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The Ending Fire Trilogy #1
The Final Strife
Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.
Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.
Clear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.
Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.
Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom—and their hearts.
Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.
As the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.
Book One of The Ending Fire Trilogy
Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.
Clear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.
Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.
Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom—and their hearts.
Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.
As the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.
Book One of The Ending Fire Trilogy
608 pages, Hardcover
First published June 21, 2022
991 people are currently reading
78430 people want to read
About the author
Saara El-Arifi
12 books3,315 followersSaara El-Arifi is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ending Fire Trilogy
and the Faebound Trilogy.
El-Arifi knew she was a storyteller from the moment she told her first lie. Over the years, she has perfected her tall tales into epic ones. She has lived in many countries, had many jobs, and owned many more cats. After a decade of working in marketing and communications, she returned to academia to complete a master’s degree in African studies alongside her writing career. She currently resides in London as a full-time procrastinator.
and the Faebound Trilogy.
El-Arifi knew she was a storyteller from the moment she told her first lie. Over the years, she has perfected her tall tales into epic ones. She has lived in many countries, had many jobs, and owned many more cats. After a decade of working in marketing and communications, she returned to academia to complete a master’s degree in African studies alongside her writing career. She currently resides in London as a full-time procrastinator.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,012 reviews
December 26, 2021
It's a strange thing giving your own book five stars. Especially when you first wrote it, you didn't think anyone but your cat would read it - and she doesn't like fantasy all that much so she still hasn't got round to it.
But in all honesty, if you like any of the below, then pop it on you TBR. You won't be disappointed.
👩🏿❤️👩🏿Friends to lovers (F/F)
🤟🏿A drug addicted chosen one who TOTALLY misses her calling
⚔️A tournament with awesome armour
🦎A desert landscape with giant lizards that you can ride
🩸Blood magic...that uses...blood
🍃An insular world plagued by a nightly hurricane called the 'tidewind'
🔵🔴⚪A cruelly divided Empire where red-blooded reign, blue-blooded labour and translucent-blooded are maimed servants
THE FINAL STRIFE is a manifestation of my desire to prove that all cultures are magical in their own way. 💫
But in all honesty, if you like any of the below, then pop it on you TBR. You won't be disappointed.
👩🏿❤️👩🏿Friends to lovers (F/F)
🤟🏿A drug addicted chosen one who TOTALLY misses her calling
⚔️A tournament with awesome armour
🦎A desert landscape with giant lizards that you can ride
🩸Blood magic...that uses...blood
🍃An insular world plagued by a nightly hurricane called the 'tidewind'
🔵🔴⚪A cruelly divided Empire where red-blooded reign, blue-blooded labour and translucent-blooded are maimed servants
THE FINAL STRIFE is a manifestation of my desire to prove that all cultures are magical in their own way. 💫
August 28, 2023
My blurb:
‘Saara El-Arifi deftly facets every layer of her debut. Epic in scope, its world building as intricate as filigree, The Final Strife sings of rebellion, love, and the courage it takes to stand up to tyranny, following three women whose journeys will keep you gripped to the last.’
This is a phenomenal debut, and a sapphic epic you'll never forget. Devastated that I can't read the next one immediately.
Note: I received a free Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher.
‘Saara El-Arifi deftly facets every layer of her debut. Epic in scope, its world building as intricate as filigree, The Final Strife sings of rebellion, love, and the courage it takes to stand up to tyranny, following three women whose journeys will keep you gripped to the last.’
This is a phenomenal debut, and a sapphic epic you'll never forget. Devastated that I can't read the next one immediately.
Note: I received a free Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher.
Want to read
April 14, 2021I am a very basic individual with very simple needs. I hear "F/F Enemies to Lovers" and I come running.
(but also "a drug addicted chosen one who TOTALLY misses her calling" sounds . . . really exciting, I love books that subvert the chosen one trope)
(but also "a drug addicted chosen one who TOTALLY misses her calling" sounds . . . really exciting, I love books that subvert the chosen one trope)
September 18, 2022
I just want to say that I am still processing what this book did to me... Not because I found it particularly emotionally traumatizing, but so much of this read was just okay until we got to the last ten percent or so and suddenly the book was really something that I was interested in.
El-Arifi does a lot of interesting things here. I want to applaud them by using blood magic in a way that felt inventive. I'm sure that out there in the universe exists another book where people use their blood to make runes that do magic, but what I was more impressed with here was story with blood magic present that didn't come off as self harm-y every time the characters went use their magic for something. It was also nice to see queer normative society. Like I said, the story that we get at the end is the story that I was interested in, but the bulk of the book had very little to do with that storyline.
In particular the first part of this book was rough to get through. I wouldn't call anything that happens infodumpy... For the most part El-Arifi utilizes the "the protagonist and the reader learn things together" trope in a successful way. Some of the information does feel like it could have been massaged into the narrative a little better, and maybe in the final version of the book things are. Also the entire subplot of Sylah being a drug addict? I think it's nice to have another drug addict main character in a fantasy world to join the likes of Rin and Lan, but.... here... the self medicating made them first couple of chapters particularly hard to get through.
I digress though. Ostensibly this is a training novel, where by circumstances that you discover in the beginning section of the book Sylah and Anoor are brought together and Sylah agrees to help Anoor train for this competition. Only the training sequences are short and the trials for the competition are also short sequences and so for a lot of the book it feels like we're spinning wheels because the plot we think we're going to get has to be this competition and what is going to come from it?
At least until the ninety percent mark when the reader discovers why shit hasn't been adding up the whole time. When we got this twist though it definitely felt like we were following the wrong character for this story. Yes, there were breadcrumbs along the way and I think that a reader could see this shit coming from a mile away because even my dumb ass was seeing that the math wasn't mathing. Some of that I definitely was intentional, and so I don't hold it against the book for telegraphing the twist for some way, I'm happy when books are like that and the revelation feels earned. Here though reading that made me want to just read that book and not so much the one I had been.
If it wasn't for the third act I would say that this was just a fine debut, but one I probably wouldn't have cared about continuing on with. Now though? Sister Saara got me and I'll be tuning to see where that goes.
El-Arifi does a lot of interesting things here. I want to applaud them by using blood magic in a way that felt inventive. I'm sure that out there in the universe exists another book where people use their blood to make runes that do magic, but what I was more impressed with here was story with blood magic present that didn't come off as self harm-y every time the characters went use their magic for something. It was also nice to see queer normative society. Like I said, the story that we get at the end is the story that I was interested in, but the bulk of the book had very little to do with that storyline.
In particular the first part of this book was rough to get through. I wouldn't call anything that happens infodumpy... For the most part El-Arifi utilizes the "the protagonist and the reader learn things together" trope in a successful way. Some of the information does feel like it could have been massaged into the narrative a little better, and maybe in the final version of the book things are. Also the entire subplot of Sylah being a drug addict? I think it's nice to have another drug addict main character in a fantasy world to join the likes of Rin and Lan, but.... here... the self medicating made them first couple of chapters particularly hard to get through.
I digress though. Ostensibly this is a training novel, where by circumstances that you discover in the beginning section of the book Sylah and Anoor are brought together and Sylah agrees to help Anoor train for this competition. Only the training sequences are short and the trials for the competition are also short sequences and so for a lot of the book it feels like we're spinning wheels because the plot we think we're going to get has to be this competition and what is going to come from it?
At least until the ninety percent mark when the reader discovers why shit hasn't been adding up the whole time. When we got this twist though it definitely felt like we were following the wrong character for this story. Yes, there were breadcrumbs along the way and I think that a reader could see this shit coming from a mile away because even my dumb ass was seeing that the math wasn't mathing. Some of that I definitely was intentional, and so I don't hold it against the book for telegraphing the twist for some way, I'm happy when books are like that and the revelation feels earned. Here though reading that made me want to just read that book and not so much the one I had been.
If it wasn't for the third act I would say that this was just a fine debut, but one I probably wouldn't have cared about continuing on with. Now though? Sister Saara got me and I'll be tuning to see where that goes.
October 18, 2023
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Rating: 4.5 stars
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
This design's red, white and grey colours make it aesthetically pleasing and subtly hint at the gritty, brutal storyline. The abstract patterns and bold font also beautifully convey the fantasy genre of the story.
Writing: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Despite feeling overwhelmed by initial waves of worldbuilding information, I was soon captivated by the expansive and brutal world that emerged. Even more impressive were the intricate layers constantly added to the worldbuilding throughout the story. All this is delivered with a simple yet rich writing style that brings the world and story to life.
"When money is everything, everything is for sale."
Storyline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
While I struggled a little initially, the constant twists and turns of the storyline gradually pulled me in. There are also regular bursts of action, plus the exploration of deep themes such as addiction, child abuse and body mutilation, which make the story gripping and powerful.
Main character(s): 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Protagonists Syla, Anoor and Hassa are all strong, compelling characters in their own way. Their distinct personalities, struggles and growth are brilliantly presented, making each character realistic and easy to root for.
"love may give you strength, but retribution gives you purpose."
Secondary characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Even with three strong protagonists, I generally found the supporting characters memorable, as they are given clear personalities and well-thought-out roles. I just wished we had more of Jond's character as there is so much I wanted to know about his life - but maybe this will be revealed in the next book.
Romance: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
From the first interaction between the characters, I loved their easy connection and banter. Besides this, their slow-burn romance is incredibly well shown and never told, allowing readers to feel their raw chemistry and the tension of Will They/ Won't They.
Narration & Audio: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I could not get enough of the brilliant narration by Nicole Lewis and Dominic Hoffman. These two really enrich the listening experience through different voices and vocal effects that capture the nuances and emotions of the story.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Final Strife' once the story got going. Everything from the writing style to the characters and narration blew me away, so I can't wait to see how the series progresses! I am strongly reminded of The Jasmin Throne by Tasha Suri, and I would recommend that for those who enjoyed this.
____________________________________
For those who have read this and want to discuss it, here are a few questions:
Rating: 4.5 stars
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
This design's red, white and grey colours make it aesthetically pleasing and subtly hint at the gritty, brutal storyline. The abstract patterns and bold font also beautifully convey the fantasy genre of the story.
Writing: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Despite feeling overwhelmed by initial waves of worldbuilding information, I was soon captivated by the expansive and brutal world that emerged. Even more impressive were the intricate layers constantly added to the worldbuilding throughout the story. All this is delivered with a simple yet rich writing style that brings the world and story to life.
"When money is everything, everything is for sale."
Storyline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
While I struggled a little initially, the constant twists and turns of the storyline gradually pulled me in. There are also regular bursts of action, plus the exploration of deep themes such as addiction, child abuse and body mutilation, which make the story gripping and powerful.
Main character(s): 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Protagonists Syla, Anoor and Hassa are all strong, compelling characters in their own way. Their distinct personalities, struggles and growth are brilliantly presented, making each character realistic and easy to root for.
"love may give you strength, but retribution gives you purpose."
Secondary characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Even with three strong protagonists, I generally found the supporting characters memorable, as they are given clear personalities and well-thought-out roles. I just wished we had more of Jond's character as there is so much I wanted to know about his life - but maybe this will be revealed in the next book.
Romance: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
From the first interaction between the characters, I loved their easy connection and banter. Besides this, their slow-burn romance is incredibly well shown and never told, allowing readers to feel their raw chemistry and the tension of Will They/ Won't They.
