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Layla's Reviews > We Free the Stars
We Free the Stars (Sands of Arawiya, #2)
by
by
~ 1.5 stars ~
The fact that the word "Laa" was repeated about 84 times is enough reason to dislike this book alone.
I thought that the first book was okay for the most part. Like it was a solid 3 stars, which I just judged on potential, but A LOT annoyed me. This book unfortunately annoyed me even more.
Not only was there an unfathomable amount of repetition, but the sense of humor was absolutely painful. It was very immature if you ask me. There were constant sexual jokes and innuendo, and it wasn't funny, whity, or refreshing. It was annoying. This is a YA book, and regardless of that fact, even if it were an adult book, having that much of something becomes tiresome. It's lazy and effortless humor and the constancy made me so disconnected from the book. And besides, the only people who would laugh at those jokes over and over and over and over again, are middle school boys, therefore, it is invalid in my eyes.
The characters all felt like wasted potential. No real character development. The angsty became more angsty and the annoying became more annoying. The ending also felt unsatisfactory. Very anticlimactic. A lot of subplots were not dealt with well and what was promised or heavily hinted at, was not gone through with and left unresolved. And there were worthless deaths, which is a no for me.
The romance made me miserable. Genuinely. There was no actual bonding and relationship development between Nasir and Zafira. The foundation of their relationship is non-existent. Just a lot of miscommunication, weird tension that doesn't even feel romantic, just uncomfortable, and also a few make out seshes sprinkled in to legitimize that they are in fact in love even though they barely know each other. Their whole relationship was cringe to be honest.
It also seemed to be hinting at a possible future romance between one of the characters, and the character who AcCiDeNtALlY murdered their brother… Anyways… I didn't like that. The whole subplot of that one person being murdered in the first book and how that was dealt with was super weird to begin with anyways, so why was it all complicated even further?
Overall I did not like this book. I was bored and irritated and I am still confused about how the crown Prince and rightful Sultan can only be worth 1000 breads. I'm still open to reading more of this author's works, and despite having a not so great experience with duology, I am still willing to give Faizal another try.
The fact that the word "Laa" was repeated about 84 times is enough reason to dislike this book alone.
I thought that the first book was okay for the most part. Like it was a solid 3 stars, which I just judged on potential, but A LOT annoyed me. This book unfortunately annoyed me even more.
Not only was there an unfathomable amount of repetition, but the sense of humor was absolutely painful. It was very immature if you ask me. There were constant sexual jokes and innuendo, and it wasn't funny, whity, or refreshing. It was annoying. This is a YA book, and regardless of that fact, even if it were an adult book, having that much of something becomes tiresome. It's lazy and effortless humor and the constancy made me so disconnected from the book. And besides, the only people who would laugh at those jokes over and over and over and over again, are middle school boys, therefore, it is invalid in my eyes.
The characters all felt like wasted potential. No real character development. The angsty became more angsty and the annoying became more annoying. The ending also felt unsatisfactory. Very anticlimactic. A lot of subplots were not dealt with well and what was promised or heavily hinted at, was not gone through with and left unresolved. And there were worthless deaths, which is a no for me.
The romance made me miserable. Genuinely. There was no actual bonding and relationship development between Nasir and Zafira. The foundation of their relationship is non-existent. Just a lot of miscommunication, weird tension that doesn't even feel romantic, just uncomfortable, and also a few make out seshes sprinkled in to legitimize that they are in fact in love even though they barely know each other. Their whole relationship was cringe to be honest.
It also seemed to be hinting at a possible future romance between one of the characters, and the character who AcCiDeNtALlY murdered their brother… Anyways… I didn't like that. The whole subplot of that one person being murdered in the first book and how that was dealt with was super weird to begin with anyways, so why was it all complicated even further?
Overall I did not like this book. I was bored and irritated and I am still confused about how the crown Prince and rightful Sultan can only be worth 1000 breads. I'm still open to reading more of this author's works, and despite having a not so great experience with duology, I am still willing to give Faizal another try.
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Reading Progress
May 3, 2021
– Shelved as:
to-read
May 3, 2021
– Shelved
June 15, 2021
–
Started Reading
June 15, 2021
–
23.0%
"thoughts:
• Much stronger start than the first book.
• I'd love more Kifah content, please and thank you.
• Zafira and Nasir need to sit down talk it out bcuz I'm getting tired of the same neverending cycle.
