Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This was an action packed sequel with so many areas of note. Hassa is still my favorite character and without her there would be no revolution coming for the Ghostings. I love Hassan’s strength and how she sees everything. Sylah and Jond had some crazy adventures in this book and Jond has had his redemption in this book. I really enjoy that Sylah is so jaded and she just goes to work to make things happen and she is a strong character who won’t let anything knock her down again. I am fearful for Anoor’s future as it felt like she was really being manipulated in this book and she has so much potential to be a force of change in this world. This was a great sequel and a new character was introduced who is really going to make some crazy stuff go down in the next book. I cannot wait for the next book in this series! I hope Hassa gets a happy ending because after the ending of this book she really needs it.

**Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

This was a fantastic sequel the final strife! The characters are wonderful and full of life. Even though the pacing was a bit slow compared to the first book, I found myself still sucked into the vibrate story. The revelations about the world and magic system along with the history and lore with other characters had me at the edge of my seat.

If you're wanting to immerse youself in a story I highly recommend this series! I cant wait for book 3!

I have hand sold this title many times and will always recommend Saara El-Arifi to customers looking for queer/sapphic fantasy. I’m intensely excited for El-Arifi’s next release (Faebound).

Just like with The Final Strife, it took me forever to get into this one. But once I was in, I was in, and it was hard to put down. (Though I couldn’t tell you how much ACTUALLY happened. . .)

Once again narrated by Sylah, Anoor, and Hassa, here we also meet a fourth woman, Nayeli, and finally get Jond’s perspective. Does five perspectives sound like a lot? It is. It does work, it’s just a lot to juggle, considering our narrators rarely cross one another’s paths. Five narrators also means five different viewpoints on very similar things, and information does get repeated. Nayeli’s perspective opens up the world to crazy extremes, but its extreme detail doesn’t seem necessary until all the puzzle pieces fall into place at the very end of the novel.

Additionally, not much actually happens considering the not insignificant page count (560 in print form!), but the book is so full juggling all these people that the plot falters slightly. It’s a slow start, with an incredibly big build, definitely setting up for things to come. I have a feeling it will all come together beautifully in the trilogy’s final installment, but The Battle Drum most definitely feels like a second book, connecting dots more so than standing on its own.

All that being said, it’s worth the patience. Saara El-Arifi is a master at planning things out and I’m highly anticipating the fall out of everything I just read. It’s emotional, and heart wrenching, and beautifully hopeful all at the same time – remarkable in the face of some truly horrendous (and graphic, be warned) plot points. If you enjoyed the first book, I think you’ll feel the same way I do: worth the while, still VERY good, but a bit of a step back as an overall experience. We just have to cross our fingers and hope the pay off is as large as we’re led to believe.

Content warning: human sacrifice, drug withdrawal, colonization, kidnapping, blood, gore, violence, death, murder, torture, trauma, oppression.

Omg
Omg
Omgggg

Favorite book of 2023
Although anor can be mad annoying. Sylah this rough did whatever she could for her again. I found jond less annoying after sylah was sick and in and out of consciousness.
We learn the world isn’t as small within the first book. Battle drum expands on that and other blood colors. What I wasn’t expecting. The people dying. Omggg. I cried. Anor is trying to save her ass and someone else dies later on. I cried like Baby. I have a feeling 3rd book. Hassa is going to burn everything to the ground. #TeamHassa

A pretty solid sequel.

The book does suffer from a long and slow middle, and that affected the overall reading experience. It does manage to pick up eventually, and it ends strongly enough that I am looking forward to book 3.

This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2023, and it did not disappoint. The Battle Drum is a solid continuation of the story set up in The Final Strife. I loved the new world-building details, and seeing how all our narrative perspectives started to come together towards the end. I did not re-read The Final Strife before picking up this book, and I felt like there was enough re-introduction of significant characters and events from the first book to make sure all readers were on the same page for the events in The Battle Drum. My main critique is that Anoor's character felt a bit too immature, naive, and idealistic for her circumstances- I know she is supposed to have these traits to a point, but in this book it really stood out to me. I do wonder if this was intentional, in order for the ending to have a greater impact, and to set her character up for a more drastic arc in the next book.
Either way, I'm having a great time with this series and I eagerly look forward for the next installment.

Thank you to the Publisher for the arc!


what a fantastic sequel! i fell in love with the final strife when i first read it and couldn't put the sequel down.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- this story was perfect. a sequel to the first book, the final strife, that had its own voice and structure. i cannot wait for the third book.

Amazing second book with lot of new info and some really heart wrenching scences. I like the raiin city aspect and teh fact that there are more blood colors then we thought. The part with the blood plasma was gross and eeery. Also the two types of blood werks one with the stylus and the ball was uniuqe. eager for book three.

