Slow start, great ending

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weeziel Avatar

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This started off very slowly and I was "reading" it for about 2 weeks (only got to Ch 7) before I hunkered down with it. Once I got about 150 pages in, I was hooked, I was ready to get to the end. I finished it in 2 days after that!

I really liked the concept though some of the magical parts were confusing. I enjoyed all of the foreign words peppered in where you could surmise what they meant by the context but are they all Arabic or are some made up? I had a hard time finding out on Google but I didn't try very hard. I would have preferred the glossary and pronunciation guide to be in the book and not only on the WHTF website.

The dichotomy between Zafira and Nasir was quite vast. She assumes the identity of a man in order to hunt in the magical forest called the Arz, where no one else can enter without disappearing or going mad and he assumes the identity of a hashashin (assassin) and kills whoever his father, the Sultan, says needs to be killed, with no explanation required. Nasir is a bit scary in that respect!!

I enjoyed Altair VERY much and thank goodness for his jocularity or this book would've drowned in sorrow. He is the Kenji (Shatter Me-Tahereh Mafi) of this duet and that was so fun and funny!!

I love the cover and I immediately bought the sequel in hardcover, as opposed to waiting for the paperback release because it does NOT match the original hardcover and paperback. BOO!!