Reviews with content warning for Violence - We Free the Stars

4 ⭐ CW: violence, blood, oppression of women, death of a parent, abuse (physical and emotional), death

We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal is book two in the Sands of Arawiya duology. Lately, I've been disappointed by the second book of a duology, but not with this one! I will say it was a bit long and slow paced, but it was worth it for the ending our zumra got. Warning for potential We Hunt the Flame spoilers.

We follow up with the zumra after their escape from Sharr with the hearts only to realize they left Altair and one of the hearts behind. We see the consequences and struggle of Zafira after unwittingly binding herself to the Jawarat, a semi sentient magical book. The Jawarat is all chaos, darkness, and violence from it's time on Sharr, and tries controlling Zafira. A good chunk of this story is Zafira having an identity crisis, since without the Arz, she is no longer needed as the Hunter.

Nasir gets so much character growth! My grumpy, dark, abused boy is learning to feel his feelings and learning to let the zumra love him. I love his dynamic with Altair. They truly are two sides of a coin, darkness and light. We finally get povs from Altair! This guy would be fantastic at chess. He is ten steps ahead of everyone, which makes him seem like he's not always on the zumra's side. I love the twist between him and the Lion of the Night. Such layers. We even learn a bit of the Lion's backstory which gives us insight to why he seems revenge. It doesn't soften him as a villain, but does give motivation.

Lana, Zafira's little sister becomes a little healing badass, and we learn that Kifah is aroace! I do wish we had gotten to see more of the magic of the people and not just the Lion of the Night's. We do learn more about ifritkind, and we get messages about how oppression can make villains of the best of us. Nasir learns that he doesn't always have to kill to succeed.

As I said before, I do wish it hadn't been so slow at the beginning, but like book one, it really picks up in the last third. The ending was very satisfying, so I could finally stop yelling "just kiss already!" At Zafira and Nasir. Faizal's writing is so beautiful. Definitely worth the read.

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cortanasreadingnook's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? Yes

5.0

If I could give a book a 100-star rating, I will give it to this. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Sands of Arawiya but they changed my brain chemistry so bad. This book was so genuinely good! The tension and build of the plot like a string being pulled taut and you would have no idea what will happen next because everything in this book is unexpected. The characters captured my whole, entire being. I have no idea why I put this off for so long and I am truly regretful that I did. I would never forget how great of a writer Hafsah Faizal is because she’s now one of my auto-buy authors. I mean, no one can write that good? But this queen of a woman exists and she gave me nasirzafira. I would never be loved like that and it’s okay because at least this book has a happy ending and I would give all I have for a little novella with the characters who became a comfort I turned to. The little found family I discovered was very unique and yet they are an unforgettable group of people who saved each other by circumstance.

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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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julierambaeck's review against another edition

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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.

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gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

3.5

I liked this, wished that I loved it. I think that the characters were very lovable, I really like the core romance and the friendships from the first book. The descriptions still were great, drop you right into the world.

But, this was very slow, it meanders for the better part of the first half. The second half redeems the book for me, at least, in terms of actually getting on with the plot.

If you want a good slow burn fantasy-romance with cool world building based on Arabian legends, this duology would be a good one to try!

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justagirlwithbooks's review against another edition

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4.5

"Honor before heart, said the girl.
Delicacy fosters death, said the lion.
Destruction follows darkness, said the boy.
Power begets pain, said the king.
And the were all horribly right."

This book was leaps and bounds better than the first one. The pacing, the plot, the characters, the world... it all speaks for itself. The relationships and character development was truly something to be marveled. Especially the relationship between Nasir and Altair & Nasir and Zafira. This would have been a 5 star read if it wasn't for the last 15% of the book, where the ending felt really rushed, and I wish that Yasmine and Misk had gotten a bit more presence in the novel. Other than that, this book, this duology, is truly something special. The Arabian world, the language, the culture, it is all just absolutely breathtaking and gut-wrenching.

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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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joensign's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.5

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