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kinskinn'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
riley_ratatat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Suicide attempt, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny and Sexism
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
- 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
This book was an incredibly satisfying conclusion to the duology. The stakes were just high enough. The themes of grief and social change and reconciling the past with the future were executed brilliantly. The main characters all got the perfect ending. I especially loved what this book did with Nasir and Altair’s relationship and how it played into the directions they took at the end of the book.
Zafira and Yasmine’s friendship also went in some heartbreaking and realistic directions. They had to learn to navigate change and betrayal and figure out who they were able to be for each other in the future. It was lovely.
And I love Kifah. Just in general. She’s wonderful. I also think that she comes out as ace/aro in this book, but I had to read the page three times to confirm what was going on, and I’m still not totally sure that’s what was intended.
A lot of side characters also got some very nice bits of development in this book.
I was deeply frustrated by the romantic subplot at a lot of points in this book, mostly for personal taste reasons. They just spend far too much time refusing to communicate with each other, which makes sense for their characters, but I do find it a little bit silly that they both spend so much time thinking about how perfectly they understand each other but they don’t talk to each other for about three hundred pages. When they finally DO communicate, though, the payoff is worth it. I just didn’t feel as invested in their relationship in this book as in We Hunt the Flame even though it was much more of a focus here.
I think my main issue with this book is the pacing. It REALLY drags for a whole long section and then picks up again very gradually, and then the ending is very fast-paced and the climax and resolution happen pretty quickly.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend this duology to anyone looking for a mature YA fantasy (mature as in characters are older than in most YA and there are some complex themes but the content is very much PG-13) with intricate worldbuilding, a unique take on magic, an extremely compelling found family, and an enemies-to-lovers romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Misogyny
Minor: Child abuse
the_paperbackprincess's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Murder, and War
Grooming, Coerced Sexual Assault, Parental Abuse, Starvation mentioned, Eye Horror, Imprisonment, Mind Control, Chemical Warfarecemeterygay's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I absolutely adored this book but only one issue kept it from being a five star read for me. The pacing while all of the characters are in Sultan's keep before the big reveal with the Sultan is just way too slow for me. It was the only section where I legitimately struggled to pay attention to the book.
Setting that aside, I thought this was an amazing conclusion to the duology. A lot of depth that was needed for characters including for the main antagonist was finally provided. I like that the discussions of cycles of abuse and trauma were made way more explicit in a way I really enjoyed. I especially like how this book made discussions of sacrifice and morality way more prominent especially in Nasir's and Zafira's relationship.
I also genuinely enjoyed where both Nasir's and Zafira's characters were explored in this book and how they developed. Their relationship was so wonderful and I enjoyed how we got to the end of their romance arc. I especially liked the increased exploration of the relationship between Zafira and her sister and Nasir and his family.
I am intensely happy with how Altair's character developed in this book and the ending to his story is so intensely satisfying. He very quickly became one of my favorite characters in this book and so often I just wanted to give him a hug.
I love how the Lion of the Night develops as an antagonist and how his arc ultimately resolves. I love how we get to see added depth while still keeping him as a legitimately strong and imposing presence.
I also like how many of the side characters were given quite a bit more depth and exploration in this book.
We got a bit more worldbuilding but nothing compared to the first book but honestly that was fine for me because it didn't really feel necessary.
With the increased complexity of the themes in this book, the vivid writing style was really allowed to shine in this book. I also really enjoyed the conclusion of this book and I enjoyed how everything resolved.
This was an intensely satisfying conclusion and I'm happy I can recommend these books as a great duology.
Setting that aside, I thought this was an amazing conclusion to the duology. A lot of depth that was needed for characters including for the main antagonist was finally provided. I like that the discussions of cycles of abuse and trauma were made way more explicit in a way I really enjoyed. I especially like how this book made discussions of sacrifice and morality way more prominent especially in Nasir's and Zafira's relationship.
I also genuinely enjoyed where both Nasir's and Zafira's characters were explored in this book and how they developed. Their relationship was so wonderful and I enjoyed how we got to the end of their romance arc. I especially liked the increased exploration of the relationship between Zafira and her sister and Nasir and his family.
I am intensely happy with how Altair's character developed in this book and the ending to his story is so intensely satisfying. He very quickly became one of my favorite characters in this book and so often I just wanted to give him a hug.
I love how the Lion of the Night develops as an antagonist and how his arc ultimately resolves. I love how we get to see added depth while still keeping him as a legitimately strong and imposing presence.
I also like how many of the side characters were given quite a bit more depth and exploration in this book.
We got a bit more worldbuilding but nothing compared to the first book but honestly that was fine for me because it didn't really feel necessary.
With the increased complexity of the themes in this book, the vivid writing style was really allowed to shine in this book. I also really enjoyed the conclusion of this book and I enjoyed how everything resolved.
