We Free the Stars (Sands of Arawiya, 2)

“Knowing you can lose something is what makes it more precious.” Totally fell in love with this story. It taught me a new way to love what is broken and to understand the value in it. It taught me to fight and never give up. It taught me to believe and hope till the end. An amazing continuation and conclusion to such a well written tale. I do not often fall in love with the supporting characters but I sure did in this book and that even included the Jarawat. Faizal wrote this story in an intriguing way and there were times I was mad, times I cried, times I was like “WHAT!!!” and I appreciate every single part of it that made up those moments. Shukran Faizal for sharing your heart with us as seen in this book. If you’re considering reading this book, please do. There’s a lot to learn from it.

Initial Thoughts There’s nothing like reading 450+ books between the first and second book in a series to remind you how much you missed the world. I read We Hunt the Flame in May of 2019 and oh wow was I frustrated with the ending. I actually preorder my copy of this book in October of 2019 and here we are in 2021 just talking about it. Needless to say, I was excited to read this book. Some Things I Liked Stunning world building with lush descriptions. As mentioned above, I read a TON of books between books 1 and 2, but, all that did was mature my reading taste. While I might have rebuffed the poetic language in book 1, I craved it in book 2. Hafsah Faizal paints such rich pictures I felt like I could close my eyes and see what Zafira, Nasir, or any of my favorites were seeing at any given moment. That romance. Never have I ever been so tortured by slow burn romance and loved it so much. I probably had a moment every other chapter where I wanted to either shake Zafira or Nasir and be like “JUST SAY IT!” The tension that Hafsah created was nothing short of phenomenal. Altair. My heart hurt every moment he wasn’t with the zumra. He’s one of my favorite characters of all time. His wit, his smile in the face of danger, the way he mercilessly teases Nasir, I would read a million spin off stories about him. The ending. The build to the end was everything I wanted it to be and more. It was just what I wanted to see. Series Value I would love to read more books set in this world. Prequels, sequels, side stories, you name it. I’m very excited to read Hafsah’s next series, which is supposed to be set in the same world but about new characters. Final Thoughts I devoured this book. I read it all in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. This book was WELL worth the wait. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recommendations for Further Reading An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – if you want a book that will literally destroy you emotionally and make you feel all the feelings, try this completed seres. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal – if you want more of this amazing world but also a little bit of Vampires and Arthurian legend, look no further than Hafsah’s next series.

🦇 We Free the Stars Book Review 🦇 🦇 Zafira and Nasir return to a ghostly Sultan’s Keep, low on resources and allies alike. The dark forest has fallen, but the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night’s return. As Nasir fights to command the dark power in his blood, Zafira fights against a very different darkness festering through her bond with the Jawarat. Can they defy the darkness surrounding them to find the light? 💜 My lovely romantasy readers. While we're all waiting for a certain dragon book, why not slip into a rich, vivid, Arabian-inspired epic fantasy that will HAVE YOU ON YOUR KNEES for an intense, slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers ship? We Free the Stars (the second book in the Sands of Arawiya duology) provides all that AND SO MUCH MORE. 💜 Hafsah Faizal is an absolute MASTER at intricate, eloquent, powerful prose. Between the stunning setting, realistic characters, and absolute wit, you'll remain enthralled with every page. As our rag-tag found family "zumra" races to restore magic, you'll remain seeped in Arawiya's world and Faizal's spell-casting language. It's lyrical, action-packed, full of longing and loss. As captivating as the world-building and attention to detail are, it's the characters that bring this story to life. Many romantasy stories focus solely on the main ship, but Zafira's relationships with her sister, best friend, a daama book, and those she's lost weigh on her heavier than her father's cloak ever did. Those relationships are meaningful, still growing, capable of shattering with a single mistake--much as real relationships are. 💜 Zafira and Nasir have suffered so much, but still find one another in stolen moments that can steal your heart just as swiftly. The build from enemies to allies to the possibility of more is authentic, never rushed, leaving you craving more with every page yet never denying readers too long. The development is authentic; a dizzying, delightful slow-burn that never steals from the main story. 💙 Unfortunately, the second half of this duology relies deeply on miscommunication. Again, the characters internalize a LOT, causing the pacing to drag at certain points. Some points of conflict were avoidable, if only the zumra spoke to one another (instead of Zafira talking to a daama book that sasses back). The third part of the book, while sweet, felt a little unnecessary, dragging out scenes that could have been collected into an epilogue. 🦇 Recommended for all romantasy fans, namely fans of Ember in the Ashes, Rebel of the Sands, The Wrath & the Dawn, Spice Road, and The City of Brass. ✨ The Vibes ✨ 🌙 Young Adult Epic Fantasy 🧭 Sands of Arawiya Duology 🏹 Magic ✨ Assassin/Huntress Enemies to Lovers 🌙 Lyrical and Spellbinding 🧭 Arab & Muslim Inspired/Writer 🏹 Triple POV ✨ "I came to kill you but fell for you" 🌙 Found Family 🧭 Royal Court/Political Intrigue 🏹 Slow Burn & Super Angsty 💬 Quotes ❝ “You seem to have no trouble being the end of me.” ❞ ❝ “Habibi. Hayati. Roohi. My love, my life, my soul, the words meant, but their meanings went deeper than that. Habibi was for friends and love that was real enough. Hayati was when love became an all-encompassing thing. Deeper and deeper, until one became the others life. Roohi was when a soul twined with its match and loved with the force of a thousand suns. When it slipped beneath the heart and tangled in the very fibres of an existence.” ❞ ❝ "You’re like a room full of books. Every time I see you, I discover something new.” ❞ ❝ They suffered alone. Quiet and brave. It was easy to believe that anyone who did not speak of suffering did not suffer. ❞ ❝ My bladed compass, sheathed in starlight. ❞ ❝ His compass. His queen. His life. ❞ ❝ He had been the Amir al-Maut until she had come and torn the monster to shreds with sharp words and coy glimpses. ❞ ❝ You’ll have me. No matter how thick the night, I will always be there to light your way. ❞ ❝ "They say the soul cannot rest until it finds its match. Then it ignites." ❞ ❝ “Do my people not deserve the freedom of yours? Do you know how it feels to stand beside others forged of the same flesh and bone and still be treated as inferior? As someone undeserving?” ❞

