The Wrath and the Dawn: 1 Hardcover – 12 May 2015

This was a very beautiful retelling of a thousand and one nights. An Arabian tale I quickly got myself familiar with. At first, I did find it difficult to read as I struggled with the names of the characters and the names of positions and other things. But it was amazing to read about someone else’s culture and watch the enemy to lovers story unfold. I do believe the story could have been one book because even though I did enjoy this, I’m not sure I can bring myself to push myself through the second part of the duology. The reasons being the book was slow to start, picked up amazingly in the middle then dropped off again at the end and I know most of the times sequels don’t live up to the hype of the first book so I don’t want to be disappointed even though I do want to witness a happy ever after. I may return to this series but I’m not sure it will be straight away. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this once I got into it and understood and shazi and khalid have my heart as do desphina and jalal.

Beautifully written and lusciously imagined, The Wrath and The Dawn is the kind of book that I get completely and utterly lost in. It's been a long time since read a book that I fell so completely into that I only realised how long I'd been reading when my phone rang with my best friend asking why I hadn't picked her up for our "date night" yet. I'm not kidding, this actually happened. If you're looking for a fact-paced story set across a sweeping kingdom with characters all over the place, then this probably isn't the book for you. This is a slow burn, almost a character study in our protagonist, and one set almost entirely within the same palace. A story about head versus heart, love versus hate, selfishness versus selflessness and what it means to be true to yourself.The story itself is a fairly simple one. As the book itself says near the end: Just one boy and one girl. Shazi enters the palace of Khalid with a simple goal in mind. To kill the boy-king who has married and put to death countless innocent girls before her, including her best friend Shiva. It's here that Shazi discovers, and to her horror, begins to fall in love with, the boy behind the monster. The kingdom of Khorasan, the courts, supporting characters, culture, everything that frames the story is what lifts it beyond the realms of just another YA story. The detail in the book is so rich, so vivid and so gorgeously imagined that you can practically touch the silks and gemstones of the clothes and taste the spice and flower blossom in the air. You may have noticed, but my imagination ran away with me a little while I was reading this book! And I have another window open on my laptop as I type looking at trips to Morocco...Shazi is a wonderful character, flawed and utterly believeable. The whole idea of this fierce and determined girl falling foul of her own heart as she comes to love the boy she intends to kill could have been incredibly insulting, the kind of thing that sets the Women's Rights movement back by about 50 years, and believe me I'm pretty easy to rankle with that sort of thing. But Renee Ahdieh portrays Shazi as a real person, not your typical "feisty" YA heroine that you see in every other book. Yes she makes mistakes, and yes she strays from her path even though it pains her to do it, but it's believable, and it's very human. Shazi's husband, the boy-king Khalid is a closed book at first, alternating between stern ruler and tentative lover. I wasn't entirely sure what drew Shazi to him at first. He opens up as the story unfolds, but still, I didn't 100% buy in to their relationship. His bruden and secretive nature are intriguing sure, but once the thrill of infatuation and verbal jousting wears off, I don't see his connection with Shazi as more than obsession with someone who is a novelty to him. That said, Tariq is still my favourite corner in this love triangle. Shazi's childhood friend and first love, he's determined to rescue her from what he believes to be her prison, his steadfast belief blinding him to what is in front of his eyes between Shazi and Khalid. It's header to believe in the romance between Shazi and Tariq, even though she described him as her first love, but that's probably because they're rarely together on the pages. Special mentions to Shazi's handmaiden Despina and Khalid's cousin Jalal. The relentless po-facedness of Khalid and Shazi's inner turmoil can get pretty heavy, so it's nice to get some relief with these charming, happy-go-lucky characters, even though Despina would probably be beheaded for being such a painfully unprofessional servant!It may seem odd to say, but it's worth a mention that this is one of the only YA books I've come across recently (excluding Leigh Bardugo's wonderful Six of Crows) that doesn't feature a cookie-cutter, white heroine. It doesn't happen nearly often enough and it's good to finally see some diversity breaking through into mainstream YA. This is no box-ticking exercise or white-wash of a Middle Eastern tale, it's just presented as what it is, a beautifully written, well crafted tale which happens to feature non-white leads.I was a little bit disappointed with the inclusion of magic in the story, in that it's so fleeting. There's a brief glimpse of what may or may not be a magic carpet, a curse that will destroy Khalid's kingdom if he does not take 100 lives and Shazi's father's shaky grasp over powers of his own, but they're frustratingly unexplored. Why does someone have the power to curse Khalid, yet no one else apparently has the power to reverse or remedy that curse? The character who places it is described briefly in passing, but where did he get his gift? Are such powers commonplace in Khorasan? There's a very brief mention of Shazi possibly possessing a dormant gift, but this ultimately goes nowhere in the book. The hints of magic seem to sit a little awkwardly with the real, albeit it fantastic, world setting. Hopefully this is something that will be explored a bit more in the sequel; The Rose and The Dagger. Which I have already pre-ordered.Marie Lu describes The Wrath and The Dawn as "an intoxicating gem of a story" on the cover, and loathed as I am to copy what someone else has said, I couldn't put it better myself. The story is small, the location contained, the supporting character list limited, but the simple tale, the beautifully descriptive writing and believable characters make for a heady combination that I fell utterly in love with.Review originally posted at - http://www.mikaylasbookshelf.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/the-wrath-and-dawn-review.html

