We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Genres: Fantasy, YA, Romance
Pages: 472
Cover: Paperback
Age rating: 12+
Buy on: Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Noble
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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. - Goodreads
​​​Characters and Plot
The first half of the book was really entertaining, the world, the Arabic culture of the setting hook me. I love the concept of a woman disguising herself as a man to overcome the patriarchy, so I was really drawn into Zafira's story. Nasir's story was also interesting, even though it is quite a common trope for the MMC to be this dark, broken guy with daddy issues and love to brood.
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When I learn the characters were going on a quest, I was excited about it, as quests in fantasy are one of my favorite aspects. The world-building involved in the quest was great to read about. I love reading about the Lost Sisters and the Lion of the Night.
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However, I start to find myself getting annoyed when the romance starts to kick in. Now, don't get me wrong, I love romance subplots in fantasy when they are done well. In this case, it wasn't done well. It was so obvious that even though they tried to "hate each other", it was instant attraction, how they couldn't get their eyes off each other, which was mentioned hundreds of times, and barely had any conversations. I am sick of books being marketed as enemies-to-lovers when these two are so obviously attracted to each other from the start, and the author forces this tension without any substance.
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Authors need to understand that to write a well-earned romance, they need to build a relationship first without relying on attraction; the romance will come with the relationship. Have Zafira and Nasir get to know each other first, and after spending time with each other, they start to find themselves staring and be attracted to, that is how you write an organic, well-built romance.
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The plot was interesting enough, the found family was great, and one of the incidents that happened at the end did make me a bit emotional. Now, the plot twist at the end was... unexpected, I had to admit, it did get me.
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