" We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the good this world deserves"
BLURB:
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 sultan. 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 Zafira and Nasir 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 sultan 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.
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~ BOOK REVIEW
You will enjoy this if you like:
~Fantasy
~Ancient cultures (particularly Arabian)
~Slow burn romance.
~ Quests / Adventure / Journey
TO NOTE: Book one of series, minor cliffhanger (nothing to make waiting for book 2 too hard)
WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5
CHARACTERS: 4.5/5
PLOT: 5 /5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 5/5
OVERALL RATING: 19/20
This was a ride! It felt everything was happening all at once, we were getting plot twists, new characters being introduced and action galore! This is when I really started getting it fast. In my opinion once our disparate band of reluctant comrades had formed, the story then evolved rapidly and really started to become interesting.
Though it was ok following Zafira and Nasir separately, (and all the other characters for that matter)I found myself impatiently waiting for all the characters to meet. I wasn't disappointed, I feel the interactions between them and the group as a whole is when they became more likeable and relatable and vastly more interesting.
The writing style was a bit slow in some places where the description of certain scenes were not fully explained and as such it was confusing as to what had happened or how a certain character had gone from scene A to Scene B. But I think the internal monologues and thought processes were beautifully done and I enjoyed being inside the head of Nasir the most. I think though Altair, the Sultan's General was a great character, in the end Nasir won me over with his stoic, tortured soul. Zafira was a very interesting character.
The plot itself once it picked up speed, kept me interested, though Im good at solving plot twists, the author has managed to weave in a few that actually left me shocked and I enjoyed that a lot.
Overall I really enjoyed the type of magic that's talked about in this book and look forward to finding out more about it in book two and all the implications of it that (I hope) will be explored in future books. I also enjoyed the slow burn (still on going) romance, which was a nice surprise. There are also some secondary characters that I feel will have more prominence in the second book. There are also a few conflicts brewing that I want to see play out and I am excited to see where the story takes the gang.
VERDICT: I Would recommend this book
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Favourite quotes:
" There was nothing more respectable and dangerous than a woman of confidence"
"If you want me obedient, Prince, kill me and carry my corpse"
" We are two souls, marooned beneath the moon, hungry and alone, adrift in the current of what we do not understand"
"Be as victorious as the name I have given you, and bring the desert to its knees."