REVIEW; The Wrath And The Dawn
8:01 pm
“Some things exist in our lives for but a brief moment. And we must let them go on to light another sky.”
~
 The Wrath and the Dawn - Renée Ahdieh Publish Date: 12th May 2015 Publisher: Putnam Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, New Adult, Retellings, Magic Pages: 388 Format: Paperback Goodreads // BookDepository SYNOPSIS: One Life to One Dawn. 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?
Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end. WARNING: Spoilers!
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh took me by surprise. I was aware upon first reading it that it was based/inspired by the Arabian Nights, something I have been dying to read for a long while, but I did not expect it to be something wholly more.
The book follows the protagonist Sharzhad, a strong, intelligent and quick witted sixteen year old girl, who seeks revenge on the boy-king Khalid for killing her friend, Shiva, like so many other of his brides. Shazi, from the first page I met her, became one of my favourite female characters in YA Literature, without a doubt. She was everything I’ve wanted in a protagonist and more. Her sharp tongue and defiance proved her willing to stand up for herself, others and what she believed in, yet her vulnerability underlined her humanity, fears and the situations placed before her. She could fend for herself, quite literally, yet didn’t doubt the strength of love and others helping her along the way. I particularly liked how Ahdieh demonstrated Shazi’s conflict when a situation was presented, usually main characters who have a choice tend to become aggravating to read about, especially when the reasons behind their choosing aren’t clear or logical; but the way Ahdieh has written the story, Shazi’s choices were well explained and sometimes, so much so that I found myself feeling the same dilemma in choosing my own opinion towards them. It wasn’t just Shazi that I fell in love with, all the characters were quite unique and fierce. Khalid was well rounded and contained such a detailed past which was portrayed through his mannerisms wonderfully- the mystery of why he was murdering his wives had me intrigued, but the reasons behind why he acted the way he did, not only around Shazi but everyone was what had me hooked. I think I’m drawn to the bad boy/monstrous characters, though, I wouldn’t categorise Khalid as monstrous, even though he claims to be one himself. I enjoyed how his character was revealed in layers and not all at once in a massive backstory info-dump like so many books these days tend to do. I also enjoyed that he was a warrior-king and held his tongue, which contrasted well with Shazi who was sharp tempered and silver tongued. Side characters, including Despina and Jalal, provided further sarcasm, conflict, sass and at times, flirting, which aided in the overall enjoyment of the plot, ensuring it was not boring as it burned slow. The romance between Shazi and Khalid was perfect and her hesitation to fall for the ‘monster’ that he was made it all the more intriguing (and made me want them together more), especially since there was so much sexual tension. "My soul sees its equal in you." The world Ahdieh created was mesmerising, and the incorporation of Eastern culture, from the food to the architecture, vocabulary and mannerisms, enabled me to become completely encompassed within her book, and I loved. Its not often that you get to read a novel that pays that special attention to detail of a culture that isn't something familiar or prominent in YA literature and I think because of that, I found myself enjoying this book even more. Though, I must address that I’ve never read so much detail in a book about what food was eaten! Maybe it was just a tad too descriptive there... I thought there wasn’t enough detail, however, on the magic side of the story. It was mentioned at the beginning, and then became prominent in the storyline only at the end of the novel. I loved the mystery behind the killings of Khalid’s wives, and the intensity of the scenes with Khalid and Shazi just before dawn, they were written particularly well, so much so that I was at the edge of my seat, wondering how she would live to see the next dawn. The writing was a highlight, for me. It was almost poetic, written in third person (my favourite, yay!) and highly descriptive, lyrical and vivid in imagery. The dialogue was snarky at times, and romantic at others, and I think the author utilised each character’s voice well, and strongly at that. I also enjoyed how the author showcased her ability to manipulated feeling throughout the book, and by that I mean I felt the confusion that Shazi felt towards Tariq (her boyfriend) now that shed fallen for Khalid, yet I also felt the lust for Shazi to be with Tariq when reading from his pov. It was cleverly done and evoked all the right emotions from me as a reader. This book was amazing, wonderful, enchanting I don't have enough words to describe how much I loved it. The writing was lucid and rich, characters fierce and well developed, and the overall atmosphere of the book was simply brilliant. I adored every minute of it and was left begging for more - in fact, the only thing I didn’t like about it was the fact that it wasn’t longer! I can’t wait for the next book! ★★★★★ - 5 stars. Love, Natalia xx |
0 comments