We free the stars follows on from We Hunt the Flame where the battle of Shar just took place and our characters are basically just trying to catch their breath and catch up to what is going on but alas, in this fast paced book that will never happen for these characters.

Altair was captured but now Zafira, Nasir and Kifah are torn between following his orders or a rescue attempt. But they soon realise in order to rescue Altair, they must continue on with his plans and restore the magic to Arawiya. But this is not all, Nasir must fight the magic that is within his veins and must learn to turn his magic into something more powerful that will help them win the war. Zafira is battling her own monsters inside her head. She has been taken over by the bond that the Jawarat created with her and they are now filling her head with darkness and sinister thoughts that is pushing her to her limits and maybe the end of her sanity, but despite all of this, Zafira and Nasir have found each other and they must persevere in order to get through these dark times.

Like I previously stated, this is a fast paced book that really keeps up with the moment of We Hunt the Flame. I read We Hunt The Flame during quarantine and wasn’t a big fan of it, however, I did find more enjoyment in its sequel but maybe this story isn’t for me afterall.

3 out of 5 stars.

Hafsah Faizal is an absolute force. Her writing and world building has stolen readers' hearts and I can't wait to see her next project! An absolute gem.

A beautiful and richly-detailed YA fantasy duology inspired by ancient Arabia. The characters shine the most for me, as I love how complex and flawed they are. The plot kept me engaged from beginning to end and my only quibble would be that I think there was enough material for a trilogy.

Sadly I just couldn't get into this one. I think perhaps it had been too long since I had read the previous instalment, but I just found I didn't particularly care for the characters. The writing was beautiful, and I so wanted to dive right in, but I simply couldn't.

Unfortunately I did not finish We Hunt The Stars so I am unable to read/review We Free The Stars. They were highly anticipated reads for me this years but I did not like what I read of the first book of the duology.

For fairness I will give this book a neutral 2.5 stars

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. An excellent sequal to the first book carrying on the story. If you enjoyed the first you'll love this.
Eloved the Arabian representation, beautiful culture building. The pacing is a bit slow but still enjoyable.

Magical book for kids and big kids alike! I really enjoyed getting into the story and I’m 30 so can you imagine how cool it would be for youngsters?!
I think this would be a great addition to any school library or for confident readers to enjoy.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

In so gutted I'm behind on my reading and now cannot read this one.

It's not on my kindle and it's now archived but I've brought a physical copy and cannot wait to read it!

Will update my review once I've read it!

Sorry!!

I adored this sequel. WE FREE THE STARS is full of lush writing, angsty characters, and a plot that will leave you gasping. Hafsah Faizal is a fantastic writer with such brilliant depth.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

Following the explosive events of We Hunt The Flame, the zumra are separated and reeling from the loss of Altair and Benyamin. They have recovered four of the five hearts, as well as the Jarawat, a magical hilya that has bound itself to Zafira, and is battling for control. In order to restore magic to Arawiya, they need to return the hearts to their minarets, before they die, and find the last one currently in the Lion's control. But the Lion won't go down without a fight, and as both Nasir and Zafira battle to control the powers they've newly discovered, will the gang be able to triumph against evil?

I will admit, I wasn't overly keen on We Hunt The Flame, and didn't really understand the hype surrounding it, but it was okay, and I had been sent a review copy of the sequel, so I decided to give it a go anyway. And boy, am I glad. The sequel, though perhaps a touch longer than necessary, was perfect, and completely blew me away. Because we don't have to meet our main cast, and learn their history or the history of Arawiya, we could get right into the action, and fully immerse ourselves in the story. The twists and turns, and the way Hafsah interleaved all of the subplots together, tying them into a neat bow at the end, was phenomenal. Any question you may have had from book 1 was answered, and so many more than came up throughout the 600+ pages of We Free the Stars. I just adored the camaraderie between the zumra, and the reintroduction of Zafira's sister, Lana. But, overall, the best part of the book was the love story between Zafira and Nasir. They were the perfect partner for each other, being there and supporting the other when others would not, and though they had their flaws, together they could flourish. Okay, there were some moments that I wanted to shake them, and get them to have a proper conversation and deal with the miscommunication, but the longing and pining just increased the tension ten-fold, and when the final conclusion came together, you couldn't have asked for a better ending to the book, and to the duology. A fantastic sequel!

