I'm not exactly sure what didn't click for me here, if I had hyped myself up to read this for too long or if I was too distracted by unrelated irl issues to keep hold of the world, but I felt very disconnected from the world building and flow of this book. The characters were incredible, and it got more interesting once the Safi appeared. However, the magical appearing of characters felt way too convenient. I think I'm normally pretty able to suspend my disbelief, but when every character is somehow able to meet exactly who they need to on time, even claiming the help of a witch got too old. This also was a flaw with the magic system - there wasn't enough world-building to find each revelation believable. Powers and needed objects somehow appeared exactly when needed, each build-up to climactic events became a let-down. It was also exhausting how everyone was suddenly related. One plot-twist of that nature worked, but by the third, it was obvious and over-done. The romance had a similar issue - if the strong connection between Zafira and Nasir was supposed to be special, then why did they have such strong chemistry with everyone else who flirts with them? It didn't seem like a pro-polyamory story, so it only lessened the believability of that core romance. I also had a hard time visualizing the settings - one moment they are in endless dunes, but when it's time to sleep, there is conveniently a ruin or building to settle into? Again, this could have been my own distraction, but I couldn't figure out how large the Arz or the Sharr were when characters kept describing them as huge and impenetrable, but then traverse them quickly and seem to find shelter easily. 

Finally, it was very hard to mourn Deen when he treated Zafira so badly. He really should have learned what CONSENT meant - a lack of a fully and enthusiastic yes means NO, Deen. Zafira's anxiety over not reciprocating his feelings felt like coercion on his part, and while their friendship seemed great, he ruined it.