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Summer Titles That Will Make You Laugh, Cry Or Just Feel Something". HuffPost UK. 2022-08-01 . Retrieved 2022-12-12. 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. Anoor, a Duster child left behind as a decoy when the Ember children were stolen, has lived her entire life knowing she is different, that she needs to hide who she is. And it’s not easy being a Duster when your “mother” is the Disciple of Strength, soon to become Warden of Strength. When Anoor crosses paths with Sylah, she decides to enter the Akitbar herself and prove everyone wrong – Anoor wants to create change from within, but to win the Aktibar, she needs Sylah’s help. Thank you, thank you, thank you Harper Collins U.K. and NetGalley for the arc of The Final Strife by Sara El Arifi in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. The Final Strife, is an epic fantasy based around three POVs, Sylah a red-blooded Ember, stolen as a child by the fabled Sandstorm, to help bring down the empire. Anoor a blue-blooded Duster, replaced in the cradle to the stolen Ember, and Hassa, a clear blooded Ghosting, the dredges of the empire, hands, and tongue cut off at birth to keep them silent and weak.
The Final Strife is Saara El-Arifi’s debut novel and the first book in The Ending Fire trilogy, an epic fantasy series inspired by Ghanaian folklore and Arabian myths. It’s also a spectacular first novel with fantastic worldbuilding and storytelling (the epigraphs and oral tales are especially wonderful additions), and I was eager to read more of it every time I had the chance. It had been some time since I’d been this immersed in a book from beginning to end, and I haven’t read anything I’ve enjoyed as much or thought worked as well since, making The Final Strife my current favorite of this year. UPDATE: 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? I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This did not affec
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! The protagonists are flawed but made me want to root for them desperately. Hassa was such an interesting character, and I longed to hear from her perspective more, as a Ghostling who had so many secrets of her own. Sylah was physically powerful yet bore the scars of her past in her debilitating drug addiction, lost to oblivion until she meets Anoor. And Anoor, sweet Anoor, had the best BAMF character growth in this story!! Her privilege and sheltered upbringing never negated her true self, and the more she learns, the more she gains empathy and resolves to shake things up in the Empire. 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. The Final Strife was a near-perfect book for me: simultaneously thoughtful and fun with some unique details that made it stand out, such as the devices used for blood magic. The pacing, worldbuilding, story, and oral tales were all wonderful, and the only reason I’m not giving it a 10 is simply there are books and characters that I personally love more. However, The Final Strife is a phenomenal book—my favorite I’ve read this year by far—and The Battle Drum is perhaps my most anticipated new release coming in 2023.
All three main characters are interesting and sympathetic for various reasons. Anoor is part of a wealthy, respected family, but she’s not had a great life since her mother hates her and cannot get past any part of her that reminds her she is not her biological daughter, like her having a curvy figure so unlike her own. However, Anoor has still absorbed the propaganda about how everyone is treated justly, and she’s horrified to see how things really are in poorer parts of the city after Sylah takes her there: particularly, that fair trials do not actually apply to other people and they can be brutally executed without one. As a bright, dreamy, optimistic person, she then seeks to educate herself and consider what she might do to improve conditions for everyone if she does become the next Warden of Strength. A beautiful sapphic story that speaks of revolution, oppression, and addiction: this is a truly remarkable debut from Saara El-Arifi! This is not for the fainthearted, but El-Arifi does a great job of conducting a painstaking exploration of classism, racism, and so much more. Yes, please! Please, I need the following two books of this series to happen 😈. But, in all seriousness, if you enjoy dystopia and high fantasy, racial or queer justice, global folklore … or all of the above … you will enjoy The Final Strife. I urge you to read the content warnings below because The Final Strife might be too triggering for some. Indulge me while I spend the following two sections waxing poetic about Saara El-Arifi‘s world-building. It was the type of apology that one person does for a collective. A pathetic assurance that everyone was sorry for the bigotry committed, even if they didn’t show it. It was the apology of the bystander, and Sylah regretted it as soon as it came out of her mouth.”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. It is my fervent belief that severing the hands and tongues of Ghostings benefits their wellbeing. Those whose wounds fester are weeded out young, their frail countenance discarded before they become a nuisance to their masters. Those who survive understand the power of pain and the importance of subservience. —Journal entry by Aveed, Disciple of Duty” The Final Strife is a highly intriguing, fast-paced fantasy novel with entertaining twists and turns. Although it is her first novel, El-Arifi proves herself an expert author. Her writing is excellent, and the worldbuilding is magnificently layered. Every aspect of The Final Strife feels extremely thorough, from the glossary to the epigraphs El-Arifi crafts at the beginning of each chapter. Little details like this — and the way the story is inspired by Ghanian and Arabian mythology — add worlds of depth to the novel. On a similar note, El-Arifi’s character construction is also amazing. It is impossible not to warm to our main characters, Sylah, Annor, and Hassa. Sylah’s snarkiness is irresistible, Hassa’s devotion to her people is admirable, and Anoor’s character development is perfect. It was great to see Anoor develop from a snobbish princess-type into a fierce warrior willing to sacrifice everything to better the lives of all in the Empire.
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