{"id":4279,"date":"2024-08-14T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/araopenpages.com\/?p=4279"},"modified":"2024-07-30T22:30:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T14:30:41","slug":"reviews-we-hunt-the-flame-we-free-the-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/araopenpages.com\/?p=4279","title":{"rendered":"REVIEWS; We Hunt The Flame \/ We Free The Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Title: <\/strong>We Hunt The Flame
Series:<\/strong> Sands Of Arawiya
Author:<\/strong> Hafsah Faizal
Genre:<\/strong> Fantasy, romance.
Type:<\/strong> Hardcover
Publisher: <\/strong>Farrar, Straus and Giroux<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People lived because she killed. People died because he lived.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya–but neither wants to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds–and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Hi, what’s up, I’m absolutely fine, completely okay and normal about these two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018If this is what it felt like to be lost to the darkness, she never wanted to be found again.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Falling into a reading slump that scanned \/years\/ while reading this book was never the plan. Each time I picked it up, I got sucked right back in – but between kids and medical things happening, the reading of a story I needed all my attention for never lasted long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until now – thank you brain for finally letting me – and boy, was it as good as I expected. The world building is rich, the characters complex and wonderful, the story full of twists that are foreshadowed and still leave me breathless anyway. Zafira and Nasir are The Characters but Altair? My love, Altair? Chef’s kiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I’ve forgotten how to write book reviews, clearly.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing quite like finally finishing a book you know you’ll love and IMMEDIATELY wanting to crack open the sequel. Which is what I plan to do, because I need to know what happens next! These characters that I’ve followed on their journey through Sharr, who have grown to reluctantly trust one another and now are willing to fight Absolute Evil Himself for each other, still have so much to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finishing the quest they set out on did not make everything fixed, they’ve still so much to do and AHHHHH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love the dimensions and dynamics to the characters and their relationships, and the evolution of such throughout the novel. Each character is flawed and multi-faceted and they unfold across the pages with the story, and I just want to know all about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Title: <\/strong>We Free The Stars
Series: <\/strong>Sands Of Arawiya
Author:<\/strong> Hafsah Faizal
Genre:<\/strong> Fantasy, romance.
Type:<\/strong> Hardcover
Publisher: <\/strong>Farrar, Straus and Giroux<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The battle on Sharr is over. The dark forest has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan\u2019s Keep, determined to finish the plan he set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, and finally returning magic to all of Arawiya. But they are low on resources and allies alike, and the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night\u2019s return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the zumra plots to overthrow the kingdom\u2019s darkest threat, Nasir fights to command the magic in his blood. He must learn to hone his power into a weapon, to wield not only against the Lion but against his father, trapped under the Lion\u2019s control. Zafira battles a very different darkness festering in her through her bond with the Jawarat\u2014a darkness that hums with voices, pushing her to the brink of her sanity and to the edge of a chaos she dare not unleash. In spite of the darkness enclosing ever faster, Nasir and Zafira find themselves falling into a love they can\u2019t stand to lose\u2026but time is running out to achieve their ends, and if order is to be restored, drastic sacrifices will have to be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lush and striking, hopeful and devastating, We Free the Stars<\/em> is the masterful conclusion to the Sands of Arawiya duology by New York Times<\/em>\u2013bestselling author Hafsah Faizal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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IT TOOK ME SLIGHTLY MORE THAN A WEEK TO FINISH THIS I BEHEMOTH OF A BOOK I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH. And look. Look, I read no reviews going in, and I finished the first the day I started this so it was a treat to just – see the connections continue, the plot beats laid out satisfactorily be concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really enjoy when stories don\u2019t throw in unnecessary twists. I managed to predict at least ONE thing that happened because it was definitely foreshadowed and it felt like validation when it did. But there were other things that surprised me, but felt natural to the characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I really, really remember how to do reviews, huh?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spoilers ahead! Because as I was reading this, as I finished this, I had Thoughts about how the story ended and my reactions were such that I had to take them down. Instead of a coherent review, you get just this because I can\u2019t even put how much I enjoyed this book into words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n