Herndon, Jaime (2022-08-29). "SFF I'm Reading Right Now to Escape the Hellscape That is Our Timeline". BOOK RIOT . Retrieved 2022-12-12. Hassa added her rage to the burning coals that were always glowing white in her mind. Ghostings were the dregs of the empire because Embers made them that way. Even Dusters thought they were lesser. They were all wrong. They didn’t know the truth.

Set in an extremely hierarchical society, people are divided based on the color of their blood. Embers rule with their red blood and oppress everyone else. Dusters have blue blood and are low working class while Ghostings have translucent blood and have their hands and tongues removed as infants. But 20 years ago, a Duster rebellion stole Ember infants and replaced them with their own children. Now Sylah is grieving the family she lost when the resistance was decimated, addicted to drugs and fighting to survive. But things are about to change... As the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.Then we have Hassa, a Ghosting servant and friend of Sylah, who’s status renders her all but invisible to Embers. Hassa uses this to her advantage, gaining work in the heart of the Ember’s home, gathering information to help other Ghostings.

Tell them they are lesser. And they will feel lesser. Show them they are nothing. And they will be nothing. Take their identity. And they will be no one” This book delivers on all fronts, political dynamics, intrigue, twists, gurns and totally devastatingly emotional! Plus, romance and relationships that pull you in and turn you inside out! El-Arifi writes beautifully. I’m usually a big-time highlighter, but I went a little heavier than usual with The Final Strife. I’d like to share a few of my favorite quotations. Of course, be aware these are from an advanced, unfinished copy. Basically, I don’t need to write anything else on this topic because I pretty much already said it. It’s gonna be really hard to hide blood differences in a society, I don’t care how secretive you try to be. That’s that on that. The Final Strife, is an epic fantasy based around three POVs, Sylah a red-blooded Ember, stolen as a child by the fabled Sandstorm, to help bring down the empire. Anoor a blue-blooded Duster, replaced in the cradle to the stolen Ember, and Hassa, a clear blooded Ghosting, the dredges of the empire, hands, and tongue cut off at birth to keep them silent and weak.At least until the ninety percent mark when the reader discovers why shit hasn't been adding up the whole time. When we got this twist though it definitely felt like we were following the wrong character for this story. Yes, there were breadcrumbs along the way and I think that a reader could see this shit coming from a mile away because even my dumb ass was seeing that the math wasn't mathing. Some of that I definitely was intentional, and so I don't hold it against the book for telegraphing the twist for some way, I'm happy when books are like that and the revelation feels earned. Here though reading that made me want to just read that book and not so much the one I had been. Summer Titles That Will Make You Laugh, Cry Or Just Feel Something". HuffPost UK. 2022-08-01 . Retrieved 2022-12-12. there’s a tournament and wind of blue sand killing every person and thing in it’s path. there’s lies and secrets and hurt and comfort and bargaining and chosen ones and giant lizards. and, there’s the blood magic of the embers, haunting and gruesome and so integral to the world. Like, you can see blood under a human's skin! I can turn my hands over and see the red blood underneath the skin of my palms. There are white girl expys in this book with “cute pink cheeks” according to the narration. If they have pink cheeks, it stands to reason that their blood is... red. What else would be causing the pinkness of their cheeks? Is everybody in this society science deficient as well as iron deficient? This later gets ret-conned in the book by saying their blood changes once they come into their heritage. So, then, why are they not allowed to bleed before then? Then... their blood would be red like anybody else's.”