I wanted to love this one so badly but it was incredibly slow and very hard to care about what was happening. And then nothing significant really seems to happen until closure to the end setting it up for you to read book 2.

This is the story of Sylah, her fight and her friendships and foes.
It took me a little bit to get into the story as some words had different meanings, but soon got into it and then I could not put the book down.
I loved that we gradually found out more about her early life and in the Sanctuary with Jond. The story had little twists which I enjoyed.
The found the development of the relationship between Anoor and Sylah really interesting. The gradual countdown and preparation for the Aktibar kept the tension.
I don’t very often read fantasy novels, but I did enjoy this one and can definitely recommend it.

Every night in the city of Nar-Ruta, the Tidewind blows. Embers, Dusters and Ghostlings; all hide from the corrosive storm. The capital of the Empire of Wardens, Nar-Ruta is a corrupt, cruel and oppressive place for all but the ruling Embers. But a bigger storm is coming. The Trials of the Aktibar are about to begin.

To be honest, this took me a while to get into, having put it down at least once to read something else, The beginning is fairly slow and stereotypical, following an aggrieved character with a drug addiction. I don't want to reveal any spoilers but it gets going about 20% of the way in and then doesn't stop! The progression thorugh the trials are standard and the enemies to lovers is pretty well sign posted. There aren't many surprises that you can't see coming (except for one, right at the end, And I will proabably read the next book just for that).

However, if this all seems a bit negative, what saves this is the world building and character relaionships. Set in the city of Nar-Ruta for practiculaly all of it, it is richly developed with a cracking magic system (no spoilers!). I did want to slap various characters at times but this was within the lines of the plot and produced the right emotional response. Despite the slow start and somewhat predictable outcomes, I did enoy this quite a lot and I'm glad I persevered with it. In my opinion, readers of the Daevabad Trilogy and Reign & Ruin (winner of SPFBO7) would enjoy this immensely.

I received a ARC from the Publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review. Thank you.

A stunning new entry into the fantasy genre. This debut novel was an absolute amazing read full of adventure and kept you gripped from page one. The character development was well written and the storyline is one I hope to see continue and have as much buzz as it’s debut had

Sylah was one of the red-blooded children stolen by blue-blooded rebels in a long-sighted rebellion.
After the death of most of her allies, Sylah has spent years becoming no-one, until a moment of madness brings her to meet Anoor, the girl she had been swapped with.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Final Strife follows 3 narrators. Sylah, a red-blooded rebel, who was raised to overthrow the system. Anoor, the blue-blooded girl who was dispensable. And Hassa, a speechless ghosting who knows everybody's secrets.

Sylah is our main character. She was trained from a young age to enter the Aktibar and become the new Warden - a red-blooded Ember with a blue-blooded Duster heart. Of the twelve stolen children, Sylah was the best and most-promising... until her family was killed.
Now she has spent years in the gutter, chasing her next hit of joba seeds, to keep her tragic life away. Getting deeper into debt, she decides to go after the girl who stole her life of luxury.

Anoor was sacrificed by her blue-blood parents, swapped for the stolen red-blooded children, left to die like the rest of the twelve.
The only reason she's alive isn't some warm-hearted gesture from her foster-mother. It was a cold, calculating decision by the Warden of Strength. She can't let people know that the rebels managed to steal her real daughter. As much as she hates the weak, pathetic blue-blood Anoor, the Warden keeps up the pretense in public at least, that they are family.
Anoor decides to challenge her fate by entering the Aktibar and proving her 'mother' wrong.

Hassa is a ghosting - the clear-blooded lowest-class citizens. After a failed revolution generations ago, all ghosting are forbidden from writing or speaking, and have their hands and tongues removed as penance for their ancestor's crimes. The ghostings are indentured servants, and the lowest of the low.
Hassa might not be able to speak, but they listen and know everything. Their status of being invisible and ignored by the Dusters and Embers is awful, but also allows them some freedom.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
It started by following Sylah, establishing how terrible life is in the duster quarters, and builds up some tantalising background.
I thought I had the plot pegged - that the drug-addicted 'Chosen One' would beat her demons and win the Aktibar... but I was pleasantly surprised by the direction it took!

