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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
The only thing I didn’t like was the super slow beginning.
This book also verrry much reminded me of the movie Raya, lol.
This book also verrry much reminded me of the movie Raya, lol.
This is tropey and a bit predictable, but I enjoyed the heck out of it all the same.
adventurous
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
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF @ 55%
Enjoyed the first part, then as soon as the POV's came together it became completely insufferable. I've never had an experience with a book where it does so downhill so quickly. What was an intriguing set up became a generic YA fantasy in one chapter.
Enjoyed the first part, then as soon as the POV's came together it became completely insufferable. I've never had an experience with a book where it does so downhill so quickly. What was an intriguing set up became a generic YA fantasy in one chapter.
adventurous
funny
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:
Complicated
“There is a certain beauty in chaos, magnificence in the uncontrollable.”
Embarking on a dangerous quest to restore magic to the once-prosperous kingdom of Arawiya, the Arz Hunter, Zafira bint Iskindar disguises herself as a man to serve her caliphate by traversing the deadly Arz forest to feed her starving brethren. Bidding farewell to her beloved family and friends in Demenhur, one of the five great caliphates of Arawiya, Zafira, despite her youth, is no stranger to perilous expeditions. Parallel to Zafira’s own journey, the Prince of Death, Nasir Ghameq, is also sent on the quest by his abusive father—the kingdom’s Sultan—with the caveat that he must slay the Arz Hunter (or Huntress), to render his mission complete.
“If you want me obedient, Prince, kill me and carry my corpse.”
The first few chapters set the scene by explaining the history of Arawiya, describing how each caliphate once provided a unique function to the kingdom via magic bestowed on them by the Six Sisters. Once the magic that held the kingdom together was depleted, the caliphates were divided, slowly encroached on by the eerie Arz, and burdened with a wicked curse, making life almost unbearable. The Arz—and Zafira’s mystical connection to it—is a major plot point in the book, but only for the first half. Unfortunately, it is swiftly and conveniently rendered all but irrelevant for the rest of the book. When it was referenced towards the end, I realised I’d forgotten all about it. I’m not sure why it was depicted as such a threatening and ominous entity if all it took to get rid of it (albeit temporarily) was the wave of a hand. It’s quite disappointing because after describing it in such detail, I was really looking forward to reading how the other characters (specifically Nasir and Altair) would’ve traversed the Arz, having no prior experience and possibly succumbing to its evil.
This brings me on to my next point about the journey – trudging through Sharr.
The chapters detailing this were very long and very boring. Despite this being the majority of the book, there was very little action bar short and anticlimactic skirmishes with ifrit. If this had been split up, such that half the journey was the Arz and half Sharr, it would’ve been a much more enticing read. The slowness is a major detractor for this book. It only really picks up after the 100-page mark when the history lesson on Arawiya and Zafira and Nasir’s tragic backstories are relayed at length.
I appreciate that world-building is difficult, but I failed to find the book engaging on almost all levels. The plot, in theory, was intriguing—I loved the concept of restoring magic to a deteriorating kingdom and the characters having innate/dormant powers (jismi/ensuri), but the writing was really quite poor, inconsistent and overall, incredibly disengaging. Scenes that should’ve been short and snappy were unnecessarily prolonged, and scenes that would have actually benefitted from more detail and elaboration were disappointingly short.
This book came across as an Arabised The Hunger Games meets Throne of Glass. Zafira and Katniss in particular had a lot of similarities in terms of temperament, family dynamics, affinity with archery and the whole love triangle. It didn’t really come across as unique and Zafira as this strong independent girl boss character just felt two-dimensional and flat. In fact, there was very little character development overall and I didn’t really take to any of them bar Altair for his wit and banterous side-kick energy. Nasir and Zafira often felt like two sides of the same coin, and not in a good way. Whilst I did sympathise with Nasir for his poor treatment by his father, he had little to no redeeming qualities and I wasn’t particularly taken by the plot twists regarding his mother, Altair etc. The interactions and dialogue between the characters were unnatural and felt pretty contrived. Nasir’s ill-timed and out-of-character innuendos had me cringing, and his interactions with Zafira weren’t as exciting as I’d anticipated, there was no chemistry whatsoever.
