[Book Review] We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Synopsis (from Goodreads) :

People lived because she killed.
People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. 

Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Set in a richly detailed world inspired by ancient Arabia, We Hunt the Flame is a gripping debut of discovery, conquering fear, and taking identity into your own hands.

My rating :

4/5 stars.

My review :

“We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the good this world deserves.”
― Hafsah Faizal, We Hunt the Flame
 

This book intrigued me ever since the author shared about it on social media. The synopsis encouraged – or persuaded – me to read this book, and I am glad I did! Here is my sincere thoughts for Hafsah’s wonderful YA fantasy book.

We Hunt the Flame had a very well planned plot, where everything became entirely interesting. There were parts that blew my mind, parts where sadness hugged me tightly, and even parts where exuberance embraced me to the utmost respect. I simply loved how this story went – how the main character, Zafira disguised herself as a hunter when she was actually a huntress, to parts where a dangerous mission insisted to take place in this story, and yes, war. I am that one particular reader who showers stories with wars and bloodbaths in them with the utmost enthusiasm. I loved the flow of the plot – it was a bit fast paced and packed with intriguing, secretive scenes at the same time. I must say the story definitely had a great pacing, to the point where I did not feel dragged to read it and yes, I was able to enjoy the story comfortably. Overall, this YA fantasy book had an intriguing world building, where it made readers to be curious and have some sense of willingness to keep reading the story earnestly.

Just like any other YA stories, a touch of romance – even the slightest – is normal, to the point that it feels necessary to have it. However, I found the romance in this book a little bit uncomfortable for me. And unfortunately, I came up with this opinion of mine where I found the romance a bit unnecessary, as it did not feel pure and clean. I was not expecting it, but I was uncomfortable whenever the love was in the fictional air (that is, the story). That was a bit of a turn off for me. Nevertheless, I still loved the main couple in this book, but I just did not like how their love story turned out.

This book had amazing characters, as well! I loved Zafira, I thought she was positively brilliant in terms of showing to the world that women could be strong and independent, too. Nasir was about to be my new fictional boyfriend, as just like any other characters that I have been loving, he was imperfect. He made mistakes, he had his own sorrow, his own darkness. Yes, I loved him – I still do! However, I think my heart ran towards Altair the most, even though his identity was yet to be revealed. He might be a villain, and if he was, he would be my favourite villain. Yes, people, I loved him for being funny, for being that one guy who you would feel entirely comfortable with. Some other characters in this book were lovable as well!

To be brutally honest, the characters did not have great character developments. I simply thought that if the characters had major character improvements, they would be my ultimate favourite characters ever. Nevertheless, I appreciated them as amazing casts, and I would love to reunite with them again in the next book!

Hafsah’s writing style in this book was beautifully poetic. I had no difficulties to understand the story, as her writing style was moderate yet was not entirely simple at the same time. The dialogues in this book were fun and touchable – you could feel the melancholic scenes, the happy scenes. You could feel them. High points for the writing style!

Overall, the story was entirely satisfying, but there were still parts where I felt could actually have improvements, as to encourage the story to be better than how it has been thoroughly crafted. I definitely look forward to reading more books from Hafsah! Well done!

My final rating for this book is 4/5 stars. Highly recommend!