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A review by smokedshelves
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi
5.0
thank you to random house publishing house ballantine, del rey, and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
an intricate (blood) magic system, a queernormative world, and the slowburn grumpy x sunshine romance that leaves you screaming at your book the entire time. i can already tell that this book is one that’ll be remembered and beloved for ages.
if i hadn’t known anything about this prior to requesting/reading this, i’d never have assumed that this was a debut. this story was so intricately crafted, you’d think that saara el-arifi was a long-loved author. however, i worry that because the book starts at a very slow pace, and with lots to learn about the world, it’ll deter people from reading on. but i urge you, if you’re hesitant about committing to a complex high-fantasy world, give it until you’re a 1/3 of the way through before making any judgements. it picks up so quickly after that and will keep you hooked the entire way. i was the same way at first, and i’m so so glad i kept with it.
on to some specifics... well, every little theory i had while reading (right or wrong) paid off so well. there’s so many teeny bits of foreshadowing, and i’m sure i’ve still missed a bunch of it. each character that we follow (mainly sylah and anoor as our primary povs, but also jond and hassa) felt so fleshed out. which is why i’m glad we were given the time to get to know everyone’s different relationships before all hell broke lose.
and of course, i have to mention anoor and sylah. the two of them are so perfect to each other. right from when they met, their interactions were hilarious and surprisingly intimate. i smiled, i swooned, i laughed my ass off. also, while i was keeping count of how many times i screamed at my phone “kiss already”, i did lose count. oops. the two of them alone would’ve pushed me through the story if i wasn’t engaged in the plot. but well,, obviously i’m in love and impressed by it all.
my brain is truly mush after that ending so, of course i’ve probably missed another 1,000 things i could talk about. but please please please pick this book up. you will not regret it. please i need them to confirm a sequel, help a musawa out here — psst if you read the book you’ll understand what i mean. did that convince you?
an intricate (blood) magic system, a queernormative world, and the slowburn grumpy x sunshine romance that leaves you screaming at your book the entire time. i can already tell that this book is one that’ll be remembered and beloved for ages.
if i hadn’t known anything about this prior to requesting/reading this, i’d never have assumed that this was a debut. this story was so intricately crafted, you’d think that saara el-arifi was a long-loved author. however, i worry that because the book starts at a very slow pace, and with lots to learn about the world, it’ll deter people from reading on. but i urge you, if you’re hesitant about committing to a complex high-fantasy world, give it until you’re a 1/3 of the way through before making any judgements. it picks up so quickly after that and will keep you hooked the entire way. i was the same way at first, and i’m so so glad i kept with it.
on to some specifics... well, every little theory i had while reading (right or wrong) paid off so well. there’s so many teeny bits of foreshadowing, and i’m sure i’ve still missed a bunch of it. each character that we follow (mainly sylah and anoor as our primary povs, but also jond and hassa) felt so fleshed out. which is why i’m glad we were given the time to get to know everyone’s different relationships before all hell broke lose.
and of course, i have to mention anoor and sylah. the two of them are so perfect to each other. right from when they met, their interactions were hilarious and surprisingly intimate. i smiled, i swooned, i laughed my ass off. also, while i was keeping count of how many times i screamed at my phone “kiss already”, i did lose count. oops. the two of them alone would’ve pushed me through the story if i wasn’t engaged in the plot. but well,, obviously i’m in love and impressed by it all.
my brain is truly mush after that ending so, of course i’ve probably missed another 1,000 things i could talk about. but please please please pick this book up. you will not regret it. please i need them to confirm a sequel, help a musawa out here — psst if you read the book you’ll understand what i mean. did that convince you?