Enemies to lovers, where? I’m still looking.
To elaborate on what I previously called the ‘Arabisation’ of the novel, although I did appreciate the Arabic (or ‘Safaitic’) words thrown in here and there to assist with the world-building, at times it felt a bit excessive and unnecessary. The word ‘kharra’ was smeared on every other page which really put me off, and as someone with familiarity of Arabic I occasionally struggled with remembering meanings. I can imagine it being even harder for those who don’t know Arabic at all.
To finish on a positive note (!), the imagery and descriptions of the different lands were beautifully vivid.
“Night feathered the horizon, painting the skies a blend of charcoal and winterberries, while a smattering of stars winked and danced in shy greeting.”
“Glorious slants of gold shone on the green foliage ahead of here, where a path unfurled in the stillness. Colourful flowers spread petals, coaxing her near with soft chimes. Be free, Huntress.” (p250)
Other quotes I really liked include:
“Death will be her companion. He’s kept her safe all this time. Why stop now?” (p94)
“Death is the one thing certain in human life. Why does it still come as a surprise when it happens?” (p253)
“There is freedom in knowing you’re dead. When you’re a specter no one can touch.” (p284)
“We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the good this world deserves.” (p285)
I also liked the short chapter length (but maybe this was to give the illusion that I’d get through the book quicker…). The banter between characters actually had me laughing out loud a few times, too. I do wish this could make up for how poor the dialogue as a whole was, though.
Overall, I blame myself for having high hopes. Actually, no I don’t. I blame the internet for once again hyping and praising a book which ultimately does not deserve it. I think a large part of why this book is so praised and celebrated is because the author is a visibly Muslim woman – and a niqabi at that. We genuinely love to see Muslim women approaching genres that have otherwise remained untouched but please, can we be honest with ourselves and write constructive reviews to genuinely help and support writers. The author clearly has brilliant ideas and a wonderfully creative mind, but the stories need to be better thought out.
Lastly, I don’t know about anyone else, but the font was tiny in my copy, so I’ll be contacting the publishers to fund my eye test at Specsavers.
2/5
Embarking on a dangerous quest to restore magic to the once-prosperous kingdom of Arawiya, the Arz Hunter, Zafira bint Iskindar disguises herself as a man to serve her caliphate by traversing the deadly Arz forest to feed her starving brethren. Bidding farewell to her beloved family and friends in Demenhur, one of the five great caliphates of Arawiya, Zafira, despite her youth, is no stranger to perilous expeditions. Parallel to Zafira’s own journey, the Prince of Death, Nasir Ghameq, is also sent on the quest by his abusive father—the kingdom’s Sultan—with the caveat that he must slay the Arz Hunter (or Huntress), to render his mission complete.
“If you want me obedient, Prince, kill me and carry my corpse.”
The first few chapters set the scene by explaining the history of Arawiya, describing how each caliphate once provided a unique function to the kingdom via magic bestowed on them by the Six Sisters. Once the magic that held the kingdom together was depleted, the caliphates were divided, slowly encroached on by the eerie Arz, and burdened with a wicked curse, making life almost unbearable. The Arz—and Zafira’s mystical connection to it—is a major plot point in the book, but only for the first half. Unfortunately, it is swiftly and conveniently rendered all but irrelevant for the rest of the book. When it was referenced towards the end, I realised I’d forgotten all about it. I’m not sure why it was depicted as such a threatening and ominous entity if all it took to get rid of it (albeit temporarily) was the wave of a hand. It’s quite disappointing because after describing it in such detail, I was really looking forward to reading how the other characters (specifically Nasir and Altair) would’ve traversed the Arz, having no prior experience and possibly succumbing to its evil.
