Review of We Hunt the Flame

I am giving this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I did enjoy this book, and I was having a difficult time deciding if I should give it 3 or 4 stars. Some think 3 is low, but I think of it as average. Nothing stood out, and nothing needed more. It was there and something to pass the time. 

In the beginning, it was slow. I even wondered if I should DNF it, but I had heard such great things about it and I wanted to hold out until it at least started going somewhere. I'm glad I did. Though it took a while for it to speed up, it did get more interesting. I started actually getting into the story.

I really liked Zafira's character (and Nasir's, but mostly Zafira's). She is everything a good leader should be, and even though she has negative qualities, she wields them like a sword. She doesn't let people step on her, she holds her own weight, and she is fierce. There is nothing I like more than a main character who is true to herself. 

Nasir, Zafira, and the other characters go through character development, and I really enjoyed how smoothly it went. I was reading character development without even realizing I was reading it, and I think that it was because they felt realistic. It was like I was making a new friend and learning their character rather than reading development. 

Some of the events in the book felt rushed or out of place. It was as though they didn't belong where they were put in the story and weren't given enough time to fully grow. But I do think that it is okay this happens because I didn't see a good place for it to happen or how it might have occurred any other way. It kept the story moving.

There were a few twists that I think were put in very well. It wasn't as though it were a last minute decision. It was clear they had been woven into the story as though they were included before the author started the writing process. They even add to the story, and it brought me to love them even more.

Some nights before I fell asleep, I was thinking about Zafira and Nasir. That showed me I do feel a connection towards the book and the characters, though it wasn't strong enough to keep me awake at night like other books sometimes do. But there was something, and I think it's okay for this because it allows me to grow more of a connection as the story progresses. I actually like it a bit more because it didn't immediately make an impression on me and is allowing a nice bond to form.


This review is also on Goodreads and Bookbub!


Synopsis:
An instant New York Times bestseller!

A BuzzFeed pick for "YA Books You Absolutely Must Read This Spring"
A Bustle's Most Anticipated 2019 YA Release

Paste Magazine's Top 10 Most Anticipated YA Novels of 2019

"Lyrical and spellbinding" ―Marieke Njikamp, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

Set in a richly detailed world inspired by ancient Arabia, Hafsah Faizal's We Hunt the Flame―first in the Sands of Arawiya duology―is a gripping debut of discovery, conquering fear, and taking identity into your own hands.

People lived because she killed. People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya―but neither wants to be.
War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds―and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Reading log: August 29, 2019 - September 18, 2019