I really wanted to like this

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2.5 stars**
I want to preface this review by saying that I really wanted to enjoy this book and I was sure that it was going to be a four or five star read.

We follow Zafira, the Hunter, as she is sent on a task to retrieve the Jawarat, a lost artifact that will restore magic to her world. We also follow Nasir, the crown prince and assassin, as he is sent to take the Jawarat from Zafira and kill her.

There were many parts of this where I couldn't bring myself to care. If I hadn't been sent this for a review I probably wouldn't have finished it. The characters didn't feel extremely compelling to me and the plot twists didn't even affect me. There wasn't that pull or need to keep reading with this book.

There were many parts of this book that felt extremely disconnected. The descriptions of clothing or buildings was gorgeous and detailed and everything that I wanted. However, there were many descriptions in the book that were the exact opposite. The Arz is described as being immense and almost endless, yet when Zafira crossed it she could still see the faces of her friends from the other side. She crossed the Baransea extremely quickly too. I know that there was probably magic involved which is why that part of the journey was so fast, however it just felt like it negated the parts of the book that said that this journey would be long and dangerous. The descriptions of the government system is minimal, even though it's fairly complex. You are left to piece everything together on your own. There were also several parts of the story in which a character entered the scene, and then seemingly left the scene so quickly I had to reread it to make sure that the character had actually been there.

The only things that I truly liked about this book was the tension between Zafira and Nasir, and the side characters. Even though I enjoyed the tension between Zafira and Nasir, it still felt like there wasn't a cause between them. And the shift in feelings between them gave me whiplash.