We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read if you Like: forbidden forest vibes, ragtag group of adventurers, brooding main characters

Reading goal: 2/100 (hey, it's better than one)

We Hunt the Flame follows Zafira, a young woman who disguises herself as a hunter and braves a forbidden forest to provide for her people, and Nasir, the son of a Sultan deemed the Prince of Death for his work as an assassin. As war brews in their kingdom, Zafira embarks on a quest to find a lost artifact that will restore an ancient magic that could save her people. On orders from the Sultan, Nasir is sent on a journey to find the artifact and bring the hunter back dead. The two begin as bitter enemies and must become reluctant allies as they find the magic is such more powerful and sinister than they could have imagined.

We Hunt the Flame is, in a word, magical. Not really like a fun kind of magical, more of a dark, compelling kind. The far more interesting kind. In the Sharr, Hafsah Faizal creates a setting that acts as a character. The island her adventurers find themselves on has a mind and an agenda of its own, and it works against them at every turn, magic lurking in each creature and every grain of sand, which makes their journey so much more fascinating.

Faizal gives the same depth to her characters. Zafira and Nasir are two sides of the same coin-- both powerful beyond their own knowledge, both stubborn and guarded, both doing what they must to survive. But they are also both vulnerable and, honestly, awkward in a way that sometimes powerful protagonists don't get to be. The supporting characters, particularly Altair and Kifah, are entertaining, quick and witty, but also have their own struggles and stories that I would read whole books on. Faizal allows her characters to be people, well rounded, and flawed, and interesting. You root for them.

At times, the pacing felt slow and the writing introspective in a way that could take you out of the action of the story. Since the plot is centered around finding a lost magical artifact, a lot of the story involved them walking around the island. I, for one, am not one for exhausting hikes, nor do I particularly like to read about them, and there were times the journey dragged a bit. The pace picked up considerably in the last hundred pages or so, and the dark, twisty ending had me on the edge of my seat, gasping audibly and scaring my cats a few times. Overall Faizal created a compelling world that takes its inspiration from ancient Arabia, and filled it with characters that shine. Authors like her make magic.