Scan barcode
booksanna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
This book was a marvelous journey that brought the strongest emotions from the deepest crevices of my heart. This book had brought every heartwretching and soul-crushing theme together to bring the story of grief, of love, of light, of darkness, of abuse, of sorrow, of adventure, of companionship, and if magic. Saying I was not dissapointed is a major understatement. This book made me bawl my eyes out in one moment and burst out laughing in the next one Hafsa mam, I remember all the little remarks you made about Altair’s missing eye, and I cannnot recover at all. Lady you’re crazy, but i love your books. Also what was that moment when zumra was so broken and in the next line you dared to write “a camel snorted in the backround”. LIKE WHAT!. That was pure gold, do that again .
The characters were so developed and human. They felt like real immaginable characters that suffered and lived humanely. I loved Yasmene’s character and her friendship with Zafira. It felt so realistic and human, absolutely beautiful. I loved every single character and would write a whole paragraph for each. In fact, that is what i will do.
Zafira, the huntress, the fair gazelle, the main character. She is a marvel. Her passion to help those around her truly bled through every instance of her in the book. Her emotions and her titles were so well developed. Her pure heart truly stayed pure in the book filled with evil. I personally loved the fact that her relationship with Nasir and her position as a sultana was postponed. Oftentimes, after battle the main character reaches a happy ever after automatically without any troubles. This makes unrealistic. But Zafira is anything but unrealistic. Her fear of loosing Nasir, of the next calipha beeing discriminated against, of her beeing confined to a palace, these fears were so human and real. Her character development was so real and full of vurnability.
Nasir, the prince of death, the heir to the throne, the caliph of Sarasin. This guy is such a sweetheart. His character development was so fulfilling, I cried more than once just because of him. Realizing how far he has come from abuse shows that your abuse doesn’t define you. He is such an important character not just for Zafira’s development, but for the book’s development. He made this journey of restoring magic even more eventful and wholesome. I loved the ending if the book because the decision fit him so well. "People lived because he breathed" will always haunt me forever. So proud of him.
Yasmene was an unsusual character that i first was skeptical of. Now I realsie the importance of her in Zafira’s life and admire her strength even more. She truly added beauty to this book. Although her story didn’t start well, I know her life was meaningfull to Arawiya.
Altair, the son of none, the you know who. First of I love the way the neding mended him. It was truly the best choice for him to become the king. His light and story as always second deserved to end in glory. Even if he has one eye, he is glorious . His light and airy remarks were missed more than I expecyed and I loved the way the author played with his values in the book questioning his morals. Even the brightest people have the darkest moments. Also, can we appreciate the unending love he gave to almost everyone in the book. Like how kind can this man be? And how can he still joke while being shackled?
Kifah, one of the nine. She’s good very good. I love her character and her personality. She looked for vengeance and she found family. How beautiful is that. Her presence in the book was necessary and i lover bery much. Her character truly depicts a different kind of woman that doesn’t get represented a lot in ya literature and I appreciate her presence enhancing the story.
Anddddd the Jawarat. Nothing to say, except that Jarawat as a character was unexpected, but much needed. My personal favorite character.
Honorable mentions go to the random nurse lady, Aya, Jinan, Lana, Misk, Seif, Lion of the Night, Muzafar, and any other character that was too insignificant to receive a paragraph of writing. You guys were awesome too.
The setting, the plot, the ending, — flawless. I am speechless, and cannot describe in detail the mastery with which this book was written with.
The philosophy behind this was delectable. And the humor was good too.
In conclusion, I am not asking you to read this masterpiece (after reading the first one), I AM PLEADING WITH YOU. Please read this, for my and Arawiya’s sake, for Sultan’s teeth. You will not regret.
The characters were so developed and human. They felt like real immaginable characters that suffered and lived humanely. I loved Yasmene’s character and her friendship with Zafira. It felt so realistic and human, absolutely beautiful. I loved every single character and would write a whole paragraph for each. In fact, that is what i will do.
Zafira, the huntress, the fair gazelle, the main character. She is a marvel. Her passion to help those around her truly bled through every instance of her in the book. Her emotions and her titles were so well developed. Her pure heart truly stayed pure in the book filled with evil.
Nasir, the prince of death, the heir to the throne, the caliph of Sarasin. This guy is such a sweetheart. His character development was so fulfilling, I cried more than once just because of him. Realizing how far he has come from abuse shows that your abuse doesn’t define you. He is such an important character not just for Zafira’s development, but for the book’s development. He made this journey of restoring magic even more eventful and wholesome. I loved the ending if the book because the decision fit him so well. "People lived because he breathed" will always haunt me forever. So proud of him.
Yasmene was an unsusual character that i first was skeptical of. Now I realsie the importance of her in Zafira’s life and admire her strength even more. She truly added beauty to this book. Although her story didn’t start well, I know her life was meaningfull to Arawiya.
Altair, the son of none, the you know who. First of I love the way the neding mended him. It was truly the best choice for him
Kifah, one of the nine. She’s good very good. I love her character and her personality. She looked for vengeance and she found family. How beautiful is that. Her presence in the book was necessary and i lover bery much. Her character truly depicts a different kind of woman that doesn’t get represented a lot in ya literature and I appreciate her presence enhancing the story.
Anddddd the Jawarat. Nothing to say, except that Jarawat as a character was unexpected, but much needed. My personal favorite character.
Honorable mentions go to the random nurse lady, Aya, Jinan, Lana, Misk, Seif, Lion of the Night, Muzafar, and any other character that was too insignificant to receive a paragraph of writing. You guys were awesome too.
The setting, the plot, the ending, — flawless. I am speechless, and cannot describe in detail the mastery with which this book was written with.
The philosophy behind this was delectable. And the humor was good too.
In conclusion, I am not asking you to read this masterpiece (after reading the first one), I AM PLEADING WITH YOU. Please read this, for my and Arawiya’s sake, for Sultan’s teeth. You will not regret.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, War, Torture, Genocide, Blood, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
paigeinabook's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Moderate: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Addiction, Violence, Sexual content, and Child abuse
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
escapismforlife's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Altair deserved the ending he got in this duology and that's all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexism
More...