Narration & Audio: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I could not get enough of the brilliant narration by Nicole Lewis and Dominic Hoffman. These two really enrich the listening experience through different voices and vocal effects that capture the nuances and emotions of the story.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Final Strife' once the story got going. Everything from the writing style to the characters and narration blew me away, so I can't wait to see how the series progresses! I am strongly reminded of The Jasmin Throne by Tasha Suri, and I would recommend that for those who enjoyed this.
____________________________________
For those who have read this and want to discuss it, here are a few questions:
February 20, 2023
TW: emotional abuse; physical abuse; xenophobia; mutilation; racism; slavery; drug abuse; gore
This had a slow start with a main character who is initially very hard to connect with but I appreciated the journey she ended up going on. There were parts of characters thought processes that didn’t seem to line up but overall, I’m excited about the future of this series.
This had a slow start with a main character who is initially very hard to connect with but I appreciated the journey she ended up going on. There were parts of characters thought processes that didn’t seem to line up but overall, I’m excited about the future of this series.
July 2, 2022
literally one of the best fantasy debuts i’ve read all year! RTC
January 22, 2024
Rating: 2 out of 5 bastards
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(Spoilers ahead!)
Well right off the bat this book starts off with a... say it with me now! BADLY DRAWN MAP! Random pictures, no scale bar, no key to tell us what the hell we are looking at. Idk whether we are looking at a country, towns within a country, a continent, a petri dish, my bedroom floor...
Truly all style, no substance.
And honestly...that's what this book is.
Roll summary!
Summary:
So, [movie announcer man voice] in a world, people have different blood colors. The people with red blood are the ruling class, people with blue blood are the working class and people with clear blood are the slave class. I will pause here to clarify: while I do not need everything to be explained to me as I've made clear in my previous reviews of recent releases that have their own issues with over- explanation, I would have appreciated some further look/explanation into these blood differences. Specifically, I would have appreciated some look on the science behind them. More on this in the review.
Our book follows Sylah, Anoor and Hassa. Sylah is a former revolutionary, who has become addicted to drugs following her adopted family's murder. She appears to be a blue blood worker but as we are told a very obvious story before her introduction, it becomes clear she's a red-blooded child that ended up in the lower-class quarter during an op mission. Specifically, she and the other children were planted to one day bring down the tyranny of the red bloods, called Embers. Anoor appears to be an upper-class red blood but once again we get very clunky 1- page foreshadowing before the reveal that she's a blue blood, masquerading. Hassa is a clear blood, called ghostings in the book. She's a part of the slave class. Together they shall take down this society once and for all. Supposedly. Allegedly.
Review:
(Cw for talks of slavery throughout the world and mutilation done wherein)
I have a number of different issues with this book, some little and some not-so-little, so come along with me on this uncoordinated ride.
Number one issue I ran into with this book: lack of research and forethought. Specifically, scientific research and historical research. A lot of recent releases have been operating on a premise of: I, The Author, thought of this Cool Thing! But when tasked with diving into The Cool Thing and really getting into the meat of The Cool Thing, the author cannot. They do not have the imagination, clarity, research skills, and storytelling ability to expound on The Cool Thing.
It's a shame because there are a number of Cool Things in this book. The main one being the different blood colors. Now, one can say: "Well this is fantasy, Mr. Peachy! Anything goes!" This is true. However, every fantasy is bound by the rules of that world and these rules are created by the author. If the author tells me a rule on page 8 and contradicts the same rule on page 16 without there being a storytelling reason behind it, that is not good plotting or storytelling and it speaks to a lack of research. In this story, we are given some biology clues (and tbh clues is stretching it. We are told certain biology things, flatly, stated in the narrative in this over- expositional writing style that seems to have become super common). We are told that the blood thing is a biological difference, that people with clear blood have heart problems as one would expect from people with blood that lacks hemoglobin, which is what makes blood red. So, here's something that seems biologically sound. However. Having such low hemoglobin that your blood is clear mean you should also be the most anemic person on the planet. You should be. Well. Uh. Dead. And if not dead...extremely weak. Yet the clear blood people are. Slaves. Expected to do labor of all types. Additionally, the clear blood people are mutilated early on in life. More on this later.
This book also veers into the same problem as The Gilded Ones where people manage to hide blood differences somehow. Our main character is secretly a red blood but has been hiding amongst the blue and clear bloods her whole life. Bleeding is such a normal part of life. I'm gonna copy paste my bleeding rant here from my Gilded Ones review and I want you to imagine we are in a sitcom flashback complete with the cheesy flashback harp music.
[strums my harp]
“Okay, so our author has explained away that the girls don't have periods until after they're 16 years old. This is of course explained through flat narration. I'm not gonna say that it doesn't make sense, necessarily. This is a fantasy world with fantasy White people and fantasy Black people and fantasy Asian people and fantasy Motherly people. So, she can do whatever she wants here. However. This is a fantasy world based upon some real-life people and conventions, to a degree. There are real life expys of real-life people in this book. The emperor in this book is coming to mind, as he is at least named after a past real-life emperor of what is now Benin. And, according to the author, appears to be based on that real- life emperor to a degree. But, it's still a fantasy, where monsters roam the land and people perform feats of magic. So, I wonder why she didn't just take it farther. She coulda just. Made these folks real hardy. Like stab 'em and they don't bleed hardy. Could have made the girls not have periods. Why do periods have to be a thing in a world where people bleed gold? In real life, if you bleed gold, it would be... I lack the words. Let me look to my compatriots. As fellow bastard reviewer Perihelion said, and I quote: "Man what kinda iron deficiency." So many ways the author could have taken the "never bleed until the ceremony" thing and she took the route of least resistance. But, as we've established, the author lacks imagination. And true vision. And good writing. And...
Because, honestly, how does staying away from sharp objects keep you from bleeding? Children fall down. They scrape a knee. They get bitten by dogs. They get a splinter. They get a blister on their foot that pops after they walk across the world’s largest shopping center parking lot from Best Buy to Party City in flip flops. We have blood vessels in our eyes. People get random nosebleeds. (Which even happens in Chapter 2 to Deka's very own father.) How do you stop women, and only women, from bleeding for 16 years...like what is going ooooooooonnnnn. It just doesn't make sense that you can make it to 16 years old and not bleed. It doesn't. It cannot be explained away! Maybe if there was some worldbuilding about super thick skin or any level of some showing rather than telling some things I could let it go but there isn't. As such, this shit is ridiculous and takes you right out the book because of how little it makes sense.
I'm calm.
No, I'm not.
Like, you can see blood under a human's skin! I can turn my hands over and see the red blood underneath the skin of my palms. There are white girl expys in this book with “cute pink cheeks” according to the narration. If they have pink cheeks, it stands to reason that their blood is... red. What else would be causing the pinkness of their cheeks? Is everybody in this society science deficient as well as iron deficient? This later gets ret-conned in the book by saying their blood changes once they come into their heritage. So, then, why are they not allowed to bleed before then? Then... their blood would be red like anybody else's.”
[throws harp somewhere off to the side]
Basically, I don’t need to write anything else on this topic because I pretty much already said it. It’s gonna be really hard to hide blood differences in a society, I don’t care how secretive you try to be. That’s that on that.
(Cw here for slavery mutilations)
So back to the clear people. The mutilations they experience are: their tongue and hands are cut off.
Why. Just why.
I understand you have to make your ruling class cruel. You have to create this need for the characters that we are following to rebel and rise up against their oppressors. But this just seems ... stupid. Why would the ruling class cut the hands off ALL their slaves. Yes, we have real world examples of mutilation in slavery. But the mutilations "make sense" in the culturally relative context of the time period and from the oppressor's viewpoint. When I look at the transatlantic slave trade and see pictures of whip marks on backs, I understand it in context of: the slaves were whipped to punish them or punish another slave. These were horrific mutilations but they could presumably heal and not interfere heavily with the work being done on a permanent basis. But if you cut off the hands of a transatlantic slave...then how do they pick cotton? Sugarcane? Tobacco? Unless accommodations are made how can they perform this work that has been deemed so essential to their oppressors that they crossed a sea to steal these people from their homelands? It doesn't make sense. I look at the history books and I see mutilations from the Congo, where yes, the hands were sometimes cut off of slaves. Some slaves. Not all slaves. Horrific, terrifying, and horrible but still showing that oppressors will not completely work against their own goals. They are going to be cruel; they are going to be the biggest losers of history, but they aren’t gonna completely fuck their whole operation over.
(Cw over for slave mutilation descriptions)
In this book, the oppressive class have mutilated people they "need" to do essential work. We see the clear blood people doing household tasks, such as cooking and cleaning. We are then told that their oppressors...modify their houses. And tools. And kitchen equipment. Just so... these handless slaves can work.
I'm sorry. That does not make sense.
Why would an oppressor provide.... disability accommodations? Wouldn't the thing to do just be...not cutting their hands off in the first place??? And I know someone reading this might be like...you expect logic from oppressors, dear, sweet Peachy? Thats cute!
Well.
Yes.
Yes, I do. Oppressors do not always make sense in the real world, yes. People, like a certain billionaire who shan’t be named, espouse the raising of the birthrate all day then get mad when brown people in different countries have their birthrate go up. Because, what they really want is the white birthrate to go up.
Poor white people in America often act against their own self-interest and vote for politicians that hate them and will cut their basic assistance and social services.
These are just two quick examples to say that, no, I don't necessarily look for extreme logic in oppressors. But I look for basic logic. If you need something done, you don't cut the hands off every single one of your slaves. Basic.
So, I find this book lacking research heavily, not just on the count of science but also into how oppression, riots, and revolutions work. So much of fantasy writing is based in our real world because human imagination only seems to stretch so far, ya know? When you write oppression in a fantasy book, it helps to look to real world oppression to guide you. Look towards real world revolutionaries and how they have operated throughout history. These are the points of research that could have really helped flesh out this books themes and made it much more enjoyable read.
To that point: there's a lot of supplementary material here. Each chapter starts off with a verse from a song, or a story from a storyteller or an excerpt from some piece of literature in this world. This could've been cool, perhaps, but it just ended up coming off as a lazy storytelling device. Like whenever she wanted to introduce something instead of weaving it into the narrative, we got whatever it was flatly stated in this world's Bible. Or this worlds newspaper. Or this world’s town crier. Hear ye, Hear ye! Amirite laydies?
That leads into my pettiest point: THIS BOOK IS TOO GATDAM LONG. There is no reason for this book to be nearly 1000 pages. Like trim the fat a little here. This book could've told the story it wanted to tell in 400 pages or less. There was no need to drag it out for over twice that. Also, entirely no need for this to be first in a trilogy. The plot was basic, I could see every twist coming from a mile away and pages were filled with descriptions of shit that had nothing to do with anything and didn't drive the plot forward. Frustrating ass book to read. Then the author shows utter lack of self-awareness as I read her saying on an interview that she was "economical" with her words. Economical. Nothing was economical about this book. She talks about editing being where the magic happens, yet the book was 1000 pages of comma mistreatment. She says in the same interview that she wrote the book in 3 perspectives yet multiple times we are given a 4th perspective. Jond’s. She didn’t even seem to remember she wrote multiple passages in Jond’s perspective. MORE ON HIS ASS RIGHT SOON.
