Reviews with content warning for Torture - We Hunt the Flame

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

113 reviews

elislittlelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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

I loved this book so, so much! Especially after the first introduction, I was really invested in the story and the characters alike. The dual POV was also a nice addition, because you get to know the characters and their thoughts more closely.
Now, this is YA and while there is romance, there is no smut. I’m personally not a huge fan of smut, so i didn’t miss anything (more on the contrary, actually), but just fyi!
One of the best parts, besides the story and the world, were the characters, mainly the female characters. I enjoyed having strong female characters that navigated a world that is (partially) misogynistic. Also- there was no “not like other girls” or battles between women, just empowerment without rivalry.
And, another thing- the descriptions of characters appearance felt really sophisticated. Not unrealistic, but also not downputting or anything. And there was a certain fluidity, the FMC having some more “masculine” features like broad shoulders, etc. Refreshing to read and encouraging to read in a YA book!

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taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

4.25

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mattyb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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yvonne_does's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.5

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ncoletti's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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tinyy's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Some of the writing in this book is gorgeous. I really mean it.

Spoiler-free examples:

“But he was the Prince of Death, Amir al-Maut, as his mother had once called him in the old tongue, and good night always felt like goodbye.” P. 303

“Somewhere in the distance, a bird cried. Zafira couldn’t breathe past the delight expanding in her chest.” P. 318

But most of the writing is, in my opinion, akin to Tumblr poetry circa 2012. And it’s so repetitive.

Spoiler-free examples:

“She was going mad. She was the daughter of a madwoman, the daughter of a madman. Madness lived in her blood. That was the only explanation for this.” P. 187

“I have

to get out of

the way.” P. 222

(Yes, it’s really formatted like that. This occurs several more times.)

“She needed to lie down. What was she, an old man? She didn’t need to lie down.” P. 250

Examples with spoilers:

”She didn’t need the others, the shadows reminded her.” P. 250

“Sometimes their surroundings mimicked her thoughts, wilting and wavering before she blinked and everything righted. The darkness was always happy to see her.” P. 299

(Also on page 299, we see the phrases “Weariness and wariness,” and “trekked and tracked.” Someone was feeling alliterative.)

And the worst offender: “She wanted Nasir to kill the Lion. His mother wanted him to kill the lion. She believed he could kill the Lion.” P. 418

Because this is already fairly lengthy, I won’t get into my opinions of the characters, the romance, the plot, or the world-building. To sum it up: I don’t like it. The one shining light was the Arabic. Habibi is my favorite term of endearment and one we should be using more.

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miagic_tome's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

I can’t believe I let this book sit on my TBR for so long, I loved it! So well written, and the two narrators did an amazing job reading. I thought the world building was great and the characters were so unique and interesting. Onto the second!

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