The Final Strife (The Final Strife Trilogy #1) by Saara El-Arifi - A Review

 

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi is a fantasy book and the first book in  The Final Strife Trilogy. The book will be published on June 23rd 2022.

Disclaimer: I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This is a beautiful book with a beautiful story and a very interesting world building and magic system. I really like that this debut novel is inspired by Ghanaian folklore and Arabian myths. It is unusual to see in books.

We follow the stories of Sylah, Anoor and Hassa and the connections between them. The book has the friends to lovers trope (F/F) and also the chosen one trope but a little bit different than usual. 

The beginning of the book was a little slow for e but then it picked up and I couldn't put it down. I loved the author's writing style and how she wrote her characters.  Also that plot twist towards the end was perfect and now I need to read book two.

Rating: 4 Stars

About the book:

In the first book of a visionary African and Arabian-inspired fantasy trilogy, three women band together against a cruel Empire that divides people by blood.

Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control. 

Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance. 

Clear is the blood of the servants, of the crushed, of the invisible.

Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the Empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes. 

Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the Empire. But dust always rises in a storm. 

Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. 

As the Empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina