A review by noellelovesbooks
The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 This review was first posted on my blog...

Back in May, a Booktok friend was celebrating his birthday month by randomly buying books off of his friends’ wishlists…I was one such lucky friend. Sadly, for myself and the book, I let this book sit unread on my shelf for entirely too long. After finishing this book, I was so embarrassed to not have read it sooner. To put it simply…I loved it!


This story is a stand-alone that you desperately wish had more volumes. The author did mention, on her Goodreads, that there is potential for a spin-off though she isn’t sure if she’ll make one. Fingers crossed she decides a spinoff is something she wants to do!


Loss is a big part of each character’s journey as they find their strength. In the very first chapter, a character thinks back on the loss of their child and how devastated they still are. If loss is something that’s hard for you to read about you may want to reconsider picking this book up. Granted none of the losses are graphically detailed it’s still brought up a lot as each of the characters we follow has suffered, in some way, from the loss of someone close to them.


From beginning to end this story is full of found family, finding your own inner strength, magic, difficult choices, and love (both familial and romantic). This book, mostly, centers on characters who are late teens and early twenties. As there really aren’t any graphic depictions of violence or romance I would say this book would be good for anyone who reads YA and up.


There are a lot of phrases, throughout the book, that may be unfamiliar but fear not there is a great glossary in the back. Personally, I really enjoyed reading through the book and, based on the situation, figuring out what the phrases (that I was unfamiliar with) meant without jumping to the glossary. When I finished reading and went through the glossary I was excited to see that I was thinking of the different terms correctly, or fairly closely.


The descriptions and world-building within this story will have you hungry for more stories…and delicious food. Honestly, some books should come with a warning to not read on an empty stomach. I loved how many cultures are represented within this story, as it’s set in a place where so many different cultures trade and live together.


If you’re looking for a phenomenal fantasy world with Djinn-related magic, found family, finding your inner strength, and making hard decisions for the good of all…look no further! 

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