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coffeekitaab's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This was a rollercoaster ride - chapters 40ish onwards (all I'll say is the ceremony of all the leaders) is where this became a pageturner for me. I had been lulled into a false sense of security and leisurely reading at my own pace but then it became imperative to finish this book asap as I was struggling to put it down without knowing what happened next and then in the end!
Book 2 was incredible - Book 1 for comparison only was a slower read but in hindsight the introduction we needed before all the madness, action, drama and magic that unfolded in book 2. I adored the storyline and Altair is even more of a favourite after book 2, his trajectory in this book for me personally was gorgeous. His innuendos had me laughing out loud and his equation with Lana as a banter-ful duo was so fun to witness. Faizal did justice to stay true to the traits of each character, there were so many laugh out loud points, then I'd be riveted by emotion at tender moments within the characters, the loyalty of the zumra and the love between them was beautiful....I was then left in awe of the sudden plot twists which came out of nowhere and took my breath away. Simply, wow.
This is a 4.75 star for me - Nasir's hesitancy and indecisiveness in the beginning. I get it is his character and arguably, the 2nd half of the book left me vindicated but the guy is so frustrating at times. For all selfish purposes, I was also left wanting for something to happen between Yasmine and Altair - weirdly had picked up on some energy in the Epilogue of Book 1 and was craving it throughout Book 2, the suspense around their meeting left a void in me and as the writing is so brilliant, I knew that I would have loved this equation no matter what direction Faizal had taken with it/what that introduction would look like - the book would have absolutely been a five star for me! I have my fingers crossed for a book 3 with these two as the main characters...eek! In summary though, I want to congratulate Hafsah Faizal at penning this one down, an absolute mastermind in delivering a powerful, fierce, emotive and magical piece of writing. Kudos!!
After this and A Tempest of Tea, I am absolutely a fan - cannot wait for Faizal's next!
Book 2 was incredible - Book 1 for comparison only was a slower read but in hindsight the introduction we needed before all the madness, action, drama and magic that unfolded in book 2. I adored the storyline and Altair is even more of a favourite after book 2, his trajectory in this book for me personally was gorgeous. His innuendos had me laughing out loud and his equation with Lana as a banter-ful duo was so fun to witness. Faizal did justice to stay true to the traits of each character, there were so many laugh out loud points, then I'd be riveted by emotion at tender moments within the characters, the loyalty of the zumra and the love between them was beautiful....I was then left in awe of the sudden plot twists which came out of nowhere and took my breath away. Simply, wow.
This is a 4.75 star for me - Nasir's hesitancy and indecisiveness in the beginning. I get it is his character and arguably, the 2nd half of the book left me vindicated but the guy is so frustrating at times. For all selfish purposes, I was also left wanting for something to happen between Yasmine and Altair - weirdly had picked up on some energy in the Epilogue of Book 1 and was craving it throughout Book 2, the suspense around their meeting left a void in me and as the writing is so brilliant, I knew that I would have loved this equation no matter what direction Faizal had taken with it/what that introduction would look like - the book would have absolutely been a five star for me! I have my fingers crossed for a book 3 with these two as the main characters...eek! In summary though, I want to congratulate Hafsah Faizal at penning this one down, an absolute mastermind in delivering a powerful, fierce, emotive and magical piece of writing. Kudos!!
After this and A Tempest of Tea, I am absolutely a fan - cannot wait for Faizal's next!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Death, War, Blood, Body horror, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, and Grief
aas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Torture, Medical content, War, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Violence
julierambaeck's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I feel like this was 5 books in one. So much happened, and at times I got extremely confused.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Torture and Fire/Fire injury
shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, War, and Sexism
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Child death
cerilouisereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
bri__'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The last part of this book was great but I definitely found that alot of the middle was dragged and that caused me to take a week in completing this book. The writing is impeccable and the plot is insanely complex.
I loved Nasir so much throughout this series but I found Zafira to be a very complicated character to deal with due to her tendency to run away from her problems (being her relationship with Nasir). Yes there was some partial enemies to lovers in this duology but he fell in love with her during their time on Sharr so I wouldn't say it was that long a period of time. As stated already I did enjoy the ending, I'm just disappointed we didn't get to see more of the possible dynamic between Altair and Yasmine or the actual effect of magic among the community since we only got to see snippets.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, War, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content
Minor: Child death and Infertility
kinsportch's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Classism, Violence, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Child abuse, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery
therese_nook68's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
We Free the Stars was such a rollercoaster - and I'm still unsure whether that was a good thing or a not-so-good thing.
With the first book, I was worried that it would take me a long time to get interested in it. I thought it would be slow and a little tedious, but I was quickly proven wrong. It was fast-paced and there was always something interesting happening. There was fantastic chemistry (see: tension) between the protagonists, and the supporting cast was so intriguing. However, this sequel was everything I thought the first would be... and that wasn't great.
Unfortunately, it took me until I was over halfway through this book to actually begin getting interested in the story. It held a much slower pace and the chemistry/tension that was there before was so flat and almost unappealing because of Nasir's sudden obsession with Zafira. He went from fighting feelings to becoming like a little lost puppy that wanted to follow her wherever she went and get her attention no matter what. Maybe that would be cute in a romance book, but as the "Prince of Death" or whatever, it didn't seem fitting.