Mildly petty point 2a, sub-verse b and ¾: Typical rant here about exposition and too much of it. But the exposition causes the issue where what is told doesn’t match up with when we are shown something. For example. When fat characters are introduced, they are often described negatively. Lots of words and hidden jibes about how much they eat. Or their bodies are described super oddly. But then later in the book Sylah says in this Over-Expositiony way that she can’t believe! people are mean to Anoor about her weight because her curves are sooooooo beautiful. It’s like. Gentle fatphobia and then this loud Twitter-esque, tweet thread language explaining that fatphobia is wrong. But sis. You just engaged in fatphobia when you described Anoor 50 pages ago.
My last point, which isn't petty, is that this book was heavily marketed as being f/f, and has a lesbian tag on Goodreads. I’m gonna tread carefully here, because I’m gonna take a wild guess and say the Anoor character is the lesbian. If she isn’t though, that would only support my point further, but I’m unsure on that front. Yes, you can market something as f/f if your character(s) is bisexual, nobody is saying you cannot. But I really do not want to go into a book thinking I am getting the greatest f/f love story of all time and get...next to nothing. There are 9 sex scenes in this book. 7 are between a m/f. The male character is Sylah’s old friend Jond, who comes back from the dead into her life. The male character is not mentioned at all in the marketing, despite playing a heavy part in the story and at times having his pov seen as I said above with the author forgetting how many people’s pov she wrote in. This to me causes me to say that this is mis- marketing. If you market something heavily as f/f I do not want to see the main female character getting fucked by a man for over 3/4 of the book. Then have her sloppily get with the female character for about 50 pages and then break up and end the book broken up. Yes, I know this is a trilogy and that the plan is for 2 more door stopping, full of too many GATDAM words books to come. I don’t care. This isn’t about the future; this is about the now. If I am told a book heavily features a f/f pairing then that’s what the fuck I wanna see. If not, don’t put the emphasis of your marketing on the f/f relationship. Advertise your books accordingly, because I’m sick of this shit.
In conclusion this was a bad book with a decent premise. Similar to The Gilded Ones, there were a number of interesting ideas present that in the hands of a more skilled author might have been cool to read. But as per the usual new releases, these cool concepts were plunked down in front of us unceremoniously with the author going: "See look at how cool this is!" With no further work done.
I give it a 2 gentle fat phobias out of 5 advertisements your book is f/f when that doesn't even heavily feature in the story. We need to demand more from these recent authors because this half ass shit just isn't gonna cut it for me.
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(Spoilers ahead!)
Well right off the bat this book starts off with a... say it with me now! BADLY DRAWN MAP! Random pictures, no scale bar, no key to tell us what the hell we are looking at. Idk whether we are looking at a country, towns within a country, a continent, a petri dish, my bedroom floor...
Truly all style, no substance.
And honestly...that's what this book is.
Roll summary!
Summary:
So, [movie announcer man voice] in a world, people have different blood colors. The people with red blood are the ruling class, people with blue blood are the working class and people with clear blood are the slave class. I will pause here to clarify: while I do not need everything to be explained to me as I've made clear in my previous reviews of recent releases that have their own issues with over- explanation, I would have appreciated some further look/explanation into these blood differences. Specifically, I would have appreciated some look on the science behind them. More on this in the review.
Our book follows Sylah, Anoor and Hassa. Sylah is a former revolutionary, who has become addicted to drugs following her adopted family's murder. She appears to be a blue blood worker but as we are told a very obvious story before her introduction, it becomes clear she's a red-blooded child that ended up in the lower-class quarter during an op mission. Specifically, she and the other children were planted to one day bring down the tyranny of the red bloods, called Embers. Anoor appears to be an upper-class red blood but once again we get very clunky 1- page foreshadowing before the reveal that she's a blue blood, masquerading. Hassa is a clear blood, called ghostings in the book. She's a part of the slave class. Together they shall take down this society once and for all. Supposedly. Allegedly.
Review:
(Cw for talks of slavery throughout the world and mutilation done wherein)
I have a number of different issues with this book, some little and some not-so-little, so come along with me on this uncoordinated ride.
Number one issue I ran into with this book: lack of research and forethought. Specifically, scientific research and historical research. A lot of recent releases have been operating on a premise of: I, The Author, thought of this Cool Thing! But when tasked with diving into The Cool Thing and really getting into the meat of The Cool Thing, the author cannot. They do not have the imagination, clarity, research skills, and storytelling ability to expound on The Cool Thing.
It's a shame because there are a number of Cool Things in this book. The main one being the different blood colors. Now, one can say: "Well this is fantasy, Mr. Peachy! Anything goes!" This is true. However, every fantasy is bound by the rules of that world and these rules are created by the author. If the author tells me a rule on page 8 and contradicts the same rule on page 16 without there being a storytelling reason behind it, that is not good plotting or storytelling and it speaks to a lack of research. In this story, we are given some biology clues (and tbh clues is stretching it. We are told certain biology things, flatly, stated in the narrative in this over- expositional writing style that seems to have become super common). We are told that the blood thing is a biological difference, that people with clear blood have heart problems as one would expect from people with blood that lacks hemoglobin, which is what makes blood red. So, here's something that seems biologically sound. However. Having such low hemoglobin that your blood is clear mean you should also be the most anemic person on the planet. You should be. Well. Uh. Dead. And if not dead...extremely weak. Yet the clear blood people are. Slaves. Expected to do labor of all types. Additionally, the clear blood people are mutilated early on in life. More on this later.
This book also veers into the same problem as The Gilded Ones where people manage to hide blood differences somehow. Our main character is secretly a red blood but has been hiding amongst the blue and clear bloods her whole life. Bleeding is such a normal part of life. I'm gonna copy paste my bleeding rant here from my Gilded Ones review and I want you to imagine we are in a sitcom flashback complete with the cheesy flashback harp music.
[strums my harp]
“Okay, so our author has explained away that the girls don't have periods until after they're 16 years old. This is of course explained through flat narration. I'm not gonna say that it doesn't make sense, necessarily. This is a fantasy world with fantasy White people and fantasy Black people and fantasy Asian people and fantasy Motherly people. So, she can do whatever she wants here. However. This is a fantasy world based upon some real-life people and conventions, to a degree. There are real life expys of real-life people in this book. The emperor in this book is coming to mind, as he is at least named after a past real-life emperor of what is now Benin. And, according to the author, appears to be based on that real- life emperor to a degree. But, it's still a fantasy, where monsters roam the land and people perform feats of magic. So, I wonder why she didn't just take it farther. She coulda just. Made these folks real hardy. Like stab 'em and they don't bleed hardy. Could have made the girls not have periods. Why do periods have to be a thing in a world where people bleed gold? In real life, if you bleed gold, it would be... I lack the words. Let me look to my compatriots. As fellow bastard reviewer Perihelion said, and I quote: "Man what kinda iron deficiency." So many ways the author could have taken the "never bleed until the ceremony" thing and she took the route of least resistance. But, as we've established, the author lacks imagination. And true vision. And good writing. And...
Because, honestly, how does staying away from sharp objects keep you from bleeding? Children fall down. They scrape a knee. They get bitten by dogs. They get a splinter. They get a blister on their foot that pops after they walk across the world’s largest shopping center parking lot from Best Buy to Party City in flip flops. We have blood vessels in our eyes. People get random nosebleeds. (Which even happens in Chapter 2 to Deka's very own father.) How do you stop women, and only women, from bleeding for 16 years...like what is going ooooooooonnnnn. It just doesn't make sense that you can make it to 16 years old and not bleed. It doesn't. It cannot be explained away! Maybe if there was some worldbuilding about super thick skin or any level of some showing rather than telling some things I could let it go but there isn't. As such, this shit is ridiculous and takes you right out the book because of how little it makes sense.
I'm calm.
No, I'm not.
Like, you can see blood under a human's skin! I can turn my hands over and see the red blood underneath the skin of my palms. There are white girl expys in this book with “cute pink cheeks” according to the narration. If they have pink cheeks, it stands to reason that their blood is... red. What else would be causing the pinkness of their cheeks? Is everybody in this society science deficient as well as iron deficient? This later gets ret-conned in the book by saying their blood changes once they come into their heritage. So, then, why are they not allowed to bleed before then? Then... their blood would be red like anybody else's.”
[throws harp somewhere off to the side]
Basically, I don’t need to write anything else on this topic because I pretty much already said it. It’s gonna be really hard to hide blood differences in a society, I don’t care how secretive you try to be. That’s that on that.
(Cw here for slavery mutilations)
So back to the clear people. The mutilations they experience are: their tongue and hands are cut off.
Why. Just why.
I understand you have to make your ruling class cruel. You have to create this need for the characters that we are following to rebel and rise up against their oppressors. But this just seems ... stupid. Why would the ruling class cut the hands off ALL their slaves. Yes, we have real world examples of mutilation in slavery. But the mutilations "make sense" in the culturally relative context of the time period and from the oppressor's viewpoint. When I look at the transatlantic slave trade and see pictures of whip marks on backs, I understand it in context of: the slaves were whipped to punish them or punish another slave. These were horrific mutilations but they could presumably heal and not interfere heavily with the work being done on a permanent basis. But if you cut off the hands of a transatlantic slave...then how do they pick cotton? Sugarcane? Tobacco? Unless accommodations are made how can they perform this work that has been deemed so essential to their oppressors that they crossed a sea to steal these people from their homelands? It doesn't make sense. I look at the history books and I see mutilations from the Congo, where yes, the hands were sometimes cut off of slaves. Some slaves. Not all slaves. Horrific, terrifying, and horrible but still showing that oppressors will not completely work against their own goals. They are going to be cruel; they are going to be the biggest losers of history, but they aren’t gonna completely fuck their whole operation over.
(Cw over for slave mutilation descriptions)
In this book, the oppressive class have mutilated people they "need" to do essential work. We see the clear blood people doing household tasks, such as cooking and cleaning. We are then told that their oppressors...modify their houses. And tools. And kitchen equipment. Just so... these handless slaves can work.
I'm sorry. That does not make sense.
Why would an oppressor provide.... disability accommodations? Wouldn't the thing to do just be...not cutting their hands off in the first place??? And I know someone reading this might be like...you expect logic from oppressors, dear, sweet Peachy? Thats cute!
Well.
Yes.
Yes, I do. Oppressors do not always make sense in the real world, yes. People, like a certain billionaire who shan’t be named, espouse the raising of the birthrate all day then get mad when brown people in different countries have their birthrate go up. Because, what they really want is the white birthrate to go up.
Poor white people in America often act against their own self-interest and vote for politicians that hate them and will cut their basic assistance and social services.
These are just two quick examples to say that, no, I don't necessarily look for extreme logic in oppressors. But I look for basic logic. If you need something done, you don't cut the hands off every single one of your slaves. Basic.
So, I find this book lacking research heavily, not just on the count of science but also into how oppression, riots, and revolutions work. So much of fantasy writing is based in our real world because human imagination only seems to stretch so far, ya know? When you write oppression in a fantasy book, it helps to look to real world oppression to guide you. Look towards real world revolutionaries and how they have operated throughout history. These are the points of research that could have really helped flesh out this books themes and made it much more enjoyable read.
