Disclaimer: I checked this book out from my local library. Support your libraries! All opinions are my own. 

 

Book: The Candle and The Flame 

 

Author: Nafiza Azad 

 

Book Series: Standalone 

 

Rating: 3/5 

 

Diversity: Muslim MC and characters 

 

Recommended For...: young adult readers, fantasy, romance, magic, historical fiction, high fantasy 

 

Publication Date: May 14, 2019 

 

Genre: YA Fantasy 

 

Age Relevance: 14+ (war, violence, gore, religion, romance, parental death, death, grief, forced marriage, discrimination and prejudice) 

 

Explanation of Above: The book revolves around a war with violence, blood gore, parental death, death, and grief mentioned and shown throughout the book. The Islamic religion is shown and discussed. There is some romance and a forced marriage situation. There is some discrimination and prejudice shown and discussed. 

 

Publisher: Scholastic 

 

Pages: 416 

 

Synopsis: Fatima lives in the city of Noor, a thriving stop along the Silk Road. There the music of myriad languages fills the air, and people of all faiths weave their lives together. However, the city bears scars of its recent past, when the chaotic tribe of Shayateen djinn slaughtered its entire population—except for Fatima and two other humans. Now ruled by a new maharajah, Noor is protected from the Shayateen by the Ifrit, djinn of order and reason, and by their commander, Zulfikar. But when one of the most potent of the Ifrit dies, Fatima is changed in ways she cannot fathom, ways that scare even those who love her. Oud in hand, Fatima is drawn into the intrigues of the maharajah and his sister, the affairs of Zulfikar and the djinn, and the dangers of a magical battlefield. 

 

Review: Overall, I liked this book. The book had an interesting plot and set up, but the thing that really drew me in was that the book explored the power names hold and how powerful names can be. I liked the character development and the world building. I also really liked the ending of the story and really wanted more by the end of the book. 

 

However, it took me awhile to get into the book. The book was confusing and choppy in a lot of places. I had to read the synopsis a few times to figure out what was going on. However, the most infuriating thing was that the book constantly bounced from name to title when referring to people, which made it a little hard for me to follow through. It might have been me though, sometimes my ADHD makes it hard to remember or concentrate when needed. 

 

Verdict: It was good, but I think it requires two read-throughs to understand it fully.