Book: Airabeth by Jojo Bee
Reviewed by A.Hampton Reads
Rating: 5/5
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Airabeth is the kind of fantasy that reminded me why I fell in love with the genre in the first place.
Nadia is nineteen and living in a world where humanity has spent generations under the control of the Sacred Seven. They're powerful immortal beings who believe humans are inherently corruptible and use mind control to prove it. Nadia has already lost almost everything to the world they've created when her unusual ability to resist their influence draws their attention and places her directly within their reach.
What follows is a story about survival, grief, morality, resilience, and the choices we make when everything around us is trying to tell us who we are.
Nadia was an incredibly easy character for me to root for. She's resilient without feeling invulnerable, kind without being naïve, and deeply shaped by the trauma and isolation of her life. Her love for her family influences nearly everything she does, and the individual relationships she has with each of her siblings felt distinct and emotionally real.
This was also the first book I've read that made me cry in my ARC journey. I made sure to read it before reading the sequel, and I'm so glad that I did. The losses in this story hurt because the relationships mattered, enormously so to Nadia. The grief isn't simply used for shock; it's allowed to live inside Nadia and influence the person she becomes. Several passages about grief, fear, faith, and finding the strength to continue made me stop and sit with them.
The fantasy itself is equally compelling. The rules surrounding the Sacred Seven, the Emperors, Flames, Soulless, Strongholds, and the consequences governing these immortal beings remained consistent while continuing to expand throughout the story. The world never needed enormous amounts of description to feel complete because its rules, history, and consequences were present in nearly everything the characters did.
And then there's Cruelty.
The relationship developing between Nadia and Cruelty is a genuine slow burn. Their connection grows through trust, protection, vulnerability, and the gradual realization that neither is exactly what the other originally believed. Moments of intimacy can be found within the smallest choices of care and validation. I felt completely invested in their growth and felt their pain when they felt it.
The pacing kept me engaged throughout, particularly during Nadia's trials. The tension was high, the stakes even higher. The ending gave me enough resolution to feel satisfied while opening much larger questions about what comes next.
Most of all, Airabeth felt personal while still maintaining the scale of a great fantasy novel. It didn't need romance or spice to carry its story. Its strength came from its characters, its world, its moral questions, and the human emotions at the center of something much larger than any one person.
I felt this rating long before I reached the final page. Five stars.