We Free the Stars

I was soooo bummed, because I really liked book 1, but I DNF'd this one at 44%.
There is more lyrical writing, which I know some will like, but totally isn't my thing. Everything was kind of annoying me too and I'm not exactly sure why.

Liked the concept

Love the characters and that it didn't stretch much longer than it needed to (unlike some books that unnecessarily become trilogies...) I really enjoyed the universe and thought the concept was interesting. Plot was def quite easy to predict (not always a bad thing, but at times the foreshadowing felt a little...heavy handed). Overall a fun read.

4.25 rounded down; I will be honest I forgot what happened so it took some time to get back into it but enjoyed the second book! I think I liked the first book a little more, but I'm glad with how it ended.

Boek één graag gelezen en boek twee begon op hetzelfde elan, maar mijn interesse nam snel af. Het was veel te lang, te repetitief, warrig en over het algemeen ook gewoon saai. Ik voelde me totaal niet emotioneel betrokken met de personages, en gebeurtenissen die duidelijk een emotie teweeg moesten brengen deden dat niet.
Ik kan niet zeggen of het aan het boek lag of aan mij, maar feit is wel dat ik me serieus door dit boek heb moeten sleuren, dat ik meermaals heb zitten zuchten en ogenrollen met de overdreven melodrama en dat het me weinig kon schelen hoe het verhaal zou eindigen.
Blij dat ik deze duologie van mijn lijst kan schrappen, maar lang zal ik me hem helaas niet herinneren.

2.75* rounded up.. i just couldnt connect to these characters and the romance was a huge miss for me

Glad this was a duology. Audio was well done, but ran it at 1.4 speed for slow talking and pretty glacial pacing. In this book the zumra works to bring magic back but really it's a showcase for the slow burn of the Zafira/Nasir romance. I wasn't heavily invested in any characters in this set but I appreciated the world building and storytelling and fantasy readers who are good with slow moving stories will be all over them.

I so loved this duology. The characters are charming and engaging. I couldn't put this book down. Absolutely a 5 star book for me.

As one of my most anticipated books of 2021, this book definitely didn't disappoint. What a fulfilling ending to a series. Hafsah Faizal created a world that felt dark and scary, yet so full of hope.

The most successful aspect of this story for me was the zumra. This found family narrative made my heart feel warm and fuzzy. Even when they made mistakes, they were all there for each other. I love all four of them so much.

The setting of this story is so picturesque and beautiful. Every description was so vivid and colorful. The darkness inside of each character just made everyone feel so real and relatable.

A lot of this story is internal within each character, so there were definitely slower parts of the book. However, I really appreciated the care that went into showing every facet of each character.

I highly recommend this duology to anyone that loves fantasy. Hafsah Faizal is an inspiration that can teach us much about ourselves and the way we interact with the world.