“She was not born to sparkle. She was born to burn.”

Rating: 5 stars
Release date: 23/05/2022
Publisher: Harper Voyager UK
Author: Saara El-Arifi
CW: Blood, death, poverty, torture, addiction, drug abuse, violence, emotional abuse
Rep: Queernorm society, F/F romance, non-binary/transgender SCs
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.
And it’s up to her whether she rules the empire or destroys it.
The Final Strife is an epic fantasy, full of rich world building and intricate characters. I fell in love from the first page (I’ve been in an ebook slump for a while, so the fact that I didn’t want to put it down from the start was a bonus).
I loved the world in this. The hierarchy is based on blood, when two of the main characters are trying to hide theirs. This allowed a plot in which the characters had to challenge preconceived beliefs, so they could grow and want to change the rules.
There was so much queer rep. I want to say there was X, Y and X, but it’s a queernorm society, so there are no labels. Instead, people just exist. In a world where character are already judged for the colour of their blood, it was refreshing to have characters just love who they wanted to. I did particularly like the F/F romance in this though, how the characters had time to develop their feelings, but also how this relationship was contrasted with another.
Although there was a romance in this, just as important were the friendships. It also really explored family – what’s made, what’s given, and what’s forced.
For a book with such a high-stakes plot, the characters were super important. There were three women at the heart of this and I loved each of them. They showed strength in their own ways and taught each other too. I liked that there were women who were smart with swords, smart with politics and smart with rebellion.
I really liked the Trials in this and how they ran alongside a rebellion. The book was exciting. I liked that the Trials tested different parts of the characters and allowed us to learn more about the world too.
The end of this presented us with some new twists, so I’m excited to see how they’ll be resolved and revisited in the sequels.
