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A review by sreddous
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I think... I respect this book more than I actually like it. If that makes sense.
The pacing is overall a bit slow. This is sometimes a really good and interesting thing -- I do like that this book clearly tried to do something different with its structure. I think a lot of potential authors (including myself darnit!) feel pressured to fit books into 'boxes', like: [INCITING INCIDENT] MUST HAPPEN ON PAGE 5!! [ROMANTIC ARC] MUST HIT [SPECIFIC BEATS]!! etc. So it's cool to see a book try something different.
The slow pacing lends itself to some fantastic, immersive worldbuilding. The worldbuilding is EXCELLENT here. Oh, man, you can FEEL this weather and TASTE these spices and such. It's really easy to imagine yourself in this weather and in these settings.
Additionally, the plot has some super cool twists. The villain characters are very interesting here. I wasn't able to predict the reveals that happened near the end, but none of the twists felt unrealistic either. Really cool villains, and there's just enough violence to keep the threats simmering.
The place where I think the slow pacing didn't help this book is with the protagonists' character arcs and interactions. It almost felt like they were... on purpose, stubbornly, trying to avoid becoming friends, and while that makes sense in the beginning of their journey, it got annoying by the middle. Both POV characters feel a romantic connection, but IMO it wasn't built up to well. As late as like 3/4ths of the way into the book, they're still denying their feelings for each other, and other characters call them out on it, and we get some description that shows how conflicted the POV character is, and this happens.... a lot. There's slow-burn, and then....... there's stuff that feels unnecessarily repetitive.
I also don't really see WHY they like each other. There's an internal thought from Nasir in act 2 that implies he likes Zafira because she "saw him as human," but... that's not unique to her. Altair never treated him with any actual pomp and was constantly talking casually around him. I don't think it's well-built-enough, whatever is special about Zafira that changes him. I also think characters like Deen were... almost hilariously useless. I actually scoff-chuckled out loud during some of the scenes with him.
Some of the interactions and connections after the Lion shows up and reveals some twists are more emotional and believable and added some cool depth to some characters, but the Lion doesn't show up until after page 350. The slow pacing in and of itself isn't a bad thing -- what I'm saying is, I wish that slow pacing was used to actually build character connections and chemistry so that their interactions and decisions make more sense. And that's not what it's used for, IMO.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book if you're looking for a "emotional teamwork connection, great chemistry," type of story. I WOULD recommend it if you're looking for a "the world is full of so much magic to uncover under every rock it's dizzying!! Oh, another Weird Cool Magical Being to fight! Ahhh so much to discover!" type. There's value in both!!
So yeah. Super immersive worldbuilding, pretty overall writing style, interesting magic, interesting diverse creatures. Not-as-great character arcs and romance.
The pacing is overall a bit slow. This is sometimes a really good and interesting thing -- I do like that this book clearly tried to do something different with its structure. I think a lot of potential authors (including myself darnit!) feel pressured to fit books into 'boxes', like: [INCITING INCIDENT] MUST HAPPEN ON PAGE 5!! [ROMANTIC ARC] MUST HIT [SPECIFIC BEATS]!! etc. So it's cool to see a book try something different.
The slow pacing lends itself to some fantastic, immersive worldbuilding. The worldbuilding is EXCELLENT here. Oh, man, you can FEEL this weather and TASTE these spices and such. It's really easy to imagine yourself in this weather and in these settings.
Additionally, the plot has some super cool twists. The villain characters are very interesting here. I wasn't able to predict the reveals that happened near the end, but none of the twists felt unrealistic either. Really cool villains, and there's just enough violence to keep the threats simmering.
The place where I think the slow pacing didn't help this book is with the protagonists' character arcs and interactions. It almost felt like they were... on purpose, stubbornly, trying to avoid becoming friends, and while that makes sense in the beginning of their journey, it got annoying by the middle. Both POV characters feel a romantic connection, but IMO it wasn't built up to well. As late as like 3/4ths of the way into the book, they're still denying their feelings for each other, and other characters call them out on it, and we get some description that shows how conflicted the POV character is, and this happens.... a lot. There's slow-burn, and then....... there's stuff that feels unnecessarily repetitive.
I also don't really see WHY they like each other. There's an internal thought from Nasir in act 2 that implies he likes Zafira because she "saw him as human," but... that's not unique to her. Altair never treated him with any actual pomp and was constantly talking casually around him. I don't think it's well-built-enough, whatever is special about Zafira that changes him. I also think characters like Deen were... almost hilariously useless. I actually scoff-chuckled out loud during some of the scenes with him.
Some of the interactions and connections after the Lion shows up and reveals some twists are more emotional and believable and added some cool depth to some characters, but the Lion doesn't show up until after page 350. The slow pacing in and of itself isn't a bad thing -- what I'm saying is, I wish that slow pacing was used to actually build character connections and chemistry so that their interactions and decisions make more sense. And that's not what it's used for, IMO.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book if you're looking for a "emotional teamwork connection, great chemistry," type of story. I WOULD recommend it if you're looking for a "the world is full of so much magic to uncover under every rock it's dizzying!! Oh, another Weird Cool Magical Being to fight! Ahhh so much to discover!" type. There's value in both!!
So yeah. Super immersive worldbuilding, pretty overall writing style, interesting magic, interesting diverse creatures. Not-as-great character arcs and romance.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence