Author: Hafsa Faizal
Series: Sands of Arawiya #1
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Released: May 14th, 2019
Received: Own
Warnings: Assassins, misogyny

I hate myself for taking so long to sit down and read We Hunt the Flame. Has it really been sitting on my shelf for nearly TWO YEARS?! Yes, yes it has. Considering how much I loved this book, I consider that such a shame.

Zafira is the Hunter – and in lands that were more accepting, she would be known as the Huntress. That is not to be, even when she’s the only one who can dare enter the magic forest and hope to come out alive.

Then there’s the Prince of Death, a literal prince and assassin all in one. Nasir terrifies all around, with one notable exception. His father. Now Nasir has been ordered to go after the Hunter, use him to track down a priceless treasure, and then eliminate him.

“We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the good this world deserves.”

Words cannot describe how much I loved We Hunt the Flame. It was everything that I could have asked for – and so much more. This book may be almost five hundred pages – but it went by in the blink of an eye.

Well, thankfully, not quite so literally. But I did read it over the course of two nights, and what an experience it was! My only regret is that I didn’t plan ahead and have We Free the Stars sitting on a shelf waiting to be read next.

Zafira and Nasir make for freaking fantastic opposing characters. It takes a while before they meet, but I enjoyed the switch in perspectives even before then. Both stories are heartbreaking for very different reasons.

I think it took me about two (?) chapters to get sucked into the plot. But once I did? Yeah, it was thoroughly stuck in my brain. I’m still wondering what will happen next or how they’re going to complete the next mission (I’m trying to be vague here, to avoid spoilers).

“Be as victorious as the name I have given you, and bring the desert to its knees.”

So yes: in case it wasn’t obvious, I loved We Hunt the Flame. It is going on my list of favorite young adult novels. And I will be picking up We Free the Stars once my book budget allows (I’ve been veeery bad lately).