This was an intensely satisfying conclusion and I'm happy I can recommend these books as a great duology.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Torture, Gore, Grief, Violence, and War
Minor: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
solouncapitulomas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
5.0
“We’re a zumra. We hunted the flame together, found the light in the darkness, but we were far from done, laa? Now we unleash it. We free the stars, shatter the darkness holding us captive, and return the world to the splendor it once was.”
This book was just, wow. People said it was better than the first one but I was dubious in the begging...what a dumb bitch I was, I truly lived up to the hype and I am so glad I read it now, books like these should be getting adaptation and more hype (instead of a certain culture appropriator I will not even mention), I will forever hunt for the feelings I had while reading this book. Sometimes I think I outgrew ya fantasy or ya in general and then books like these two come and I realize this might never happened fully, as long as I can keep finding jewels like Sands of Arawiya I will continue to reading young adult and enjoyed it. And yes I did scream with the one bed trope in this book, I am simple like that. Deal with it y'all
Some quotes I enjoyed a lot:
“Sacrifice was nothing but death in a romantic farce. ”
“How long did one have to live before death became a wish?”
“There was a kind of sand, rare in the desert, that appeared as harmless as normal sand until it sank beneath one’s feet, swallowing the unsuspecting, worsening the longer they struggled, loosening its grip only when they did the opposite. That was how grief was. The longer one wallowed, the more it hungered.”
“Or perhaps that was the greater evil, having power in your hands but being powerless to alter a reality.”
“The moon crowned her in starlight and cloaked her in magic. The stars faded in envy of her radiance. There truly was nothing—no one—more beautiful.”
“Wrath and rage burn quick as fire. Vengeance is the only fuel you can keep going for more than a century. The longer it takes, the sweeter the revenge.”
“It was easy to believe that anyone who did not speak of suffering did not suffer.”
“Carving out one’s heart for a stranger and wishing for theirs in return is no easy feat.”
“Only few can look at a monster and see its humanity.”
“Perhaps worse than abuse was waking up to the fact. The realization, striking and unmooring, that the norm one had lived was not at all normal.”
“Why was it that victories were forever riddled with loss?”
“Power once rested in their hands, wealth adorned every angle of their sight. None of them remembered the shroud has no pockets.”
“To live was to swear the oath of death.”
“Wars could wage and swords could cut and arrows could pierce. None of them compared to the pain of a well-poised word.”
“They say the soul cannot rest until it finds its match. Then it ignites.”
“We were not born to fight, but our cradles were built from struggles and hardship. Pens, swords, sticks—weapons shoved into our fists as soon as we’re old enough to grasp them. So we fight, because the world will cut our throats otherwise. We fight, because we won’t go down without one.”
“Hope was the beast that could never be slain, the light that blazed in every harrowing dark.”
“Knowing you can lose something is what makes it more precious.”
I was listening to Yellow Filler Beat & Glory And Gore by Lorde while writing this review
'kay, I'm out
Bye
This book was just, wow. People said it was better than the first one but I was dubious in the begging...what a dumb bitch I was, I truly lived up to the hype and I am so glad I read it now, books like these should be getting adaptation and more hype (instead of a certain culture appropriator I will not even mention), I will forever hunt for the feelings I had while reading this book. Sometimes I think I outgrew ya fantasy or ya in general and then books like these two come and I realize this might never happened fully, as long as I can keep finding jewels like Sands of Arawiya I will continue to reading young adult and enjoyed it. And yes I did scream with the one bed trope in this book, I am simple like that. Deal with it y'all
Some quotes I enjoyed a lot:
“Sacrifice was nothing but death in a romantic farce. ”
“How long did one have to live before death became a wish?”
“There was a kind of sand, rare in the desert, that appeared as harmless as normal sand until it sank beneath one’s feet, swallowing the unsuspecting, worsening the longer they struggled, loosening its grip only when they did the opposite. That was how grief was. The longer one wallowed, the more it hungered.”
“Or perhaps that was the greater evil, having power in your hands but being powerless to alter a reality.”
“The moon crowned her in starlight and cloaked her in magic. The stars faded in envy of her radiance. There truly was nothing—no one—more beautiful.”
“Wrath and rage burn quick as fire. Vengeance is the only fuel you can keep going for more than a century. The longer it takes, the sweeter the revenge.”
“It was easy to believe that anyone who did not speak of suffering did not suffer.”
“Carving out one’s heart for a stranger and wishing for theirs in return is no easy feat.”
“Only few can look at a monster and see its humanity.”
“Perhaps worse than abuse was waking up to the fact. The realization, striking and unmooring, that the norm one had lived was not at all normal.”
“Why was it that victories were forever riddled with loss?”
“Power once rested in their hands, wealth adorned every angle of their sight. None of them remembered the shroud has no pockets.”
“To live was to swear the oath of death.”
“Wars could wage and swords could cut and arrows could pierce. None of them compared to the pain of a well-poised word.”
“They say the soul cannot rest until it finds its match. Then it ignites.”
