This is mental illness omg (complimentary)
Just as I predicted, everything that was built up in The Battle Drum peaked here. It’s hard to say much without spoiling the previous book but I gotta say that this is a satisfying conclusion to this epic trilogy. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time, the alternating POV built the tension perfectly. There are some intense parts as well as touching moments and playful humors.

As a trilogy, I think it’s best to read The Battle Drum & The Ending Fire back to back to get a better comprehension of the story. I for one struggled to recall my memory of TBD at the beginning of this book because I’ve forgotten a lot of details and names.

The Ending Fire is a breathtaking conclusion to Saara El-Arifi’s The Ending Fire Trilogy, delivering a powerful blend of myth, magic, and revolution. The narrative intricately weaves together the fates of Sylah, Hassa, Jond, and Anoor, each grappling with their roles in a world on the brink of transformation. El-Arifi's prose is both poetic and visceral, capturing the emotional depth of her characters' journeys. The book explores themes of identity, loyalty, and the cost of change, challenging readers to reflect on the complexities of rebellion and the sacrifices it entails. The series as a whole is celebrated for its rich world-building and compelling character development.

Ending an epic series is hard but Saara did a good job balancing making the installment exciting and wrapping up all characters plots in a satisfying way. So glad to see Hassa my beloved featured on the cover and to have had this trilogy in my life.

I read this book slowly to savor it. I do not know that I have ever found this thorough of a depiction of disability in a fantasy novel. Saara El-Arifi is a master of her craft— these characters and their stories will stay with me for a long time. I wanted a little bit more out of the ending, but, for how much I relished the rest of the series, I can let it go.

Amazing!!!!

What a spectacular conclusion to the characters and world us readers came to love so much.

Also the final battle scenes were a million out of ten! HOLY MOLY!

Rating: Really Enjoyed It, 4 stars

Overall, I had a fantastic time with this series, and I am so glad I read it!

The Ending Fire wraps up the stories of Sylah, Anoor, Hassa, and Jond. I think that this is such a cool world, and I loved how much of it we got to see. I think that overall the ending was a pretty solid one.

The characters we follow throughout this series are flawed characters, so they make some really bad choices. While it could be frustrating at times to read, I did very much appreciate that there are realistic consequences for those choices.

I think that the author did a fantastic job building the connections and interpersonal dynamics between several of the characters, and ultimately I loved the story itself. I loved the world and the characters, and I am so glad that I read this series. It is an excellent version of the rebellion, standing up to the oppression type of fantasy novel.

And honestly, the representation in this is incredible. I absolutely loved seeing a bilateral upper limb amputee as a main character. It was glorious. I can count on one hand the number of characters I have ever come across in SFF with that specific disability, and the other 2 are side characters. I thought that representation was handled thoughtfully and with care.

One of the most satisfying, well-executed conclusions to a series I've read in a LONG time!


***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book to review.***

What an exciting ride this series has been! It comes with a nail biter of an ending - don't expect everyone to survive in this rebellion.

Sylah, Anoor, and Hassa are the driving forces of this story, and each experiences life-changing events in this final novel. Of the three, Hassa's story resonated more with me, and I've always felt like she was the heart of the story. She suffered an incredible loss in the previous novel, but this one brings her an unexpected and very welcome surprise. She deserves every bit of happiness. Anoor surprised me with how easily she allows her belief system to be altered. I expected her to be unwavering, but her confusion makes for an interesting plot development. Sylah spends much of the story in a sort of haze as she grieved Anoor's absence. War is imminent, her friends and so many others are in danger, but she can't see beyond Anoor.

Near the end during the battle, I appreciated that the inclusion of brief chapters from supporting characters' POVs. Even Jond's cat had a say (as they always should), which was very heartwarming. It gave a broader perspective of events as they occurred rather than being limited to the primary characters' viewpoints. The ending is powerful and perfect but came sooner than I'd expected due to the extensive character list included in the final pages.

Recommended for readers who enjoy exceptionally strong character arcs, intricate world-building, and political and religious machinations.

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

This one was unfortunately a disappointment. I struggled to want to pick it up and ultimately forced myself to finish. I loved both The Final Strife and The Battle Drum, so it was entirely surprising that my response to this book was so different. All the characters did not feel like the characters we met in the previous two books. They are also mostly separated with the loss of some of the interactions I had loved. Sylah, in particular, fully lost her brash, fierceness. In addition, it felt like really happened outside of build up for the final events of the book that didn't really move the plot forward in any meaningful ways. Ultimately, this final installment moved this series from one I loved to one I will not be picking up again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

This was a really satisfying ending to the series! I loved seeing the growth of all of the characters and watching how they all reacted to the different realizations and traumas. Sylah was by far my favorite characters, I liked seeing her grow and realize that the whole was bigger than her love and desires.

Anoor really bothered me this book. I KNOW shes supposed to be innocent and not know about the world but come on! Your LOVE was on this drug for years and you didnt realize you were being drugged? I guess thats the power of a cult, but like damn. That really really bothered me.

