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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Rating: đđđđđ
Tags: dual pov, hate to love, found family, insta-attraction
Goodreads labels this as âenemies to loversâ, which is a lie. I mean, I guess in the TECHNICAL sense thatâs true, if weâre splitting hairs? But neither he nor she have any murderous or otherwise harmful intentions towards each other at any point. If anything, theyâre attracted to each other immediately and act accordingly.
I really liked the first 40% of the book. The world building is rich without ever feeling overwhelming. The tone is quite dark, and when you meet the two main characters, it becomes clear quite quickly that theyâre a sorry, tortured lot. The entire first 3rd of the book is used to get to know the two main characters and establish them before the true journey begins and they ever even meet. I liked both of their origin stories: Nasir being the unwilling, yet dutiful son to a tyrant sultan, his hands stained in the blood of his victims; Zafira the sole provider for her entire village and matriarch of her broken family, at the tender age of 17. Both of them drowning in grief and responsibilities.
The book kinda lost me a little bit once we reached the 40-55% mark. Once Zafira and Nasir (and gang) meet, the story telling starts to fall short for me. Zafira is aware that Nasir is a ruthless killing machine and canât have good intentions in mind despite him playing nice for the moment, yet they become relatively friendly mere HOURS after meeting. Especially considering HOW they met (canât be specific due to spoilers, just know that Zafira had EVERY reason to slit his throat in cold blood and run). And Nasir gets a little too comfortable âobservingâ Zafira, again, mere HOURS after they first met, despite trying his hardest to be a ruthless, stone-cold assassin. Heâs successfully pushed everyone heâs ever cared about away and has LITERALLY killed every single notion of compassion within himself, yet he FOLDS the second he sets his sight on a pretty girl.
I wouldâve been fine with this had they taken their time, had this draw and attraction come from subtle character moments. Definitely not right from day 1. I mean, give me a WEEK, at least. A week of them traveling together and kind of getting to know each other, having little moments here and there where they get to know the other aside from their titles and roles, where they see the human underneath it all. THAT I would have loved. It wouldâve given the story justice and felt right, considering both Zafira and Nasir are highly guarded people and shouldnât start thawing to perfect strangers 3 hours after laying eyes on them.
On the 3rd day, Zafira has a chance to run away but chooses not to, because Nasir was kind-of-almost-gentle-that-one-time, and the other guy has a nice laugh, I guess? (Those are literally the reasons she states in the book.) That doesnât make sense for her character!!! Why would she CARE when she blames Nasir for the death of her loved ones? I was screaming at her the entire time she laughed and joked with them like she hadnât hated them and sworn revenge literally 3 DAYS AGO. Making cozy friends while she actively believes they killed her family. Like??? GIRL. đ
Itâs a shame, because the start of this book was so strong and so successful in setting these characters up, only to throw their convictions out the window in favor of forcing a romantic subplot too early.
It was difficult to enjoy the book after that. Especially because from 40% onward, until the 75% point, itâs just one long travel montage where nothing happens other than the gang bonding (which lost its appeal to me because I canât get over how out of character theyâre acting) and occasionally having to deal with some desert enemies that never pose any real threat for longer than 2 pages. We get, like, 4 paragraphs worth of plot relevant information in that entire chunk of the book.
What a shame. đ© When I tell you, I was LOVING the beginning. Ugh. The ending was really good, too, but I donât know if I will read the sequel.
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
adventurous
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
unfor this was very average. i really wanted to love this book because i love and admire hafsah faizal but i couldnt really get into it too much. i did finish it, but i was so confused at so many parts. if you asked me what this book is about i couldnt tell you anything apart from what the back of the book says. i did like the characters and their relationships, but i couldnt understand the fantasy world and their magic system. some of the writing style was good, especially the dialogue, but i also got lost in a lot of the writing, not in a good way. it was an attempt at beautiful flowery writing but it was too much and wasnt consistent enough for me. hopefully the next book is better.
3/5 stars.
3/5 stars.
Hafash Faizal's We Hunt the Flame seems to be a divisive book in the YA world, and I come down on the side of really enjoying it. Faizal writes introspective characters while keeping the story moving. Her Arabian setting is lush and while it is unfair to compare, this is what I had hoped Kingdom of Copper would be like, rather than the overconvoluted tale it was.
