Teaser Tuesday: Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh.

Flame in the Mist –
G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Perhaps too clever, as her father always said. It had never been meant as a compliment, though she had always taken it as one.
— Chapter 7

“I am not a hero. Don’t forget it for a moment. I will not save you again.”
Mariko sat up abruptly, her features defiant. “I don’t want you to be a hero. And I don’t need anyone to save me.”
— Chapter 23

First of all: Apologies for the layout disaster last week. Big fun all around, but I hope things are back to working order now. Give me a shout if you encounter any image irregularities. And now on to the gushing and raving, which is not only more fun but for this book also absolutely necessary.
It’s probably no secret that I easily fall for books with densely crafted cultural backgrounds and while the author already did exceedingly well in her initial YA books with Arab culture, this is a completely different level. I felt transported into the story and the rich and vibrant world of this book. If it had been at all possible, I would have stayed in there a lot longer. But that wasn’t even an option because the plot commands a breakneck reading speed to get behind all the mystery and secrets as soon as possible.
Mariko was a little difficult to empathise with for me at first, but that, in my opinion, is quite intentional as it emphasises how she has been living a life that is so very removed from the average life of her culture. Granted, we’re probably not any closer to that as well, but this alienation and ignorance of her (and at the beginning almost nerve-wracking naiveté) makes her character’s growth even more admirable.
I won’t go into any more detail about the other characters for fear of spoiling any surprises because there are a lot. But should you happen to struggle with Mariko at the beginning, I urge you to take this as a vital part of her development and give her a chance to prove herself. Others in the book have to do the same so maybe you will feel closer to them and understand them better. And if you’re struggling with the end, I invite you to join me at Club Cliffhanger for a nice bottle of anticipation-sake or impatience-tea.

If you had the opportunity to drop into a foreign culture of a book, which book and which culture would you choose? Let me know about your choices and teasers in the comments!