Reviews

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

kellylou_35's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.75

cornelia_sl's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

zoeyjo's review against another edition

5.0

Rebellion, friendships, love, and a search for truth. I enjoyed the drama interwoven with action and character development.

snowwifereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

Dying to read the second book!

lizzielikesfrogs's review against another edition

3.75

the second half of this book made the whole book for me. 

the first 50% read more like a YA fantasy. the author describes everything, including everything each character is feeling, rather than simply showing the reader. i thought that a few events/reactions were a little idealised and unrealistic, and the writing wasn't quite doing it for me. however, once i was about halfway through, the pace picked up, the characters developed and the plot began to really unfold. 

i would read the other books!! there was also a lot of representation within the book. i especially liked the sign language, and hassa is my favourite character. there were a lot of classic fantasy tropes and plots, but it was enjoyable. and, ofc, there was a sapphic romance plot. i wasn't sold on anoor's character for a while, she didn't read like a real person, but she grew on me a lot. there were a good few plot twists and i did enjoy the second half a lot.

it did seem unrealistic that multiple characters managed to hide their real blood for 20+ years

kim_possibly_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.25

This would have been a 5 star for me if not for how the fatphobia was handled. I think it wasn't handled the best, though I think the author had good intentions from the way things were written for the most part. I'm willing to put it down to this being a debut, particularly given it occurred early in the book and the second half seemed to improve on its representation, in my opinion. This dodgy handling of this topic was in stark contrast to how well I thought everything else was done. I'm going to give the second book a read and see how it goes!

argonautics's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.25

leni_02's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

chlo_1708's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.25