No second book slump here! This is an action-packed sequel full of twists. Perfect for fans of political, multi-POV fantasy.

It was wonderful to come back to this fascinating world where blood is used for magic and comes in many colors that determine your place in the world. Anoor, with her blue blood, isn't supposed to be in power, but is due to many twists of fate. She's doing her best to enact change but that comes to a halt when she's falsely accused of murder and given a short amount of time to clear her name.

Sylah, Anoor's lover, is sadly far away searching for answers and Hassa is discovering new depths to the empire's evil. A secret cult is gaining power and they might just be on the brink of war.

The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi is epic! This is book two in The Ending Fire trilogy and it boasts well-developed characters and sequencing that is perfection. You'll love the imagery, world-building, and storytelling. I'm waiting for book three with bated breath!

I received a review copy of this book from the author/publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I did not think I would be pulled into this world even more than The Final Strife but I stand corrected. It was nice to see Anoor grown into her own and Sylah finding herself more. Hassa, she's my favorite. I cannot wait for the next installment in this series.

This is the Book Two of The Ending Fire Trilogy. I am halfway through and I adored the first book. This world is so unique with such an interesting society structure built on blood color and the past history has been lost and just creating a new truth for the blood colors creating a caste system that doesn’t represent the truth only oppresses major populations. The abuse and beliefs and sacrifices are hard to witness as they struggle to survive. Anoor and Sylah are so fierce and fighting for a new future and answers. Just love this world. Love the vibrant colors and patterns of these covers as well!

Thank you randomhouse for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

I loved this book. It was a great follow up to the first book and really continues to build on the story and the world building that we saw in book 1.

While I am still not a fan of the main relationship (it seemed so rushed to me in book 1 & in book 2 seems to make no sense because of my feelings about book 1) - I overall like the character development- both good and bad - found in this book.

There were many moments I asked myself if someone was really making the dumb decision they were making and that to me is a sign of great writing!

Highly recommend.

I can honestly say I enjoyed this more than The Final Strife. The writing has improved, I found myself more engaged in the plot, and wow, that ending!
But overall, the series suffers from two insufferable main characters, questionable pacing and lackluster action. I'm hoping that with the improvement in this book, book 3 will hit it out of the park.
5G UC ll 99%
Should you read it? If course I'd the premise sounds good to you. Should you buy it? Idk, maybe get it from the library.
Thanks @netgalley for the ARC! And shoutout to @itsbookswhitme for buddy reading (kinda) with me.

I really wasn't expecting to love this as much as I did but here we are! It was so angsty and I really thrive on reading through all that pain and tension lol

Our poor Sylah and Anoor really go through it in this book and with them be separated so much, I felt bereft! But I know their reunion will be that much sweeter when we finally get there. This book was full of reveals but Saara wrote it in such a way that only certain characters knew the answers to things while others didn't and you desperately wanted those other characters to know the answers too, it was highly frustrating but at the same time really good too lol. I felt the pacing was spot on, I didn't want to put it down one bit even though it's quite chunky at 560 pages.

Overall really solid second book in this trilogy, I am dying for book three!

Thank you to Netgalley and RandomHouse Publishing Del Ray and Ballentine for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Battle Drum is the amazing sequel to The Final Strife. The author did a fantastic job with this second novel to keep the character building, would building, and the story line flowing. This book kept my attention just as much as the first one. It was interesting to see more development of the characters and to be pulled deeper into there world. The action scenes were well written. I would recommend reading this book.

An excellent continuation to the series! Really enjoyed the expansion of the world building as well as the character development that the characters all went through on their different journeys. Can't wait for the next installment in the series. I would recommend this to any epic fantasy lovers.

The first novel in this series topped many most anticipated book lists last year, and after reading it I understood why. This sequel is just as compelling and doesn’t venture anywhere close to second book syndrome territory. It’s a long one at six hundred pages, but don’t let that number intimidate you. It doesn’t read like a book that length. World-building continues to be exceptional and expands even more.

Of the three leads, Hassa remains my favorite. Most people underestimate her since she’s supposedly a servant, but there’s little that goes on without her knowledge. I liked seeing her interact more time with Anoor this time. Being accused of murder and with a limited amount of time to find the real killer, Anoor has a lot on her plate. She’s remains somewhat naive and trusts too easily – qualities that may lead her in the wrong direction. I still have a love/hate relationship with Sylah. She’s morally gray, which I enjoy, but is also selfish at times, and I had issues with her. But her storyline is no less compelling, and I’m eager to see where it leads her in the next book.

A myriad of plot twists with several hints along the way kept me guessing as I tried to connect the dots, especially the identity of the new POV. I also appreciated the poem at the beginning that summarized the first novel and refreshed my memory.

With epic world-building, well-crafted character arcs, and whiplash-worthy plot twists, this is a series fantasy fans shouldn’t miss.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.