Look, I liked this book at the beginning. Fazira, being the Huntress. Her being the only capable to enter the Arz and get out in one piece. The caliphates, the disappearance of magic, the six sisters, the safin, etc The worldbuilding and the plot had it all! Except that the characters and the writing style ruined it all...

If I got a coin for every time the author mentions how Nasir is a poor, tragically suffering prince that doesn't want to kill, but is forced by his father to do it, and that he is a monster, I'd be rich by now. 
Also what's the deal with Nasir hating Altair's guts yet spilling every beans whenever the other asks a question? Also does he really hate him or does he secretly love him?

Otherwise what's the point of making him despise Altair then slipping a "a laugh that Nasir loved" or something along these lines????

 

Now let's move on to Fazira. Not that she is worse than Nasir, rather, the events surrounding are quite ridiculous, save for her parents' story which was tragically beautiful ngl.

But how come that before going to on her quest she suddenly reveals she's a woman to her caliph? I mean, yes her friends pushed to accept herself as she is, but don't you usually reserve for the end of the story when the character has achieved remarkable feats to back her up??? I mean, yeah, this could vary from one person to another but that's how I personally see it.

 

But let's move on to the dealbreaker. THE ARZ!

The Arz that conveniently disappeared before the start of her quest, courtesy of the Silver Witch. But what about the crunchy epic, thrilling and life-threatening adventure of Zafira crossing it?? She's supposed to have tamed the Arz and her having to cross it completely is what I was looking for, but it suddenly disappeared and now she can safely reach the sea? I couldn't care less about the Sharr which apparently is more dangerous than Arz, the latter was closely tied to Zafira and it's with it that Zafira was even introduced to the story.

 

So yeah, that's where I stopped. I wasn't attached to the characters to begin with which is a must for me if I'm to finish a book but if the plot is handled that way then it's obvious it'll be nothing but a waste of my time.