The battle on Sharr is over. The dark forest has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan’s Keep, determined to finish the plan he set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, and finally returning magic to all of Arawiya. But they are low on resources and allies alike, and the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night’s return.
As the zumra plots to overthrow the kingdom’s darkest threat, Nasir fights to command the magic in his blood. He must learn to hone his power into a weapon, to wield not only against the Lion but against his father, trapped under the Lion’s control. Zafira battles a very different darkness festering in her through her bond with the Jawarat—a darkness that hums with voices, pushing her to the brink of her sanity and to the edge of a chaos she dare not unleash. In spite of the darkness enclosing ever faster, Nasir and Zafira find themselves falling into a love they can’t stand to lose…but time is running out to achieve their ends, and if order is to be restored, drastic sacrifices will have to be made.
Lush and striking, hopeful and devastating, We Free the Stars is the masterful conclusion to the Sands of Arawiya duology by New York Times–bestselling author Hafsah Faizal.
-Goodreads
I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I have been SO EXCITED for this book. Seriously. So excited. We Hunt the Flame ended on a bit of a cliffhanger and I’ve been stressing over the safety of my man, Altair for years now. The first book in this series was a literal one sitting read for me, and I went into We Free the Stars with high expectations. I already knew I loved Hafsah Faizal’s writing style, as well as the world she’d created.
As always, let me start by talking about what I loved. This duology has a found family plotline that I love so so much. The trust and relationships between the characters is absolutely heartwarming, and the banter was on point. I thought that the story was very well wrapped up and am genuinely happy with the way that everything ended. It wasn’t quite what I expected – it was actually better. And the best part? It was OPEN ENDED. Which means…drumroll please….a spin off book. I personally think based on how things ended that Altair will get his own books.
I do want to add that I highly recommend the audiobooks for this series – the narrators are impecible. They are the same narrators (Steve West and and Fiona Hardingham) who worked on the An Ember in the Ashes series. I seriously can’t say enough good things about this combination of narrators – I will listen to anything they work on together.
While I did enjoy the way the series ended, I overall think that I enjoyed We Hunt the Flame just a bit more. The plot of We Hunt the Flame took my by the hand and dragged me along, hardly allowing me time to breathe. We Free the Stars, however led me on a meandering stroll. I was thrilled with the destination, but I wish we had moved a bit faster on our way.
As The Book Ends 