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rizky 's review for:
We Free the Stars
by Hafsah Faizal
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hafsah Faizal is an incredibly gifted writer who weaves sentences together beautifully, truly a master at using language.
All in all, I definitely consider this a satisfying sequel to We Hunt the Flame; if you enjoyed the first book I'm sure you're gonna like this one, too.
What I appreciate most about the characters and their dynamics is how freely they use the term love and how clearly love is not only understood as romantic. I'm a sucker for platonic love, and the love the zumra all develop for each other evolved into such a beautiful found family!
(In a very unexpected way their overall dynamic started reminding me The Raven Cycle and the way they are all platonically in love with each other)
My biggest issue: this book is too long.
Around page 400 I thought "this could all be wrapped up very satisfyingly in the next 100 pages," but there were still 200 pages left. Luckily, these last 200 pages didn't drag too much, but I still found the overall pacing to be a bit too slow and think some storylines could have been explored more concisely.
I also noticed some apparent inconsistencies with the PoVs; I am unsure if these were slip-ups or stylistic choices that I didn't really enjoy though.
Miscellaneous thoughts, including spoilers:
- learning that Kifah is aro/ace made me really happy! I was really hoping for some queerness in the story/this universe and was so happy to finally get it
- Altair has SUCH strong bi vibes omg (in a way very similar to Jin and Matteo from A Tempest of Tea) (it might just be the flirty yet soft masculinity but godDAMNIT the vibes are strong) ( I did wonder if him saying he would perhaps kiss Nasir if he wasn't his brother was a subtle hint to queerness? but idk, idk)
- Lana, too, had me wondering if we would learn that she's queer when the boy she had a crush on turned out to be a girl, but alas
- I rarely go feral for the straights but I would be lying if I said Zafira and Nasir didn't have me in a chokehold this entire book (the TENSION the SENSUALITY the CARE)
- Nasir's abuse resulting in his inability to communicate his thoughts and feelings because he is so sure that nobody is interested in what he has to say BUT ZAFIRA IS asjdghafjg
- I'm genuinely not sure if this book is actually still approriate YA; I think it could have hit harder if it was allowed to be NA
I definitely need a palette cleanser after this, something light and fluffy and low-stakes after the intensity of the Sands of Arawiya.
I'm really glad Hafsah Faizal set A Tempest of Tea in this universe as well; the beautiful, deteailed, lavish worldbuilding definitely deserves more story told around it.
All in all, I definitely consider this a satisfying sequel to We Hunt the Flame; if you enjoyed the first book I'm sure you're gonna like this one, too.
What I appreciate most about the characters and their dynamics is how freely they use the term love and how clearly love is not only understood as romantic. I'm a sucker for platonic love, and the love the zumra all develop for each other evolved into such a beautiful found family!
(In a very unexpected way their overall dynamic started reminding me The Raven Cycle and the way they are all platonically in love with each other)
My biggest issue: this book is too long.
Around page 400 I thought "this could all be wrapped up very satisfyingly in the next 100 pages," but there were still 200 pages left. Luckily, these last 200 pages didn't drag too much, but I still found the overall pacing to be a bit too slow and think some storylines could have been explored more concisely.
I also noticed some apparent inconsistencies with the PoVs; I am unsure if these were slip-ups or stylistic choices that I didn't really enjoy though.
Miscellaneous thoughts, including spoilers:
- Altair has SUCH strong bi vibes omg (in a way very similar to Jin and Matteo from A Tempest of Tea) (it might just be the flirty yet soft masculinity but godDAMNIT the vibes are strong)
- Lana, too, had me wondering if we would learn that she's queer when the boy she had a crush on turned out to be a girl, but alas
- I rarely go feral for the straights but I would be lying if I said Zafira and Nasir didn't have me in a chokehold this entire book (the TENSION the SENSUALITY the CARE)
- Nasir's abuse resulting in his inability to communicate his thoughts and feelings because he is so sure that nobody is interested in what he has to say BUT ZAFIRA IS asjdghafjg
- I'm genuinely not sure if this book is actually still approriate YA; I think it could have hit harder if it was allowed to be NA
I definitely need a palette cleanser after this, something light and fluffy and low-stakes after the intensity of the Sands of Arawiya.
I'm really glad Hafsah Faizal set A Tempest of Tea in this universe as well; the beautiful, deteailed, lavish worldbuilding definitely deserves more story told around it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment