The Ivory Key is a debut novel by Akshaya Raman which follows four royal siblings in the search of the legendary Ivory Key. Each sibling has their own agenda for finding the key and their lives depend on it. As the maharani, Vira needs the key so she can bring magic back to the kingdom of Ashoka. Her twin brother, Ronak, wants to sell it and buy a new life, Kaleb needs it to clear his name in the death of the former maharani, and Riya needs it to prove her loyalty to the vigilantes who have become her new family. The bickering siblings must work together on their dangerous treasure hunt, but their secrets threaten to tear them apart.
I got this book as part of Owlcrate’s Thrill of the Hunt January 2022 box. The edition is gorgeous and the dust jacket art stunning. The original cover is definitely a book that would catch my eye if I saw it at the bookstore, but I’m so glad I have this edition and that I joined in the readalong in February. It was fun to engage in the discussion about the book and speculate about what would happen next (though I just proved how terrible I am at guessing what’s to come).
I loved this book. It’s got all the things I adore: a richly detailed fantasy kingdom, quarrelling siblings, lost treasure, magic, and betrayal. This world is so beautifully written, and you can tell it’s one that these characters truly live in. Raman fills the pages with vibrant descriptions, from the wardrobe to the foods to the architecture, there’s not a single detail left out. I could easily imagine the setting throughout the entire novel which is what I love in fantasy. I like being able to immerse myself in a world carefully crafted and created for the story and Raman did not disappoint.
For the first time, the true gravity of their situation was dawning on Kaleb. It wasn’t about freedom or imprisonment. It wasn’t about magic or war. It was about family. Life and loss. For the first time, it was occurring to him – and perhaps to all of them – that maybe not everyone would return to Dvar.
The Ivory Key, p.296
She also did well with portraying the various dynamics in the novel. Vira has to not only navigate her familial relationships, but also her relationships with the council and her people as maharani. Vira is a young ruler, who was thrust into this position unexpectedly and she’s still trying to figure what’s best for everyone. It’s something that is far from new to the genre and can fall into tropes easily, but I loved it anyway because these characters were all so well-rounded and fully realized. Each sibling has their own wants and needs, and their personalities carry the story well. For me, I really focus on character and as long as they are believable and I am able to invest in their journey, I’m along for the ride.
I really love the variety of fantasy kingdoms we are seeing more and more in YA literature. There’s the Middle Eastern influence of novels such as Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes, Malaysian influences in Girls Made of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, and The Ivory Key is a beautiful Indian inspired novel. I have read many fantasy novels inspired by the European Medieval and Renaissance time periods. I have seen castles from this time, so I’m able to visualize these worlds fairly well based on real life experiences. Novels liked The Ivory Key that take inspiration from other parts of the world I am less familiar with push my imagination. Raman does well with the details to guide the visual, but sometimes, I have to allow my imagination to fill in the gaps. I enjoy getting acquainted with these kingdoms that take me to new places around the world and I look forward to seeing many more to come. I have several already waiting on my shelves, but there will never be enough.
Concerts in the gardens had always been his favorite. He recalled sipping rich badam milk by lanterns that hung down from tree branches, swatting away the mosquitoes that hovered around the magical flames.
The Ivory Key, p.131
As much as I’m raving about character and setting, the plot is also a strong part of this story. Raman crafted a well-thought-out hunt, with puzzles for the characters to solve, mysterious places to explore, and plenty of danger around every corner. As you switch between the siblings, you see how much is on the line for each of them. Not only does their individual futures depend on the key, but the entire future of the kingdom depends on it and the return of magic to Ashoka. We even get a little romance sprinkled in to break up the seriousness of the quest. There were a few slow moments that I will discuss later, but for the most part, the story was well paced and kept me engrossed from start to finish.
The rest of the review will include spoilers for the novel.
The novel focuses on the four siblings, with each chapter changing perspective between them. This allows the reader to really get to know each of them and feel that frustration that we as the audience feel when characters just don’t communicate with each other. So many of their problems would be solved easily if they just talked to one another but of course, there would no longer be a story. So, we just have to sit on the edge of our seat as Riya lies to her family about wanting to be back home and as Ronak makes dangerous promises to the terrifying leader of the crime world when all they have to do is be honest with one another.
