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My Review:Title: The Wrath and the Dawn
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Format: ebook
Pages: 416
Genres: Historical Fantasy, Retelling, Young Adult
Source: Overdrive
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Spring, Lenoreo's 2021 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:
Blurb:A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights
Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.
She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.
4.5 stars — I was daunted by this book…I don’t know why, I so wanted to read it. But I just kept putting it off. Thank god for buddy reading, it was just the push I needed to get started. I did try the audio first, b/c I wanted to know how to pronounce things…but the narrator was NOT a match for me, so I switched. I think you’d be able to tell from the sample if she wouldn’t work for you either. On to the book!
I think that prologue sucked me in and had me intrigued and giving Khalid a bit more benefit of the doubt than I might have otherwise, so bravo on that! As such, I was a bit reluctant with Shahrzad, especially given her hatred and venom. On an intellectual level I totally understood Shazi’s feelings…but because of that damn prologue, I wanted her to be patience and figure shiznit out! It took maybe a wee bit longer than I would have liked, but I appreciated that her feelings sort of gradually and reluctantly changed…it was more believable.
Man Shazi had guts. That tongue of hers is going to get her in trouble! But I delighted in her spirit and her convictions. She was 100% a heroine I could believe in and cheer for.
I wasn’t expecting all the different POVs we got, but I think it made for a richer story IMO. Without seeing bits of what other background characters were doing, you wouldn’t feel for some and worry about others. I even didn’t mind that we didn’t get much from Khalid until a bit further in. I was already in love probably, but that just solidified it. My heart broke for that broken boy.
I loved that the “secret” was so much more complicated. It was more nuanced, with a lot of bad choices. It felt more real that way.
I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS A DUOLOGY!!! I mean, I saw that it was a series, but for some reason I thought this was a complete story. While not a cliffhanger, make sure you have the next book lined up so you’re not tearing your hair out when you stay up until 2am finishing and then just feel lost. 😛 Not speaking from experience or anything.
I think the only thing I was a bit bummed with in the story (and hence the rounding down) were the time jumps. I’m too greedy for time jumps. I wasn’t expecting them, and for some reason I never seemed to get used to them. *rolls eyes*
I’m super intrigued by where the story is going to go now. I have some theories, and some hopes and wishes…I can’t wait to find out.
COYER Community: I buddy read this book with Lillian from Mom With a Reading Problem, because quite frankly we have a blast and motivate one another. We stayed fairly in sync with this one, and I can’t wait to buddy read the next book as well. As of this writing she gave it 5 stars, and you can read her review here.
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