THE WORLD:

The world in this book was so much wider and so much richer than in We Hunt the Flame. If there’s one thing that Hafsah excels at, it is luxurious and beautiful and lyrically gorgeous world building. It was so easy to see the sweeping rooms of the palaces and the incredible settings of the markets and Demenhur and so much more. There were so many places to explore, with so many details and wonderful differences. It was breathtakingly amazing and, where world building can usually be hard to read, it felt to effortless, as if I was watching it all unfold in front of me like a picture or a movie.

THE CHARACTERS:

Zafira:

I liked Zafira a lot more in this book than I did in the first one. She felt a lot stronger in this book, a lot more sure of herself and more confident. I loved how much she learnt to love herself and who she was in this story. She is definitely one of the character’s that developed the most in this novel which was really great to see.

Nasir:

Nasir was perhaps the character that I connected with the least in We Hunt the Flame and I think a lot of that was to do with the fact that he was very emotionally distant in that book. In this book he was much more emotionally involved in the story. He grew so much, he learned what it meant to be him when he wasn’t hidden behind the facade of being a Hashashin.

Altair:

Other than Nasir and Zafira, Altair is without a doubt my favourite character in this duology. If I could have a story just from Altair’s perspective that would be amazing! He’s funny and witty and crafty, but this story also showed a much more emotional and softer side to his character that I hadn’t seen before. I loved how much we saw of his character in this book, and that we got to see some of the story from his perspective.

The Lion of the Night:

What a great villain! He was mysterious and strange and incredibly creepy and self serving. He was pretty much everything I wanted from his character when we met him at the end of We Hunt the Flame. Eventhough he is the main antagonist of this book, I think what I liked the most was that he wasn’t a faceless villain. He was very much present throughout the book and we see his reasonings and his planning and his plotting from more than one person’s point of view.

THE PLOT:

I loved the story of this book. To me it was the story I had been hoping for when I first heard about and began to read We Hunt the Flame. This story was a sweeping fantasy adventure that took the characters I had come to love through so many twists and turns.

The main part of this story was, of course, the quest to restore the hearts, restore magic and defeat the Lion of the Night. This was the story that had been set up the whole way through We Hunt the Flame. There was so much to this plot. There were so many elements and so many things that I didn’t see coming, but that doesn’t mean it was confusing. In fact, it felt like an intricate puzzle that slowly and cleverly came together through the course of the book.

Underneath the main plot, there was also the plot of Nasir and Zafira’s relationship. I loved how this was woven into the main story and was affected so much by the events that both character’s were facing.

Also, I just want to say… that ending! Yes! I adored the ending!

WHY IT WAS A 5-STAR READ FOR ME:

The main reason this was a five-star read for me was because of how everything in this book blended together so well. The world, the plot, the characters. Everything felt cohesive and crafted in a way that created the perfect fantasy story, one that I couldn’t and didn’t want to put down.

Oh my. I absolutely loved ‘We Free the Stars’. I previously listened to the audio version of the first book, ‘We Hunt the Flame’, but I decided to re-read it before continuing with the story in the second part of the duology. And it was a great decision, Hafzah Faisal has created such a rich world that you can discover so many new details while re-reading the story. I will certainly come back to ‘We Free the Stars’ again as well at some point.

‘We Free the Stars’ picks up immediately after the ending of ‘We Hunt the Flame’ and draws the reader back into action. While the first book had a little like adventure (quest) like atmosphere like it, ‘We Free the Stars’ adds even the higher stakes to the game partially as a result of all the characters growing close together in ‘We Hunt the Flame’ especially after the losses they had endured. Hafzah Faisal’s writing is rich and beautiful, and I loved the atmosphere of the series the most. But the complicated and complex relations between characters, especially in this instalment, have definitely been the highlight too. Zafira, Nasir, Altair and everyone else have interesting stories and backgrounds, all enriched in this book.