I was also surprised by how much I liked Anoor, as she comes off as very shallow, and a bit silly in the beginning. She's obsessed with dresses and reading magazines, and despite being friends with the servants, she's very naive about the unfair class system in place.
But she's got a stubborn streak. She wants to prove herself by entering the Aktibar, and she sees Sylah as the perfect training partner.

Reading about the two of them was very entertaining. They are from completely different backgrounds, and they do butt heads, but it's so satisfying watching their friendship and budding relationship grow.

The plot itself was great, and I can't wait to find out what happens next.
As the book goes on, you realise that the history recorded by the Embers isn't that long, and there are growing questions about what happened before, and if there are other survivors in the wider world.
I thought the intrigue, and the central plot were all perfectly balanced. It kept me guessing until the end, what would actually happen.

Next book please.

I'm not usually a fantasy reader but this book has been my gateway drug, an excellent introduction into the genre full of fun,adventure and heart.

Saara el Arifi explodes into her publishing debut with The Final Strife, which begins her new fantasy trilogy The Ending Fire. The Ghanian and Arabian inspired fantasy that centres on the main characters of Sylah, Anoor and Hassa.
The Final Strife is set in The Warden’s Empire, an island nation that is brutally split into different classes that are typified by their blood colour. Dusters have blue blood and are mainly the repressed labourers of the Empire. The Ghostings are clear blooded and are stripped of communication by having their tongues cut out and their hands removed as a punishment for an uprising against the dominant Embers (those with red blood!) in the far reaches of time.
Sylah is an ember, and is also one of a number of babies and that were stolen from prominent figures in the Ember society by a terrorist organisation known as the Sandstorm, whose intentions were to destabilise society from the inside by replacing ember children with Dusters, and also being able to smuggle in sleeper agents who could take part in the competition to become a disciple of the hierarchy, The Wardens, called The Aktibar which is held every ten years. However, Sylah is aimless, addled by drug use and has lost all purpose following the massacre of the Sandstorm members several years ago. She wanders around living from the next fix to the next fix, eking out a living in the ring.
Anoor is the ‘daughter’ of one of the wardens and has been living in relative luxury throughout her developments. And Hassa is a Ghosting who lives and works in the palace, but also sells Joba seeds, the drug Sylah is addicted to.
We are initially introduced to The Wardens Empire through the eyes of Sylah. However, this expands to include both Anoor’s and Hassa’s perspectives as the book moves on.
The book is a fast paced, plot driven novel that is full of exuberance and stylised world building. El Arafi builds the plot using some recognisable tropes such as training montages, brutal competitions friends to lovers and chosen ones, yet manages to make them feel fresh and enjoyable without falling into overlong descriptions of each of these tropes.
Her characters are full of energy and likeable, even though Sylah is quite consumed by anger, and Anoor has the temperament of an over excited puppy dog at times. But for me, it was Hassa that was the most interesting.
The writing itself just bangs along and it is not a hard read, and Saara El Arafi’s writing seems to flow very naturally throughout the plot.
The plot itself is engaging, with twists and turns and as it unfolds you learn more and more about the world that the story is set in.
As I said earlier, this is the first book in the series, and it will be interesting to see how the story unfurls over the three books

What a way to start a series! I was 100% taken with Sylah, I loved every moment of her character development and arc. She had complex relationships with herself, Anoor and Hassa. I enjoyed the unique political system and found the challenges of the Akbar. Saara El-Arifi has created an easy-to-follow entry into a highly complex world. At no point was I lost or confused about the structure and magical system, which can sometimes happen in epic fantasy books.

I look forward to following Sylah, Hassa and Anoor on their individual travels. So much more is coming, and I cannot wait.

This is a fantastic read if you loved Children of Blood and Bone, Priory of the Orange Tree or Poppy War.

Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting and refreshing addition to the adult fantasy genre, inspired by Ghanaian mythology. Although I have mixed feelings about the book, it was definitely an engaging and highly complex read. Firstly, I thought the romantic connection between two adopted siblings was questionable & the plot line here was quite confusing. The rest of the plot and world building nonetheless provided interesting conceptions of class and power, and although I felt my interest in the plot dipped at certain points, it would be interesting to see how the story develops in the next book when it comes out!

