A satisfying conclusion to an absolutely epic series, The Ending Fire managed to weave together all of the many plotlines that had been started in the previous two books in a way that made sense and was enjoyable. I was shocked to find myself very much buying in to the Jond redemption arc, and enjoyed seeing Hassa finally coming in to her own and thriving.

I am truly disappointed but I’m DNFing this book at 47%. It appears my experience is very different from the vast majority of readers so far but I could not get into this book.

This writing in this series has reverted for me. I thought book 1 was just okay and book 2 was vastly better in terms of character depth and storytelling. The ending fire has similar issues to me that book 1 did, but I’m left feeling more disappointed in it because I thought the author was growing as the series progressed.

All the story beats just seem to happen with little to no internal dialogue or conflict from the POV character of each chapter. Oh, Yona tells Anoor that we must sacrifice people in the name of a god she’s only known about for a month? Sure, that’s fine. She’ll struggle with it for one sentence and then move on. Sylah gets back to the empire and finds Anoor is gone driving her to grief and her old drug habit. No that only lasts one paragraph before she kicks it. Hassa finds her father and he actually loved her mother and has been searching for her his whole life? Yeah that reunion was so emotionless it was appalling.

I think I wrote before that in book 1 it felt like the characters were pieces on a chess board being moved to advance the plot but completely lacking any internal life. And that’s what it feels like again in the finale of this triology. To me the life has been so sucked out of these characters that I’m DNFing because I simply do not care what happens to them. Why should I care when the characters themselves don’t?

I hate to be so harsh because I waited a long time for this book and was so excited for the conclusion of this story. But clearly now that the book has published, I am in the minority with my opinion so take this review as you will.

Thank you to NetGalley and DelRey for a ARC of this boo to review.

I absolutely adore El-Arifi's storytelling style. From the very first book, I was sucked into this story. It's entirely gripping.

"The pages were full of Anoor's dreams for the empire. But her dreams had been waylaid, and so.had Anoor's."

This story is dark and bloody and angry.
Rightly so.

"The Zalaam wanted the Ending Fire. And I think we might be able to provide it."

Was I, the reader, waiting for a happily ever after? It wasn't ever that kind of SFF. But this is a powerful narrative that will linger for a long time.

"To win we must begin again."

***

"A koori bird should never be caged."
(I'm currently reading Maya Angelou, which makes these words seem even more striking.)

Saara El-Arifi does an amazing job at world-building. She has brought this world to life so well I felt like I was walking its streets, getting reading for the coming war.
The characters. I'm not sure how I'm feeling about them, People I previously loved I found annoying and didn't really care about how they were progressing in the story. I think I was missing that emotional connection.The only person who managed to make me love them even more than I did before is Hassa. From the moment we met her in the first book I was rooting for her in every way, and I only loved her more in each book.
I loved the recap at the beginning, The ending is quite action-packed, and I felt was a great conclusion to the story.

A roaring, incandescent ending for Saara’s trilogy - she has a lot of threads to weave together in this finale, and lots of challenges for pacing what with travel, resolution, confrontation and battle all crashing together. Somehow she manages to do this coherently and satisfyingly. The pacing is perhaps not quite as taut as the frantic beat of The Battle Drum, but I enjoyed the differing perspectives and storylines - from Anoor’s descent and potential for redemption and Jond’s self-discovery and blossoming romance, to Sylah’s growth - she’s still that headstrong woman we love, but her reflection and character development is really evident. And Hassa! I love Hassa. Saara’s characters are all so clearly defined that I would have enjoyed spending more time with them exploring them, and some of the aftershocks of the reveals, but the plot demands an ending - and here we are. What a journey!