Just like with the first book, my interest was mostly in Altair. I'm still holding out hope that there will be a spin-off for him because he only became more intriguing as the story was spun. The twisty-turny ending had me all the more fascinated by him and what could happen in the future.
One thing that hit me in an odd way was how much of these books (but specifically this one) felt like an Arabian Shadow and Bone. I realize that people tend to compare almost every fantasy book to S&B, but I'm speaking from a very objective standpoint. Most of the time, I don't feel as though books are modeled after older fantasies, but this one definitely seemed that way. That being said, there was a lot about the similarities that I really liked, since the Grishaverse is actually my favorite collection of books. It just kind of struck me as odd every once in a while when I noticed something that was super similar.
I can't say that it was a truly phenomenal conclusion to the story, but I did really enjoy the very end and the way that it didn't try to wrap everything up too perfectly. I will also say that this book is filled with some breathtaking quotes. So, if you're looking for a duology that has interesting magic and great vibes, pick up the Sands of Arawiya.
With the first book, I was worried that it would take me a long time to get interested in it. I thought it would be slow and a little tedious, but I was quickly proven wrong. It was fast-paced and there was always something interesting happening. There was fantastic chemistry (see: tension) between the protagonists, and the supporting cast was so intriguing. However, this sequel was everything I thought the first would be... and that wasn't great.
Unfortunately, it took me until I was over halfway through this book to actually begin getting interested in the story. It held a much slower pace and the chemistry/tension that was there before was so flat and almost unappealing because of Nasir's sudden obsession with Zafira. He went from fighting feelings to becoming like a little lost puppy that wanted to follow her wherever she went and get her attention no matter what. Maybe that would be cute in a romance book, but as the "Prince of Death" or whatever, it didn't seem fitting.
Just like with the first book, my interest was mostly in Altair. I'm still holding out hope that there will be a spin-off for him because he only became more intriguing as the story was spun. The twisty-turny ending had me all the more fascinated by him and what could happen in the future.
One thing that hit me in an odd way was how much of these books (but specifically this one) felt like an Arabian Shadow and Bone. I realize that people tend to compare almost every fantasy book to S&B, but I'm speaking from a very objective standpoint. Most of the time, I don't feel as though books are modeled after older fantasies, but this one definitely seemed that way. That being said, there was a lot about the similarities that I really liked, since the Grishaverse is actually my favorite collection of books. It just kind of struck me as odd every once in a while when I noticed something that was super similar.
I can't say that it was a truly phenomenal conclusion to the story, but I did really enjoy the very end and the way that it didn't try to wrap everything up too perfectly. I will also say that this book is filled with some breathtaking quotes. So, if you're looking for a duology that has interesting magic and great vibes, pick up the Sands of Arawiya.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
lainiereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
BEST BOOK BEST BOOK BEST BOOK!!!!!!
Hafsah Faizal has knocked it out of the park with this one, oh my god. I already really loved We Hunt the Flame, and somehow this book was even better?? All of the characters were so great, and they each had so much depth- its impossible not to love the whole zumra. And the emotions this book made me feel???? UNMATCHED! I have never had a book make me feel as strongly as this one, like there were multiple times that I was beyond the point of crying and just wanted to VOMIT because I felt the grief and sadness of the characters as if it were my own. There was also so much happening, in every chapter there was either something dramatic happening, or it was clearly setting up for something dramatic to happen in the next chapter. I was NEVER bored.
OKAY ALSO THE ROMANCE! IT WAS SO CUTE AHHH I love Zafira and Nasir both so much, they are just perfect. The ways they describe their feelings for eachother?? Perfect. It was so poetic and beautiful, I don't know what could top it.
This book also handled the topic of grief really well. There are so many great quotes about death and loss, and I really appreciated how we got to see the characters talk to each other about their losses. It was very powerful and honest.
Last thing: I'm really glad we got to see more of Lana in this book. It was really interesting to see her character development, and I loved seeing Zafira's perspective of her change as she saw more of Lana's true self.
Okay, everyone go read this book!!! SO GOOD I will not be shutting up about it any time soon.
Hafsah Faizal has knocked it out of the park with this one, oh my god. I already really loved We Hunt the Flame, and somehow this book was even better?? All of the characters were so great, and they each had so much depth- its impossible not to love the whole zumra. And the emotions this book made me feel???? UNMATCHED! I have never had a book make me feel as strongly as this one, like there were multiple times that I was beyond the point of crying and just wanted to VOMIT because I felt the grief and sadness of the characters as if it were my own. There was also so much happening, in every chapter there was either something dramatic happening, or it was clearly setting up for something dramatic to happen in the next chapter. I was NEVER bored.
OKAY ALSO THE ROMANCE! IT WAS SO CUTE AHHH I love Zafira and Nasir both so much, they are just perfect. The ways they describe their feelings for eachother?? Perfect. It was so poetic and beautiful, I don't know what could top it.
This book also handled the topic of grief really well. There are so many great quotes about death and loss, and I really appreciated how we got to see the characters talk to each other about their losses. It was very powerful and honest.
Last thing: I'm really glad we got to see more of Lana in this book. It was really interesting to see her character development, and I loved seeing Zafira's perspective of her change as she saw more of Lana's true self.
Okay, everyone go read this book!!! SO GOOD I will not be shutting up about it any time soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Grief, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: War, Torture, Sexism, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Child abuse and Fire/Fire injury