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sumrafarooqi 's review for:
We Free the Stars
by Hafsah Faizal
Oh My God. I was expecting so much from this book. I kinda liked the first book despite it being 3 stars and seeing this book rated 4 stars on Goodreads I went and bought it as soon as I finished the first book. I was really excited because I really liked the world building the setting which was ancient Arabian like and the villain’s backstory. But this book was such a let-down.
Probably one of the worst fantasy books I’ve ever read. Hear me out.
I had to force myself to read this book.
Normally in fantasy books when the world is falling apart due to an ancient enemy. So many of the leaders and soldiers gather around to defeat the enemy. The entire world is in an anxious state. But in this book it was just so weird that kids were taking care of the affairs. Albeit Altair and some of the safin are older but still and Haytham but still… only a few people and citizens are concerned about the world affairs. It seemed no one else cared for Arawiya. It seemed like people had no purpose. It felt weird how hardly any leaders wanted to bring The Lion down. Yeah the Sultan Ghameq was possessed but what about the other caliphs and caliphas. It was messed up. The only people concerned about this sorry state of affairs were a bunch of horny teenagers.
Which brings me to my second point. My God. Zafira and Nasir were the worst couple. I couldn’t stand their romance. The entire time they were yearning each other. Meanwhile the hearts are dying and The Lion is roaming free and these two just wanted to get together. I hated the romance. I wanted to read this book for the fantasy and adventure but the entire book was focused on their romance. It wasn’t as if I was reading an adventure/fantasy novel with bits of romance it was as if I was reading a romantic novel with a slight tinge of adventure and fantasy here and there.
I didn’t understand their love. She hated the caliph and she even hated the Sultan for bringing death. Yet the sultan was possessed but she couldn’t hate Nasir for the same reason. Nasir, who by the way, was sane the entire time. Who could say no to killings. It was weird.
I would have preferred a storyline of Aya and Altair. That would have been interesting. And what about Aya? I hated her character development. I couldn’t believe how quickly she shifted sides. She was a healer. She healed people. She brought care into this world. Her tattoo was Hanan which meant grace which was what she cared about. She lost her husband, her son, the man she loved AKA Altair how could she change sides just like that? With only a few words by the Lion? She was a Safin. She had seen the death and despair because of the Lion. She had went through pain and suffering. It didn’t make sense at all.
2 stars because the writing was stellar. The words and sentence structure was beautiful. The setting was beautiful but sadly this story did not struck me.
Probably one of the worst fantasy books I’ve ever read. Hear me out.
I had to force myself to read this book.
Normally in fantasy books when the world is falling apart due to an ancient enemy. So many of the leaders and soldiers gather around to defeat the enemy. The entire world is in an anxious state. But in this book it was just so weird that kids were taking care of the affairs. Albeit Altair and some of the safin are older but still and Haytham but still… only a few people and citizens are concerned about the world affairs. It seemed no one else cared for Arawiya. It seemed like people had no purpose. It felt weird how hardly any leaders wanted to bring The Lion down. Yeah the Sultan Ghameq was possessed but what about the other caliphs and caliphas. It was messed up. The only people concerned about this sorry state of affairs were a bunch of horny teenagers.
Which brings me to my second point. My God. Zafira and Nasir were the worst couple. I couldn’t stand their romance. The entire time they were yearning each other. Meanwhile the hearts are dying and The Lion is roaming free and these two just wanted to get together. I hated the romance. I wanted to read this book for the fantasy and adventure but the entire book was focused on their romance. It wasn’t as if I was reading an adventure/fantasy novel with bits of romance it was as if I was reading a romantic novel with a slight tinge of adventure and fantasy here and there.
I didn’t understand their love. She hated the caliph and she even hated the Sultan for bringing death. Yet the sultan was possessed but she couldn’t hate Nasir for the same reason. Nasir, who by the way, was sane the entire time. Who could say no to killings. It was weird.
I would have preferred a storyline of Aya and Altair. That would have been interesting. And what about Aya? I hated her character development. I couldn’t believe how quickly she shifted sides. She was a healer. She healed people. She brought care into this world. Her tattoo was Hanan which meant grace which was what she cared about. She lost her husband, her son, the man she loved AKA Altair how could she change sides just like that? With only a few words by the Lion? She was a Safin. She had seen the death and despair because of the Lion. She had went through pain and suffering. It didn’t make sense at all.
2 stars because the writing was stellar. The words and sentence structure was beautiful. The setting was beautiful but sadly this story did not struck me.