To that point: there's a lot of supplementary material here. Each chapter starts off with a verse from a song, or a story from a storyteller or an excerpt from some piece of literature in this world. This could've been cool, perhaps, but it just ended up coming off as a lazy storytelling device. Like whenever she wanted to introduce something instead of weaving it into the narrative, we got whatever it was flatly stated in this world's Bible. Or this worlds newspaper. Or this world’s town crier. Hear ye, Hear ye! Amirite laydies?
That leads into my pettiest point: THIS BOOK IS TOO GATDAM LONG. There is no reason for this book to be nearly 1000 pages. Like trim the fat a little here. This book could've told the story it wanted to tell in 400 pages or less. There was no need to drag it out for over twice that. Also, entirely no need for this to be first in a trilogy. The plot was basic, I could see every twist coming from a mile away and pages were filled with descriptions of shit that had nothing to do with anything and didn't drive the plot forward. Frustrating ass book to read. Then the author shows utter lack of self-awareness as I read her saying on an interview that she was "economical" with her words. Economical. Nothing was economical about this book. She talks about editing being where the magic happens, yet the book was 1000 pages of comma mistreatment. She says in the same interview that she wrote the book in 3 perspectives yet multiple times we are given a 4th perspective. Jond’s. She didn’t even seem to remember she wrote multiple passages in Jond’s perspective. MORE ON HIS ASS RIGHT SOON.
Mildly petty point 2a, sub-verse b and ¾: Typical rant here about exposition and too much of it. But the exposition causes the issue where what is told doesn’t match up with when we are shown something. For example. When fat characters are introduced, they are often described negatively. Lots of words and hidden jibes about how much they eat. Or their bodies are described super oddly. But then later in the book Sylah says in this Over-Expositiony way that she can’t believe! people are mean to Anoor about her weight because her curves are sooooooo beautiful. It’s like. Gentle fatphobia and then this loud Twitter-esque, tweet thread language explaining that fatphobia is wrong. But sis. You just engaged in fatphobia when you described Anoor 50 pages ago.
My last point, which isn't petty, is that this book was heavily marketed as being f/f, and has a lesbian tag on Goodreads. I’m gonna tread carefully here, because I’m gonna take a wild guess and say the Anoor character is the lesbian. If she isn’t though, that would only support my point further, but I’m unsure on that front. Yes, you can market something as f/f if your character(s) is bisexual, nobody is saying you cannot. But I really do not want to go into a book thinking I am getting the greatest f/f love story of all time and get...next to nothing. There are 9 sex scenes in this book. 7 are between a m/f. The male character is Sylah’s old friend Jond, who comes back from the dead into her life. The male character is not mentioned at all in the marketing, despite playing a heavy part in the story and at times having his pov seen as I said above with the author forgetting how many people’s pov she wrote in. This to me causes me to say that this is mis- marketing. If you market something heavily as f/f I do not want to see the main female character getting fucked by a man for over 3/4 of the book. Then have her sloppily get with the female character for about 50 pages and then break up and end the book broken up. Yes, I know this is a trilogy and that the plan is for 2 more door stopping, full of too many GATDAM words books to come. I don’t care. This isn’t about the future; this is about the now. If I am told a book heavily features a f/f pairing then that’s what the fuck I wanna see. If not, don’t put the emphasis of your marketing on the f/f relationship. Advertise your books accordingly, because I’m sick of this shit.
In conclusion this was a bad book with a decent premise. Similar to The Gilded Ones, there were a number of interesting ideas present that in the hands of a more skilled author might have been cool to read. But as per the usual new releases, these cool concepts were plunked down in front of us unceremoniously with the author going: "See look at how cool this is!" With no further work done.
I give it a 2 gentle fat phobias out of 5 advertisements your book is f/f when that doesn't even heavily feature in the story. We need to demand more from these recent authors because this half ass shit just isn't gonna cut it for me.
January 5, 2023
The most promising fantasy debut I read in 2022 with intricate world building and a compelling narrative.
I had did have some issues with the Fatphobia present throughout the first half of this, particularly with how we are introduced to Anoor (stuffing food into her pockets to eat in secret) and later, comparing her to a lump of lard and a steaming dumpling (in the description, not from a character perspective).
I am very much looking forward to The Battle Drum as I feel like further instalments in the series have 5 star potential!
I had did have some issues with the Fatphobia present throughout the first half of this, particularly with how we are introduced to Anoor (stuffing food into her pockets to eat in secret) and later, comparing her to a lump of lard and a steaming dumpling (in the description, not from a character perspective).
I am very much looking forward to The Battle Drum as I feel like further instalments in the series have 5 star potential!
July 4, 2022
the final strife is a solid, well-crafted afro-arab inspired fantasy with a fascinating world and a cool magic system - unfortunately, its mediocre plot along with several other issues prevented me from enjoying it as much as i wanted to.
what i loved: by far the best thing about this novel is how naturally inclusive it is, particularly when it comes to trans, nonbinary and disabled characters. i love how we get to see these characters navigate the world in their own ways and exist in all their complexities. the worldbuilding is carefully done - the atmospheric writing and the oral storytelling intervals really make the world come alive. the use of blood magic is pretty unique and i liked how it tied into the themes of the book. i also enjoyed the push and pull between sylah and anoor's characters - the conflicted, frenemy nature of their relationship felt genuine and so engaging to read (the romance...not so much).
what could've been better: the tournament with all the various trials that the protagonists need to win in order to become one of the wardens that rule the empire was, frankly, boring and uninspired. there's a mystery running on the edges of the main plot that's far more interesting - it gives us a surprising twist at the end that made me wish i was reading that story and following those characters instead. also, i didn't like any of the relationships sylah has - her friendship with hassa (the only pov we get from the lowest caste) felt so one-sided, with hassa genuinely caring for sylah and sylah only looking for hassa when she needed something. while i was enjoying sylah and anoor's relationship, the leap from just becoming friends to saying i love yous felt too rapid and unbelievable.
what i hated: once again, we have a fantasy book with class inequality and a tyrannical empire that ends up vilifying violent resistance and outright villainizes the revolutionary group. i'm afraid my tolerance for centrist, anti-revolution adult fantasies is slowly wearing down (which is sad since that's the majority of adult fantasy). it's particularly jarring here because the author never shies away from showing the horrific cruelties of the empire, yet the freedom of the oppressed lower castes from their tyranny is somehow never worth the sacrifice. instead, we end up with one of our heroes working alongside the oppressors within the very broken system for peace and equality (like ok sure good luck with that i guess). who knows, things might change in the sequels but so far it doesn't look promising.
if you don't mind the political stance of this book, i think you'll likely end up enjoying it. as for me, the only way i can see myself picking up the sequel is if i'm in a particularly patient mood that day.
what i loved: by far the best thing about this novel is how naturally inclusive it is, particularly when it comes to trans, nonbinary and disabled characters. i love how we get to see these characters navigate the world in their own ways and exist in all their complexities. the worldbuilding is carefully done - the atmospheric writing and the oral storytelling intervals really make the world come alive. the use of blood magic is pretty unique and i liked how it tied into the themes of the book. i also enjoyed the push and pull between sylah and anoor's characters - the conflicted, frenemy nature of their relationship felt genuine and so engaging to read (the romance...not so much).
what could've been better: the tournament with all the various trials that the protagonists need to win in order to become one of the wardens that rule the empire was, frankly, boring and uninspired. there's a mystery running on the edges of the main plot that's far more interesting - it gives us a surprising twist at the end that made me wish i was reading that story and following those characters instead. also, i didn't like any of the relationships sylah has - her friendship with hassa (the only pov we get from the lowest caste) felt so one-sided, with hassa genuinely caring for sylah and sylah only looking for hassa when she needed something. while i was enjoying sylah and anoor's relationship, the leap from just becoming friends to saying i love yous felt too rapid and unbelievable.
what i hated: once again, we have a fantasy book with class inequality and a tyrannical empire that ends up vilifying violent resistance and outright villainizes the revolutionary group. i'm afraid my tolerance for centrist, anti-revolution adult fantasies is slowly wearing down (which is sad since that's the majority of adult fantasy). it's particularly jarring here because the author never shies away from showing the horrific cruelties of the empire, yet the freedom of the oppressed lower castes from their tyranny is somehow never worth the sacrifice. instead, we end up with one of our heroes working alongside the oppressors within the very broken system for peace and equality (like ok sure good luck with that i guess). who knows, things might change in the sequels but so far it doesn't look promising.
if you don't mind the political stance of this book, i think you'll likely end up enjoying it. as for me, the only way i can see myself picking up the sequel is if i'm in a particularly patient mood that day.
August 7, 2022
4.5 stars rounded up
A very strong debut that kept me turning the pages. The Final Strife is a fast-paced fantasy novel inspired by Ghanaian mythology, filled with political conspiracy, class struggle, competitions, longing, betrayal, and a bisexual love triangle!
Set in an extremely hierarchical society, people are divided based on the color of their blood. Embers rule with their red blood and oppress everyone else. Dusters have blue blood and are low working class while Ghostings have translucent blood and have their hands and tongues removed as infants. But 20 years ago, a Duster rebellion stole Ember infants and replaced them with their own children. Now Sylah is grieving the family she lost when the resistance was decimated, addicted to drugs and fighting to survive. But things are about to change...
I think a lot of people will enjoy this book- it's accessible and a quick read (despite the length) but is also exploring deeper themes of oppression, violence, class, and what divides us. It is multi-pov and one of the main characters is a trans Ghosting woman. Something I like about this is that while there is plenty of violence and oppression, it's not due to gender identity or sexuality. There is a non-binary side characters and medical assistance is freely available to those who need it for gender confirmation. Sylah is into both men and women, but no one comments on it and there are no specific labels given. Likewise, women can hold positions of power and go into battle (as long as their blood is the right color) and no one bats an eye. I love when authors recognize that they can explore themes of oppression and prejudice without having to recreate reify real-world systems of oppression in fiction.
I won't say too much more but this was a book that kept me thoroughly engaged. Note that a lot of the world-building happens in the epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter- this isn't going to slow down to give you a lot of detailed descriptions or explanations of things. Which is clever for having an action-packed book, but might be a downside for people who prefer a different sort of fantasy. I had a good time with it and the twists at the end have me anxious for book 2!
A very strong debut that kept me turning the pages. The Final Strife is a fast-paced fantasy novel inspired by Ghanaian mythology, filled with political conspiracy, class struggle, competitions, longing, betrayal, and a bisexual love triangle!
Set in an extremely hierarchical society, people are divided based on the color of their blood. Embers rule with their red blood and oppress everyone else. Dusters have blue blood and are low working class while Ghostings have translucent blood and have their hands and tongues removed as infants. But 20 years ago, a Duster rebellion stole Ember infants and replaced them with their own children. Now Sylah is grieving the family she lost when the resistance was decimated, addicted to drugs and fighting to survive. But things are about to change...
I think a lot of people will enjoy this book- it's accessible and a quick read (despite the length) but is also exploring deeper themes of oppression, violence, class, and what divides us. It is multi-pov and one of the main characters is a trans Ghosting woman. Something I like about this is that while there is plenty of violence and oppression, it's not due to gender identity or sexuality. There is a non-binary side characters and medical assistance is freely available to those who need it for gender confirmation. Sylah is into both men and women, but no one comments on it and there are no specific labels given. Likewise, women can hold positions of power and go into battle (as long as their blood is the right color) and no one bats an eye. I love when authors recognize that they can explore themes of oppression and prejudice without having to recreate reify real-world systems of oppression in fiction.