It is always so bitter-sweet to come to a ending of a series. I have had such a good time following Sylah, Anor, Hassa, John and the Empire. The way book 2 ended had me dying for book 3 and it did not disappoint. I wanted to slap Anor for following her crazy grandmother and just believing what she said to be true. Sylah has been through so much and has grown as a character exponentially since we were first introduced to her. There was action and suspense and a lot of questions were brought full circle. I will say the middle dragged a little bit for me but I preferred it over blowing passed the new content. It allowed all the new characters and places to be fleshed out. I am in love with this authors writing and looking forward to reading her work in the future.

The Ending Fire was a satisfying conclusion. The first two books were top tier though, in my opinion. In the third book, I didn’t like all of the choices that were made. I felt that there was too much focus on the romances. Anoor’s journey/arc throughout the book was hard to watch. We also get a lot of Jond in this one. What I enjoyed most was that Hassa was the star in this book and will always be a fav for me!

I would recommend this series and I do plan on giving her Faebound series a chance.

The Ending Fire is the third and final book of The Ending Fire series. This series has become one of my all-time favorites. Saara El-Arifi has created a unique world and a really original magic system. The worldbuilding in this series is absolutely amazing and one of the most developed ones I've come across. I love all the storylines, but my favorite character is Hassa. I'm so glad she finds her happy ending. And let's not forget about Rascal. Overall, I love The Ending Fire trilogy and highly recommend it to every fantasy reader. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an exciting conclusion to an amazing series! It is not often that I know right from the jump I need to finish a series, but the Final Strife had me completely hooked. I was so glad to revisit the characters I had come to love in the first two books and to see the mysteries unraveled. Hassa's sorry in particular was a joy to follow.

The stakes in this series were so high, and the interconnected plot arcs completely paid off. I truly believe the care and attention paid to every element of this work is phenomenal! The lore and the world building are rich and intricate, the characters are flawed but so engaging, and the forward momentum of the plot is very motivating. It was a very rewarding read!

Thank you to Harper Voyager for the Netgalley advance copy

Fantastic finale! As always the characters are so robust and real. The expansion of the world brings new adventures and new possibilities. While the story still focuses on our favorites, some unlikely heroes come alive.

Anoor is caught in the wife’s web, Hassah is still the powerful ghost, and Sylah is looking for Anoor while finding her place in this mission.

I loved it as much as the first two and am sad to see this trilogy end.

Overall, I’m quite happy with how this trilogy wrapped up! I wasn’t completely sold on the direction the series went in The Battle Drum, but this book tied everything together beautifully, while still expanding the world. There were points the pacing felt to drag a bit and some of Anoor’s chapters infuriated me. These were pretty minor though and didn’t detract much from my overall enjoyment of this book. The series was tied up nicely and had just enough happy/sad endings.

A semi-satisfying ending to a creative trilogy. I'm not too thrilled with Sylah's and Anoor's fates. Nor am I a fan of the return of the addiction issue. My love for Hassa and Jond overcome the deficiencies though.

3.5 stars rounded up - I have a lot of thoughts, both those I am currently thinking and those I want to ponder longer. Strong chance my opinion of this book changes over time or with a reread to be more positive.

This book brings us right back to the end of Book 2 and gets going real quickly. There is a lot going on, so if you don't remember book 2 I highly recommend a reread. Part of my negative feelings about this book is that I was confused, and I don't know if that's because I didn't pay enough attention, either in my book 2 reread or this read, or if it's just written a bit confusingly.

Book 3 struggles a bit because the POVs are in such separate stories now. Sometimes I would forget who a side character was, and once a side character went from one POV to another, I realized I forgot how they were interconnected. There is a lot going on in this world and this chunky series, so I do think that rereading this will give me further appreciation for the details of the story. There were some things that I struggled with that I felt were hand-waivy, but there's also the chance that I just forgot some of the complexities of this story.

Without spoiling, I struggled with Anoor's POV. Many people struggled with her naivite in the first book, and I didn't. I found her character to be an interesting perspective. In this book, however, I couldn't understand her behavior (even with the 'twist' we all saw coming). I wanted a further explanation than what we got. I also struggled with the magic. We go from very little bloodwork usage in the first two books to a LOT, and I was slightly confused about the details. What's the difference between bloodwork and deathwork, again? Again, this is something I feel I might learn to appreciate once I read the series again and really internalize some of the details of the world.