This brings me on to my next point about the journey – trudging through Sharr.
The chapters detailing this were very long and very boring. Despite this being the majority of the book, there was very little action bar short and anticlimactic skirmishes with ifrit. If this had been split up, such that half the journey was the Arz and half Sharr, it would’ve been a much more enticing read. The slowness is a major detractor for this book. It only really picks up after the 100-page mark when the history lesson on Arawiya and Zafira and Nasir’s tragic backstories are relayed at length.
I appreciate that world-building is difficult, but I failed to find the book engaging on almost all levels. The plot, in theory, was intriguing—I loved the concept of restoring magic to a deteriorating kingdom and the characters having innate/dormant powers (jismi/ensuri), but the writing was really quite poor, inconsistent and overall, incredibly disengaging. Scenes that should’ve been short and snappy were unnecessarily prolonged, and scenes that would have actually benefitted from more detail and elaboration were disappointingly short.
This book came across as an Arabised The Hunger Games meets Throne of Glass. Zafira and Katniss in particular had a lot of similarities in terms of temperament, family dynamics, affinity with archery and the whole love triangle. It didn’t really come across as unique and Zafira as this strong independent girl boss character just felt two-dimensional and flat. In fact, there was very little character development overall and I didn’t really take to any of them bar Altair for his wit and banterous side-kick energy. Nasir and Zafira often felt like two sides of the same coin, and not in a good way. Whilst I did sympathise with Nasir for his poor treatment by his father, he had little to no redeeming qualities and I wasn’t particularly taken by the plot twists regarding his mother, Altair etc. The interactions and dialogue between the characters were unnatural and felt pretty contrived. Nasir’s ill-timed and out-of-character innuendos had me cringing, and his interactions with Zafira weren’t as exciting as I’d anticipated, there was no chemistry whatsoever.
Enemies to lovers, where? I’m still looking.
To elaborate on what I previously called the ‘Arabisation’ of the novel, although I did appreciate the Arabic (or ‘Safaitic’) words thrown in here and there to assist with the world-building, at times it felt a bit excessive and unnecessary. The word ‘kharra’ was smeared on every other page which really put me off, and as someone with familiarity of Arabic I occasionally struggled with remembering meanings. I can imagine it being even harder for those who don’t know Arabic at all.
To finish on a positive note (!), the imagery and descriptions of the different lands were beautifully vivid.
“Night feathered the horizon, painting the skies a blend of charcoal and winterberries, while a smattering of stars winked and danced in shy greeting.”
“Glorious slants of gold shone on the green foliage ahead of here, where a path unfurled in the stillness. Colourful flowers spread petals, coaxing her near with soft chimes. Be free, Huntress.” (p250)
Other quotes I really liked include:
“Death will be her companion. He’s kept her safe all this time. Why stop now?” (p94)
“Death is the one thing certain in human life. Why does it still come as a surprise when it happens?” (p253)
“There is freedom in knowing you’re dead. When you’re a specter no one can touch.” (p284)
“We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the good this world deserves.” (p285)
I also liked the short chapter length (but maybe this was to give the illusion that I’d get through the book quicker…). The banter between characters actually had me laughing out loud a few times, too. I do wish this could make up for how poor the dialogue as a whole was, though.
Overall, I blame myself for having high hopes. Actually, no I don’t. I blame the internet for once again hyping and praising a book which ultimately does not deserve it. I think a large part of why this book is so praised and celebrated is because the author is a visibly Muslim woman – and a niqabi at that. We genuinely love to see Muslim women approaching genres that have otherwise remained untouched but please, can we be honest with ourselves and write constructive reviews to genuinely help and support writers. The author clearly has brilliant ideas and a wonderfully creative mind, but the stories need to be better thought out.
Lastly, I don’t know about anyone else, but the font was tiny in my copy, so I’ll be contacting the publishers to fund my eye test at Specsavers.
2/5