Okay, it could be that this is at least the third fantasy novel with a tournament-centered plot I've read this year, but I just wasn't invested. Between the high page count (my pandemic brain just can't take it, I need to read a novella asap) and the unbalanced, transitionless POVs, the truly interesting albeit neglected politics plot was the only thing that kept me going.

And the interesting magic system! In a highly segregated, caste-like society where only the red-blooded can work magic by combining blood runes, magic can be used for almost anything. The approach is a lot like the solving of a puzzle, the possibilities almost endless. But adding magic-fueled microphones (?) and rune guns (???) to the worldbuilding of a yet unindustrialized empire makes the setting a little hard to grasp.

Where am I? When am I? No idea. Why are enslaved people systematically being mutilated by their oppressors when they still make up the majoritiy of the workforce, despite the existence of magic that can generate electricity? Also no idea. "Genes" and "neuroreceptors" are terms that get thrown around, but how are medicine and genetics implemented in a world where blood determines your worth? No answers.

Perhaps it's the absence of truly tragic protagonists or simply the lackluster narration style, but I don't think I'm hooked enough to read further lengthy books in this series. There are some wacky plot holes here that I doubt will be filled in in the sequels, so I have no motivation to go on. The Final Strife is by no means a bad debut, but it didn't strike a chord with me.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, for me, this was a DNF at 26%.

I had tried to read this one on two separate occasions (in case it was me more than the book itself) but I just couldn't get into it.

The premise of this book sounds amazing, I was desperate to read this from that alone, but sadly, it felt as though it was never going to come into this book in the way that I wanted. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions, but that wasn't enough for me to want to continue reading this.

Hopefully in the future, I can go back to this one and fall in love.

I tried so hard to like this book but I couldn’t get into this which sucks. This has so much potential though! So I do hope someone else will like this but I’ll DNF this.

A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc.

This was an amazing book, I am so glad I have a fancy physical copy coming soon that I preordered that reflects this beautiful book. 10/10, another great read!

An exciting epic that got better and better as the story unfolded. The latter half is faster paced and more gripping, definitely worth reading on for..
It is set in a land where there is a hierarchy of classes which determines where people live and what they are allowed to do and what they are subjugated to. The story starts with Sylah, stolen as a child and forged into a weapon, whose purpose it was to help bring down the Embers. However, Sylah has her demons to face - she is seriously flawed but this just adds to her character (and the events that unfold). Guilt, betrayal, love, loyalty and lots of action accompany Sylah and Anoor’s quests to bring about change - both have their own vision about how to do this (as do others who come to the forefront and add to the peril).
The settings are vivid and the characters strong - I look forward to reading the next book in the trilogy.

What an absolutely amazing debut fantasy by Saara El-Arifi.
Inspired by African and Arabian mythology which I really loved learning about.
Excellent prose that was really accessible for an adult fantasy story.
With characters who are flawed and whose relationships are messy but I got so attached to them!!
It has a blood based magic system that was well crafted and thought out.
A world where you can ride around on giant lizards and a nightly sand storm that can literally rip the skin from your bones because of the velocity…so yeah don’t get trapped outside at night! 😳🙈.
I also loved that this is a world where gender, race and sexuality doesn’t matter. Hassa is talked about being transgender but it’s not a reason for her persecution.
However there is still oppression present depending on what blood you have and this is a story about blue and clear bloods fighting in a resistance to overthrow the system that sees them as nothing. My only issue with this is that I had a little trouble with the length and pacing on this one and the ending needed more time for me.
I gave this one 4⭐️.

✨Online synopsis reads:

The Aktibar – a set of trials held every ten years to find the next Ember rulers of the Empire – is about to begin.

All can join but not just anyone can win; it requires great skill and ingenuity to become the future wardens of Strength, Knowledge, Truth and Duty.

Sylah was destined to win the trials and be crowned Warden of Strength. Stolen by blue-blooded rebels she was raised with a Duster’s heart; forged as a weapon to bring down from within the red-blooded Embers’ regime of cruelty. But when her adopted family were brutally murdered those dreams of a better future turned to dust.

However, the flame of hope may yet be rekindled because Sylah wasn’t made to sparkle, she was born to burn.

