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alyshapowe11's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and War
kissreka03's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child death
thecatconstellation's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
chasinggrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Is the plot of this book kind of “basic”? Sure. It’s the typical “vengeful woman and cold-hearted man become reluctant allies in a quest to find an Ancient tome that will free magic and save the kingdom,” and I loved it all the same.
I also found myself caring for the side characters as well. Each had a purpose, versus just being there for comedic relief.
I will say, the two main romances were predictable, but I was
The epilogue has me very eager to pick up the next book. My only critique is that this book needed an Arabic glossary. I could make occasional assumptions, but Arabic words were used so freely that at times I felt like I lost important details.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
bamfling's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Child abuse and Violence
Minor: Sexism, Torture, and Death of parent
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I thought this was a good read. The dual POV highlighted the emotions of both Zafira and Nasir and what they are dealing with throughout the book. I loved the world that are we in and how everywhere is different from one another, and shows the impact of magic with how it impacted the environment. It makes for a fantastical world placing a juxtaposition on the environment and the people. It all sounds magical but here are the ordinary people with no magic coping with what they have. Most people have forgotten about magic or don't believe it ever existed.
I thought the introduction of Benyamin and Kifah could have been done better. The group didn't feel like they really meshed and worked well together despite the book trying to make it out like they have bonded towards the end of their journey. This was the one area that I thought could have been improved. In saying that I thought Zafira, Nasir and Altair had good relationships and interesting dynamics but the other two felt underutilised.
Making up for it is the lore of the world and the plot of the book. These were highlights and very well done. The plot was also gripping and interesting throughout most of the book an not just in the last third coming up to the final climax. The twists and reveals were really well done and has you wondering what will happen in the next book. It leaves off on a slight cliff hanger, but really the excitement comes from the unknown for these characters after they have decided to throw off their vail and embrace change.
I am excited to see what We Free the Stars does with these characters.
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent
chrisb913's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I absolutely loved the storytelling for this book. Hafsah does not shy away from keeping you intrigued and guessing as she crafts this narrative. Instead of info dumping, she provides clues and hints and allows the story to provide the details naturally as to the past, present, and possible future. I am very excited to read book two and all future works from this author.
Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Misogyny
onthesamepage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The Arabia-inspired setting was another highlight. The descriptions of the beautiful cities, the desert, but also the characters wearing keffiyahs gave me a lot of joy. Unfortunately, the (mis)use of the Arabic language didn't.
I'm a native Arab speaker, so of course I zoomed in on the Arabic. The way it's used comes across as someone who isn't a native speaker inserting Arabic words to add to the mood. It's not that the words were wrong, exactly, but they're not used quite right. Umm means mother, yes, but I would never refer to my mother as "umm" while addressing her. She would be "ummi"—my mother. The same applies to Okht, which should have been okhti, and also, why does this start with an O instead of a U like umm when the sound is the same? This annoyed me just as much as Leigh Bardugo's misuse of Dutch in Six of Crows. The Arabic felt clunky in some of the sentences, and the opposite of subtle. I didn't even need to know more about the island Sharr because its name told me exactly what its deal was.
Something I noticed in A Tempest of Tea was the excessive use of pet names. That happens here as well, although to a lesser degree, but I can't say I was all that happy to see "azizi" being used this often.
The last thing I'll mention is that there are parts where the author would chop up a sentence:
She fell
to her
knees.
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, and Murder
niclantsov's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had a hard time getting into this book. It was surely a different fantasy sub-genre to what I used to read. This was more of an Arabic-inspired myth(?) fantasy. Here we learn of the culture and the terms to it, which was a bit of a struggle for me in the first 20/25%. However the pace was kinda fast so it did do some justice. It started to catch up on the 30%ish I think, and from there the plot started to thickens.
I also liked that the romance in this book was merely a subplot, and it was sewn beautifully:
He pause and met her eyes. If a poet were to describe them, he would say to look into her eyes was to see the sea's first glimpse of the sun, drinking its reflection with endless ripples.
The characters were amazing, and their banter was literally what I lived for. The writing was also poetic and alluring. Overall a 3.5/5 it's a great start for a series, looking forward to read the second one!
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Child death
lupalionessa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death