I won't say too much more but this was a book that kept me thoroughly engaged. Note that a lot of the world-building happens in the epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter- this isn't going to slow down to give you a lot of detailed descriptions or explanations of things. Which is clever for having an action-packed book, but might be a downside for people who prefer a different sort of fantasy. I had a good time with it and the twists at the end have me anxious for book 2!
March 22, 2022
Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this book.
DNF at 26%
I’m so disappointed with this one. The plot and world-building initially hooked me, but there is rampant fat-phobia directed at Anoor in addition to lines that promote diet culture.
There are also multiple scenes where Sylah, the main character with a thin body type, tries on Anoor’s clothes, and the novel describes how big they are on her.
This had the potential to be such a strong novel, but El-Ariki’s treatment of a fat character is horrible.
DNF at 26%
I’m so disappointed with this one. The plot and world-building initially hooked me, but there is rampant fat-phobia directed at Anoor in addition to lines that promote diet culture.
There are also multiple scenes where Sylah, the main character with a thin body type, tries on Anoor’s clothes, and the novel describes how big they are on her.
This had the potential to be such a strong novel, but El-Ariki’s treatment of a fat character is horrible.
December 5, 2025
i went into this book with super high hopes. i've loved Saara El-Arifi's books before and i had hoped i would love this one too... unfortunately, i was left a little disappointed.
but let's start with what i did enjoy. first, Sylah's story. holy shit, did i ever sympathize with her. her chosen child to drug addict to heroine character arc was soooo well written that i was rooting for her through the entire book. also, dear Hassa. i only got glimpses of her and what precious glimpses they were. she is my baby and if anything happens to her, i'm killing everyone in this room and then myself. i NEED her to have a bigger role in the next books, like this is so important for me. then, we have the overarching plot: the different types of blood and how the story of the Ghostings, Dusters, and Embers is meant to embody real-world issues. i fucking love when an author makes what they are writing about extremely apparent and pulls no punches, and this plot is literally that. it was also super compelling and unique and i was genuinely so interested in the world of the book.
now, what didn't work for me. first, there was the writing style. it was giving ya while the content and message of the book was giving adult fantasy. this did take away from the overarching message of the book for me because it just dumbed it down. another review i read said there was no tonal consistency, and i couldn't agree more. and where i loved Sylah, i detested Anoor. yes, she is a product of her environment. yes, she is naive as hell and she was trying to be a better woman by the end of the book. i still don't like her. also, where was the f/f relationship i was promised? you can't just market your book as a f/f romance, make the main romance of the book m/f, and then throw in the f/f romance at the very end. speaking of the m/f romance, the relationship with Jond and Sylah. say whatever you want about them having different adopted parents. in my opinion, the first half of the book made it clear that they were raised as basically siblings, and hot take, the different adoptive parents thing was there to make it less taboo when they started sleeping together and developing a romantic relationship. the whole thing made me super uncomfortable. and in the end, i didn't care for either the m/f or the f/f romance.
i do have a history of hating the first book in a series and loving the books that follow AND i do love other books this author has written. AND this was a debut novel. so i'm really hoping the issues i have with this book don't carry over to the other books because i see the potential the series has and i want it to reach that potential.
but let's start with what i did enjoy. first, Sylah's story. holy shit, did i ever sympathize with her. her chosen child to drug addict to heroine character arc was soooo well written that i was rooting for her through the entire book. also, dear Hassa. i only got glimpses of her and what precious glimpses they were. she is my baby and if anything happens to her, i'm killing everyone in this room and then myself. i NEED her to have a bigger role in the next books, like this is so important for me. then, we have the overarching plot: the different types of blood and how the story of the Ghostings, Dusters, and Embers is meant to embody real-world issues. i fucking love when an author makes what they are writing about extremely apparent and pulls no punches, and this plot is literally that. it was also super compelling and unique and i was genuinely so interested in the world of the book.
now, what didn't work for me. first, there was the writing style. it was giving ya while the content and message of the book was giving adult fantasy. this did take away from the overarching message of the book for me because it just dumbed it down. another review i read said there was no tonal consistency, and i couldn't agree more. and where i loved Sylah, i detested Anoor. yes, she is a product of her environment. yes, she is naive as hell and she was trying to be a better woman by the end of the book. i still don't like her. also, where was the f/f relationship i was promised? you can't just market your book as a f/f romance, make the main romance of the book m/f, and then throw in the f/f romance at the very end. speaking of the m/f romance, the relationship with Jond and Sylah. say whatever you want about them having different adopted parents. in my opinion, the first half of the book made it clear that they were raised as basically siblings, and hot take, the different adoptive parents thing was there to make it less taboo when they started sleeping together and developing a romantic relationship. the whole thing made me super uncomfortable. and in the end, i didn't care for either the m/f or the f/f romance.
i do have a history of hating the first book in a series and loving the books that follow AND i do love other books this author has written. AND this was a debut novel. so i'm really hoping the issues i have with this book don't carry over to the other books because i see the potential the series has and i want it to reach that potential.
November 30, 2025
Incredible amazing deeply thoughtful (unlike this review but I have no thoughts for how incredible this is)
July 24, 2022
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, and unfortunately one of my biggest disappointments.
Firstly, I want to start with the things I liked about this book:
-The setting. I really enjoyed the setting, which the author has stated is inspired by Ghanaian folklore and Arabian myths. It's incredibly unique and stands out from a lot of pasture, vaguely medieval European fantasy. I really enjoyed the image of blue sand, a deadly wind, and giant lizards.
-The characters. I think the characters suffered from certain issues which I'll point out later, but I enjoyed Sylah and Anoor very much. I even liked Hassa, even though she winded up feeling like an afterthought.
Unfortunately, on to the things that I don't like.
The book suffered from one major issue, which is really a lot of different issues combined: it wasn't written well. This ranged from the actual prose to the plot, even to the punctuation. I'm actually a bit surprised it was published in its current state, because it feels like a first draft that has been vaguely proofread—and I don't think all of it was necessarily the author's fault. I can't claim to know what went on behind the scenes, but this book feels like it's been edited either poorly or hardly at all.
I could not stand the writing style. It felt stilted, even jarring at times. Sentences didn't flow, and I found myself editing in my head throughout the whole book. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong, because so much did. There were attempts at prose, but they often fell flat, usually being simple comparisons to items of the book's world.
The basic plot was interesting to me for the most part, but it just does not work in the big picture. Things happen just to move the plot forward, lacking any flow. There is so much that could be easily cut out, making this book at least 100 pages shorter. Lots of things were set up to be important, only to fizzle out in the end, only being mentioned briefly (there's one point where Hassa tells Sylah to meet her at a certain time, and that it is urgent; later, Sylah briefly notes that she missed the meeting, for no particular reason, and reminds herself to find Hassah later. This sort of thing happens over and over). This book also has zero faith in its reader—everything is repeated about a million times, and never cleverly, so that reading it winds up feeling like a chore. And one of my biggest frustrations with this book: nothing is subtle. Again, this feels like El-Arifi simply doesn't trust the reader to understand nuance, because there is no nuance in this book. Everything is told blatantly and crudely, in huge swaths of black and white morality. It makes this book feel a lot more akin to a middle-grade or young adult fantasy rather than an adult book, which is obviously not what it is going for. See, not every book NEEDS nuance. I think there's space for books that are obvious metaphors, with characters who spell out everything they think, feel, and do with no room for the natural complexities of human emotions, but it needs to be intentional and for a specific purpose, and this book fails in both those areas. It just winded up being exhausting. Exposition is heavy-handed and unnatural (characters will have lengthy conversations outlining things they should already know just for the sake of the reader), character growth is choppy and confusing.
(Vague spoiler warning)
As much as I enjoyed the setting, the world felt thin around its edges. Again, it seemed more like a world you'd find in a YA fantasy. Why do none of the characters in the Empire question its origins until Sylah randomly finds a map? I get that indoctrination and propaganda are powerful forces, but what about the Dusters? Why would they not have questions when they clearly have some sort of resistance to the Empire? How did the Empire ensure none of the Embers who first came to the land passed on information about how they came? A lot of this book was just too coincidental, working out too perfectly. I might forgive these issues if there was a nuanced portrayal of how deeply propaganda ran in the Empire (and I don't mean the Embers writing out passages about how the Dusters and Ghostings are naturally inferior. I mean actual nuance, showing how it affects every small part of their lives, how they themselves might come to believe these things, how it might affect their youth, etc.) but like I said, everything is just so heavy-handed. It's exhausting.
I know that this point is quite nit-picky, so I'll keep it brief: I could not stand how punctuation is used in this book. Punctuation exists not only to clarify writing but also to set the tone, and the use of commas (and the lack of them) made the writing feel even more stilted than it already was. Seriously, could I not have gotten a few semicolons in there? And the lack of the Oxford comma....
I think this could have been a good story, but it needs a lot of work. The writing, plot pacing, exposition, and character development all fell flat for me. Although I enjoyed the unique setting, it wasn't enough to hide the glaring issues of this book.
Firstly, I want to start with the things I liked about this book:
-The setting. I really enjoyed the setting, which the author has stated is inspired by Ghanaian folklore and Arabian myths. It's incredibly unique and stands out from a lot of pasture, vaguely medieval European fantasy. I really enjoyed the image of blue sand, a deadly wind, and giant lizards.
-The characters. I think the characters suffered from certain issues which I'll point out later, but I enjoyed Sylah and Anoor very much. I even liked Hassa, even though she winded up feeling like an afterthought.
Unfortunately, on to the things that I don't like.
The book suffered from one major issue, which is really a lot of different issues combined: it wasn't written well. This ranged from the actual prose to the plot, even to the punctuation. I'm actually a bit surprised it was published in its current state, because it feels like a first draft that has been vaguely proofread—and I don't think all of it was necessarily the author's fault. I can't claim to know what went on behind the scenes, but this book feels like it's been edited either poorly or hardly at all.
I could not stand the writing style. It felt stilted, even jarring at times. Sentences didn't flow, and I found myself editing in my head throughout the whole book. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong, because so much did. There were attempts at prose, but they often fell flat, usually being simple comparisons to items of the book's world.
The basic plot was interesting to me for the most part, but it just does not work in the big picture. Things happen just to move the plot forward, lacking any flow. There is so much that could be easily cut out, making this book at least 100 pages shorter. Lots of things were set up to be important, only to fizzle out in the end, only being mentioned briefly (there's one point where Hassa tells Sylah to meet her at a certain time, and that it is urgent; later, Sylah briefly notes that she missed the meeting, for no particular reason, and reminds herself to find Hassah later. This sort of thing happens over and over). This book also has zero faith in its reader—everything is repeated about a million times, and never cleverly, so that reading it winds up feeling like a chore. And one of my biggest frustrations with this book: nothing is subtle. Again, this feels like El-Arifi simply doesn't trust the reader to understand nuance, because there is no nuance in this book. Everything is told blatantly and crudely, in huge swaths of black and white morality. It makes this book feel a lot more akin to a middle-grade or young adult fantasy rather than an adult book, which is obviously not what it is going for. See, not every book NEEDS nuance. I think there's space for books that are obvious metaphors, with characters who spell out everything they think, feel, and do with no room for the natural complexities of human emotions, but it needs to be intentional and for a specific purpose, and this book fails in both those areas. It just winded up being exhausting. Exposition is heavy-handed and unnatural (characters will have lengthy conversations outlining things they should already know just for the sake of the reader), character growth is choppy and confusing.
