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lisashelves 's review for:
The Final Strife
by Saara El-Arifi
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5 stars
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
The Final Strife is the first book in an African, Arabian-inspired fantasy with three woman who band together against the rule of the Empire that divides people by the color of their blood.
“A dancer’s grace, a killer’s instinct, an Ember’s blood, a Duster’s heart.”
I am all for new, exciting fantasy books. I am constantly looking for new books to discover and read and this discovery is one that makes me very happy to have found! Honestly, this book is just a phenomenal debut!
The book follows three women, all of a different class and all with a very different background and childhood. A Ghostling, a Duster and an Ember. Just the fact that there are different blood colors and thus different classes and how this corresponds to everything in the story makes it so rich in worldbuilding. It takes a tiny while in the beginning to get in the flow of the book because a lot of information is given, but once you’re past that part this book will blow your mind!
The pacing is very well done. The right pace to give you the time to learn the world, the setting, the character but also the stakes. Combine this with a super intriguing plot and it’s a recipe for an amazing, rich and entertaining story. The way everything ties together, story wise and character wise is an amazing example for clever and grabbing writing.
I also loved how this book is written more as new adult/adult as opposed to young adult, with heavier topics being shown and the characters being older. It was amazing to see the darker sides, drug addiction, oppression, grief and how the characters deal with it, but also how it shaped them in who they are. It really added another layer and also made the characters themselves more real in my eyes. I also especially loved the mental growth paired with these topics.
While the book is very rich in its worldbuilding and plot, the book would be nothing without its amazing cast of character. Sylah, Anoor and Hassa are three amazing woman who really bring their whole to the story and who make you fall in love with this story as well. Very distinguishable, remarkable and characters that can’t be missed in this book. All of them have their distinct part in bringing everything together and tying the different plotlines together. Sylah’s humor is also something that I loved, almost as much as I adored how innocent Anoor could be, but also how well she meant everything.
The relationships between the characters really grow quite a bit in this book. I loved the friendship between Hassa and Sylah at the beginning, almost a pity not much of it was seen during the middle of the book. I also really loved Anoor and Sylah together. They came together in an unusual way, but I loved how they made it work and how their “forced to be and work together” evolved into a friendship and later in more. I loved seeing that development and with the ending that broke my heart a bit I really want to know how they will overcome all that happened in the sequel!
Overall, this was an amazing debut with lots of action, adventure, suspense, romance. It is super intriguing with amazing characters who will capture your heart and won’t let go.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
The Final Strife is the first book in an African, Arabian-inspired fantasy with three woman who band together against the rule of the Empire that divides people by the color of their blood.
“A dancer’s grace, a killer’s instinct, an Ember’s blood, a Duster’s heart.”
I am all for new, exciting fantasy books. I am constantly looking for new books to discover and read and this discovery is one that makes me very happy to have found! Honestly, this book is just a phenomenal debut!
The book follows three women, all of a different class and all with a very different background and childhood. A Ghostling, a Duster and an Ember. Just the fact that there are different blood colors and thus different classes and how this corresponds to everything in the story makes it so rich in worldbuilding. It takes a tiny while in the beginning to get in the flow of the book because a lot of information is given, but once you’re past that part this book will blow your mind!
The pacing is very well done. The right pace to give you the time to learn the world, the setting, the character but also the stakes. Combine this with a super intriguing plot and it’s a recipe for an amazing, rich and entertaining story. The way everything ties together, story wise and character wise is an amazing example for clever and grabbing writing.
I also loved how this book is written more as new adult/adult as opposed to young adult, with heavier topics being shown and the characters being older. It was amazing to see the darker sides, drug addiction, oppression, grief and how the characters deal with it, but also how it shaped them in who they are. It really added another layer and also made the characters themselves more real in my eyes. I also especially loved the mental growth paired with these topics.
While the book is very rich in its worldbuilding and plot, the book would be nothing without its amazing cast of character. Sylah, Anoor and Hassa are three amazing woman who really bring their whole to the story and who make you fall in love with this story as well. Very distinguishable, remarkable and characters that can’t be missed in this book. All of them have their distinct part in bringing everything together and tying the different plotlines together. Sylah’s humor is also something that I loved, almost as much as I adored how innocent Anoor could be, but also how well she meant everything.
The relationships between the characters really grow quite a bit in this book. I loved the friendship between Hassa and Sylah at the beginning, almost a pity not much of it was seen during the middle of the book. I also really loved Anoor and Sylah together. They came together in an unusual way, but I loved how they made it work and how their “forced to be and work together” evolved into a friendship and later in more. I loved seeing that development and with the ending that broke my heart a bit I really want to know how they will overcome all that happened in the sequel!
Overall, this was an amazing debut with lots of action, adventure, suspense, romance. It is super intriguing with amazing characters who will capture your heart and won’t let go.