Overall I was kind of disappointed with the final battle as well. Having read a lot of fantasy, I was expecting a bit more... oomph I guess? It was done in a really interesting way, and I liked having all of the different points of view, but it took A WHILE

Jond also really grew on me! I enjoyed his chapters a lot and liked his relationship and his growth. Overall a satisfying finale to a book series I loved!

3.25

I have some mixed feelings about the conclusion to this series. I thought that The Final Strife was a really solid debut and I loved the way The Battle Drum opened up the world, but I'm not sure El-Arifi stuck the landing with this one. I think I mostly struggled because of the pacing. The first half of this book felt a little meandering as they set up for the "last battle" and while I appreciated structurally how that battle was written, I think some of the key moments felt a little anti-climatic and glossed over.

While this wasn't my favorite ending, I do think the trilogy as a whole is solid and would recommend it. I like the way El-Arifi tackles big themes like climate change and settler colonialism while creating a world and magic that feels fresh and exciting.

This book was a good conclusion to a series I very much enjoyed. It had a lot more fighting and battle scenes than the other books, but that's kind of to be expected in the third and final book of a series. I love the characters and the world building, and while I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about the end of the book, this was a good read.

The Final Strife was my favorite book the year it came out, and then I really liked the sequel but not quite as much. The pattern is still true with this one, it was my least favorite in the trilogy but it was still pretty good. I felt like the first half ish of the book had nothing happen, and then the ending was too fast, so I wish that the pacing had been a bit more balanced. But overall I feel good about this as a finale!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

god, where do i even begin with this one. this trilogy had quickly become one of my favorite fantasies after a strong start with the final strife. and it held on with the battle drum. i was so nervous for how el-arifi was going to finish this series, since this with where we left off, this easily could have a make or break moment.

and i truly think she managed to pull it off so well. the levels of stress i had for these characters were amplified immensely going into this final book and even up to the accumulation of the final battle. at this point i really can’t say much regarding the plot without giving anything away. but what i can say is that she handled these storylines, these characters so well.

i feel like, with the way the events ended off we’re left with a sense of closure for what’s happened but i fully believe (and hope) that el-arifi has plans to go back to this world later, many years down the line. once things have settled down from the battle and the societies have been rebuilt. and i would love to see a sequel series covers that, whether with these same characters or following new stories. i really personally want to see more from this world. so i’m keeping my finger’s crossed.

as for the epilogue, i have thoughts that i want to scream into the void so so badly. anyways, if i say more i’m going to spoil this whole trilogy. so i’ll leave by saying, please go read this series!! it is an incredible world with a unique construction of blood magic at it’s core.

Shut up shut up shut up. This was an impeccable conclusion to one of my favorite trilogies that I have ever read. I wish I could go back and read the entire series for the first time all over again. El-Arifi proves to me time and time again that her writing is beautifully crafted and builds the most fantastic worlds. I will immediately buy anything she writes. As with almost all books I do feel the end seemed rushed and could have benefited from just a bit more or even lengthened into 4 books

THIS ENDING!!!! Miss El-Arifi is now an auto buy author. I am so sad this series is ending. I have been on this journey with these characters for so long and i did not want it to end. The first book of this series is still my favorite but this was a great ending.

The most disappointing series conclusion I’ve ever read (and dare I say most disappointing book I’ve EVER read?). Considering when I finished Atlas Complex and thought there’s NO WAY my heart couldn’t be shattered AGAIN in the worst way possible, this… well… it’s happened again just months later for a series I would’ve ridden at dawn for.

Full of blinding obvious plot holes, huge inconsistencies, and ridiculously easily wrapped up scenes, I can’t even imagine WHYYY HOWWW this turned out the way that it did.

If you’re coming into read this book cause you heard it was sapphic and Queernorm, note that the majority of the book is a cis hetero romance with SO MUCH cis hetero spice. And let me tell you SEA does not write good spice.

The sapphic couple who knew each other for 3 months in the previous books pretty much spent 90% of this book apart and when they reunited I could only think “go girl give us nothing.”

Honestly, the only thing this book gave me was the ending of my fire for SEA.

This was an absolutely epic conclusion to a trilogy that I just cannot get over. I will be thinking about this book and the ending till the end of time. First of all the cover of this book is absolutely stunning. There is no one else who could've raised the cover of this trilogy and had it make any kind of sense. The content within the novel was the same stellar writing and pacing as the first two books. I loved all of the representation we got with these novels and the ending was in my opinion absolutely perfect. I cannot wait to read this author's next book.

What an outstanding conclusion to this trilogy. I don't think I've read such rich fantasy series in a hot second that impacted me the way this series did, and how all the threads wrapped up together. You can tell ms el-arifi had a #plan. and she was gonna get us there.

I really enjoy the lead of hassa I’ve been waiting for her moment and the author nailed it. The world building continues even in the third book. The level of betrayal happening was so engaging, but.Anor she is the most annoying character. And I just do not understand why she continues to not grow and have brain cells to make common sense decisions and to be taken advantage of like that, so frustrating.