(Vague spoiler warning)
As much as I enjoyed the setting, the world felt thin around its edges. Again, it seemed more like a world you'd find in a YA fantasy. Why do none of the characters in the Empire question its origins until Sylah randomly finds a map? I get that indoctrination and propaganda are powerful forces, but what about the Dusters? Why would they not have questions when they clearly have some sort of resistance to the Empire? How did the Empire ensure none of the Embers who first came to the land passed on information about how they came? A lot of this book was just too coincidental, working out too perfectly. I might forgive these issues if there was a nuanced portrayal of how deeply propaganda ran in the Empire (and I don't mean the Embers writing out passages about how the Dusters and Ghostings are naturally inferior. I mean actual nuance, showing how it affects every small part of their lives, how they themselves might come to believe these things, how it might affect their youth, etc.) but like I said, everything is just so heavy-handed. It's exhausting.
I know that this point is quite nit-picky, so I'll keep it brief: I could not stand how punctuation is used in this book. Punctuation exists not only to clarify writing but also to set the tone, and the use of commas (and the lack of them) made the writing feel even more stilted than it already was. Seriously, could I not have gotten a few semicolons in there? And the lack of the Oxford comma....
I think this could have been a good story, but it needs a lot of work. The writing, plot pacing, exposition, and character development all fell flat for me. Although I enjoyed the unique setting, it wasn't enough to hide the glaring issues of this book.
September 27, 2022
"Remember, my friends: love gives you strength, but retribution gives you purpose."
It feels good getting back into dense fantasy novels with thorough world building and calculated plotting. At 600+ pages, was this book perhaps a little on the long side for the first entry in a trilogy? Probably, and it did take me awhile in the beginning to pick up speed, but that was partially due to taking my time to insert myself fully in the atmosphere that Saara El-Arifi has created. Once I had a grasp on the nuances of the book, though, I felt like the story took off and found myself sad that it was over, at least for now. If you enjoy a thick read that has been thoughtfully crafted with no detail spared, you definitely need The Final Strife in your life. The maps in the hard copy are GORGEOUS, and I cannot wait to see how all the covers for these books tie together once the other two books are released.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy via NetGalley.
It feels good getting back into dense fantasy novels with thorough world building and calculated plotting. At 600+ pages, was this book perhaps a little on the long side for the first entry in a trilogy? Probably, and it did take me awhile in the beginning to pick up speed, but that was partially due to taking my time to insert myself fully in the atmosphere that Saara El-Arifi has created. Once I had a grasp on the nuances of the book, though, I felt like the story took off and found myself sad that it was over, at least for now. If you enjoy a thick read that has been thoughtfully crafted with no detail spared, you definitely need The Final Strife in your life. The maps in the hard copy are GORGEOUS, and I cannot wait to see how all the covers for these books tie together once the other two books are released.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy via NetGalley.
Want to read
August 14, 2021UPDATE: much too late since ive technically known this almost since i posted my "review", but yes, there are indeed lesbians. it is confirmed. i was correct. i was joking randomly into the universe, talking in secret from a bottomless yearning to get the cherry on top, not expecting anything in return as gayradar signals can easily be confused with projected desires and heterosexuality likes to play dress up, and still i managed a strike in the dark and land correct. confirmed canon lesbians. do i have secret powers ive been myself oblivious too the entire time or dont i? were is my chosen one arc?
**
well well well what do we have here-
A chosen one who DIDN'T save the world ✨
Friends to lovers ✨
A cruelly divided Empire ✨
A spiky heroine with a heart of gold ✨
an epic African inspired fantasy
*spits out non-existent tea* *smashes want-to-read button with the speed of lesbian*
disclaimer: i do not know if it is lesbian i just do everything in the speed of lesbian (god i hope it will have lesbians but even so it sounds incredible)
**
well well well what do we have here-
A chosen one who DIDN'T save the world ✨
Friends to lovers ✨
A cruelly divided Empire ✨
A spiky heroine with a heart of gold ✨
an epic African inspired fantasy
*spits out non-existent tea* *smashes want-to-read button with the speed of lesbian*
disclaimer: i do not know if it is lesbian i just do everything in the speed of lesbian (god i hope it will have lesbians but even so it sounds incredible)
May 2, 2022
On my blog.
Rep: African & Arab coded cast & setting, bi/pan mc, sapphic mc, mute mc
CWs: gore, violence, child abuse
Galley provided by publisher
The Final Strife is a solid series opener, without ever being all that spectacular for me. It opens quite slowly, and doesn’t really pick up the pace until right at the end, but it has the potential for future books to be great, hence the slightly mixed feelings that I have about it.
The story is set in a world where people are classed based on their blood and its colour. Many years before, a group of individuals who wanted to change all of that kidnapped some of the highest caste children and replaced them with ones of a lower class of blood. They would raise these children to be able to take over the government when they grew up, but with the sympathies of the lower classes. That plan was wrecked, however, when their little enclave was found and destroyed, leaving only one of those children as a survivor.
So, my first point really, is that this book catches your interest right from the prologue. It’s a great opening, and guaranteed to get you hooked. So when it slows down, as it does since it’s over 600 pages, you can forgive that. That slowing down gives it time to build the world around the MCs, fleshing out everything that is happening, while also leaving you with a growing list of questions.
I think where this fell down for me, personally, was that I wasn’t so in love with the writing style that I could deal with this. I had to start skimming just a bit, so I could get to the action again. That, and the love triangle.
In theory here, I have nothing against the love triangle as a concept. It’s between two of our MCs, and a third character, and it’s this third character that I had the issue with, really. So this love triangle, which features heavily in the set up of the end, to say as vaguely as I can make it, did not land for me. Also the fact that this book has been marketed a lot as having an f/f relationship—which it does! I hasten to add—but for me, I would say this… not as prevalent as people may expect? For a good three quarters of this book, it’s the m/f relationship that takes centre stage, and then the f/f one in the final pages. Which is obviously fine, but I feel this book would be better framed as having a bi mc, another sapphic mc and a love triangle.
Basically, what I’m trying to explain by all this is that the relationship between Jond and Sylah was supposed to be this big thing, and I just didn’t get it. So a lot of what relied on this relationship later on didn’t land. That said, neither did I really love Sylah and Anoor’s relationship (this is not enemies to lovers). I think this probably all ties back to how I found the writing style, so it’s definitely a personal thing.
Despite all this, and although I didn’t get the feeling from the ending, it was definitely one that had my pulse pounding as I read it. That ending is worth the entire set up and, really, would be enough to convince me to continue the series. While my whole review seems to have been complaining (oops), I would like to stress that actually I did enjoy this book. If this is one that intrigues you at all, you should definitely pick it up.
Rep: African & Arab coded cast & setting, bi/pan mc, sapphic mc, mute mc
CWs: gore, violence, child abuse
Galley provided by publisher
The Final Strife is a solid series opener, without ever being all that spectacular for me. It opens quite slowly, and doesn’t really pick up the pace until right at the end, but it has the potential for future books to be great, hence the slightly mixed feelings that I have about it.
The story is set in a world where people are classed based on their blood and its colour. Many years before, a group of individuals who wanted to change all of that kidnapped some of the highest caste children and replaced them with ones of a lower class of blood. They would raise these children to be able to take over the government when they grew up, but with the sympathies of the lower classes. That plan was wrecked, however, when their little enclave was found and destroyed, leaving only one of those children as a survivor.
So, my first point really, is that this book catches your interest right from the prologue. It’s a great opening, and guaranteed to get you hooked. So when it slows down, as it does since it’s over 600 pages, you can forgive that. That slowing down gives it time to build the world around the MCs, fleshing out everything that is happening, while also leaving you with a growing list of questions.
I think where this fell down for me, personally, was that I wasn’t so in love with the writing style that I could deal with this. I had to start skimming just a bit, so I could get to the action again. That, and the love triangle.
In theory here, I have nothing against the love triangle as a concept. It’s between two of our MCs, and a third character, and it’s this third character that I had the issue with, really. So this love triangle, which features heavily in the set up of the end, to say as vaguely as I can make it, did not land for me. Also the fact that this book has been marketed a lot as having an f/f relationship—which it does! I hasten to add—but for me, I would say this… not as prevalent as people may expect? For a good three quarters of this book, it’s the m/f relationship that takes centre stage, and then the f/f one in the final pages. Which is obviously fine, but I feel this book would be better framed as having a bi mc, another sapphic mc and a love triangle.
Basically, what I’m trying to explain by all this is that the relationship between Jond and Sylah was supposed to be this big thing, and I just didn’t get it. So a lot of what relied on this relationship later on didn’t land. That said, neither did I really love Sylah and Anoor’s relationship (this is not enemies to lovers). I think this probably all ties back to how I found the writing style, so it’s definitely a personal thing.
Despite all this, and although I didn’t get the feeling from the ending, it was definitely one that had my pulse pounding as I read it. That ending is worth the entire set up and, really, would be enough to convince me to continue the series. While my whole review seems to have been complaining (oops), I would like to stress that actually I did enjoy this book. If this is one that intrigues you at all, you should definitely pick it up.
July 3, 2023
Wow! What a rich, intriguing and beautifully built world! It felt so real!
The ending is definitely where this book soars, the first 100 pages were a struggle as it is basically world building and character set up but I wasn’t invested in a plot or the characters yet so it felt hard to care.
However after the first 100 pages it really picked up with the plot and trials. I usually love trials in books but these trials almost felt to easy, the stakes weren’t high so I didn’t feel any anxiety or nervousness reading them.
Like I said the major plot this book sets up for is amazing! Corrupt government and so many reveals that has me so invested and ready for the next book
The ending is definitely where this book soars, the first 100 pages were a struggle as it is basically world building and character set up but I wasn’t invested in a plot or the characters yet so it felt hard to care.
However after the first 100 pages it really picked up with the plot and trials. I usually love trials in books but these trials almost felt to easy, the stakes weren’t high so I didn’t feel any anxiety or nervousness reading them.
Like I said the major plot this book sets up for is amazing! Corrupt government and so many reveals that has me so invested and ready for the next book
July 1, 2023
***Warning, slight spoilers for the first half of the books***
What can I say about a book of this quality that currently has 4.29 stars on Goodreads? I'm sure many of my criticisms are subjective however there are more than enough objective reasons this should have never been published in its current state that I really question that score?
Is Goodreads rigged to boost sales? Are readers that jingoistic that if they encounter a work that ticks off enough of their identity politics boxes that they'll willingly overlook any of the basics of what a novel should aim for in storytelling and characterisation? Even some of the negative reviews seem centred on perceived persecution of another identity.
This may be a decent first draft but it should never have been published.
I don't want to waste your time, unlike a certain author, so let's just bullet point this.
1. The writing is clumsy, repetitive treats the audience like an idiot and has the subtlety of a wrecking ball. This might be appropriate for some of the colonialism or class/race points the author is trying to make, but when this is used for foreshadowing and twists it's just bad.