3.75 / 5Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan, and King of Kings, is seen as a monster by his people, as he repeatedly takes a new bride every night, only to have her executed at sunrise the following day. Shahrzad, a headstrong and confident young woman, volunteers herself to be the Caliph’s new bride, with the mindset of attempting to outwit him and exact revenge on behalf of her friend who suffered the same tragic fate as all of his brides.Shazi extends her date with death by telling Khalid a story which she is unable to finish before the sunset, consequently leading her to live another day. This stay of execution provides the springboard for Shazi to undertake her investigations into Khalid’s character, to find out his weaknesses and the reason behind the brides deaths. Eventually, she finds out that nothing is simple and the uncovering of Khalid’s many secrets provide Shazi with tortuous dilemmas. The relationship between the two develops interestingly, and to add to matters is Tariq, an impulsive and skilful young man who loves Shazi passionately, who has begun proceedings to rescue her from Khalid and to plan a coup for the kingdom.[ Contains Some Spoilers ]The romance between Shazi and Khalid is described incredibly well, except for the repetition of some phrases that became the standard such as ‘flashing eyes’ and the smell of ‘sandalwood and sunlight’. Besides those minor grievances, the language did flow well, and Ahdieh did conjure some fantastic metaphors and declarations of love from Khalid.“For nothing, not the sun, not the rain, not even the brightest star in the dark sky, could begin to compare to the wonder of you.”“My soul sees its equal in you.”“Love is – a shade of what I feel.”These would definitely make female readers swoon, but more importantly, these speeches had a similar effect on Shazi, who, despite her determination and single-mindedness, was turned by Khalid’s words, eyes and body. In all honesty, I was hoping for more resolve from Shazi, as she fell for him very quickly despite not knowing his reasons for killing his other brides, including her best friend Shiva. Shazi’s disloyalty for falling for Khalid, her friend’s murderer, lacks weight with the reader, who almost have no feeling for Shiva and are more interested in the Shazi-Khalid romance. Personally, I feel Shazi’s friendship with Shiva should have been introduced at the beginning of the story, so the reader could understand Shazi’s wretched feelings, rather than having their friendship appear like an afterthought in comparison to her growing feelings for Khalid. The reader doesn’t feel much for Shiva, and apparently that is the case for Shazi too, as loyalty goes out the window the longer she spends in the palace.One thing I will bring up here concerns the main dilemma of the story. Why hasn’t suicide crossed Khalid’s mind? He could not only save 100 innocent girls (including Shazi), but also the entire kingdom? By continuing on this course, more and more innocent people will suffer, and Khalid’s and Shazi’s guilt will continue to mount up. By doing the noble thing of forsaking himself to make up for his past failings concerning his first and subsequent wives, he will ensure that Shazi lives, the kingdom will not suffer, and the curse will have been lifted.Moving on front that niggling notion, a personal highlight of the story’s structure was the dialogue and moments of silence between Shazi and Khalid. The thrilling exchanges between Shazi and Khalid opened a window into their developing relationship, and the slow withdrawal of Khalid’s guard as he lets Shazi further into his heart and mind. It was good to see that the King and Queen were on an even keel during their discussions with one another. The clash of personalities contributed to fascinating conversations and the developing storyline. Even the silences shed light on their thoughts, which combined with the internal monologue of Shazi, which I viewed as, as important as the dialogue itself, as she mentally wrangles with herself and her feelings for someone she once described as a monster.The developing political and supernatural forces, which played intriguing supporting roles to the Shazi-Khalid romance were an interesting inclusion to the story, and these aspects will undoubtedly play a more crucial role in the sequel especially after the thrilling finale. I felt that the story was strong enough already without magic, due to the engaging premise, the romance between the two leading characters and the political stirrings among a faction that are planning to depose the King. However, the magic, if used well, will help to make the sequel an even better read, especially as the ending provided a glimpse of what is possible.Like the cliffhanger stories that Shazi told Khalid to keep herself alive, Ahdieh does the same with The Wrath, as Ahdieh leaves the reader on a cliffhanger ending which has a plethora of potential outcomes. We will just have to wait another night to hear the conclusion of this thoroughly interesting story.