I've read several reviews saying that it is Throne of Glass in a new setting, but I think we can say the same of Children of Blood and Bone, among many others. Just because it has a similar premise in a new setting, doesn't mean that *only* the setting is new. If I had to point out a difference, it is that Zafira, as the hunter, is terrific as a hunter, but not great at war. She consistently wants to believe the best of people and not use her skills with a bow and arrow on actual people. Compare that to Aelin in ToG who seems to be perfect at nearly everything, and a cold-blooded killer, who doesn't kill anyone... These characters are three-dimensional and while we can see the story line and the romance from a mile away, it doesn't take away from the skill with which Faizal crafted them.
I will add a disclaimer or two here: I don't speak or read Arabic and several people who do have said the translation work is awkward at best and wrong at worst, which is probably a big drawback to the story if you're multilingual in Arabic. Secondly, this story has absolutely zero representation across the sexuality spectrum. If that's a deal breaker for you, you may want to skip this series.
But neither of those things affected my enjoyment of what promises to be a fun new series, that while it may not bring anything new to the table, is still a beautifully executed novel.
I've read several reviews saying that it is Throne of Glass in a new setting, but I think we can say the same of Children of Blood and Bone, among many others. Just because it has a similar premise in a new setting, doesn't mean that *only* the setting is new. If I had to point out a difference, it is that Zafira, as the hunter, is terrific as a hunter, but not great at war. She consistently wants to believe the best of people and not use her skills with a bow and arrow on actual people. Compare that to Aelin in ToG who seems to be perfect at nearly everything, and a cold-blooded killer, who doesn't kill anyone... These characters are three-dimensional and while we can see the story line and the romance from a mile away, it doesn't take away from the skill with which Faizal crafted them.
I will add a disclaimer or two here: I don't speak or read Arabic and several people who do have said the translation work is awkward at best and wrong at worst, which is probably a big drawback to the story if you're multilingual in Arabic. Secondly, this story has absolutely zero representation across the sexuality spectrum. If that's a deal breaker for you, you may want to skip this series.
But neither of those things affected my enjoyment of what promises to be a fun new series, that while it may not bring anything new to the table, is still a beautifully executed novel.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read We Hunt the Flame for National Arab American Heritage Month, but a combination of the book dragging in the middle and my own life getting rather busy meant I finished late.
I want to reread it some time, especially if I decide to read the sequel, to see if I like it better, but on my first read I found little stuck with me. I enjoyed the beginning but by the middle my interest flagged and it became a struggle to read. I barely remember anything from that stretch now. Only upon reaching the end did it pick up again. There's just not much to the world for me since much is spent in a vast desert. The early parts were vibrant and full of life taking place in cities, palaces and villages, and it's a shame to move away from that. The world goes largely unexplored by becoming a trek through a desert, and interesting elements are set up but done away with quickly, such as the Arz going unexplored.
The heroine, Zafira, didn't grab me much either. After a while I found myself wishing for the story to return to Prince Nasir and Altair whenever she was the focus, even finding their interactions more romantic than Zafira's with Nasir, although a late twist makes a Nasir/Altair romance impossible.
There are some appealing descriptions (mostly toward the beginning) and the antagonist intrigues me even if his page time's minuscule. There's so much promise in this world and I want more, much more, out of it. The beginning hints at fascinating politics and culture and I hope the sequel delivers more on this promise.
I want to reread it some time, especially if I decide to read the sequel, to see if I like it better, but on my first read I found little stuck with me. I enjoyed the beginning but by the middle my interest flagged and it became a struggle to read. I barely remember anything from that stretch now. Only upon reaching the end did it pick up again. There's just not much to the world for me since much is spent in a vast desert. The early parts were vibrant and full of life taking place in cities, palaces and villages, and it's a shame to move away from that. The world goes largely unexplored by becoming a trek through a desert, and interesting elements are set up but done away with quickly, such as the Arz going unexplored.
The heroine, Zafira, didn't grab me much either. After a while I found myself wishing for the story to return to Prince Nasir and Altair whenever she was the focus, even finding their interactions more romantic than Zafira's with Nasir, although a late twist makes a Nasir/Altair romance impossible.
There are some appealing descriptions (mostly toward the beginning) and the antagonist intrigues me even if his page time's minuscule. There's so much promise in this world and I want more, much more, out of it. The beginning hints at fascinating politics and culture and I hope the sequel delivers more on this promise.
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
I took a while to get into this but more because I was in a reading slump than anything about the book itself. I found it really picked up in Act 2. Overall I really enjoyed it - there were some moments of "what???" and the end was a bit anticlimactic. Not a perfect book by any means but I think I liked it enough to read the second in the duology... eventually.
adventurous
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
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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:
Complicated