The storytelling also relies an embarrassing amount on telling, not showing, even if it was a bad first-time fan fic. "Character X was sad." I'm sure in fact that this book could be a lot shorter if an editor just took out all the redundant repetition of details the audience has already been told a hundred times. This novel treats the reader like an idiot.
The use of exposition is clumsy constant and repetitive. (Did I already say that?) It's constantly spoon-fed to the reader with very little context or story to justify it as well. The author uses in-universe literature to start every chapter. This could have been interesting, but it's just another way to unload exposition.
Similarly we find out another character is trans, not because it has any relevance to the story, her characterisation or backstory but just the author thinks it's important. This character (the claimed third protagonist) is probably the most interesting character, however with how little of the book that is spent with her, it comes across as unnecessary exposition.
2. The story is slow and long. This is FAR too long for something this shallow and this slow. I gave up at the halfway point, and barely anything of note has occurred. It feels like I'm barely out of Act 1, while the trials (a supposedly key point of drama and tension) are all build up and no payoff.
I have read longer novels than this by far, and this is definitely the most unnecessarily long novel I've attempted. It feels like for the story it's telling there is absolutely no justification for this length. Maybe the real fault here lies with the editors, because there seems to be no effort to tighten it up and cut down on the word count at all.
3. The worldbuilding is shallow and undermines the themes. I'm sorry to say this, because the initial concept of the world building, and the mythology that drew me in. The basic concept is interesting, and the real world events that this takes inspiration from and attempts to explore (like the Belgian Congo) deserve to be explored.
However the world building is clearly not well thought through at all. The entire slave class are mutilated at birth to the point where all the work they do needs to have disability adjustments. This is just stupid from the slave masters' perspective as it makes them less effective at their work, causes the slave masters' greater expense and demonstrates a lack of basic understanding of slavery or why mutilation and other atrocities were committed (beyond basic sadism).
4. Class and race is badly handled. Class and caste are decided by blood colour in this society. The ruling caste have red blood, the workers' blue, and the slaves clear. While the concept of magic linked to blood (for the ones with red blood) is an interesting idea, it goes in the polar opposite of how racism and classism works in the real world.
Racism works because it's generally perceived as obvious, and it can be countered by the fact we are all essentially the same but for skin pigment and other superificial differences. What about world where people have different blood colours? What is the biological reason for this? It wasnt explored in the first half of the novel, even though the blood colours are expositioned-to-death on nearly every page. This leads to the next issue
5a. We essentially have a "white saviour"/magical princess story. The main character is a red-blooded woman who was kidnapped and raised by the resistance as a child. She is raised by the blue bloods but the main unique quality is that she can pass amongst any segment of society - also she's a princess.
If we were to consider this in a real world setting: "non-white, non-western rebels kidnap and raise white princess to be their saviour." Do you see how problematic this is? It undermines the message of resistance if they need a saviour from the privileged class to save them.
5b. Next we have the blue blood imposter princess, a spoilt brat with no experience of the rest of people, who seeks to use her Western- I mean Ember education to rise to the top of the cruel system to make it better for everyone. Sound familar? Also quite problematic.
5c. The entire plot, the idea someone can rise to the top of a corrupt system and either destroy it completely on their own, or "fix it" is misguided at best, and insidiously supporting these systems at worst. It is a naive idea, which ignores the real nature of power, institutions and systems of control.
In reality there is no single head to cut off any snake, and even holding the most senior position would not be enough to dramatically change or destroy an institution. This is because their position and power is reliant on others who support them, whose interests align with the status quo. So to assume winning an election (or competition) would be enough is extremely silly, but I only got halfway through so maybe the author was planning to subvert this. I can only hope.
6. The story is a mix of miss-matched tones. The story of oppression and rebellion is very dark and adult but it contrasts heavily with the YA nature of the interactions and the "romance?" between the main characters. I'm not a fan of YA as a genre, but the weird mixing is jarring. It really rubs in how out of touch with reality the second protagonist is, and makes her unlikeable to an extreme.
7. "Romance?" This was marketed as a F/F romance. After reading the first half of the novel it's clearly false advertising. Presumably there will be a romance of sorts, and perhaps sex scenes, but this hasn't happened yet after 50% progress.
There has been only one sex scene (M/F) with that romance appearing the only logical one in the novel but for the advertising (and a bland one at that). The presumed couple so far have no chemistry, only the lightest insinuation of flirting from only one of the pair and no sexual tension. Personally I'm not a fan of stories centred on romance (whatever the pairing), and if F/F had been the only/main selling point, I'd have probably not started it. If this is important to you though, I'm sure you'd be very disappointed.
8. The descriptive language is limited. The second protagonist we learn "has curves". This seems to be the only way her body is described when she is talked about physically when another character has the viewpoint. The basic concept of the aesthetics of the world are fascinating, it's disappointing in how limited the author's descriptions can be.
9. For a fantasy novel in a Medieval/Early modern setting, this is too politically modern that it breaks suspension of disbelief. The "curvy" woman is described as beautiful. Why? Because she's got curves! By a character who fails to describe her physically in any other way, who has no romantic interest in her, who has grown up in poverty with malnutrition, but seems to break the fourth wall repeatedly to tell readers that overfed (remember in-universe), wasteful, thoughtless, spoilt brat "with curves" is beautiful, and so are the reader!
Yes it feels like the author felt the need to break the fourth wall to tell the readers this, as well as a few other affirmative action call-outs. Again, this is a novel where a whole slave class is mutilated as babies. People are ripped apart in the streets as an execution for minor crimes, and yet what really might offend readers is that they might not feel comfortable in their own bodies? Sex, gender or bodyweight.
This seems extremely out of perspective. If you're that thin-skinned then you probably shouldn't be reading something with this level of violence. If you are offended by possibly being called fat, but not that level of grotesque violence (again, aimed at babies), then what the HELL is wrong with you?
Conclusion
Was this a too long review? Probably, but this probably gives you a glimpse of how frustrating and disappointing this novel was for me. And probably how disappointed I am with Goodreads and reviewers for lying to me, themselves and repeated throwing me into a situation where I feel like the kid in The Emperor's New Clothes. So many modern works given recognition they are not worthy of.
I give this 1.5 stars. It may have been more had it been properly edited and streamlined, but here we are. As it stands, this is only the second worst novel I started of the year. (Ready Player One is enough to make me think we as a species never should have been allowed to develop language at all). What a mess the publishing industry must be!
What can I say about a book of this quality that currently has 4.29 stars on Goodreads? I'm sure many of my criticisms are subjective however there are more than enough objective reasons this should have never been published in its current state that I really question that score?
Is Goodreads rigged to boost sales? Are readers that jingoistic that if they encounter a work that ticks off enough of their identity politics boxes that they'll willingly overlook any of the basics of what a novel should aim for in storytelling and characterisation? Even some of the negative reviews seem centred on perceived persecution of another identity.
This may be a decent first draft but it should never have been published.
I don't want to waste your time, unlike a certain author, so let's just bullet point this.
1. The writing is clumsy, repetitive treats the audience like an idiot and has the subtlety of a wrecking ball. This might be appropriate for some of the colonialism or class/race points the author is trying to make, but when this is used for foreshadowing and twists it's just bad.
The storytelling also relies an embarrassing amount on telling, not showing, even if it was a bad first-time fan fic. "Character X was sad." I'm sure in fact that this book could be a lot shorter if an editor just took out all the redundant repetition of details the audience has already been told a hundred times. This novel treats the reader like an idiot.
The use of exposition is clumsy constant and repetitive. (Did I already say that?) It's constantly spoon-fed to the reader with very little context or story to justify it as well. The author uses in-universe literature to start every chapter. This could have been interesting, but it's just another way to unload exposition.
Similarly we find out another character is trans, not because it has any relevance to the story, her characterisation or backstory but just the author thinks it's important. This character (the claimed third protagonist) is probably the most interesting character, however with how little of the book that is spent with her, it comes across as unnecessary exposition.
2. The story is slow and long. This is FAR too long for something this shallow and this slow. I gave up at the halfway point, and barely anything of note has occurred. It feels like I'm barely out of Act 1, while the trials (a supposedly key point of drama and tension) are all build up and no payoff.
I have read longer novels than this by far, and this is definitely the most unnecessarily long novel I've attempted. It feels like for the story it's telling there is absolutely no justification for this length. Maybe the real fault here lies with the editors, because there seems to be no effort to tighten it up and cut down on the word count at all.
3. The worldbuilding is shallow and undermines the themes. I'm sorry to say this, because the initial concept of the world building, and the mythology that drew me in. The basic concept is interesting, and the real world events that this takes inspiration from and attempts to explore (like the Belgian Congo) deserve to be explored.
However the world building is clearly not well thought through at all. The entire slave class are mutilated at birth to the point where all the work they do needs to have disability adjustments. This is just stupid from the slave masters' perspective as it makes them less effective at their work, causes the slave masters' greater expense and demonstrates a lack of basic understanding of slavery or why mutilation and other atrocities were committed (beyond basic sadism).
4. Class and race is badly handled. Class and caste are decided by blood colour in this society. The ruling caste have red blood, the workers' blue, and the slaves clear. While the concept of magic linked to blood (for the ones with red blood) is an interesting idea, it goes in the polar opposite of how racism and classism works in the real world.
Racism works because it's generally perceived as obvious, and it can be countered by the fact we are all essentially the same but for skin pigment and other superificial differences. What about world where people have different blood colours? What is the biological reason for this? It wasnt explored in the first half of the novel, even though the blood colours are expositioned-to-death on nearly every page. This leads to the next issue
5a. We essentially have a "white saviour"/magical princess story. The main character is a red-blooded woman who was kidnapped and raised by the resistance as a child. She is raised by the blue bloods but the main unique quality is that she can pass amongst any segment of society - also she's a princess.
If we were to consider this in a real world setting: "non-white, non-western rebels kidnap and raise white princess to be their saviour." Do you see how problematic this is? It undermines the message of resistance if they need a saviour from the privileged class to save them.
5b. Next we have the blue blood imposter princess, a spoilt brat with no experience of the rest of people, who seeks to use her Western- I mean Ember education to rise to the top of the cruel system to make it better for everyone. Sound familar? Also quite problematic.
5c. The entire plot, the idea someone can rise to the top of a corrupt system and either destroy it completely on their own, or "fix it" is misguided at best, and insidiously supporting these systems at worst. It is a naive idea, which ignores the real nature of power, institutions and systems of control.
In reality there is no single head to cut off any snake, and even holding the most senior position would not be enough to dramatically change or destroy an institution. This is because their position and power is reliant on others who support them, whose interests align with the status quo. So to assume winning an election (or competition) would be enough is extremely silly, but I only got halfway through so maybe the author was planning to subvert this. I can only hope.
6. The story is a mix of miss-matched tones. The story of oppression and rebellion is very dark and adult but it contrasts heavily with the YA nature of the interactions and the "romance?" between the main characters. I'm not a fan of YA as a genre, but the weird mixing is jarring. It really rubs in how out of touch with reality the second protagonist is, and makes her unlikeable to an extreme.
7. "Romance?" This was marketed as a F/F romance. After reading the first half of the novel it's clearly false advertising. Presumably there will be a romance of sorts, and perhaps sex scenes, but this hasn't happened yet after 50% progress.