As I stated before, these things can run into trope territory easily, but Raman avoids a mundane, run-of-the-mill story with her characters. I absolutely love the fact that Vira has already failed as the maharani. She lost a major city shortly after she took over and these shapes her decisions moving forward.
She couldn’t focus on anything in the past. Ghosts rose around her. Stories flashed before her eyes. She pressed her eyes closed, but the ghosts didn’t live in Ritsar. They lived in her mind.
The Ivory Key, p.280
This is a nice change in what we usually see in YA fantasy, where the protagonist is not yet in a place of power and is instead on their journey towards it. The fact that Vira is the maharani from the start really emphasizes the internal conflict that Vira faces as she tries to be like her mother who was very cold and distant to her children. She was calculating and strategic which Vira struggles to be. Her journey is to become a maharani that is true to herself and accept that she will never be her mother. This is such a powerful message to young people struggling to live up to the standards set by their parents. Accepting who you are and being happy with that is a scary thing to do but with open up the path to a happier life.
I also loved following in the other siblings’ journeys. Raman was able to bring a large cast to life and give them each a distinct personality. Riya is the runaway who constantly fought with their mother to the point where she had to get away from the confines of the palace. She joins the vigilante group to feel like she’s actually doing something for Ashoka and the people.
Riya couldn’t handle this. Love letters? Magical bangles? It was all so frivolous and wasteful, and she desperately wanted the conversation to end.
The Ivory Key p.146
I enjoyed following her as she breaks into places and her acrobatic skills in Visala. In the end, she unlocks the true extent of magic which she can harness herself and doesn’t have to rely on the raw material. Going into book two, I can’t wait to see what she’s able to do with this magic and I’m also curious about her love life. She seems rather entranced by Kavita, but there also seems to be some sort of chemistry with Varun that has me very intrigued. With her loyalties torn between the Ravens and her family, I wonder where her journey will take her.
Like Riya, Ronak wants to escape the royal life. Before the quest for the ivory key, he was planning to run away with his best friend, Jay, and brother, Kaleb. In his desperation, he made dangerous deals with the crime lord, Ekta. We feel his anguish as his dreams of running away are made more complicated by his engagement to Preethi, a compensation made by Vira when her own fiancé was murdered in order to appease the council. We realize the corner Vira is backed into, yet we feel for Ronak who doesn’t want to be saddled with these responsibilities.
He was no more free than Kaleb. His prison was larger, more lavish, but he still felt the chains tightening around his wrists and ankles.
The Ivory Key, p.24
Of course, we also want to knock some sense into Ronak who proceeds to make more and more dangerous promises to Etka. With his seat on the council now offered to her at the end of the novel, the tension has mounted for book two. What will happen if Ronak isn’t able to uphold his end of the deal?
And last but not least, we have Kaleb, the eldest of the siblings. Being half-Lyrian and not the son of the former maharani, he is blamed for her murder and imprisoned.
They had a Lyrian boy in their midst they could conveniently pit it on, and the Council refused to search for another culprit.
The Ivory Key, p.90
I adored Kaleb. He is the least capable of the four in the physical aspect of their quest and struggles to lie to the Lyrians in Ritsar. But he’s brave, nevertheless, as he volunteers to go into Lyria and spy for Vira. There’s something about him that is just so endearing. He’s genuine, caring, and clever, so I have a soft spot for him over the other siblings. I also appreciate how his sexuality isn’t questioned or thrown in for the sake of representation. It just is and it fits into the world so naturally. I love worlds, especially fantasy ones, where different spectrums of sexuality are allowed to just exist and are accepted as normal to everyone within it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Kaleb finds a cute Lyrian boy to fall in love with in the next book.
Raman really utilized the reader’s sense of smell. Smells are mentioned in detail several times and I really thought it would have a bigger impact on the story. Particularly how she described Varun as smelling like tulsi, despite being a vigilante who had to live a very secretive life. It was so specific that I kept waiting for something to come of it. There’s even a chapter that begins with mentioning how smell is the most powerful sense for invoking memories, so I truly thought it would be an important aspect.
Papa used to say that smell was a powerful key to memory, but Vira didn’t anticipate the sharp sense of dread and regret that slammed into her…
The Ivory Key p.109
But it seems to just be a detail without any importance. This could have been utilized in a clever way, which I wish is what had happened, but as it is, it’s more of a distraction than anything else. Maybe it’ll come up in the following book.