This all being said, I still loved this read. I really loved the characters, and I was sad to see them go. Hassa is so badass, and I wish I knew her in real life.

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Saara El-Arifi does it again!

What a stunning conclusion to an incredible trilogy! It’s not often that a reader can genuinely say that each book in a trilogy is a hit, but The Ending Fire trilogy has done it!

After the thrilling events of The Battle Drum, The Ending Fire picks up with the story. Side note: extra props to the author for including a recap of previous events that seamlessly fits into the world of the book.

The various side character POVs help flesh out and deepen the reader’s connection to the story, versus watching one or two main characters and only seeing events from their perspective.

Saara absolutely packed out this book with action, character development, and an engaging plot. I’m sad that it’s over, but so, so happy to have experienced this book.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing the ARC.

After weeks and months of simmering tension, war is breaking out across the land. The Wardens face a rebellion within their capital city, but what neither side realizes is that a much deadlier force is preparing to march on them. The Zalaam have found their Child of Fire, and with their arrival, are ready to launch an assault to wipe their enemies from the map. It will take an alliance of nations to stand against the Zalaam and their god-forged creations - but even that might not be enough.

THE ENDING FIRE takes a while to rev up, but when the final battle arrives, it's a heart-pounding conclusion. This is one of those books where I'm going to recommend you have a fairly solid grasp of the factions and characters going into the finale, because I certainly struggled to lift the fog from my memory during the early pages of the book. There are a plethora of factions and types of magic at this stage of the game, and they are all crashing together in this finale. The first third of the book is an absolute whirlwind tour around the map, checking in at various locations; my struggles to remember who was who definitely hampered my ability to connect with characters, making the early parts of the book a bit slower for me.

I found Anoor's storyline the most compelling, as she struggles to find meaning and purpose in her new situation (to say more would be more spoilers than I care to share). Suffice to say, I empathized with her situation, as she is thrown into an unfamiliar land and wants to believe that those who surround her truly want the best for her and for the world. It's not easy to watch, but given the specific circumstances Anoor is in, I can buy the justification machine that she turns on in her head to give a pass to things that make her uneasy.

Hassa also has a good arc, finally hitting the point where she is no longer content to pretend to be a meek servant, but ready to stand up in open defiance of the world. She is the true heart of the story, trying to lift her people out of oppression without losing sight of the fact that they have to have a moral code at the center, or they risk becoming just as bad as their oppressors.

What really made me struggle with THE ENDING FIRE, however, were the various romantic relationships. There was a lot of eleventh hour drama that felt manufactured and drawn out; when characters did finally get together, there were incredibly rushed scenes of spice that were over in a page. It made the culmination of the relationship feel perfunctory, a check box marked instead of a beautiful union. I don't mind spice in the slightest, but I honestly think in this case that a fade-to-black would have been the better move here. It ironically would have made the beat feel longer and more heartfelt by leaving it to the reader to fill in what happened, rather than throwing a few paragraphs on the page and calling it a day.

On the bright side, however, I do think the final battle itself is well done. After limiting the POV to our three main characters (Sylah, Hassa, and Anoor), the story opens up and jumps around to multiple side characters, letting us see pivotal moments across the battlefield, full of both heartbreak and joyous success. It's hard to put those final chapters down as multiple factions wage war for the fate of the world.

THE ENDING FIRE had a lot to wrangle in this final book, and it definitely shows. There's a lot of rush to get pieces into place, an effort that can make the story feel both rushed and meandering at the same time. That perhaps isn't surprising given the expansiveness of the world-building, but it does make this last installment feel a bit uneven. There are definitely moments when the book shines, but it's not as well-executed a landing as I hoped.

Note: I was provided a free ARC by the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.

