Sands Of Arawiya Review
I'm back with another review and this time I'm reviewing one of my favourite duology ever. I recently finished my reread of this duology and it dawned upon me that I have to write a review to share my love and promote this wondrous series. In the first book, We Hunt The Flame, we follow Zafira, a legendary Huntress, who braves the Arz to provide for the people of her village. Along the way, she meets the Silver Witch who needs her help to restore magic. The second MC in this book is Nasir, an assassin, who is basically the Crown Prince. They both trek to Sharr for totally opposite reasons. Zafira to restore magic and Nasir to kill Zafira who is known to others as 'the Hunter'. They meet various other people on Sharr all with different reasons as to what propelled them to make their journeys. That's the general idea and plot of this book but besides that there's so much more to these books. The reason why people didn't like the first book and often DNF this series is because of WHTF being a bit slow but the second book was a million times better than the first, I don't know why.
➳ First of all, the writing. *Sighs* If I start I won't stop. There are so many beautiful quotes in this book, I just wanted to take a break and contemplate on their meanings for a while. It was poetic, lyrical and utterly captivating. Hafsah's writing is a beauty to behold and is utter perfection. I was entranced from start to the very last line of the conclusion. Might I add that the last line of 'We Free The Stars' is a wound that will not ever heal. Take some examples:
“We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the good this world deserves.”
‟A life without purpose may be no life, but a life without love is nothing but an existence.”
‟Knowing you can lose something is what makes it more precious.”
➳ Let's talk about the plot. It may sound simple but Hafsah has this special ability of making it so unique and full of action, adventure and fun. It's always so thrilling to read books set in Arabia because I'm familiar with their customs and traditions. Aside from magic, this book has women empowerment, strong friendships and of course, lot's of adventure. I loved exploring different places of Arawiya because Arabic architecture is unmatched.
➳ The characters! Such a vast array of people each with different backgrounds, bloodlines, abilities and motives. The main reason I lovethis series is because of the found family trope which totally has me sobbing but it was worth it! The first book was about forming relationships and getting to know your allies while the second book was caring for your zumra, loving them and choosing your friends time and again. Kudos to the author because wow I did not expect to be this affected by the friendships in a book ever. The friendship between Kifah and Zafira is so heart warming. And oh my gosh the bromance between Altair and Nasir is so perfect it's unbelievable. We need more bromance in books! An appropriate example would be:
‟Do you understand, brother? You'll have me. No matter how thick the night, I will always be there to light your way.”
And because I can't resist, here's another quote that perfectly expresses the depth of the bonds of the zumra:
‟We’re not falling apart. We hunted the flame on Sharr, set free the stars across the skies, but it was only ever the dawn of our zumra. Now we make sure that light doesn’t go out. Forever. Together.”
➳ A very fun fact would be that I did not, one bit, like Nasir in the first book but the way he evolved in the second book! Talk about character developement. I loved him a lot in the second book, when he really let his feelings, thoughts and expressions show.
➳ Spoilers: I really really wanna talk about this pressing matter that is Deen, Benyamin and Misk. I fell in love with all of them and all I am capable of saying is that their deaths were very unnecessary. Benyamin has my whole heart forever and always. Deen did not deserve that! And Misk! Yasmine did not deserve whatever happened to her in WFTS.
➳ I'm going to end this review on a happier note by concluding that I love this series and would rate the first book a 4.5 stars and the second a full 5 stars! That's all for now, have a nice day!