“We were not born to fight, but our cradles were built from struggles and hardship. Pens, swords, sticks—weapons shoved into our fists as soon as we’re old enough to grasp them. So we fight, because the world will cut our throats otherwise. We fight, because we won’t go down without one.”
“Hope was the beast that could never be slain, the light that blazed in every harrowing dark.”
“Knowing you can lose something is what makes it more precious.”
I was listening to Yellow Filler Beat & Glory And Gore by Lorde while writing this review
'kay, I'm out
Bye
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny
Minor: Child abuse
martynelson's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Misogyny
michellemaas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
I loved it!
I'm going to start by saying that We Free the Stars is one of the most quotable books I have read to date. Hafsah Faizal has such a beautiful way with words and that alone deserves a star before any other factors are even considered.
Another thing that is super close to my heart: asexual representation. In recent years the entertainment industry has come a long way in terms of representing the LGBTQ+ community but despite seeing a bunch of cute lesbian and gay couples, I NEVER see any asexual characters (or it isn't outright mentioned/discussed). Oftentimes characters are thrown into unnecessary relationships since romance is a huge driving point and I appreciate that Hafsah Faizal made Kifah an interesting and alluring character without needing to put her in a romantic relationship. The way she described asexuality was also so good.
Next there's Nasir and Zafira. One of my main critiques for the previous book was how Zafira and Nasir got over their qualms of each other without any real explanation for why. It was purely based on lust, Zafira being emotionally stunted after the death of her friend and Nasir latching onto the first person to show him affection. I am so happy that Hafsah Faizal deepened their relationship in the sequel. We got to see that slow-burn that she was going for in the first book because their relationship had to fester from lust to love. It was a beautiful journey (even if the beginning was a little questionable). Also, that ending. We all saw it coming but when I tell you I was a pile of squishy feels . . . just perfect.
The last relationship-related point I want to make is about Yasmine and Misk. I know I sound repetitive but I loved and appreciated that Yasmine was not magically fine at the end of the book. The author "sacrificed" a perfect ending that was wrapped up with a neat little bow to show that grief does not go away because other things in your life get better.
Then, I enjoyed The Lion of the Night as a villain. He was not purely a monster and while the author made it clear that his tragic past did not justify his actions, it gave us a better insight into him as a character.
Lastly, I want to shout out all the side characters like Altair, Lana, Yasmine, etc. My version of this book was 700-odd pages (as opposed to the 400/500-something of the first book) and I was apprehensive since a longer book doesn't always equal a better book. While I still don't know if all 700 pages were necessary, I am glad that the author went for a little bit of a longer book to explore the development and fleshing-out of the side characters. I feel that my reading experience was thoroughly enhanced by the fact that I had more knowledge of the side characters than an off-handed description as most other novels do.
I'm going to start by saying that We Free the Stars is one of the most quotable books I have read to date. Hafsah Faizal has such a beautiful way with words and that alone deserves a star before any other factors are even considered.
Another thing that is super close to my heart: asexual representation. In recent years the entertainment industry has come a long way in terms of representing the LGBTQ+ community but despite seeing a bunch of cute lesbian and gay couples, I NEVER see any asexual characters (or it isn't outright mentioned/discussed). Oftentimes characters are thrown into unnecessary relationships since romance is a huge driving point and I appreciate that Hafsah Faizal made Kifah an interesting and alluring character without needing to put her in a romantic relationship. The way she described asexuality was also so good.
Next there's Nasir and Zafira. One of my main critiques for the previous book was how Zafira and Nasir got over their qualms of each other without any real explanation for why. It was purely based on lust, Zafira being emotionally stunted after the death of her friend and Nasir latching onto the first person to show him affection. I am so happy that Hafsah Faizal deepened their relationship in the sequel. We got to see that slow-burn that she was going for in the first book because their relationship had to fester from lust to love. It was a beautiful journey (even if the beginning was a little questionable). Also, that ending. We all saw it coming but when I tell you I was a pile of squishy feels . . . just perfect.
The last relationship-related point I want to make is about Yasmine and Misk. I know I sound repetitive but I loved and appreciated that Yasmine was not magically fine at the end of the book. The author "sacrificed" a perfect ending that was wrapped up with a neat little bow to show that grief does not go away because other things in your life get better.
Then, I enjoyed The Lion of the Night as a villain. He was not purely a monster and while the author made it clear that his tragic past did not justify his actions, it gave us a better insight into him as a character.
Lastly, I want to shout out all the side characters like Altair, Lana, Yasmine, etc. My version of this book was 700-odd pages (as opposed to the 400/500-something of the first book) and I was apprehensive since a longer book doesn't always equal a better book. While I still don't know if all 700 pages were necessary, I am glad that the author went for a little bit of a longer book to explore the development and fleshing-out of the side characters. I feel that my reading experience was thoroughly enhanced by the fact that I had more knowledge of the side characters than an off-handed description as most other novels do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Animal death and Slavery
hayy6747's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
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