We Free the Stars

The battle on Sharr is over. The dark forest has fallen. Despite the fact that Altair is in captivity, Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are heading toward Sultan's Keep with the intention of completing the plan he started: putting the Sisters of Old's hearts back in each caliphate's minaret and restoring magic to all of Arawiya. The plot reveals how the darkness overthrows the kingdom, about the magic that is in Nasir's blood and how he handles it, as well as about Zafira's struggle with the Jawarat—a darkness that hums with voices and pushes her to the edge of sanity—which she fears unleashing. As the darkness closes in on them much faster, Nasir and Zafira feel themselves falling over one another and can't bear to lose. However, time is running out to achieve their ends, and if order is to be restored, drastic sacrifices will have to be made. I definitely enjoyed this book more than the first one, with lots of magic and mysterious twists and turns. I must admit that the author's linguistic writing was impeccable. The pace was moderate at the first half and at the end it was quite fast. I loved the character development and the growing relationship between Nasir and Zafira. They were absolutely adorable, and the slow burn romance was amazing. There were several interesting side characters but Altair was my favourite, with his strong and hilarious personality. I think there were a lot of elements within it that could have been executed better or just weren't necessary. Overall, it was a great read.