As a Ghosting, she’s unseen by upper classes – but the girl is full of surprises. She belittles Anoor at every turn, which has left her with little self-esteem.

Anoor is the daughter of a warden who deserves an award for the worst mother of the century. She’s abrasive, selfish, and difficult to like. After watching her family be murdered, Sylah is now a drug addict (joba seeds) and a thief who fights in the ring for money. The three main characters are vastly different from each other. Only Embers may be wardens, of course, and everyone must bow to them. The Aktibar (a several months long competition) is held every ten years to choose a disciple who will become the next warden in these categories.

The empire is govered by four wardens of strength, truth, knowledge, and duty. At the top of the food chain are Embers with their red blood, Dusters are blue-blooded, and Ghostings (whose hands and tongue are removed due to centuries old transgressions by their ancestors) translucent blood. This world is a caste system based on the color of your blood. Such exceptional, detailed world-building. There’s a reason this novel was named One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2022 by Book Riot.

And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.Īs the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom-and their hearts. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.Īnoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.īlue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.Ĭlear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.

The final strife series