We Free the Stars: Hafsah Faizal (Sands of Arawiya, 2)

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Nasir and Zafira’s perspectives are equally amazing. They both have gone through a lot in book one and it was great to see them continue to develop and change over the course of this book. we hunt the flame was lovely, but we free the stars stole my breath away. you can see hafsah’s improvement from even the first installment to this one, and i cannot wait to see she has in store.

i've been a fan of hafsah's work, with we hunt the flame, from the time of its release. to get from that point to where we are now, getting a chance to reading a tempest of tea a little early on is a privilege. while i love WHTF very much, a tempest of tea is simply on a vastly different level. you can see hafsah's growth in her writing, in her worlds and characters, and it is so wonderful and she has truly outdone herself. i'm not going to use the common examples that she's been receiving throughout her career with comparisons to other books, but in general: if you like stories with heists, with a crew of young people finding their way in their world, through loss and grief, maybe even vengeance and ambition. for lonely people finding a family together, you will like this book. Way too much time in the book is dedicated to the romance, so let's keep it short and sweet here. I didn't like it. Arthie is described as emotionally unavailable. For the most part, she is. Yet, she ends up in the middle of a weird love triangle. She spends way too much time ruminating on her feelings for these two boys that I as a reader didn't get to know. It's not the worst love triangle in YA, but it is unbelievably silly for it to be there. Considering this is a duology, it would have made sense for Arthie's character if the romance was more of a slow burn. When Zafira asked him his favourite colour, and Nasir said “You” (all the colours that make her up… which could’ve been cute if he wasn’t so cringe, and always calling her his fair gazelle like we get it she’s pale) We Hunt the Flame is one of my all-time favorite books. We Free the Stars had a lot to live up to, but I knew I would end up loving it. I did not expect how much. This book somehow managed to surpass all of my exceedingly high expectations and leave me an absolute mess.

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My heart has survived it is a surprise. You can never stop midway in this book. I had my heart in throat whole time A Tempest of Tea has a lot going for it. A unique world, with intriguing main characters, and twists and turns that make for a wild ride. Even though the romance is subpar, and some of the reveals came a tad too late in the story, overall this is a fun and gritty novel.

This is completely unbelievable coming from this character, and there are multiple examples of this throughout the book. However, for the most part, the description and speech of the characters are too flowery and, frankly, archaic and fake-sounding.Hafsah's writing only gets better and better. We get multiple POVs in this book and she fleshes out each individual character so well. The world and magic system were written really well and I still have so many questions that we hopefully get answered! Darkness doesn’t need to be destroyed. We need the dark as much as we need light. It makes us bold, as much as it makes us afraid.” She smiled. “Darkness needs only to be tamed.” The battle on Sharr is over. The Arz has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan’s Keep, determined to finish the plan Altair set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, finally bringing 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. The romance made me miserable. Genuinely. There was no actual bonding and relationship development between Nasir and Zafira. The foundation of their relationship is non-existent. Just a lot of miscommunication, weird tension that doesn't even feel romantic, just uncomfortable, and also a few make out seshes sprinkled in to legitimize that they are in fact in love even though they barely know each other. Their whole relationship was cringe to be honest. The young captain’s shouts were instant. Chaos erupted as her ragtag crew leaped to attention, the rough inflection of Zaramese at home with the crashing sea. He didn’t know what the girl would do with so much coin, but he didn’t exactly care. The throne had enough to spare.