We Hunt the Flame

This book was just so….so odd? I really really wanted to like it, and to a certain extent, I found it interesting, but interesting is ocean’s away from something being likeable. In the book We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal, this rings especially true, for a number of incomprehensible reasons. 

    First. Let’s switch things up by starting with the positives. I loved the cultural aspects of this book. Whether imaginary or nuanced and based off Faizal’s own cultural background and experiences it was rich and powerful in relation to culture, cuisine, tradition, and most especially language. It was so fascinating to read about this separate world that came across as so fantastical and yet so real at the same time because of Faizal’s very intricate work with all the above.

It made the story poignant and gave it depth that is quite rare to find in YA novels, nay any novel I’d say, and it was deeply appreciated. Whether it was small details with clothing, references to delicacies, or more in depth thoughts on religion and morals, I drank it up like someone dying of thirst. 

    But other reasons for dying, namely, the obtrusive and conspicuous negatives. Let’s break it down into one simple summation: THIS BOOK WAS CONFUSING. 

    Now. Just for the record, and I’ve previously mentioned this before on other book reviews, but I am currently an English teacher. I teach young minds the art of reading and writing for a living. In addition, I read voraciously in my spare time, write and produce my own products, have a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in Educational Studies. 

    I would like to think that I’m not a stupid person. 

    This book made me feel like a stupid person. 

It goes without saying that this is a feeling I don’t particularly enjoy. Now I’ve mentioned this before, but many authors employ the technique of say, don’t show, where they tell me all about their characters and their characterizations but don’t show me any of it and why. Faizal does the exact opposite. 

    She shows so much and without any explaining that it is impossible to fully grasp what is happening or why or even how. More than half of the duration while reading this book I was just simply flabbergasted. And there is a difference between a book of fantasy and a book utilizing fantastical techniques. This book was neither the former nor the latter. It was just all over the place. It didn’t make any sense. 

And Faizal made very little attempt to rectify this or explain to the reader what the hell was happening. For example. Why is there a giant, magical deathly forest called The Arz? Who knows? Why does it take the little cohort of assassins and immortal elven equivalents and the huntress weeks to find the Jarawat and merely seemingly an hour to get off?

Why was Zafira sleeping and then suddenly in some sort of dreamscape pseudo reality from the past? Why would the Lion of the Night just have some sort of fortress on Sharr and once escaped, they just nilly willy found a place to rest for the night? Like that would be fine? Like he woudln’t seek them out and torture them immediately?

Confused yet? Good. Now, you know what it is like to read We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal. If that’s not a feeling you enjoy...well then. I don’t blame you seeing as I didn’t either. 

This book was not entirely bad, as listed above, but it was too difficult to decipher half of the time which put a bad taste in my mouth. I am quite the fan of complex storylines and intricate character relationships and puzzling puzzles. This book is not any of those things.

It’s like Faizal has the personal We Hunt the Flame for Dummies while the rest of us squander in confusion. It’s like whole chunks of the narrative were left out unintentionally, and while it might have made sense to the writer it did not make sense to me. 

The characters as a whole were alright. I liked Altair, which made the end just plain baffling, how on earth do you just forget about him????!!!! And the romance between Zafira and the Prince of Death was typical YA absurdity but without the typical charm-oh? This young man with scar burns on his back has killed multiple people, perhaps hundreds, but he’s got pretty gray eyes so it’s all fine and dandy, right?

Wrong. 

Whew. I’m exhausted. Also another feeling I had while reading this novel. Overall, if you did not catch on by this point, this book was not very good. While there were good elements, the weight of confusion and poorly-written fantasy made this a too-real headache no one has time for. 

Recommendation: Don’t read it? If you’re looking for culture and fantasy interwoven beautifully together then I would look elsewhere. Perhaps at my other book review Darius the Great is Not Okay. This book’s goal of trying to be edgy and deep just came off as bewildering and ridiculous and while there were positives (isn’t there always) it did not outweigh the time and effort put forth trying to understand the so-called layers this book put forth. 

Score: 4/10