Review: The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley, however I opted to listen to the final production version of the audiobook.  All opinions expressed are my own.  The main narrator was excellent, and did a great job with the characters.  The secondary narrator, was a nice touch as it let the reader know that we were exiting the story proper and getting a history lesson or a journal entry that added to the story but was not taking place in the present.  

This is a solid debut from the author and I'm very much looking forward to where the next installment is going to take us.  The world building and plot were great, however I did find some flaws with this book.  The magic system and plot is really interesting and there is a fairly diverse cast.  My biggest issue was the length and pace.  The audiobook clocks in around 20 hours and the print book is over 600 pages.  The book is broken into 5 parts and the first 4 I found very slow with some parts being very repetitive.  We spend alot of time following the main characters doing the same thing (training, meeting with people to gather information, eating, etc) with the plot not advancing and no new information being divulged.  It isn't until part 5 that things really picked up as more information comes to light and things really started to come together.  The pace picks up so much it almost felt rushed.   

The main focus of the story is the overthrowing of the current caste system that is determined by the color of a person's blood.  Blood is heavily used in the magic system, and the current ruling body oppresses the lower class in horrid ways.  I was under the impression that this was YA, but it lends itself more toward adult or new adult when it comes to the violence and language.  I personally didn't mind, but as a parent I'd want to know.  There is violence, drug and alcohol use, and several intimate scenes though they are mostly closed door.  There are probably other triggers that I've forgotten to mention as well.

 

Our main character Sylah was raised to be part of a resistance that would overthrow the ruling class of red-blooded aristocracy.  She was positioned to enter the trials of strength and become the voice from within that would start a revolution and end the caste system currently in place.  When her entire family is brutally murdered, Sylah enters a deep depression and loses all hope and sight of the mission she was trained for.  Anoor on the other hand has been told she is useless, but despite her weaknesses in strength and combat, she is determined to win the trials.  Sylah ends up training Anoor in the combat elements in exchange for learning blood magic, something Sylah was unable to learn in her youth.  Their relationship starts off rough, but eventually grows into something much more.   There was a bit of a love triangle element to this that I could have done without.  I'm indifferent to the romance in the book, it was fine but it didn't add to the plot.  I didn't really feel the chemistry between any of characters, so I'd like to see more of that emotion develop on the page in book 2.

Despite my feeling that the book was a bit on the long side, I think the author has set things up for the next book to really develop the characters and explore the politics and magic at play.  The book leaves us with Anoor ready to turn the world on its side and Sylah on a mission to find answers to questions no one is allowed to ask.  I'm looking forward to finding out where things go next.  

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