The wrath & the dawn by Renee Ahdieh (Book Review)
Title: The wrath & the dawn #1
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance & YA
Publishing date: May 12 2015
In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.
Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It’s an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?
I was attracted to this book immediately after finding out it was a retelling of the classical One Thousand and One Nights tale. One thousand and one nights is a collection of middle eastern folk tales, and as an Arab girl it fascinated me to see a retelling of those stories in a YA book.
I felt like the excitement kicked off the moment I opened the book. So many questions were going through my head. Why were these girls killed immediately? Did they have anything in common that could be the reason why they were killed? (other than being his brides) and how could Shahrzad prevent it from happening to her?
I admit half way through the book I was pretty anxious to just get to the end of it all but I never actually felt bored. I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. The story was fresh and different from most YA books. I loved the way the author described the events and settings. She also used many Persian words throughout the book (can be found in the glossary at the end of the book), as well as describing Persian cuisine. I felt like she described the culture beautifully and added a lot of diversity to the books.
I liked most of the characters. Shahrzad was sassy, never afraid to speak her mind, fierce and was quite witty although she did frustrate me sometimes but then again nobody is perfect. Khalid was a lonely soul and I figured there must be some huge plot twist as to why he kills his brides every night (and there was!) as soon as that hole was patched up he climbed up my list of favorite characters. Despina was my favorite from the very beginning. She was a bundle of sass and beauty and helped Shazi in so many ways I truly loved her. Jalal was another character I loved immediately. He was just so nice and i trusted him from the very beginning.
I finished this book during my break between classes and the moment I closed the book I felt like screaming. It ended at such a cliffhanger. I knew there had to be a second book, and my guess was right! I still haven’t picked the second book up yet but I’m definitely planning to soon!
“So you would have me throw Shazi to the wolves?”
“Shazi?” Jalal’s grin widened. “Honestly, I pity the wolves.”
“My soul sees its equal in you.”
“She was a dangerous, dangerous girl. A plague. A Mountain of Adamant who tore the iron from ships, sinking them to their watery graves without a second thought. With a mere smile and a wrinkle of her nose.”
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