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A review by msrichardsreads89
The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
This book picks up where we left off in The Final Strife and takes off from there. The pacing of book one was very fast; whereas in The Battle Drum, the pacing slowed down significantly. On one hand I can understand the point of the change because it allowed us to see the characters develop, but at the same time I felt it was too slow at times. I was very invested in the characters and thought the character work was amazing. They are dynamic and messy and are flawed yet have strength. A new point of view was introduced, and I really enjoyed that addition.
I also love that El-Arifi made this a queer-normative world. It made my heart so happy. There are so many revelations about the magic system and world. However, I am so impressed by the depth of the lore, history, and magic of this world. It takes skill to interweave this into the plot so effortlessly. The plot twists did keep me on the edge of my seat and kept me wanting to read more. Most of them were phenomenal, but I did find some to be predictable.
There are some content warnings for this book. El-Arifi does not shy away from darker content. There is a scene towards the end of the book that will stay with me for a long time because it was so horrific and emotionally charged. It made the read very impactful. (CW: violence, torture, abuse, grief, addiction, religious bigotry, rape)
Objectively I think this is a very solid sequel. I was in a bit of a fantasy slump when I read this, so I think I would have enjoyed it more if I read it at a different time. I feel like the beginning and end were the best parts of the book and the middle dragged a a bit much for my personal taste. That being said, I did have a good time with this one, and I absolutely cannot wait to read the conclusion to this trilogy!
This is a fantastic fantasy series, and I highly recommend it! It deserves more love!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I also love that El-Arifi made this a queer-normative world. It made my heart so happy. There are so many revelations about the magic system and world. However, I am so impressed by the depth of the lore, history, and magic of this world. It takes skill to interweave this into the plot so effortlessly. The plot twists did keep me on the edge of my seat and kept me wanting to read more. Most of them were phenomenal, but I did find some to be predictable.
There are some content warnings for this book. El-Arifi does not shy away from darker content. There is a scene towards the end of the book that will stay with me for a long time because it was so horrific and emotionally charged. It made the read very impactful. (CW: violence, torture, abuse, grief, addiction, religious bigotry, rape)
Objectively I think this is a very solid sequel. I was in a bit of a fantasy slump when I read this, so I think I would have enjoyed it more if I read it at a different time. I feel like the beginning and end were the best parts of the book and the middle dragged a a bit much for my personal taste. That being said, I did have a good time with this one, and I absolutely cannot wait to read the conclusion to this trilogy!
This is a fantastic fantasy series, and I highly recommend it! It deserves more love!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Religious bigotry