J.C. Carleson

The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carleson took my breath away.

The title had me thinking of some poor teen who had a very mean father. Child abuse. This reader was unprepared for the depth and intelligence of this story.

I was whisked away into the life of Laila; a fifteen year-old living in the U.S. Laila, her mother and brother are adjusting to a great upheaval which converted their style of opulent living on the other side of the world, into a cramped apartment on the outskirts of Washington show more D.C.

This book is highly recommended for Teen readers and above. Readers who enjoy learning about the world, and cultures of other people will be left with something to think about for a long time.

I am recommending this book for our YA Library collection, and look forward to reading the other books by J.C. Carleson.

The thing I did not like about this book was that it ended. I am a greedy reader and want more of good writing. The final pages are filled with citations, and references that many teen readers may not be interested in, but I found enlightening. For the teen who is looking for information on international affairs this is a gold mine.

**The author, "A former undercover CIA officer...now a full-time writer..." She spent over a decade as an officer involved in many clandestine operations. This lends strong credence to this fictional tale. show less

Recieved from Netgalley for an unbiased review.


I'm not sure what to say about this book, it was fantastic and well written, but the ending didn't really sit well with me..

Laila is a 15 year old princess. Or she was. Her father was killed in a military coup by her religious and fanatical uncle. Her mother makes a deal with the American CIA, and they are swept to American soil where Laila, her six year old brother Bastian must fit in. During the course of several months we see, through Laila's show more eyes, the family both breaking apart and the attempts to assimilate into American culture. The West offers things that Laila's country cannot such as mingling with the opposite sex, dressing less modestly, and a freedom to do and act as she wants. Laila learns about a culture shes always wanted, and revisits memories of a world that tried to expunge these desires from the female populace. Will Laila fit in? And if she does, will she ever wish to return home?

Although Laila is considered a kind and honest individual through out the book, you see various selfish and cruel behaviours on her part. Her treatment of her friends, the lack of care for her American boyfriend, and the betrayal she wroughts against multiple members of her family sickened me. She acts as though she is completely innocent, an "Invisible Queen" who wishes to have attention through sneaky actions and killing those she dislikes. I thank God I know many Muslims because this book does not accurately depict a young Muslim, or a young woman.

"I am my mother's daughter. I am my fathers daughter. And I have learned from their mistakes."
Although she has seen much death, war and destruction these words are chilling. She wishes to continue the reign of tyranny? She wishes to ignore the freedom she has experienced from the Americans? Does this mean that if she is ever to return to her home country, she will deal death with more precision than her fore bearers? Will she kill both those who oppose her, and their families? What does this mean for Bastien, if he ever becomes king? Will she assassinate him? In the end, I found Laila to be someone I did not like or trust. I had developed high hopes for the woman she could have been, and was let down by Laila's decisions. For that, i give this book two stars.I will however, keep a look out for more YA from Carleson.


This being said, the portion of the book in the afterword about Carleson's own experiences with corrupt governments and her friend's death while running for the PPP (Pakistan Party), was fascinating and more than made up for my disillusionment with Laila's character. I would love to learn more about Carleson's experiences with international politics. show less

Originally Published on Tales to Tide You Over

In the author notes, J.C. Carleson states a wish to make faraway issues personal through the story. I think The Tyrant’s Daughter succeeds admirably. It’s a novel about the new teenager on the block trying to fit in at school and dealing with family issues at home. That’s the familiar part. But Laila is a political refuge from a Middle Eastern country that suffered a coup…a coup in which Laila’s uncle murdered Laila’s father. While show more not based on any one specific event, the narrative draws on actual happenings for inspiration so it feels very real.

She’s suffering from the after effects of that loss as well as the culture clash of needing to fit in at a U.S. high school when the perceptions of her father are very different than the man she knew. The teenage bluntness and compassion both are well described through incidences when Laila meets new people or the awkward boy says things that don’t come out the way he meant them.

At the same time, her family situation is bizarre to her. They’ve gone from living in a palace with servants to learning how to grocery shop and worrying about where the money is going to come from.

It’s not as though they’re left on their own in this, and those who come to help do so out of less than pure motives. There’s a complex layer behind the teenage story that blends as a crazy counterpart to her experiences, tearing Laila between the two worlds and the two realities. To the Americans, events across the globe are something to talk about and speculate on. To Laila and others from her country, each news broadcast means danger to those they’ve left behind and to a country that has their first loyalty.

I have a unique perspective on this book. No, my father was not running a foreign country when I was growing up, but he was a diplomat in the Middle East. I lived in Iran during the Iranian Revolution, was evacuated, and dumped into the U.S. as though I should know how everything works here. I can tell you this account is amazingly true to my experience, down to a teacher telling Laila’s mother that her brother Bastien is telling lies when he speaks of the truths he grew up with. I have been in the “ivory tower” while the world crumbled outside tall walls and life continued pretty much normally within. I’ve driven in the bulletproof cars and complained about not being able to roll down the windows. I’ve also experienced the way in which Americans are distant from events such that they can say things that make absolutely no sense if you engage with the conflict, but from a pure analysis standpoint, they might seem innocuous. I see the consequences of this in how, whenever there is a terrorist act on U.S. soil, immediately those showing a Middle Eastern appearance are in danger despite the fact that white Americans are responsible for the majority of the terrorist events stateside in my lifetime.

Regardless, this book is bigger than just the parallels with my own experience. It’s a complex story and a very personal one that hinges on crimes too big to be absorbed but does so through Laila’s eyes so they take root. As a way to glimpse, and even understand, the world that exists both outside the U.S. borders and within it as refuges come to both suffer and succeed here, I think this book should be offered to everyone. It shows how complicated life can be, the mix of private and public betrayals, and so much more, but what makes this book work is how it’s shown through the eyes of a teenager who wants to accept her new reality while access to information and people destroys what she thought she knew. It’s powerful, scary, poignant, and wonderful.

P.S. I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. I picked it because my past gives me an interest in the area. I never thought this book would come so close. show less

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.

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. show more 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.

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. show less