It’s definitely a fantasy YA I would recommend to everyone.

I'm sorry, I don't know how to write this review, considering I feel like I've just had Hafsah rip my heart out! We Free The Stars has left me an emotional wreck and I would not change that for the world. This was the perfect end to Zafira and Nasir's story. I wasn't expecting so much of what happened and yet every beat was so wonderful. A thousand stars, please everyone: go read this duology!

Faizal's writing is so lush, evocative and rich. The world she's created is incredibly imaginative and populated with nuanced, interesting characters. However, I just felt like there was some vital element missing, but I think this is a case of me rather than the book. I just felt really disconnected from the book the whole time I was reading, so didn't fully engage with the characters that much. I'm hugely disappointed, but will try a reread at some point in the future.

Oh my heart, it’s full , I was so happy to get this sequel, it was everything I hoped for, sure there’s one or two questions it didn’t answer but I can cope. Returning to these characters was so much fun, I love the banter and I still love Nasir. I loved the conclusion, the ending they deserve. All the relationships in this book are developed so well, I just didn’t want this to end. Fantastic and thoroughly recommended

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This was honestly one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read and I am so excited to carry on with the series!

4 stars!

I still have quite a few questions that went unanswered but overall this was an amazing sequel with plenty of twists and turns and action and scary moments.

Also, Nasir and Zafira own my heart.

I loved the first book in this series. The writing the arabian representation the story was just wonderful to get lost in. I started this book with high expectations and it certainly didnt dissapoint!

The atamosphere in this book is intense and just gives the book an amazing fel when reading. It is a slow burn read and i often find i dont enjoy slow burns i get a bit bored or distracted. The amount of detail and the storyline made the slow burn so enjoyable. I didnt want the story to end. I enjoyed every second of it!

The characters are so interesting and i feel they all got the ending they deserved

4 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Children's Books and Hafsah Faizal for my arc of We Free the Stars in exchange for an honest review.
Published: 18th March 2021 (UK Ed)

Please note, as this is the sequel to We Hunt the Flame it may contain some spoilers for the first book.

I was really looking forward to this book, We Hunt the Flame was one of my favourite 2019 reads so I had high hopes. But sadly it missed the Mark for me.
Firstly, I felt that the pacing was really off. We Hunt the Flame is also a big book but the pacing felt faster and the story more exciting. We Free the Stars honestly just felt like it dragged on and on with random words and descriptions thrown in. I'm not a big fan on needing to use a glossary when reading a book and I kept forgetting what things meant or were and also who half the characters were. The plot wasn't overly complex I just found that I was very aware/conscious the whole time that I was actually reading, I.e I just didn't get immersed in the story in any way. Which is a shame as I really did enjoy the first one.

Thank you Macmillan Children’s Books & NetGalley for this e_arc in exchange for my honest review.

I read this straight after We Hunt the Flame & I think I would have struggled to regain the story if I hadn’t. Recaps at the start make a huge difference for a lot of readers.

Reeling after the battle on Sharr, the zumra must find a way to retrieve their captive ally, the lost heart of a Sister of Old, and prepare Arawiya for the return of the Lion of the Night and the war to come.

Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah, are torn between trying to rescue Altair and followihis plans, but without all five hearts they can’t restore magic.

The zumra are preparing to fight the Lion & face the traps of Basir’s father - the Sultan, who is under the Lion’s control.

Zafira has accidentally become bound to the Jawarat, a magical tome of the Sisters’ memories, and to prevent the threat of its power when it is stolen by the Lion, must risk blood magic that didn’t work well before to put things right.

This 2nd book in the duology starts off slowly, but soon picks up pace to pull you back into Zafaira’s adventures and her mission to save all that is dear to her and her people.

A fine ending to this duology, with excellent pacing, prose and adventure.