• These characters really love saying the word khara. My only response: kol khara. Which is a very nice and dignified statement which means "you are amazing". Don't look it up. Just take my word for it."
• Much stronger start than the first book.
• I'd love more Kifah content, please and thank you.
• Zafira and Nasir need to sit down talk it out bcuz I'm getting tired of the same neverending cycle.
• These characters really love saying the word khara. My only response: kol khara. Which is a very nice and dignified statement which means "you are amazing". Don't look it up. Just take my word for it."
"
June 19, 2021
–
57.0%
June 21, 2021
–
59.0%
"The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me. The repetition is killing me."
June 22, 2021
–
75.0%
"There is too much sexual innuendo and jokes than normal for a YA book. Why is every other thing the charming or comedic relief character says a sex joke? This is the only book with jokes that are such have annoyed me. And I realized it's because of how constant it is, to the point of immaturity. That's middle school boy humor right there. I bet they also smell nauseatingly like axe spray."
June 23, 2021
–
80.0%
"“What? They didn’t get his nose right!” Altair exclaimed.
Flynn Rider has been summoned.
Also, Nasir's bounty is ONLY 1000 dinars?? He's not worth much. 1 flatbread is literally 1 dinar in this world. I did the math:
"
Flynn Rider has been summoned.
Also, Nasir's bounty is ONLY 1000 dinars?? He's not worth much. 1 flatbread is literally 1 dinar in this world. I did the math:
"
June 24, 2021
–
Finished Reading
July 11, 2021
– Shelved as:
1-star
January 19, 2023
– Shelved as:
fantasy
Comments Showing 1-34 of 34 (34 new)
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Laa! Too bad you didn't like it.
Elena wrote: "Laa! Too bad you didn't like it."Yeah, it's unfortunate :(
Love ur review....looks like I ain't never reading this series
Kaz Brekker and the Darkling's Wife wrote: "Love ur review....looks like I ain't never reading this series"Thank you so much! :)
_+*Midnight*+_ wrote: "i didnt really like it either"Glad I'm not the only one!
I’m now scared to read this 👀Great review!
Bhavya wrote: "I’m now scared to read this 👀Great review!"
Ah, I'm sorry for scaring you lol. But I know a lot of people did like this series, so I do hope you enjoy it!
Thank you so much! <3
Yikes! Sorry you had such a bad experience with this! The sexual innuendos and the underdeveloped romance must have been especially painful to read!
nihitha wrote: "Yikes! Sorry you had such a bad experience with this! The sexual innuendos and the underdeveloped romance must have been especially painful to read!"Ah, it is what it is I suppose. But yes, it certainly was hard to get through because I expected so much more in this book, but it ended up being lackluster and tiresome unfortunately. :(
wait but why were you worried about the word "laa"? if it had been written in its english meaning "no" would it have bothered you? sorry u had a bad experience with the book tho :(((
kashvi wrote: "wait but why were you worried about the word "laa"? if it had been written in its english meaning "no" would it have bothered you? sorry u had a bad experience with the book tho :((("Yes, it would have annoyed me regardless because repetition is repetition. Repetition to that extent in books is something that sticks out to me and I dislike. I wasn't bothered or "worried" about the word, whatever that means, Arabic is literally my mother tongue, so that word in itself is not foreign to me. I just noticed how often it was used, and since I was reading the ebook, I could just search up the word to see how many times it was used. Plus the way it was incorporated was in the exact same way and format practically everytime, which was definitely tiresome.
And yes, sadly I didn't have the best experience with this book, but I'm glad to see that you did! :)
Layla wrote: "kashvi wrote: "wait but why were you worried about the word "laa"? if it had been written in its english meaning "no" would it have bothered you? sorry u had a bad experience with the book tho :(((..."I found the use of the word us of the word "Laa" quite nice. Like something along the lines of "laa, Nasir was worried". I loved it, I get why you wouldn't. But I really loved that word.
Layla wrote: "kashvi wrote: "wait but why were you worried about the word "laa"? if it had been written in its english meaning "no" would it have bothered you? sorry u had a bad experience with the book tho :(((..."OOOOOHHH ok sorry I was confused cuz I saw other people saying it too so I was like "i mean i didnt really notice it but now that i see it, it kinda bothers me" 🥲🥲
and thanks I really did enjoy the book<3
also random info that might be irrelevant: but the author is writing a new book and that seems much better that whtf if you wanna check it out. (the characters overall seem to have better personalities)
Elena wrote: "Layla wrote: "kashvi wrote: "wait but why were you worried about the word "laa"? if it had been written in its english meaning "no" would it have bothered you? sorry u had a bad experience with the..."The word Laa wasn't the only word that I noticed was repeated one too many times, though it was the most repeated I believe and the one that stuck out to me a lot.
