Week 10 Review: The Final Strife

From Goodreads:

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 slaves, 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 when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom—and their hearts.

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. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.

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.

My Review:
This was a fantastic read! I've really enjoyed her other series, and I've heard great things about this one, and now that this series has been fully published, I can basically read this as close together as my plans can manage, and I hope I do, because this was so great, and I need to read more!

I'd never read the synopsis, I've heard a verbal one from Becca at Becca and the Books, which is accurate. I had made assumptions though, that Embers hadn't noticed the switch, and that a lot of the blue-blooded children were being raised as Embers. Nope, they were found out, and they were almost all killed, besides Anoor, who was in the household of a Warden who didn't want to show weakness. So it was a different book then I'd imagined, but it was just as good a story! 

Sylah has been slowly deteriorating since she accidentally got her group of rebels killed, and lost her purpose. That she has a chance to reclaim it, but it ends up going awry, that wasn't great. But I loved her and Anoor, watching as Sylah trained Anoor, as their relationship developed.    

Oh, but the secrets and the lies about the history of the country! The atrocities that have been committed because of those secrets...it hurts. I mean, there was always something a little fishy about it, but the extent, and what the truth was? Oh, that hurt! 

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to continue on with this series! 

Author: Saara El-Arifi
Series: The Ending Fire Trilogy #1
Read: March 7th, 2025
Source:  Bought/Library
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded really good, and it's a DAC Book and a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2025 Book! 
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: June 23rd 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars