Hailey Lo’s Reviews > We Free the Stars > Status Update

2/6/25:
"There was a time when he had been kind, when lines would crease near his eyes as he smiled, when he would hold his wife in his arms, pride and love in the timbre of his voice. Laa, the Lion's control was a gradual thing." (Faizal, 192)

In this excerpt from "We Free The Stars", we see through Nasir's past memories of his father as a child. This sentence appeals to the reader through pathos, since it

I feel as though this sentence is effective in conveying Nasir's comfort with negative emotions, since it shows Nasir in a way that does not betray the story's rhythm, yet also while giving the reader information.

"If he could call anything his favorite, it was this: hurtling across air, with death mocking, taunting, reaching from all sides." (Faizal, 218)
In this excerpt from We Free The Stars, one prominent literary device shown could be personification, where death "mocks, taunts, and reaches" Nasir.

While reading, the appeal pathos was used when Zafira narrates her sister as still being a "little girl", with her "small figure tucked against Baba's side", and "her eyes wide in wonder, her nose in a book." (Faizal, 216)

While the book is not meant to persuade, I believe this sentence casts a new light on Zafira's sister to the readers, therefore being successful in creating the pathos appeal.

One appeal I found while reading was pathos, where protagonist Zafira narrates that her sister isn't a "little girl" anymore, yet she still remembers her sister's "small figure tucked against Baba's side" and "[h]er eyes in wonder, her nose in a book." (Faizal, 216)
I believe that this sentence casts a new light on Lana, Zafira's sister to the readers, therefore being a successful appeal of pathos.

This book has prompted me to wonder and ask why romances such as these mentioned in the book are so not straightforward. In my book, Nasir and Zafiras romance lacks extreme communication and sometimes, they ignore each other for small reasons yet create great chemistry and intimacy whenever nothing is going wrong. It caused me to reflect on today's relationships, and wonder why some relationships are like this.

Because my book is slow-paced, there is not much going on in the span of six pages. However, the best part of my book is when Zafira's little sister, Lana, goes to Zafira's room to talk with Zafira. Because we do not have a lot of quality family bonding in the book, this is a rare moment.

While reading my book, I was surprised to see that character Seif (ally of the main group) had ridiculed protagonist Nasir for breaking the Lion's chain on the sultan, since breaking the Lion's chain essentially meant that Nasir was able to get rid of the Lion's influence on the sultan. I initially thought that Seif would be relieved, since they triumphed over the Lion, yet Seif instead ridiculed Nasir instead.

1. The word, "detached smile," essentially means a smile that is either aloof and objective, or separate and disconnected. In the context of my book, "detached smile" means an aloof smile. I chose this word because while I did understand what smile meant, I did not understand what about it was "detached".