‘We Hunt The Flame’ Book Review

“We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the good this world deserves.”

What a beautiful book.

A young adult fantasy at its best.

This story revolves around Nasir and Zafira, an assassin prince for his cruel father, the sultan and a gifted huntress who disguises herself as a man in order to hunt and feed her people. Their clear character arcs and the concise storyline showing an entrancing world are parts of what makes this book one of my favourites. These two characters, both with tragic backstories but rather different motivations have their paths converge on one deadly yet worthwhile quest for an ancient relic that will return magic to the lands.

Alongside immortal, wise characters like Benyamin and fierce warriors like Kifah, we explore more and more into their lives and motivations.

The alternating viewpoints from Nasir and Zafira are perfect; both have a sense of what is right, but Nasir has suffered brutal turmoil and does not know if he can do anything other than follow the sultan’s command. Zafira is often a little too trusting too early. Both must face their worst fears and fight the evil tormenting Arawiya to free their land from the clutches of the heinous.

The romance that begins to unfold between Nasir and Zafira would leave the reader at the edge of their seat and not only that, but the tension that elicits from these two ‘enemies’ and how their relationships shifts from friendship to something more occurs incredibly smoothly yet so slowly that the reader can do nothing but patiently wait for the much anticipated arrival of angry romantic confessions.

The books ends with a satisfying conclusion but with enough untied points to make the reader long to read the sequel straightaway.

Hafzah Faizal’s writing is breathtakingly gorgeous, prose which suits the ancient and regal ambience of the story, and the worldbuilding is vivid and creative, albeit confusing at times. It would have been a five-star book had the things been explained a little better, and the plot a bit more polished.

It takes a while for the plot to really get going, which is the main reason that held this back from being five-star worthy for me. It’s pretty sluggish and slow moving up until the halfway point or so.

But the great characters and writing kept me engaged!

I feel as if, although I’ve read many books, I’ve not found many worlds. This is one of the books which has given me one.

One of my favourite themes was the relationship between Altair and Nasir. At the beginning, I got the sense Altair was the closest thing Nasir had to a real friend, and all right both of them seemed to deny it to themselves, their mocking jokes towards each other and loyalty do seem to suggest they are.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone aged over thirteen who enjoys the fantasy genre with a great plot, shocking twists, angst, and slightly comedic moments.