“The Final Strife (The Ending Fire Trilogy No. 1)” by Saara El-Arifi
The Empire rules 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.
The Aktibar – a set of trials held every ten years to find the next Ember rulers of the Empire – is about to begin.
All can join but not just anyone can win; it requires great skill and ingenuity to become the future wardens of Strength, Knowledge, Truth and Duty.
Sylah was destined to win the trials and be crowned Warden of Strength. Stolen by blue-blooded rebels she was raised with a Duster’s heart; forged as a weapon to bring down from within the red-blooded Embers’ regime of cruelty. But when her adopted family were brutally murdered those dreams of a better future turned to dust.
However, the flame of hope may yet be rekindled because Sylah wasn’t made to sparkle, she was born to burn.
Review
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were really interesting and I enjoyed getting to know them. The word building was great – I really liked how everything started to come together as the story progressed and the characters learned more. There were a lot of twists and turns in this book and not everything was as it seemed. I liked the way the different relationships grew and developed during the course of the book. Though it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger it does set up the threads of the next book, which I’m looking forward to reading soon.
Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “The Final Strife”.
Book Details
- Author’s Website
- Saara El-Arifi
- Publisher / Date
- HarperVoyager, June 2022
- Genre
- Fantasy
- Page Count
- 478 pages
- Completion Date
- March 30, 2025