HOL

Title of the Book: We Hunt The Flame
Author: Hafsah Faizal
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Yes (Part of a duology with “We Free the Stars” as the sequel.

**Trigger Warning** This book contains details of child abuse and torture -Emily Spencer-

Brief Overview: Zafira is the disguised mystery Hunter of Demehume, able to slip into the Arz (a place of darkness and confusion) and return without ever getting lost. The leader of her country sends a letter to ‘The Hunter’, asking her to take on a most dangerous quest - to find the mythical island and a supposed book capable of returning magic to the lands and ending the curse before the Arz swallows the lands. Desperate to help her people and find the magic, Zafira goes.

Nasir is the Sultan’s son but more importantly, he’s the Prince of Death, an assassin who serves his father’s cruel intentions. His latest mission is to stalk the hunter and retrieve the book, killing the Hunter to tie up loose ends.

However, the island is more cursed and terrible then either person can imagine and when they are forced to work together, they will find secrets and answers to questions neither wants answered.

My Take: Being a hundred percent honest, I like the book but I do not love it. I do plan on finishing the series however. Hafsah’s takes a common fantasy trope (the quest to save the world) and puts an Arabian twist on it, which I enjoyed. There’s a great amount of world building and character development that happens and it does have a lovely flow. She’s a talented writer, especially for her first published book. I do find myself fairly invested in the story and feeling the character’s own emotions alongside them.

She also doesn’t hesitate to let her characters be flawed. The female main character doesn’t fall into the trap of many YA protagonists who tend to be very perfect or the plot happening around them, regardless of their choices. Zafira’s choices, as well as Nasir’s and even the secondary characters affect the plot, making it hard to guess how the book will end. And the book (which is a set up for the next book) ends with the situation almost worse than before.

I do find the romance a touch eye rolling. Not so much that it exists between the two characters or even in the book, but more of the timing. Two steps away from the big bad is not the time to kiss and have a heart to heart, but teenagers...Also, on a more personal matter, I was unaware of some triggers with the Prince Nasir, and while it’s manageable, it does touch heavily on child abuse, both physical and emotional.

I wouldn’t recommend the book to anyone younger then 16, and definitely offer a warning for themes of murder, child abuse, and torture. It is Young Adult, so those themes are not as focused as perhaps for more mature readers, but they are there. But if you love fantasy, particularly the quest/adventure style books and would love to see a non Western twist on it, then I definitely recommend this book.

Title of the Book: We Free the Stars
Author: Hafsah Faizal
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Yes (Part of a duology with “We Hunt the Fire” as the prequel.

**Trigger Warning** This book contains details of child abuse and torture -Emily Spencer-

Brief Overview: (Spoiler alert, this is a sequel so I'll be talking about events from the first book as well)

In some ways, their mission has been a success. They have retrieved four of the Hearts that will restore magic. But it has come at a high price. For one, they have lost one companion and another has been kidnapped. For another, the main villian, The Lion (accurately an ancient being who had been imprisoned for centuries), has one of the hearts. And he's the kidnapped man's father.

As for Zafira, she's lost. Her ability to 'see' which direction to go has been lost and she's been bound psychically with an ancient book that not only contains the wisdom of the Five Goddesses, but also the anger of the Lion... and no one knows who's going to win out. Zafira...or the curse.

Review: Of the two, this book is much better. The emotions are much more evocative, there's a lot of moving bits, especially in the second half when they start going, and the characters are more fleshed out. I also give credit for this book ending in a way things are resolved, but maybe not quite in the way that you would think initially. I think this is Hafsah's stronger qualities is that she did come up with ways to resolve the conflict that actually works.

And do mind, there's a lot of conflict. On the smaller scale, we have the main characters struggling with trusting each other in the wake of the finale of the previous book, we have Zafira struggling with herself after losing an integral part of herself and dealing with the freaky little book of magic. On the larger scale, they're also trying to stop the Sultan from slaughtering major political characters and saving the world.

Big note here: This book is maybe even aimed older then the previous. Some of the abuse references are more pronounced and there's a lot more violence, and a bit of torture. I definitely would recommend it for 15 and older and be on the lookout for trigger moments. She doesn't linger on them long, but they are present.

Having finished the duology....I would give it as 3.5/4 out of 5. I definitely enjoyed the books, but I wouldn't say they were my favorite reads and I'm in no hurry to own them for myself. But I would and do recommend them.