There has been only one sex scene (M/F) with that romance appearing the only logical one in the novel but for the advertising (and a bland one at that). The presumed couple so far have no chemistry, only the lightest insinuation of flirting from only one of the pair and no sexual tension. Personally I'm not a fan of stories centred on romance (whatever the pairing), and if F/F had been the only/main selling point, I'd have probably not started it. If this is important to you though, I'm sure you'd be very disappointed.
8. The descriptive language is limited. The second protagonist we learn "has curves". This seems to be the only way her body is described when she is talked about physically when another character has the viewpoint. The basic concept of the aesthetics of the world are fascinating, it's disappointing in how limited the author's descriptions can be.
9. For a fantasy novel in a Medieval/Early modern setting, this is too politically modern that it breaks suspension of disbelief. The "curvy" woman is described as beautiful. Why? Because she's got curves! By a character who fails to describe her physically in any other way, who has no romantic interest in her, who has grown up in poverty with malnutrition, but seems to break the fourth wall repeatedly to tell readers that overfed (remember in-universe), wasteful, thoughtless, spoilt brat "with curves" is beautiful, and so are the reader!
Yes it feels like the author felt the need to break the fourth wall to tell the readers this, as well as a few other affirmative action call-outs. Again, this is a novel where a whole slave class is mutilated as babies. People are ripped apart in the streets as an execution for minor crimes, and yet what really might offend readers is that they might not feel comfortable in their own bodies? Sex, gender or bodyweight.
This seems extremely out of perspective. If you're that thin-skinned then you probably shouldn't be reading something with this level of violence. If you are offended by possibly being called fat, but not that level of grotesque violence (again, aimed at babies), then what the HELL is wrong with you?
Conclusion
Was this a too long review? Probably, but this probably gives you a glimpse of how frustrating and disappointing this novel was for me. And probably how disappointed I am with Goodreads and reviewers for lying to me, themselves and repeated throwing me into a situation where I feel like the kid in The Emperor's New Clothes. So many modern works given recognition they are not worthy of.
I give this 1.5 stars. It may have been more had it been properly edited and streamlined, but here we are. As it stands, this is only the second worst novel I started of the year. (Ready Player One is enough to make me think we as a species never should have been allowed to develop language at all). What a mess the publishing industry must be!
August 14, 2022
4.0 stars
This was a solid epic fantasy debut that addressed racial themes through a nuanced ownvoices narrative. The book had crossover appeal for young adult readers, but it was not enough to put off adult readers like myself. The character, worldbuilding and magic system were all quite complex and interesting. This the start of a series and I would be interested to read on when the second book comes out.
This was a solid epic fantasy debut that addressed racial themes through a nuanced ownvoices narrative. The book had crossover appeal for young adult readers, but it was not enough to put off adult readers like myself. The character, worldbuilding and magic system were all quite complex and interesting. This the start of a series and I would be interested to read on when the second book comes out.
June 28, 2022
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for gifting me a copy of this book. The following is my honest review.
I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked the concept and the representation, but I wasn't a big fan of the main character, the weight comments, the slow pace, or the weird love triangle involving adopted siblings.
It just wasn't for me, but I think a lot of people would enjoy it, and I wish the author the most success!
I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked the concept and the representation, but I wasn't a big fan of the main character, the weight comments, the slow pace, or the weird love triangle involving adopted siblings.
It just wasn't for me, but I think a lot of people would enjoy it, and I wish the author the most success!
Read
August 31, 2023Preordered this and was really looking forward but very much not for me; clearly is very much for an awful lot of people. I just stuck really badly on a couple of aspects of the world building to the point where I couldn't go on, and in general it gave me more of an NA feel than I enjoy. An entirely YMMV DNF.
September 1, 2022
An absolutely superb novel. It had everything I want in a fantasy book - fantastic world-building, amazing politics, great characters and character development, a wonderful central relationship, a deep and thorough exploration of so many timely and well-developed themes. This was just perfect.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645808644i%2F7494844._UX200_CR0%2C6%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
July 23, 2022
Not gonna lie, this took me FOREVER to get into and forever to finish, but I kept going because although the subject matter was tough it was really, really good.
An it was a five-star read! Talk about epic, epic fantasy! I really want to read book 2 now!
I received an ARC from NetGalley
An it was a five-star read! Talk about epic, epic fantasy! I really want to read book 2 now!
I received an ARC from NetGalley
Want to read
August 9, 2024the day we start publishing floppy, 8.25 inch paperbacks at the same time as the hardback versions, the world will be a better place
August 29, 2022
“but what i’ve learned, what i’m learning, is not to let those hurts define you. use them like we use the anger, craft yourself from those little hurts, block by block. build a fortress of pain, a castle even. and lord over it.”
to be an ember is to have power, to have control and dominance. blood running red as a summer dusk. to be a duster is to be stuck, disvalued and despised and disacknowledged and beaten. blood blue as the waves that are supposed to continue forever. to be a ghosting is to be invisible, to have your own tongueless, armless language. to be hated so much you don’t exist in a legal form, blood being invisible and literally transparent. the intersection of the three? resistance.
“a dancer’s grace, a killer’s instinct, an ember’s blood, a duster’s heart.”
the stolen were born to ember’s in power, replaced with duster children and raised in the kindness of duster homes. sylah was stolen. all she knows is the survival of the dusters, the warm relief of a joba seed, the drug she’s addicted to, and her allegiance to the resistance. anoor is sylah’s opposite, daughter of the elite, but not by blood: hers is blue. and then we get to know hassa: a ghosting who taught sylah her language, who has taken on so much in her years. though we don’t see much of hassa in this book, she is there, and she is powerful.
giving fantasy synopses is tiring. but, you get it. the final strife, the stolen, sylah’s grump to anoor’s sunshine, sylah’s determination to anoor’s frill.
“and like the tidewind, her essence had found its way into the cavities of sylah’s life, relentlessly beautiful.”
sylah and anoor spend the majority of these 640 pages… together. i was taken by their interactions, absolutely loving the changes their characters undertook as they began to understand and support each other. sylah, depicted on the gorgeous cover, could be considered the main character, but i could see myself in anoor! give me more fantasy fatties who fight and aren’t the best at it. who are soft and read books and like to think a lot. i love anoor!!
and of course, this book is sapphic. sylah and anoor, that’s all i want to say. another thing about the characters: sylah struggles with addiction. even in such a heavy fantasy setting, this is real, and the way it’s written and respected within the story made my heart hurt for her.
as you can tell, the worldbuilding in this book is astronomical. it’s what made me, a usually small-brained weary of fantasy person fall head over heels in the best of ways. this is adult fantasy!! this book is a brick! i cannot lie, i was super intimidated because at first, it took me a hot second. but once you’re in, you’re in. it’s african and arabian inspired, and you can see so much culture in el-arifi’s words. but more than anything, the HISTORY. the COMMENTARY. this is a high fantasy and yet so many elements of this book had me in awe. the history in this world is beautifully inspired by world history in our own, and there was so much to focus on, everywhere i looked i found myself surprised. for example, the intricate commentary on colonisation, especially when it came to the ghostings. history nerd in me was screaming, and it was so good and enhanced my experience a lot.
there’s a tournament and wind of blue sand killing every person and thing in it’s path. there’s lies and secrets and hurt and comfort and bargaining and chosen ones and giant lizards. and, there’s the blood magic of the embers, haunting and gruesome and so integral to the world.
the final strife was the first book in a trilogy, and even though i want everyone to read this immediately, the wait will kill me!! there was most definitely a cliffhanger and the second book has not been announced so i will be hung up on these characters for the foreseeable future. there’s so much depth and life and history and love in the stories this book tells. it’s easily the best told fantasy book i have ever come across, and will be recommending it for years to come.
content warnings: discrimination, systematic maiming, slavery/servitude, violence and injury, drug addiction and withdrawals, poisoning, kidnapping, child abuse, fatphobia, diet culture
to be an ember is to have power, to have control and dominance. blood running red as a summer dusk. to be a duster is to be stuck, disvalued and despised and disacknowledged and beaten. blood blue as the waves that are supposed to continue forever. to be a ghosting is to be invisible, to have your own tongueless, armless language. to be hated so much you don’t exist in a legal form, blood being invisible and literally transparent. the intersection of the three? resistance.
“a dancer’s grace, a killer’s instinct, an ember’s blood, a duster’s heart.”
the stolen were born to ember’s in power, replaced with duster children and raised in the kindness of duster homes. sylah was stolen. all she knows is the survival of the dusters, the warm relief of a joba seed, the drug she’s addicted to, and her allegiance to the resistance. anoor is sylah’s opposite, daughter of the elite, but not by blood: hers is blue. and then we get to know hassa: a ghosting who taught sylah her language, who has taken on so much in her years. though we don’t see much of hassa in this book, she is there, and she is powerful.
giving fantasy synopses is tiring. but, you get it. the final strife, the stolen, sylah’s grump to anoor’s sunshine, sylah’s determination to anoor’s frill.
“and like the tidewind, her essence had found its way into the cavities of sylah’s life, relentlessly beautiful.”
sylah and anoor spend the majority of these 640 pages… together. i was taken by their interactions, absolutely loving the changes their characters undertook as they began to understand and support each other. sylah, depicted on the gorgeous cover, could be considered the main character, but i could see myself in anoor! give me more fantasy fatties who fight and aren’t the best at it. who are soft and read books and like to think a lot. i love anoor!!
and of course, this book is sapphic. sylah and anoor, that’s all i want to say. another thing about the characters: sylah struggles with addiction. even in such a heavy fantasy setting, this is real, and the way it’s written and respected within the story made my heart hurt for her.
as you can tell, the worldbuilding in this book is astronomical. it’s what made me, a usually small-brained weary of fantasy person fall head over heels in the best of ways. this is adult fantasy!! this book is a brick! i cannot lie, i was super intimidated because at first, it took me a hot second. but once you’re in, you’re in. it’s african and arabian inspired, and you can see so much culture in el-arifi’s words. but more than anything, the HISTORY. the COMMENTARY. this is a high fantasy and yet so many elements of this book had me in awe. the history in this world is beautifully inspired by world history in our own, and there was so much to focus on, everywhere i looked i found myself surprised. for example, the intricate commentary on colonisation, especially when it came to the ghostings. history nerd in me was screaming, and it was so good and enhanced my experience a lot.
there’s a tournament and wind of blue sand killing every person and thing in it’s path. there’s lies and secrets and hurt and comfort and bargaining and chosen ones and giant lizards. and, there’s the blood magic of the embers, haunting and gruesome and so integral to the world.
the final strife was the first book in a trilogy, and even though i want everyone to read this immediately, the wait will kill me!! there was most definitely a cliffhanger and the second book has not been announced so i will be hung up on these characters for the foreseeable future. there’s so much depth and life and history and love in the stories this book tells. it’s easily the best told fantasy book i have ever come across, and will be recommending it for years to come.
content warnings: discrimination, systematic maiming, slavery/servitude, violence and injury, drug addiction and withdrawals, poisoning, kidnapping, child abuse, fatphobia, diet culture
wishlist
December 30, 2023f/f enemies to lovers hellooo i aM LOOKING RESPECTFULLY
June 1, 2022
i thought a lot after finishing this book and you know what? i'll be supporting these flawed "chosen ones" making bad choices. rtc.
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