We Free the Stars: Hafsah Faizal (Sands of Arawiya, 2)

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Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I have completely and utterly fallen in love with Hafsah Faizal’s writing and storytelling. The Sands of Arawiya duology has truly given me such joy and I can’t believe it took me this long to get to it. I can however say that this story and these characters will be staying with me a long time. He knew of a person who would take her to the ends of the world, if only she would ask. He would take the stars from the sky and fashion them into a crown, if only she would have it.” I can’t speak personally to the representation in the book but I really loved the Arabic inspiration and inspired setting. From the sooqs in the Sultan’s keep to the date trees and sand dunes, I loved reading a fantasy set away from Western inspired countries. It made the worldbuilding richer too. He paused to rest his leg, leaning against a splintering beam. The Silver Witch— his mother, rimaal—had chosen a cabin just as far as Zafira’s, and when he finally reached her door, a dark gleam on the floorboard made him pause.

i came into this book expecting to have fun, maybe enjoy it a reasonable amount. what i did not expect was to read what was probably the best finale to a series that i have ever experienced. Everyone in the book talks in the same archaic way, for example, Kifah (the 'least' verbose and emotional character) said: “We’re a zumra. We hunted the flame together, found the light in the darkness, but we were far from done, laa? Now we unleash it. We free the stars, shatter the darkness holding us captive, and return the world to the splendor it once was.”

It was a lie, and they both knew it. Uncertainty rang painfully clear in her normally grounding voice. Though it took some time to get too, Hafsah doesn’t pull her punches on the action. The story trudges along and then blasts ahead at full speed, taking off with little time to catch your breath. The book is merciless in its plot turns and character reveals, making us sympathetic for someone one moment to vilifying them in the next. It’s as if the author wanted to squeeze two more books into this one.

Faizal continues the lush world building that marked the first of this duology, expanding upon the Persian-inspired setting and guiding readers through all of Arawiya, introducing new cultural aspects and making the stakes clear; especially deft here is the portrayal of trauma on a mass scale. . .Those who were left breathless by the previous installment will heave a sigh of relief.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways.Zafira Bint Iskander. Zafira is a female Hunter, who braves the Arz, a vast wasteland of darkness and peril. We are introduced to her in the first book in the duology, We Hunt The Flame. in short, this is just more of the same from the first book - two equal halves making up a whole story. so if you enjoyed ‘we hunt the flame,’ then i have no doubt you will love this fitting ending. and if you havent read it, then i definitely recommend it for the exotic arabian experience. Jin is Arthie's brother in all but blood. He combats racism and discrimination with his unending charm and wit. The relationship between Jin and Arthie is so strong, in the platonic sense. Their bond is unbreakable, and seeing them outwit and outrun their enemies together was fantastic. Some of his chapters focused too much on his crush, but otherwise, his POV is enjoyable. The characters in this book are amazing. You thought you loved them after We Hunt the Flame? Just you wait.

The battle on Sharr is over. The Arz has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan's Keep, determined to finish the plan Altair set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, finally bringing magic to all of Arawiya. But they are low on resources and allies alike, and the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night's return. All characters grapple with grief and their identity in this book, with little time to think about themselves after this war and the author never forgets to give more dimension to a conflict that would otherwise seem too straightforward. The ending was so perfect and bittersweet, giving us everything we could want but still leaving the lives of these characters a little imperfect. I’ve honestly been blown away by this series and I can’t wait to read more works from this author and discover all the worlds they have to offer. Though there are variations of classical/fusha Arabic, the grammar across the Arabian peninsula is very standard. In Arabic, when you have an adjective and the thing it is describing, the words are flipped. For example, 'beautiful flower' in English would become 'flower beautiful' in Arabic. The above is a literal, English translation which makes no sense in Arabic. The ending where the man who is supposedly well-versed in the bed arts starts crying when he finally gets with Zafira like… k Following the events of We Hunt the Flame, our group of rebels/adventurers are reeling. The Lion of the Night is at large with a dangerous agenda, they've lost Altair, and the remaining members of the group are struggling to cope with a recent loss and the implications of the fight yet to come.

Did we miss something on diversity?

There isn’t much that I can add without spoiling huge plot points of the book. I will admit that I wish this book was shorter because the plot did drag. Some parts felt repetitive and unneeded. For those who adored we hunt the flame who also love fantasy heist books, I think this is going to be a favorite. She was the bladed compass, honed by the Lion and wielded by the Jawarat. She was ruin, she was havoc, and she reveled in it.” For the most part, I find Faizal's writing style too flowery and introspective. Her description makes things clumsy and bogged down in detail where there is no need - as many have commented, this book is far longer than it need be.