s people struggling, the royal family is more embroiled in their own problems than they are with the current situation.

There is no love lost between siblings Vira, Ronak, Riya, and half-brother Kaleb. The new queen, Vira, has her hands full trying to prove herself as a capable monarch. Already at odds with her siblings, to make the council happy, she imprisoned Kaleb for the murder of the last queen, their mother. Too add to her problems, Vira also has to contend with the murder of her fiancé and the threat of war. One sibling is being held in prison and the others seems to be headed in that direction. Ronak, Vira’s twin, has taken up a life of crime, and her sister, Raya, has joined the rebel group that wants abolish the monarchy and give the power back to the people.

In order to keep the other kingdoms from declaring war on Ashoka, the four siblings will have to unite to find the Ivory Key, an artifact thought to be myth that unlocks the lost quarries. Each has their own motivation for wanting to find the key and a lot of secrets they want to keep hidden, but unless they learn to work together, there’s no hope for their survival.

Akshaya Raman’s India-inspired YA debut, THE IVORY KEY, is the first book in a duology. The vivid world building does a lot to help this book get off the ground. With four different perspectives, you have to go about two -thirds the way into the story before things really start moving. The multiple POVs helps us get to know the siblings and the strong characterizations keeps you invested in the story. The complicated family dynamics are intriguing but I wish we knew more about how they got to be that way. The siblings were seemingly close at one time and we have no idea what drove them away from each other.

THE IVORY KEY is an alluring introduction to Raman’s complex fantasy world. There are so many wonderful aspects to the story - a complex narrative, a secret society, a slow burning romance, queer representation, a rich culture, a boisterous adventure, and much more. Ending on a bit of a cliff-hanger, readers will be eagerly awaiting the next installment to see how this adventure ends.

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