WE HUNT THE FLAME BY HAFSAH FAIZAL || ARC REVIEW

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Rating: ★★★★☆

Publication date: May 14, 2019

People lived because she killed.
People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. 

Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Set in a richly detailed world inspired by ancient Arabia, We Hunt the Flame is a gripping debut of discovery, conquering fear, and taking identity into your own hands.

I feel… really conflicted about this book. It’s one of the most hyped up books of the year so I had EXPECTATIONS. Did I enjoy it? OH YES. Am I looking forward to the sequel? HUNDRED TIMES YES. I just feel like there’s something amiss with it. WHY IS THIS REVIEW SO DIFFICULT TO WRITE UGH.

Let’s see. We Hunt the Flame has:

a rich world ✓

smooth story-telling ✓

descriptive writing ✓

great chemistry between characters ✓

intense character backstories ✓

good banter ✓

It has all the potential elements that make me love a book so much so why didn’t I give it five stars then?

• I didn’t connect that much with some of the characters, especially Kifah and Benyamin. I really felt like some characters were used as plot devices more than anything. There was this one character…

SPOILERS AHEAD! You have been warned.

named Deen who I thought would have a huge role in the story but boom he was killed 15% into the book. His death really made me upset because he had such a huge potential plus I didn’t really feel that his death impacted the book that much?? Even Zafira didn’t grieve for him that much. I understand that Zafira is made out to be this cold character but I wanted to see more of a reaction from her when her best friend died. She DID mourn for Deen but I think it wasn’t enough. If my best friend died all of a sudden, I would’ve been angrier and sadder. Deen was just there to further Zafira’s character arc and I wasn’t pleased with that.

 

• Hafsah Faizal also wrote this “zumra” or squad of characters who were forced to team up to retrieve a magical book that can restore magic to Arawiya. This zumra is made up of Zafira (the famed Huntress), Nasir (the deadly prince. don’t mess with this dude), Altair (the mysterious and angsty general), Benyamin (knowledgeable immortal dude who’s really soft) and Kifah (badass elite warrior who deserved more page time). I like all five of them individually but I think that there wasn’t enough time for them to develop as a team. I didn’t see a strong bond which tied the five of them together despite their adventures and that really disappointed me.

• The plot twists were a bit anticlimactic. They were like bombs that were dropped from the sky but didn’t explode when they reached the ground. They didn’t have enough punch to make my heart race.

• There were things that I didn’t quite like with this book but they won’t erase the fact that I highly enjoyed reading We Hunt the Flame as a whole. In fact, I couldn’t put it down because it was that much of a page-turner. I loved every inch of the Arabian-inspired world especially because Hafsah Faizal writes detailed descriptions. I also love the tension between Nasir and Zafira. THOSE TWO NEED TO SORT THINGS OUT. *insert incoherent screaming here*

• Unlike the general populace, I really love prologues and epilogues and We Hunt The Flame has a fiery epilogue. I AM DYING FOR THE SEQUEL. The epilogue made my heart race more than the plot twists ever did lmao. This series really has a huge potential and I can’t wait to see how far it will go in the future. I’m also hoping to see more character development in the next books.

Have you read We Hunt the Flame? What did you think? What’s your opinion on hyped books?