We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya, 1)

This book ended on a cliffhanger for sure. There are a lot of unanswered questions that will most likely be answered in a sequel.

Zafira and Nazmis both change throughout the book. Zafira is not hiding her identity anymore. Nazmir learns to feel and think for himself at the end. Having Benyamin and Kifah just run into them on the island felt rushed and undeveloped to me, but I didn't realise this was a series when I picked it up so I'm assuming that answers will come.

In a world inspired by ancient Arabia, Zafira is a skilled Hunter who disguises herself as a man in order to track down animals in the cursed forest of the Arz, hunting and killing them in order to feed her people. Nasir, on the other hand, is an assassin known as the Prince of Death and also happens to be the Sultan’s son. Both characters come from extremely different backgrounds and reluctantly play their roles in We Hunt the Flame, eventually joining forces on a journey on which neither wants to embark – uncover a lost artifact that can bring magic back to their world.

Read my full review on The Nerd Cantina:
https://thenerdcantina.com/we-hunt-the-flame-by-hafsah-faizal-book-review

“We Hunt the Flame” is a great book especially if you’re into ‘slow burn/spice romance’ the world is really intriguing and the plot is really interesting once it starts to pick up. Add to it a really good take on introspective writing and you’ve got a pretty decent YA on your hands. Personally I found the romance rather ridiculous, the dynamic itself is very probable and fitting—but the pacing of it all was very unnatural, felt like we’re missing a few chapters of build up, which is funny consider it takes about half the book for the overall story to finally get going. If you’re down for a spicy Arabian adventure then absolutely read this book—Just beware that while the “plot” is a slow burn, the romance is quite fast-paced. So If YA romance isn’t really your thing, probably leave this one on the shelf.

Wow! Utterly amazing, imaginative, thrilling. One of the first fantasy books I've read whose author is a muslim woman, and she ATEE! Deflects from a Westernised idea of fantasy which allows the book to flourish in its own definition of what a fantasy book can be. Loved that it was influenced by historical Arabia. Reading this book has taught me more about the Middle Eastern culture, by including Arabic words within the book, you feel immersed in this world and its characters. There are greats depictions of honour and self value written within our main girl. The book does not try to appease one specific audience with white-washing or generalisation, instead it creates a broad variety of Asian culture through its world-building and individual characters, which was really refreshing to see. I also loved the Islamic representation and how it fed into the plot. Excited to read the second book to see how the characters evolve.

I absolutely adored this book. The characters were amazing, the book was beautifully written, the world the author created was brilliant, and there were so many lines that were so well written and beautiful I marked them off to come back and read them later. This book made me feel alive while I read it and I can't wait to read the second book.