Welcome to Litsy!

This is a really remarkable book especially since it is YA. The world building is wonderfully done, and I really enjoyed a Middle Eastern inspired fantasy, the vibes were gorgeous. That being said I would not recommend for anyone new to fantasy this is high, dense, fantasy with characters I had a bit of a time keeping straight.
I really enjoyed this and will read the second in the series which I rarely do!

Though it's not about Harry Potter (just needed a way to post this 😅), I'm currently developing a new book tracking app, BookBee.me, and I'm eager to get feedback and suggestions from fellow book lovers.

I'd really appreciate it if you could share your ideas and what features you'd love to see in an app like this.

Feel free to reach out and tell me your suggestions!

#NewYearNewBooks
#bookspin

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https://bookbee.me

It‘s been a minute since I read this, but I want to say the Arz caught my attention. If this book is about identity with the Arz as backdrop, is that an amplification or a thematic/symbolic threat? I‘ve read a couple of books about this earthen takeover or like storms that consume & leave nothing. So, I guess I‘m just thinking about storms in storytelling.

Ending the #20in4 at chapter 6 of The Empress of Time and chapter 54 of We Hunt the Flame, a re-read to jog my memory to the Sands of Arawiya duology.

Thank you @Andrew65 for hosting!

3/5 ⭐️

A very interesting book. It is a rare cultural perspective (Middle East inspired) & overall the story is intriguing & characters loveable. But I will say the book used MANY terms, in what I assume is Arabic, but did not often provide a translation & was entirely without a guide. I was lost often. It is also one of the slowest moving books I have ever read. Every action is documented & every backstory explored. (Continued in comments...)

Love, Love, Love...Refreshing...
What I don't like? The heroine, Zafira. Not someone I will root. I prefer Nasir. I've been rooting for him from the moment he was introduced.

Another MUST read. If you‘re a fan of Sabaa Tahir‘s book series “An Ember in the Ashes,” then you‘ll thoroughly enjoy this book - book one of the duology. The narrative writing style can take some getting used to at points but it‘s well worth the read.

My most recent bookhaul. I do have The 1st book in the Holly Black series already.

Just finished annotating one of my favourite books for my best friend.
I love everything about this book. It‘s a novel that needs to be a classic someday

The vibes. The language. The characters. Love!

This was a solid start to the series although it was a little slow in parts. The writing is beautifully done and I love the characters.

This one is going really slowly. While I don‘t dislike it, the events and characters surrounding one MC are so similar to The Hunger Games that it is distracting. There is also the very obvious likeness to Shadow and Bone. It‘s not so much that the book is unoriginal, it‘s just so similar in some ways to others that that is all I can focus on. Anyone else read this one?

This book was epic, beautiful, and everything I could want in a book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My pick for March really great read 🤗📖… sorry didn‘t realize I was lagging on posting this

One of my Kindle reads I fell into this book and could not put it down … it was free on Kindle unlimited but now I need the second book 😖 and I‘ll have to get it Friday

There were so many different things I loved about this book. It did seem to have a lot of elements from other books mixed within it, so it didn't feel original. I was mostly reminded of Shadow and Bone and Throne of Glass, but there are other stories as well. I personally liked this book, maybe because I also like the stories it is similar to.
The characters are probably the best part about this book. They all had their own unique personality.

Not a new favorite but I definitely enjoyed reading it. It's a good debut!

"All right' is when you're bleeding black but it's not as bad as bleeding red. When the world crashes but you're not alone when it does. When the darkness is absolute but you hunt down the smallest flame and coax it brighter. When you carve the good out of every bad and claim it a victory. If Sharr has taught me anything, it's that every breath is a victory."

"We're so quick to dismiss the sentiment as weak, but hearts ???? for love, don't they? A life without purpose may be no life, but a life without love is nothing but an existence."

"Indeed. There is a grand difference between love and a lover. I would say the latter is much more pleasurable. A pity you crave the former."
"Love is for children." ?? ????? ?? ??? ????, ?? ??? ???? ???? ???? ??? ???? ????.

He was a mess of scars like the sky was a mess of stars. From the one stretched down his face, to the craters on his back, to the ink on his arm. For that was what scars were, weren't they? A remembrance of moments dark.

I'm really liking this book.

"But in this moment, we are two souls, marooned beneath the moon, hungry and alone, adrift in the current of what we do not understand. We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the ???? this world deserves.
"Together, we will raise dunes from the earth and rain death from the sky. Together, we are capable of anything."

"We are all flesh and blood, soul and heart. Capable of malevolence, just as much as benevolence. One wrong does not make evil."

Zafira breathed the darkness.

She 𝘸𝘢𝘴 the darkness.

𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘢, 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.

"And when we find the Jawarat?" she asked.

Not if, ????. There was nothing more respectable and dangerous than a woman of confidence.

There once was a boy with a future.

Until all he had left was his past.

For you, a thousand times. A thousand leagues and a thousand sands. For you, a thousand times I would defy the sun.

Heh. 😏

I was just looking for fan art but ended up spoiling it. Sigh.

". . . but if you can find it in your heart to embrace what you are, the world will be better for it."

My happy place.

#mapsinbooks

"He won't hate me, but he will twist my very existence. Do you think seeing a woman won't make them rethink my every accomplishment? I'm no different than the scores of other girls frowned upon. Look at how they point fingers at the Six Sisters. Look at our women. They listen to this drivel that we are incapable, that we are to blame for every wrong, that we must lose all freedom when we marry---"

He didn't live. He existed. And no one understood the difference between the two until they ceased to live.

For in a caliphate where a woman's actions were always in danger of being turned against her, there was nothing easy about pretending to be a man.

⭐️⭐️⭐️There were some aspects I really loved in this book, but I didn‘t love the book as a whole.
The Middle Eastern setting was amazing - the clothes, culture, language, etc. I loved.There were some moments that I got confused, & the romance aspect felt a bit forced. And for a book focused on a quest, there was a long time before the characters got to any actual journeying. Overall it‘s an interesting story, & I do plan to read the second book.

“People lived because she killed.”

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

This was a reread for me last year to prepare for the sequel but I just love this fantasy and I'm sure it'll be reread many times over.

#12Booksof2021 #February #2ndBookof2021
@Andrew65

This book had so many themes for other book. Just to name a couple: throne of glass & shadow and bone. Even stuff from assasins creed that it lost its originality. I found myself mocking the character with how predictable and stupid they were being.

🎧 I liked the MC Zaphir!! SPUNKY!

The chapter‘s narrators switched back & forth. I LOVE Steve West‘s voice!!

Sadly there‘s a couple of YA Tropes I dislike. A lot. So the rating took over a 2 star hit but West‘s narration won an extra star!

I‘m glad I listened!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

3/5 for this one! I enjoyed this book. There was some slowness and I got a little confused in the middle. I want to know what happens next. Zaphira was a great character. I loved her.

This book was amazing and I‘m obsessed! I love it soo much and cannot believe the amount of times that I freaked out while reading. The plot twists are *chefs kiss* and of course, the enemies to lovers is immaculate. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“We will raise dunes from the earth and rain death from the sky.”

A gain for every loss.

“'All right' is when you're bleeding black but it's not as bad as bleeding red. When the world crashes but you're not alone when it does. When the darkness is absolute but you hunt down the smallest flame and coax it brighter. When you carve the good out of every bad and claim it a victory.”
She released his arm, but he didn't move. “If Sharr has taught me anything, it‘s that every breath is a victory.”

“A life without purpose may be no life, but a life without love is nothing but an existence.”