Sands of Arawiya by Hafsah Faizal is one of my all-time favourite duologies. In 2021, I reviewed the first book, We Hunt the Flame, but I never got round to writing my blog post about the second, We Free the Stars. To rectify that terrible situation, I have decided to combine both in a series review.

Attention:  I will be reviewing both books of the duology in this post, but everything apart from the first book will be hidden so that you will not see any spoilers (unless you want to, of course).

Book 1: We Hunt the Flame

We Hunt the Flame

At the beginning of the book, we meet Zafira, the Hunter. Living in a cursed world in which women are considered to be the source of all evil, she finds herself forced to dress up as a man to provide her village with food. But this is not without danger: not only can no one discover her true identity, every trip into the forest is also a flirtation with death. Thanks to her reputation as an excellent hunter, she’s selected to go on a quest to retrieve an artifact that will destroy the curse and bring magic back to the land. However, that plan does not take into account the hidden agenda of the Sultan. He sends his son Nasir, the Prince of Death, to find the artifact…and to kill the Hunter.

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

I think Zafira is a strong main character, but it was Nasir who stole my heart as of the start. The murderer with a soul, the man who constantly tries to balance on the thin line between good and evil. The chemistry that develops between both characters allows the reader to get lost in this magical but deadly world. The complexity caused by constantly negotiating duty and feelings is rendered in a very believable and vulnerable way. Because of this, the characters will stay with you long after you’ve finished the novel.

Zafira and Nasir are the two main narrators, but there’s another important character that we must not forget: Altair, the powerful general of the Sultan. If you’re anything like me, you must be thinking “a general, so that must be an old, serious character that will make sure the law is always obeyed”. However, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Altair is a young and spontaneous bon vivant who brings humour to the story and who has made me laugh out loud multiple times. He couldn’t be more different from the closed off Nasir and his carefree ways often add that little extra that the narrative needs at that precise time.

When I started reading the book, I needed some chapters to get used to the writing. The sentences are quite complex and the vocabulary is not that easy either. The author uses a lot of Arabic terminology that are only explained once (don’t panic, there’s a glossary and pronunciation guide available online). After a while, you completely get lost in the poetic rhythm of the story and the language, though. I’m always fond of anything that makes me think of 1001 nights, but this book was without a doubt one of my favourite ones published in 2019. Five out of five gemstones:

Book 2: We Free the Stars

Summary & Evaluation Attention: Spoilers (click here)

I loved this book as much as I did the first. I was frustrated due to the slow burn between Zafira and Nasir a few times, and I frequently wanted to slap Nasir into behaving a little less annoyingly, but nevertheless, I will continue to adore these characters forever. And Altair <3 isn't he just the best. This book is clearly darker than the first one, but the ending was very rewarding. The writing style took me a while to get back into due its complexity, similar to what I experienced when reading the first novel. At one point, I feared I wouldn't manage to get back into it, but I did, and loved it intensely. Unfortunately, I don't really see how the story could continue so I don't have high hopes for a next story, but a girl can dream. Another great tale: 5 gemstones out of 5.

Age Category: I usually see this duology described as a Young Adult, but due to the complex style, I would classify it as a New Adult myself

Representation:  PTSD

Trigger Warnings (click here, may contain spoilers)

Warnings for parental abuse, manipulation, and misogyny.

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the first book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.

Amazon.nl: Hardcover Edition

Amazon.nl: Paperback Edition

Amazon.nl: eBook Edition

There are several special edition sets of this duology available. First of all, there’s the Illumicrate one. This edition is absolutely stunning, with its exclusive cover, foiling on the hardback, and digitally sprayed edges. Moreover, it was signed by the author. The set was originally sold for about € 54, but you can expect to pay around € 150 on the second hand market. Note: Illumicrate also did a debut box for the first book, back when it was released in 2019. This box contained a normal edition, but it came with a signed bookplate, an author letter, a wooden bookmark, and an enamel pin. I would expect this book to cost around € 25 on the second hand market.

Next, there’s the Owlcrate edition of the first book (as far as I am aware, they did not do the second book yet. Please reach out if I’m mistaken!). This signed edition came with an author letter, enamel pin, and art print. This book goes for about € 25 – 40 on the second hand market.

Similar to this

Do you love fantasy stories about mysterious assassins with a soul? Then you should definitely check out the master pieces by  Robin Hobb. She has written multiple trilogies that are interconnected and that tell (directly or indirectly) the story of Fitz, a royal bastard trained as a spy and assassin. The first trilogy is called the Farseer Trilogy. Highly recommended! Normally, I’m not the biggest fan of  “epic” fantasy, but this series stole my heart as of the very start. I have to admit that I’ve always wanted to clip Fitz round the ears because of all his stupid decisions throughout the years, but luckily there’s his best friend, the Fool. He’s one of my favourite characters of all time.

Seeing that I love 1001 nights but do not have many similar stories in my collection, I’ve been on the lookout for recommendations to put on my TBR list. I’ve been told that the following two books definitely qualify.

The Wrath & The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh is a retelling of Scheherazade’s story. Every night, the Caliph marries a new bride and every morning, she’s killed. Shahrzad volunteers to become his next wife, determined to avenge her murdered friend and end his reign of terror. Sounds great if you ask me!

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty takes the reader to 18th century Cairo and tells the story of Nahri, a con-artist who does not believe in magic until she accidently summons a Djinn warrior. I’m curious to read this!

Did you already read one of these books? If so, what did you think about them?