Very Slow Start

 The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

This started very slow. I like fantasy books and I don't mind elaborate world building and this was still SO SLOW. Like, I'm glad I read "Faebound" first because otherwise I would probably not trust this author to build a fantasy world and magic system. The payoff didn't come until the last 90 minutes of the audiobook. Hasa was my favorite character. Despite her young age, she was smart, focused, brave, and wise beyond her years. I liked the growth that Annor experienced throughout the book. That she started out with the outward appearance of being spoiled while also having been abused by her caregiver and was still so kind was special. Then, for her to see the pain and corruption around her and take it upon herself to educate herself so if and when she won the challenge to become the next disciple she was prepared to make changes was wonderful. Sylah was my least favorite character. Having a drug addict/recovering drug addict as a main character was an interesting choice. And while I didn't like that aspect of her, it wasn't my main reason for her being my least favorite of the three main characters; I put her at the end because despite the fact that she was training Annor, she never felt like she was in control of herself or her own decisions. She was always a pawn. Some of that had to do with her voluntarily drugging herself to deal with her pain, and therefore not knowing what was going on around her, but a lot of it was because she trusted the wrong people. She was desperate for family so when Johnd came back to life she just fell back in with him, despite the fact that she KNEW he was keeping secrets from her. And she let him. And the woman that raised her, the woman she called Mama, lied to her about who her real family was, and she just brushed it off. It wasn't until she was working with Annor and helping her with the challenges that she became a full, independent person. And even then, she was only doing that, initially, to help Johnd. When she decided to pretend to be Annor, so she could fight Johnd, so Annor could win the final challenge and become the disciple, that was great. Sylah and Annor's romance was whatever; it didn't really add to the story. The ending was strong enough that I am curious about what happens next, but just barely.