[Book Review + Recommendations] The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
Ahdieh explores this enigma of loving and being loved in her latest work. A romantic fantasy sprinkled here and there with action and some magic, this book will surely take a hold of your interest and won’t let you go until you’ve reached its last page!
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. [Goodreads] [Amazon]
The Wrath and the Dawn #1; Hardcover, 388 pages; Published May 12th 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers; Recipient of Junior Library Guild Selection and Indie Next List Top Ten Pick
MY THOUGHTS
This book screams #DiversityinYA and #EmpoweringWomen, okay? Relinquish the aesthetics of the Middle Eastern culture and arts with the imagery Ahdieh creates in each page. The fashion and clothing are given lucid descriptions which give you clear pictures of an Arab royalty. And, dear Shazi—our protagonist. You can easily align her with the most bad-ass female characters out there with all her cunning and boldness.
I never lose, nor am I afraid to spill blood.
Just how bad-ass that line is, eh? Yes, yes. She said the above line herself but don't get mistaken. She's not all bloodlust or anything like that. She's just another person with a strong drive for revenge but a stronger drive to love. The narration, as being told mostly from her perspective gives us a clear view of the struggle she faces between what she think and what others think are right which, I think, is one of the daily constant battles most of us endure.
It's because he's not the monster I thought he was.
Even the stories she tells Khalid each night are something to watch out for. And speaking of Khalid, the boy-king, the brooding swordsman, the murderer...it was made clear right from the prologue that he is not the devil he is made and declared to be. I really have a soft spot for that dark and mysterious character who no one seems to understand or those characters who are out-rightly judged without even being heeded first. Yeah, society does that (ugh), and things like this happen and people say stuff like:
It's a fitting punishment for a monster. To want something so much—to hold it in your arms—and know beyond a doubt you will never deserve it.
Give me my effin' tissue or take me right into Khorazan to Khalid's side!
We have two really good main characters here but I really love the supporting characters way more! Despina and Jalal! The thing that got me really interested on Despina is that it is mentioned straightaway that she's a plump of a woman but Shazi couldn't deny her beauty! Yeah! Not all characters are magazine-cover skinny as hell! I thought she’s a WYIWYG kind of character but no, no, no. She is hard to read and brings you the most shocking of revelations, ha! And Jalal, he puts on great contrast with Khalid and that makes him so noticeable. The smug attitude and that smirk I really wish I could see in real life, plus he talks sense and jolly at the same time. Gee, I really love these two characters!
If you’re not so big into the diversity and feminism stuff, don’t you worry because the dialogues has your back. They are so beautifully written you’d fall in love with the royal way of talking shit and comebacks in no time.
And to address the highlight of this book: It’s oozing with ooey-gooey ROMANCE! You thought you’ve had enough of the dark-and-mysterious-prince and stubborn-and-difficult-girl kind of story. No. You haven’t experienced it yet The-Wrath-and-the-Dawn style.
When you meet the one who makes you smile as you've never smiled before, cry as you've never cried before…there is nothing to do but fall.
Pretty much summarizes how I feel about this book.
The things these people would say, do, and change in the honor of love would send you squirming in your seat and rolling in your bed. Oh, how would I even say this without giving away too much? Maybe I'll just throw in some quotes, ha!
The young man smirked back at him. "I am not having a conversation with you. I am having a conversation with the most beautiful girl I have seen in a long time."
"No. You are having a conversation with my wife. And you are quite close to having the last conversation of your life."
[in which a man is hitting on Shazi and Khalid is shit-talking him]
This has nothing to do with her. You hurt me, Khalid Ibn al-Rashid. The secrets-the locked doors I will never be given keys to--they wound me. Time and again, you wound me and walk away!
I love you, a thousand times over. And I will never apologize for it.
“What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?” he whispered.
“If I’m a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed.” The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest.
“No.” His hands dropped to her waist. “Destroy me.”
My soul sees its equal in you.
Oh, and it's not just the murdering that complicates the whole Shazi and Khalid affair but there comes the childhood sweetheart, too (who I don't like so much). Tariq is just so blindly in love with Shazi that he doesn't mind waging an actual war to win her back. He is a great plus for people who love the notion of knights in shining armor.
Furthermore, it’s not just the love story that would keep you going. There are just a lot of things happening that would pique your attention—the politics, the magic, the character development. They may not be so evident yet but isn't that what holds you through—the want to discover more? Plus, there are also some life lessons you’d pick up along the way.
I strongly felt the need to have a little more dynamics on the focus of narration but all in all, it was indeed an exciting and mushy-slushy read. Too little magic but hey, it's a love story in the first place. Just wait 'til you read the epilogue to know that the second book would be more action-packed indeed.
I guess there's too much blabber already so let me close this with one of my favorite lines from the book:
The more a person pushes others away, the clearer it becomes he is in need of love the most.
IF YOU LIKED THE WRATH AND THE DAWN...
- Be sure to check out
The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Number of Pages: 298 (Paperback)
Publication Date: October 12, 2012
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to another pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. When Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn't really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.
- Watch out for
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
Number of Pages: 336 (Hardcover)
Expected Publication Date: October 6, 2015
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.
And so she is taken in her sister's place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin's court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time.But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.
Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.
Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster. [Goodreads] [Amazon]
