Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
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
One of the top series of the year. It’s only July, but I’m that confident. While I wanted more because I came to really love these characters, it was a solid ending… enough answers to be satisfied, but open enough to imagine. I will always, always recommend Saara El Arifi, especially this series and can’t wait for more from her.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
we were moving towards something here which was an improvement from the second book. spoiled myself a bit but a very enjoyable read.
glad jond’s got space here. his were my favorite chapters. rascal’s chapter made me teary eyed. gorn’s role was awesome. anoor’s storyline was flawed and unbelievable. just too easy. sylah’s character was reduced to be simply driven by love, but there’s much more to her. hassa forever.
glad jond’s got space here. his were my favorite chapters. rascal’s chapter made me teary eyed. gorn’s role was awesome. anoor’s storyline was flawed and unbelievable. just too easy. sylah’s character was reduced to be simply driven by love, but there’s much more to her. hassa forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, War
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Trafficking
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A really satisfying ending in many ways. I enjoyed seeing where all the characters ended up and felt many of the loose ends were tied up well. The only thing keeping this from being 5 stars was I felt some of the character flaws/characters wrongs were glossed over a bit too quickly in the name of wrapping things up and aiding the romantic relationships moving along to their happy endings.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
The conclusion to the Ending Fire trilogy, we pick this book up with our four main characters scattered across the sea in three different countries. Sylah has just returned to the Wardens' Empire and reunited with Hassa as they fight to liberate the country from the Wardens' regime of colonisation, theft and lies. Jond is in Tenio, where we left him rallying an army together to fight against the Zalaam and the environmental threat they pose by using bone marrow to fuel their magic. And finally, Anoor is heading for The Volcane Islands with her incredibly evil grandmother Yona to take up the role of The Child Of Fire, inspiring the Zalaam with religious fervour to destroy everything they touch in the name of their god.
There's a lot of jumping between all the 4 main characters, and that comes with its usual challenges - every time you become invested in one character's story arc, we pull a cliffhanger and go to someone else who’s completely removed from that drama and then rinse and repeat. The pages went by fast enough because there was plenty of action, but at the same time the pace was brought to a dragging halt every time we swapped protagonist in the middle of drama.
However, the ending section with the big battle (where we jumped to pretty much every important character for a page or two during the battle) was actually pretty compelling, and it gave a sense of the franticness of war. That was a genuinely good use of the jumping POV.
This felt like a series that could've been told in fewer pages. Despite the fact that the world building wasn’t impeccable. For example, I never felt like the blood magic was as consistent as it could've been, especially the rules surrounding it, and I was left with a lot of questions about the orbs that the people of Tenio use to bloodwork. Also, the fact that they harped on in book 2 about how doing magic was destroying the planet but then we seem to have decided between books that it's only using bone marrow to do the blood magic that's causing the insane weather, so of course our cast of characters can carry on doing magic because it's a fantasy book. Shrug. On a side note, as if that’s never going to come up again in the future, bad people using bone marrow to do powerful magic regardless of the environmental consequences for evil reasons.
I really really hated being in Anoor's head this entire book. She was so easily manipulated and so stupid and just self-centred.It's insane to me that she watched Sylah battle through addiction to the joba seeds and then didn't even notice when she herself was being dosed with the stuff. Nor did she really care as long as everyone was fawning over her and telling her she was special. Blah. Sylah at least gained a bit of maturity and fought for reasons that weren't entirely selfish in this book, so it was nice to see growth for her.
Until her unceremonious death, that is. I'm assuming Sylah and Anoor's ending was them waking up in the afterlife together and I didn't fully enjoy that ending because it was too... Bury your gays. Straight couple Jond and Kara survived. Trans character Hassa had her love interest killed in book 2, but I guess at least she survived.
There's a lot of jumping between all the 4 main characters, and that comes with its usual challenges - every time you become invested in one character's story arc, we pull a cliffhanger and go to someone else who’s completely removed from that drama and then rinse and repeat. The pages went by fast enough because there was plenty of action, but at the same time the pace was brought to a dragging halt every time we swapped protagonist in the middle of drama.
However, the ending section with the big battle (where we jumped to pretty much every important character for a page or two during the battle) was actually pretty compelling, and it gave a sense of the franticness of war. That was a genuinely good use of the jumping POV.
This felt like a series that could've been told in fewer pages. Despite the fact that the world building wasn’t impeccable. For example, I never felt like the blood magic was as consistent as it could've been, especially the rules surrounding it, and I was left with a lot of questions about the orbs that the people of Tenio use to bloodwork. Also, the fact that they harped on in book 2 about how doing magic was destroying the planet but then we seem to have decided between books that it's only using bone marrow to do the blood magic that's causing the insane weather, so of course our cast of characters can carry on doing magic because it's a fantasy book. Shrug. On a side note, as if that’s never going to come up again in the future, bad people using bone marrow to do powerful magic regardless of the environmental consequences for evil reasons.
I really really hated being in Anoor's head this entire book. She was so easily manipulated and so stupid and just self-centred.
4.25⭐️
What a phenomenal series ! I simply couldn’t stop reading, it was too addictive.
The world building was intricate, the characters were raw and real and all got crazy arcs. I adored the heavy political aspect of this story.
What a phenomenal series ! I simply couldn’t stop reading, it was too addictive.
The world building was intricate, the characters were raw and real and all got crazy arcs. I adored the heavy political aspect of this story.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No