✨My thoughts:

So for the first 100 pages I very nearly DNF’ed this book, however the book did a 180 and I suddenly felt committed to see where the story would take our protagonist Sylah. The world building is intricate, layers upon layers that take some getting used to but it’s exceptionally well thought out and different to any fantasy I’ve read before.

In terms of the characters I can’t say I truly loved any of them and that is to me can be a problem, I want to root for a character or feel some sort of emotion towards them but I felt that was completely lacking. The trials themselves were interesting but could have become more in-depth and given more than a few paragraphs per.

Overall the book is well-written and there’s a strong idea there, it just didn’t compel me which I’m gutted about, and probably why my review is a little lacklustre.

STAR RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

*Thank you @netgalley and @harpervoyager_uk for also sending me a release of the e-book.

I went into this book with high expectations but unfortunately I ended up disappointed. While the premise of the story was interesting the actual story felt really slow and dragged a lot especially the first half where not a lot happened. This meant the ending where everything started to happen felt rushed and I just felt that this is the part of the story that should have been more fleshed out.

There are three points of view in the story where we see the world through the eyes of three people from different social standings because of the colour of their blood. I liked that we got to see the way people are treated and the realities of their lives from different aspects but at times I felt that the povs weren’t very distinct so I would be confused when there was a sudden change though later in the story it became easier to differentiate.

Sylah the main point of view we saw with Hassa and Anoor not getting as much though I liked her point of view least and wished we had gotten to see Hassa a lot more as she was the most interesting character for me. Her bravery and resilience despite how she has been treated to help and protect the most vulnerable people. I hope we get to see more of her in the sequel.

I enjoyed the second half of the book a lot more especially when the pieces started falling in place and the three storylines started to merge and we get to see how things aren’t as they seem. There was some revelations that I did not see coming and had me shook. I am looking forward to seeing what the outcome of the events at the end of the book will have in the next book.

Overall I did enjoy the story but I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would but I am still looking forward to reading the sequel.

I fnished The Final Strife over a week ago and while I knew what I wanted to say I have been trying to figure out how to say it without giving anything away, so here is the short version :)
The Final Strife crafts a rich and beautifully unique world, deep diving into the magic system (bloodwerk and runes), the religion (and how it plays into the politics and history with its variations amongst the classes) and the societal structure but without the usual info dumping. The world is brutal, and the writing is unflinching in its description of punishment, hatred, death and addiction. It is in this world that we find our, morally grey, MC Sylah.
Sylah has found an outlet for her guilt (which you discover more about as the story progresses) with an addiction to joba seeds, and fighting in the Ring to earn enough money to feed her habit, but a figure from her past leads her to a rash decision and into the life of Anoor, whose arc from whiny and entitled to strong, determined and out for change is one of my favourite things about the book.
Other characters weave into the story in a complex knot and of all of them, Hassa, I really liked. She is a truly interesting character with a much larger role to play in the coming books and I look forward to finding out about her and the Ghostings.

Over all I enjoyed the story, though I felt the pace was a little slow and the structure of training and trials a tad repetitive, but the last 15% or so really accelerated with some truly surprising twists and turns that definitely have me wanting to read the next book as soon as it comes out.
The Final Strife is diverse, and I appreciate how all parts of the LGBTQ+ community are naturally represented and accepted within the book without feeling forced or like they are a token mention for diversity's sake. The story also has positive disibility rep which is, still, all too rare in fantasy.

To conclude - The Final Strife is a great introduction to a new world and some wonderful characters, and I am wholly looking forward to book 2.

In an empire where people's lives and opportunities are dictated by the colour of their blood, Sylah was meant to bring the ruling class to its knees. A red-blooded Ember brought up by blue-blooded Dusters, she was to enter the Aktibar (a set of trials used to determine the next rulers of the empire) and win. But when her adopted family are brutally slaughtered, Sylah is left adrift and without purpose. When a ghost from her past reappears on the eve of the Aktibar, Sylah is thrown abruptly back into a world of secrets and rebellion. But is she really the right person to win? Or is the rebellion a smokescreen for the problems facing the empire?

The Final Strife is an epic opening fantasy story in what is set to be an immersive and action-packed series. It has superb world building, a tight plot and really great character development. Everything about this book is so, so good. And the final twist at the end? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out just how brilliant it is.