Guest Review: The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carlson @isisunit

From a former CIA officer comes the riveting account of a royal Middle Eastern family exiled to the American suburbs. 

When her father is killed in a coup, 15-year-old Laila flees from the war-torn middle east to a life of exile and anonymity in the U.S. Gradually she adjusts to a new school, new friends, and a new culture, but while Laila sees opportunity in her new life, her mother is focused on the past. She’s conspiring with CIA operatives and rebel factions to regain the throne their family lost. Laila can’t bear to stand still as an international crisis takes shape around her, but how can one girl stop a conflict that spans generations? 

J.C. Carleson delivers a fascinating account of a girl—and a country—on the brink, and a rare glimpse at the personal side of international politics.

Isis' Review

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Children's/Alfred A. Knopf BFYR for granting me the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Though I received the e-book for free that in no way influenced this review.

<blockquote>From a former CIA officer comes the riveting account of a royal Middle Eastern family exiled to the American suburbs.

When her father is killed in a coup, 15-year-old Laila flees from the war-torn middle east to a life of exile and anonymity in the U.S. Gradually she adjusts to a new school, new friends, and a new culture, but while Laila sees opportunity in her new life, her mother is focused on the past. She’s conspiring with CIA operatives and rebel factions to regain the throne their family lost. Laila can’t bear to stand still as an international crisis takes shape around her, but how can one girl stop a conflict that spans generations?

J.C. Carleson delivers a fascinating account of a girl—and a country—on the brink, and a rare glimpse at the personal side of international politics.

*Bonus Backmatter includes a note about the author's CIA past, and a commentary by RAND researcher and president of ARCH International, Dr. Cheryl Benard. Recommendations for further reading are also included. </blockquote>


Though the book began a bit slowly for me, things rapidly picked up. This is a heartbreaking tale of family, betrayal, corruption, and the breakdown of humanity in the face of oppression. Yet throughout it all a ribbon of strength and vulnerability is woven between all of the horrors, greed, manipulation, and shame.

Laila is, in her own words, the Invisible Queen. Her father was the dictator of an oil-rich country, as his father before him had been, and so on for many generations. Life was often short and ended violently, yet Laila was sheltered from the atrocities done in her father's name. Maybe done by his direct order. She will never know, just as she feels she will never feel untainted by her existence in such a corrupt place.

The story follows Laila as she struggles to transition from one life to the next. She grew up in a country where women wore veils to cover their faces, arranged marriages still happened often, and women had virtually no rights. Though she didn't really learn the last bit until she'd been in the US for a bit.

Witnessing her struggles to understand this new culture and reconcile herself to living in it is fascinating and touching. She is a sweet young woman, not at all jaded as one might expect. Her challenges with making friends, and learning to be a friend, are painful and also very enlightening, as are her attempts to relate to a boy she likes. Thrown from one extreme to the other with no time to acclimate, it is no surprise that she feels as if she is coming unglued.

The longer she is in the States the more opportunities she begins to see for herself. However at the same time she is also learning about her family, more specifically her father and his regime. She is horrified, both by what was condoned, and by her complete ignorance of the world she lived in. Which is what makes all the manipulation and betrayal by someone she trusted that much more difficult to bear. Rather than bow to the pain of betrayal she chooses to learn, and manages this without losing her sweetness. Eventually she makes the decision to ensure that in the future her voice will be heard, and takes a page from her mother's play book to ensure just that. She is ready to return home, but unlike the others jostling for position in the newly returned regime, her intent is to begin making amends for generations of horrors perpetrated by her family. She doesn't need to be the center of attention like her mother, nor a puppet ruler like her seven year old brother. She is patient, like any good Invisible Queen. Her time will come, for she intends to see that it does. However she will not be what everyone expects.

Ms. Carelson has done a remarkable job of blending international politics and intrigue with the personal face of such grand-scale maneuvering. Taking from personal experience and the news she created an amazing portrait of the human face of cultures many Westerns have limited ideas about, if any. While Laila was the primary character, we also get to witness the pain of individuals living under the boot heel of a regime, showing us more than one side to the same story. Her deft touch also allows for us to witness the response to this situation from average American teenagers, showing their limited knowledge. While some desire to learn more, others far to concerned with the next local scandal to care, and yet others fall somewhere in the middle. All said this is an beautifully told story, one I would make required reading in all American high schools.

5 STARS

J.C. Carleson never intended to be an author. Although she was always a proficient writer of term papers, reports, and other necessary but mundane documents, she didn't consider herself cut out for the creative life.

Nearly a decade as an officer in the CIA's clandestine service changed that.

With her head now brimming with stories of intrigue, scandal, and exotic locales, Carleson was finally ready to give writing a shot. Her fiction and non-fiction works alike tap into her unique experiences, drawing readers into the highly charged, real world of espionage.