There was one big issue for me while reading this book, and it is the reason that this rating is as low as it is— slow pacing. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for a slow build story. Those are typically my favorites, but The Final Strife was different because it was too slow. I understand the need to build the relationship between two characters, but it felt extremely drawn out to the point where we were getting way too many casual conversations. The trials of combat and skill, in my opinion, are the driving forces of the plot, and I felt like they were sprinkled far and few between. Their pages compared to the others were too small. I think this novel could have been around 150-175 pages shorter, and it still would have accomplished the same thing.

Now in terms of the characters, I adored them. Morally grey leads are my favorite, and all of them are doing what they deem as best even when it toes the line to criminal actions. Sylah dreams of the days when the rebellion will overthrow the current people in power, but she's currently suffering with an extreme addiction to joba seeds. The handling of drug addiction/ abuse and withdrawal were one of the most powerful parts to this story. It made me tear up to see Sylah lose her potential again and again because she can't help but get more seeds. It was for sure the best character arc, and I am very excited to see what she has up her sleeve in the sequel. Moreover, Anoor is the daughter of their empire's ruler, but she holds a terrible secret— she's actually not the ruler's true daughter because her blood runs blue (red= elite, blue= poor, clear= slaves). While Sylah's arc was stronger, Anoor is a close second. She grows from a naive, vulnerable woman into a capable and strong potential leader. She's the one who goes through the trials of combat and skill, and with each trial, her growth is steady but always rising. In many ways, I think this book was more of a setup than anything else because both Sylah and Anoor's growth made them better/ more interesting characters. Lastly, Hassa is the final main POV, but I'm not going to say much about her since her POVs are honestly the most secretive and intriguing.

Another point that'll be interpreted differently depending on the reader was the fatphobia. It was flagrant and almost never rebutted. Anoor is constantly dealing with comments about her body from her mother to even Sylah, who is ultimately her love interest and complicates this more. While Anoor does ultimately rise above that negativity to be confidant with herself, this doesn't necessarily happen until the very end, and she's forced into this headspace by some negative situations. There's a lot of heavy topics within this story that are actively rejected by multiple characters and the content within the book, but the fatphobia was less so, which made me uncomfortable at times.

Overall, like I said before, this book felt like a setup one rather than a start to a trilogy. I was highly anticipating this, so my disappointment is intense. The Final Strife isn't a bad book; the writing (besides pacing) was good, and I loved the characters. It just needs more work, and I'm hopeful that the sequel will be better.