This was an amazing sequel and ending to Zafira, Nasir, Altair, Kifah, and all of the others who touched the zumra. With the final showdown between the zumra and the Lion of Darkness, more than just hope is lost. Zafira has to find herself when the Jawarat clouds her mind and makes her question her motives. Nasir has to keep himself from cracking as the man who controls his father and called him a mutt for years roams free intent to kill anyone in his way. Book 2 had very organic ebbs and flows with slow chapters that are used well in conjunction with the bustle of the fight scenes, of which the are plenty. Character development is still progressive and feels genuine. Emotions galore poor from page to page. TRIGGER WARNINGS: Abandonment Self depreciation Death Disfigurement

Wow. This book.. this series. Love. I just.. I don’t even know what to say. I’m going to ramble. World building ✅ Three dimensional characters ✅ A villain you feel bad for ✅ Relationships ✅ So we start off where we left off. These characters are going through so much! Lots of revelations were revealed and now our zumra have to find a way to deal with those and also free magic. There’s deaths and betrayals. Heartache. Sympathy. I felt for the Lion. I can understand his actions. Was he still awful and made terrible decisions? Yes. But seeing certain things, I felt for him. Also, Lana..Zafira’s sister, absolutely adored her! So wise beyond her years. Nasir in this book.. behold my heart. Love him. Just love him. The growth he’s shown had me like a proud mama. The ending was beautiful. I’m so happy Hafsah went a certain way with one character. It made sooo much more sense. I lived for it and I loved it. Highly recommend this series. Read this in 2 days!

My daughter enjoyed reading this.

4 Stars ✨ “We’re a zumra. We hunted the flame together, found the light in the darkness, but we were far from done, laa? Now we unleash it. We free the stars, shatter the darkness holding us captive, and return the world to the splendor it once was.” This was a fantastic conclusion to this series. It was written with beautiful prose , lush world building and very original. The storyline was great and loved the Arabian atheistic it had. I found the pacing of this one to be significantly better than the first. The characters grew so much in this installment. I was also so excited when both our MCs got reunited with certain other characters. Altair was my favorite of this series, everything about him was chefs kiss 🤌🏽. His banter brought such a breath of fresh air and happiness in even the darkest of situations for all the found family members- he truly was the glue. My only complaint would be when reading, sometimes the POV would shift from Altair and Nasir and it would take me a minute to figure out which one I was reading. After a while it grew on me, but at first it was a bit confusing. Overall good read. Content ⚠️: Language: The only foul language is in Arabic, so I didn’t even know what they were saying TBH. Spice : The romance was a subplot and super slow burn. There is intense attraction between them, touching, holding, kissing but nothing inappropriate. Violence: There is violence, but to me it was pretty typical YA style and tame.

I don’t always like sequels, but this book did not disappoint! Super fast paced with a gripping story and addicting characters. The only thing that takes getting used to were the short chapters. Otherwise the book cover looks good and the writing was beautiful. I already miss the characters in this book even though I only finished it last night. This book made me laugh and cry which is how I know a book is good if I feel all ranges of emotion. I absolutely loved this book!