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andatherrin's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Sexism, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent and Misogyny
rhm04's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Sexism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child death
kaylamdean1's review against another edition
adventurous
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse
charmingreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
4.0
okay, so, i just finished this book. at like 2 in the morning. it’s great! the characters are really well developed and interesting! altair is by far my favorite character. i love his personality and humor. the plot twists were nice too! i only guessed two of them and even then they were still surprising! i definitely recommend this book if you like slow-burn enemies to lovers, fantasy, and a diverse cast of characters!!
age rating: 15+
age rating: 15+
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Child death
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? No
4.5
4.5 ⭐ CW: oppression of women, violence, murder, descriptions of blood, slavery, child abuse, death of a parent, death of a child, torture
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal is the first book in the Sands of Arawiya duology. This is a secondary fantasy world inspired by ancient Arabia, so it is chock full of Arabian lore and mythology.
We get two POVs; Zafira, the Huntress hiding her identity as a woman and who is drawn to the darkness of the Arz and the only person know to come out of it after going in; Nasir (aka the Prince of Death), the son of the sultan destined for darkness and a trained assassin known as Hashashin. They both embark on a journey where they become unwitting allies, and the slowest of slow burn romances.
This started out slow, but started to pick up when they both set sail for Sharr, the island that holds to the secret to restoring magic to the land and easing the suffering of its people. This was a great heroes journey story complete with a dynamic and loveable zumra (gang). It sort of reminded me of an Arabian version of The Lord of the Rings. It was great seeing the friendship blossom between the zumra. We see what potential people can have when taken from their comfort zones.
Zafira is a badass that has no time for anyone's shit and will not be cowed by Nasir. However, Zafira suffers from thinking love is for children and not for her. Nasir is our resident grumpy boy who really just needs a hug and some major therapy. Unsurprisingly, Altair was my favorite. He's our comic relief and the annoyingly charming guy always flirting with everyone, but also has all the secrets (they may live in his turban lol). We get themes on love and how it is not a weakness, but can provide direction.
I guessed one of the twists early on, but not the second one! This was a rich and lyrical story with great world building and an interesting magic system. I really loved Yasmine, even though she was only in the first couple chapters, so I hope we get more of her next book.
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal is the first book in the Sands of Arawiya duology. This is a secondary fantasy world inspired by ancient Arabia, so it is chock full of Arabian lore and mythology.
We get two POVs; Zafira, the Huntress hiding her identity as a woman and who is drawn to the darkness of the Arz and the only person know to come out of it after going in; Nasir (aka the Prince of Death), the son of the sultan destined for darkness and a trained assassin known as Hashashin. They both embark on a journey where they become unwitting allies, and the slowest of slow burn romances.
This started out slow, but started to pick up when they both set sail for Sharr, the island that holds to the secret to restoring magic to the land and easing the suffering of its people. This was a great heroes journey story complete with a dynamic and loveable zumra (gang). It sort of reminded me of an Arabian version of The Lord of the Rings. It was great seeing the friendship blossom between the zumra. We see what potential people can have when taken from their comfort zones.
Zafira is a badass that has no time for anyone's shit and will not be cowed by Nasir. However, Zafira suffers from thinking love is for children and not for her. Nasir is our resident grumpy boy who really just needs a hug and some major therapy. Unsurprisingly, Altair was my favorite. He's our comic relief and the annoyingly charming guy always flirting with everyone, but also has all the secrets (they may live in his turban lol). We get themes on love and how it is not a weakness, but can provide direction.
I guessed one of the twists early on, but not the second one! This was a rich and lyrical story with great world building and an interesting magic system. I really loved Yasmine, even though she was only in the first couple chapters, so I hope we get more of her next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Animal death
sydapel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-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? No
3.5
As much as I want to rate this higher, this story left a LOT to be desired. While the writing is beautifully lyrical, it leaves a lot of the character subtlety and growth underdeveloped. The characters are rich with potential, but there's a lot of repetitive introspection. Ultimately this is still a wonderful YA Fantasy, but not as cohesive as some of the others I've read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Grief
ssuummeerrn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.75
This book took me a while to read. I was not into it at first, but that’s on me because I do find the beginning of fantasy books boring. I totally understand the need for the extensive world building and explaining a magic system. However, for me, that part isn’t enjoyable and it takes me forever to read! I also felt like it was a little bit long for this book.
With that being said, I read Act 3 in 1 day! The ending was super exciting! It had many plot twists, and everyone knows that I love plot twists more than anything! The long explanation at the beginning was totally worth it for that last 100 pages!!
With that being said, I read Act 3 in 1 day! The ending was super exciting! It had many plot twists, and everyone knows that I love plot twists more than anything! The long explanation at the beginning was totally worth it for that last 100 pages!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Sexism and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent and War
wet_towlette's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Bare with me here because I have many complaints. I would like to preface this by saying I went into this book expecting to really love it because it’s seems to be right up my alley. It was really disappointing when I realized I didn’t. I also want to say although I will be listing a lot of criticisms, there are good things about this book. The writing is very lyrical and the entire world is quite fascinating. With that being said something about it really didn’t work with me. But I do believe the second book will most likely be better.
I will now be listing all my issues with this book because it’s probably the briefest way I can explain:
-too info dumping for my liking
-characters inner monologues are greatly repetitive, especially in the beginning
-the writing can be very confusing and I felt like I didn’t know what was going half the time
-the relationship with deen and zafira had so much potential to be something greater then it was
-romance is very forced (albeit interesting if you can look past how forced it is)
-idk if anyone knows what I’m talking about but the three line sentence break up things drives me crazy. It happens on many occasions and is terrible every single time
-this is more of a personal issue but the characters are so hypocritical and it really bothers me
-the entirety of the beginning of act three just felt very rushed and out of place
-the characters don’t feel like real people. Like the way the react to things or do things after hardships. They just feel like words on a paper.
I will now be listing all my issues with this book because it’s probably the briefest way I can explain:
-too info dumping for my liking
-characters inner monologues are greatly repetitive, especially in the beginning
-the writing can be very confusing and I felt like I didn’t know what was going half the time
-the relationship with deen and zafira had so much potential to be something greater then it was
-romance is very forced (albeit interesting if you can look past how forced it is)
-idk if anyone knows what I’m talking about but the three line sentence break up things drives me crazy. It happens on many occasions and is terrible every single time
-this is more of a personal issue but the characters are so hypocritical and it really bothers me
-the entirety of the beginning of act three just felt very rushed and out of place
-the characters don’t feel like real people. Like the way the react to things or do things after hardships. They just feel like words on a paper.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, and Fire/Fire injury
gmoneyyyyy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, War, Violence, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcohol
beckysrlyacat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Torture