As a long-awaited conclusion to a fantastic fantasy series, this book could not come soon enough. That being said, I ended up having mixed feelings about The Ending Fire.

I loved, loved, loved The Final Strife and The Battle Drum. Naturally, there are so many reasons to also love the final installment. El-Arifi was not slacking with her beautiful writing style, and the characters, settings, and motivations are fully fleshed out. She did a good job with the character arcs--mostly. Jond receives a well-deserved comeback, Hassa remains a badass, and Anoor crashes and burns while letting herself be sucked into a human-sacrificing cult. However, Sylah gets put on the backburner. I expected to see more from Sylah, but instead her only purpose in this book is making (or actually just supervising) a bloodwerk eru that doesn't even end up serving its purpose. A disappointing showing for Sylah's arc. Another sticking point for me was the ending, which felt rushed and a little too easily wrapped up. Overall, there was nothing significant to complain about, but it felt like The Ending Fire was missing the spark of the first two books.

To console myself about the end of a very excellent series (overall), I'll just go back and reread the first two books ad infinitum.

3.5/5 stars

El-Arifi proved her skill through her beautiful writing and incredible, thoughtful world-building with complicated characters…. ugh this trilogy!!! 10/10 no notes

Thought the last book was just ok. It was missing some of the emotional distraught/weight I expected given the events of the last book. I enjoyed the last part of the book the most. The author switched up the POVs and it made for a much more enjoyable and layered read. Plus I loved the chapter through Rascal’s POV.

The battle part itself felt a bit rushed. Overall I liked the trilogy but was expected more of the last book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

The Ending Fire marks the final chapter in Saara El-Arifi’s visionary trilogy, where the mythology of Africa and Arabia weaves together to create a rich, incredibly complex fantasy world. I adored this trilogy and I will always read anything the author writes in the future. The world-building is vast, the world feels lived-in and imperfect, and the characters are complex. This is one of the most fascinating and imaginative settings in modern fantasy. El-Arifi is able to play readers like a fiddle and I felt every single emotion. I adored these characters and I was shocked at how my perceptions changed over time. Even secondary characters feel incredibly fleshed out and real. I loved watching the rebellion attempt to gain allies and the preparation for war had so much mounting tension.

The final battle scenes are brutal and I loved how El-Arifi gave us multiple POVs from side characters. It adds depth to the story, showing us the many small and often overlooked moments that make up the chaos and harsh nature of war. These perspectives pulled me in and made the battle feel more real and grounded—like we weren’t just watching heroes at the forefront but seeing the raw humanity behind the fight for freedom. And it broke my heart so many times.

That said, the emotional pacing, especially toward the end, left me wanting more. Anoor’s arc was heart-wrenching, almost physically painful to experience, but it felt like her journey was cut short. Her healing needed more time to be explored, and the ending left her in a place that didn’t fully feel fair to the complexity of her character. With how much she went through, I wanted more for her. A fourth book could have given her—and the readers—the time to properly process that pain and healing.

On the flip side, Jond’s POV and romance arc were handled with care. I loved how his character developed across the series, and seeing his romantic relationship evolve felt like a well-earned reward amid all the tragedy.

While the conclusion brings with it the inevitable war and rebellion, something feels like it’s missing—and I think that missing piece is time. This story needed more room to breathe, and a fourth book would have given the characters, especially Anoor, the space they deserved to heal and grow. While the world and the characters were incredibly rich, the ending didn’t quite hit as hard as it could have if the pacing had allowed for more development. This is one of those series that will stay with me for a long time, and despite the very rushed ending, the overall journey was incredible.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey for the opportunity to read and review. This review is based on a complimentary pre-released copy and it is voluntary. All opinions are my own. I had a great time buddy reading with @geengeenreads and @readingintandem on Storygram!

What a stunning conclusion to the Ending Fire Trilogy!! Sara El-Arifi is so good at balancing twists and turns with atmospheric, simmering writing so that the story feels completely immersive and the characters are all relatable.