Lol, that's the format I was speaking of. Or it would be like "Nasir seemed to be on edge, laa, he was worried". something along the lines of that format. But I'm really happy to hear that you liked the use of it Elena! :)
kashvi wrote: "Layla wrote: "kashvi wrote: "wait but why were you worried about the word "laa"? if it had been written in its english meaning "no" would it have bothered you? sorry u had a bad experience with the..."I definitely understand what you mean! Sometimes we don't realize something until someone points it out, it's happened to me plenty of times.
Yes, I did see that and I added it to my TBR! I am looking forward to seeing how Faizsal has improved from this duology. Because I did see a lot of potential and I'm not going to rule her out right away simply because I didn't like this one book. I'm always willing to have an open mind when it comes to giving a certain author another go.
Great review! I was intrigued in reading this duology because it has a lot of hype but now reading your review I don't think it interests me anymore *le sigh*
Ananya♡ wrote: "Great review! I was intrigued in reading this duology because it has a lot of hype but now reading your review I don't think it interests me anymore *le sigh*"Thank you very much Ananya! Ah, much apologies for making you loose interest, I do hope that if you read it, that you do enjoy it, but I do very much think that a lot of the hype is mispalced (in my opinion).
Glad to read I wasn't the only one. I am struggling to finish the last few chapters right now and really was disappointed cause I felt like I should have liked this book but I kinda hate it.How cringey was it when one of the characters husband is dying in front of her and Altair notices at the same time how brilliant her hair color was?
Aisha wrote: "Glad to read I wasn't the only one. I am struggling to finish the last few chapters right now and really was disappointed cause I felt like I should have liked this book but I kinda hate it.How cr..."
Same here! I really do wish I could have liked it, but I simply could not. And YESSSSS I hated that part so much. Like that was not the time for a comment like that. I don't know why this book intended to hint at something between those two characters, it felt so odd and inopportune.
Same to all this. That book was exhausting in a very bad way
Narda wrote: "Same to all this. That book was exhausting in a very bad way"Definitely. But I'm sorry to hear this disappointed you too!
laa, it's witty*** not whity, no wonder you couldn't read it, it's probably above your reading level. if youre going to insult a book and scare people off of reading it, at least make it sound like you actually read the book. :)
When I was reading I was constantly thinking this book is so bad, annoying and boring.. the characters are so dim-witted.. I couldn’t understand how come it became such a popular book. I think so this book is the prime example how a book with exotic setting, diversity ( which didn’t add anything to the book just was there) and pc becomes overhyped. Just because a mediocre book ticks all the boxes that doesn’t make it more than mediocre. Thank you for your insights
Erika wrote: "When I was reading I was constantly thinking this book is so bad, annoying and boring.. the characters are so dim-witted.. I couldn’t understand how come it became such a popular book. I think so t..."Yeah, absolutely. While diversity is something I really appreciate in a book, that doesn't make up for it's shortcomings. This book lacked in more ways than one, and it's hard to overlook any of them.
Thank you very much for writing this review. I unfortunately really hated the first book, and have no desire to continue. You mentioned everything I found annoying in the first book. It’s good to see I am not alone about disliking this one. I did not see the romance between Zafira and Nasir developing at all!
Salma19 (High Lady of the Dawn Court) wrote: "Thank you very much for writing this review. I unfortunately really hated the first book, and have no desire to continue. You mentioned everything I found annoying in the first book. It’s good to s..."Of course! I just read your review, and I agree with everything you said. Arabic is also my mother tongue and the way it was used in this duology was so frustrating and pretty inaccurate. And yeah, the romance had no development, it sucked. If you hated book one, you'll despise book 2 even more.
I've never agreed more, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who didn't like it
The way Deen's death was dealt with was so bad please
I read your review on the first book and you mentioned everything I was thinking about. I still didn’t start this book and your review convinced me not to!!
This review makes me feel so much better because I have considered finishing this book to be a challenge and the characters immature and annoying.
totally agree on everything. its was a painful book to read and i couldn’t wait to ended. Tried so hard not to DNF it.
"
Omg, great, now there are even more لا. 😭😂