Review: We Free the Stars

Title: We Free the Stars

Author: Hafsah Faizal

Publisher: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux

Puplication date: January 19, 2021

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Summary

After the events at the Sharr, Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are determined to continue their plan to restore magic to Arawiya. However, they have to do it without Altair. He is now the captive of the Lion of the Night. The impending return of the Lion of the Night is hanging over their heads. Unfortunately, they area also low on allies and resources.

Both Nasir and Zafira have to learn how to control their magical abilities to save Arawiya. Nasir must learn to fight against the Lion, Zafira has to learn to control the Jawarat. However, the darkness starts closing in on every side, and success seems less and less likely. A romance between Nasir and Zafira also adds complexity to the situation. Can they achieve their goals before it’s too late?

Review: We Free the Stars

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan, and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for an advanced copy of this to review! I know the publication date got pushed back a few times, so I was glad to finally get my hands on a copy. I loved We Hunt the Flame and couldn’t wait to see what happened next to these characters.

Let me just start by saying that refreshing your memory on the first book will be a huge help in this book. It’s been so long since I read We Hunt the Flame that I spent a bit of time at the beginning trying to remember who was who. The world is just so complex that it just was difficult to get back into the beginning. I definitely recommend reading them one after another to eliminate this!

After that, I was definitely invested in this story. Honestly, the strongest part for me is the slow burn romance between Nasir and Zafira. Yes, they go back and forth a lot, but that’s just Faizal’s way of building the anticipation. At least, in my opinion. It made the small moments between the two of them even more satisfying. Faizal is great at writing relationships between characters to help build the intensity of the plot and emphasize the overall world-building.

I will say that I did think this could have been a bit shorter. Some of the plot points in the beginning feel a little too drawn out; the plot gets more fast-paced the further you get into the book. The characters are really what keep you invested from beginning to end.

Overall, this is a satisfying conclusion to the Sands of Arawiya duology. Fans of the first book definitely won’t be disappointed.

4/5 stars