Reviews tagging 'Murder'

We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal

46 reviews

niclantsov's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

 Two words: Nasir Ghameq

Where should I start? Honestly I couldn't put my words into it.

The sequel was by far better than the first one, the story progressively getting interesting and the characters really do have a special place in my heart. I always love a founding family trope and this one nailed it perfectly, you've got the banter, the romance, the emotional impact (parfait *chef's kiss), and everything you could've hoped for in a founding family book.

The characters flaws and fears really showcased in this book, and it was really moving to read. Especially Nasir, for he was still haunted by his father's shadow. And of course Zafira and the uncertainty of her future, she no longer become the huntress because the whimsical forest that made her her is gone. So, throughout the book we follow their characters complexity. Then ending was what I would hope for and better.

 "Did the stars fall from the sky to adorn you in their luster? No–liquid silver. You are the well that forged every blade in the world"

It has been so long since I felt this way, I thought romance's dead, but it rekindled when I read this. You see, after reading Romantasy (and the rise of the Romantasy wave)I feel that I never would experience a fantasy book with just having romance as a subplot again, and for a moment I forgot why I fell in love with fantasy genre in the first place. It's like after reading tons of Romantasy it just overwhelms you, you know, and it somehow made my reading experience lessen (especially in fantasy genre). Hence I seek the oldest book on my TBR, and this was it, and I fell in love with fantasy again. This has a minute (my-NOOT) romance element but in an old fashion slow burn way, and that made it really good.

This has the slowest of the slowest slow burn, I mean the angst and the yearning was so so good. And also I love the fact that this is not as a forced proximity as the first book, it came naturally. I lost count on how many times Nasir Bloody Ghameq made me blush, I felt like an idiot.

It's is also beautifully, lyrically, poetically written. Well done Hafsah Faizal, can't wait to read Tempest of Tea now!! 

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camiclarkbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

Exquisitely written book, Hafsah Faizal has true talent. 

On an unrelated note, there were a lot of instances where a character gave a two finger salute and jogged backwards. Which seems very specific to me. 

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aas's review against another edition

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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


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ejspiese's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I think a lot of the romance aspect was too drawn out and repetitive. I just found myself screaming I GET IT especially for the first 60%. The action elements toward the end were redeeming, but it could have been 150 pages less and be better for it if there was less moodiness/longing regarding the romance 

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sammuraichan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.75


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booksanna's review against another edition

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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.


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tinysierra's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Hafsah Faizal said, “here, you can have pain and suffering at every corner.” She took us for a ride with this one. 

Did someone order slow burn?
It’s not my favorite trope personally, but there was no denying it was really well done. 

Faizal writes such strong romantic and platonic bonds between characters. The way she writes about love… Whew. So many quotable moments. Also… casual aromantic representation in fantasy? Yes, please. 

Again, I love all the characters. The zurma. Altair truly is the embodiment of sunshine. I laughed out loud so much at all their banter. 

I think to truly appreciate this book in full, I’ll need to reread it after I’ve processed all that happened. It was good. I’m glad it was a duology instead of a trilogy. 

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shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition

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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


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angelsfw's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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


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maple_dove's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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

5.0

In my humble opinion, this book did not fall into the pit of sequel in a trilogy/duology syndrome (I forgot what it's called). I'm stuck between rating this 4.75 or 5 stars. I chose the latter.

This book just made me love the characters and the world even more. I binged this book in two days.

There's also aroace rep! It's nice to not have every character to have a romantic love interest. :)

I didn't write any quotes down, however, there are a lot of good quotes in this book.

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