It has magic, mythology, unlikely love, sacrifice and empowerment.

People lived because she killed. People died because he lived.

Nobody knows that Zafira is the Hunter. Forced to disguise herself as a man, she braves the cursed forest to feed her people. If she is exposed as a girl, all of her achievements will be rejected.

Nasir is the infamous Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If he refuses he will be punished in the most brutal of ways.

Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya – but neither wants to be. And when Zafira embarks on a quest to restore magic to her suffering world, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve magic 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 . . .

Set in a richly detailed world inspired by ancient Arabia, Hafsah Faizal’s We Hunt the Flame – first in the Sands of Arawiya duology – is a breathtaking debut about discovery, conquering fear, and taking identity into your own hands.

Oh this book. I adored it.
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The world building was wonderful, as such it took a little bit of time to get into. When I had my head around the location/dialect etc it was a breeze and quickly swept me away.
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Zafira is our main lead in this story, living in a caliphate where deeds of women often go unnoticed. In this world where magic has vanished, a strange forest called the Arz sweeps ever closer to their home. Everyone who ventured into the Arz either come back mad or don’t come back at all, except for our main girl Zafira.
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With this gift of passing unharmed into the Arz, Zafira dons the mask of the ‘hunter’ and hunts to feed the people of her village.
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This story also runs alongside another, Prince Nasir’s. Nasir is also an assassin who does his fathers bidding, he’s sent after the ‘Hunter’ to kill him. He’s a troubled man who has embraced the darkness and yearns for his fathers approval.
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Our two characters meet through the machinations of ‘the silver witch’ a woman who has somehow kept her powers despite magic fleeing the land. They are tasked with finding a book which is the key to bringing back magic to the whole word.
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From there they must battle the horrors of the Sharr, overcome their own demons and find camaraderie with unlikely companions.
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This story, while a little similar to the likes of the Daevabad trilogy and Rebel of the Sands, it holds it own. It has magic, mythology, unlikely love, sacrifice and empowerment.
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Overall it really is a breathtaking world to read and be a part of. Hafsah has nailed this book and brought characters that seemed unredeemable at the start but over time, discover that while there’s darkness, it doesn’t exist without the light.