I think the most interesting aspect of this story is the magic system. I am always so amazed (and a little jealous) of the incredible magic systems people are able to create in their stories and Raman created something I had never seen before: mineable magic. In this world, magic is found in quarries and raw magic collected to be used in objects, such as keys that only open specific doors, a paper that sends messages over vast distances, and a wall surrounding the kingdom that burns intruders to death. The unique way that magic is mined, processed, and forged, as if it were ores from the ground, is such an amazing idea and it fits so well in this story. It even has a sort of radiation quality, as raw magic makes handlers sick and special gear is needed to handle it. This brings in a real-world situation that allows the reader to better visualize how the raw magic works and interacts with people. With magic being such an abstract concept that even I struggle to grapple with as I write my own magic system, it’s genius to give the reader such a vivid and interesting visual to make it seem more real.
Prolonged exposure led to worsening symptoms – headaches, nausea, memory loss, paralysis, until it eventually led to death.
The Ivory Key, p.23
Because magic is mined like a physical resource, it is finite and at the beginning of the story, the quarry is empty and Vira is desperate to find the other quarries and restore magic. As I mentioned, she had failed before as the maharani and she couldn’t afford to do so again. She lost one of Ashoka’s cities to their Lyrian neighbors and if they discovered their lack of magic, they’d take more of Vira’s kingdom. Vira desperately needs to find more magic to protect her kingdom and with the discovery of the legendary ivory key, she’s one step closer.
Of course, this brings us to the other thing I loved in this book: the betrayal. All throughout, we’ve had the mysterious Amrit at Vira’s side. We’ve watched the clear romantic interest they have in one another that they can’t admit due to Vira’s obligations as the maharani, and Amrit being nothing more than her personal guard. It’s a forbidden romance trope we have fawned over for centuries and this one does not disappoint. But there’s more to Amrit than a dark and mysterious soldier.
When I’m fully engrossed in something, I don’t try to guess ahead and figure out the twist. But thanks to the questions in the readalong, I had to make some guesses in order to participate. And the only thing I managed to predict was Amrit’s connection to the Mercenaries always looming in the shadows. This group is responsible for the death of the previous maharani, of Vira’s fiancé, and threatens Ashoka’s future. When Amrit betrayed Vira in the end and took the ivory key, I wasn’t surprised, but this doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. If I hadn’t been prompted to look out for clues about Amrit, I would’ve probably missed them all and been blindsided by his betrayal in the end. I would’ve been too distracted by the descriptions of smells to catch on to his secrets.
The little boy didn’t know it then, but his destiny had been remade that day, a tapestry woven from carefully selected strands, twined with the life of a girl he wouldn’t meet for many years to come.
The Ivory Key, p.370
My only real gripe with this story is how long it took for us to get to the big quest. It felt like we were in the city for way longer than we should’ve been. With how much it seemed that the quest part was hyped up, it seemed to take way too long to get there. It’s not until over sixty percent through the book that they embark on their journey. This doesn’t affect my rating too much, as I still really loved the book, but I wish we had spent longer on the quest. The scenes inside the court, where Vira is walking the tightrope with her family and the council, and with Riya and Ronak sneaking around, are all compelling and didn’t drag down the story. But the quest was so heavily emphasized to me that I felt a little let down by the lack of it. By the time I got halfway through the book, I realized it hadn’t even started yet and that was a little bothersome.
Once we did get out into the world, it was so interesting to see more of the place Raman had brought us to. I really enjoyed the jungle the siblings had to trek through and the underground city of Visala full of riddles and puzzles. This was the treasure hunt I was promised, and Raman orchestrated it all brilliantly. Each stage within Visala had me guessing how the siblings would make it through the next trial and with quite a few close calls, I was tearing through the pages. It wasn’t necessarily a drag to get to this point in the story, but it was noticeable how long it did take.
We have a long while until book two hits the shelves and I am waiting in anticipation for it. With Kaleb volunteering to go to Lyria to spy on them, and Riya unlocking magic from within herself, and Amrit revealed to be a Mercenary, I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next. The Mercenaries have the Ivory Key, but Vira has a copy of it, so it will be a race for the quarries. I am fully invested in this world and so I will be sure to grab the sequel as soon as it hits the shelves to learn what’s next to come for Ashoka.
Be Bold 