Review: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Publisher: Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Release date: May 12, 2015
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0399171614
Pages: 388
Goodreads || Book Depository

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.

MY THOUGHTS

The Wrath and the Dawn is the first book in a duology (I believe), a retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. Its sequel, The Rose and the Dagger, is scheduled to be released in 2016.

I thought this first instalment was a very enjoyable and captivating read. It was very fast-paced and the writing just sucked me in and made me not want to put it down. The story was engrossing, with lots of mystery running throughout the book. At times, I felt like the book was a bit slow, particularly in the middle, but the end was so eventful that it gave me such a rush. There were times when I was very frustrated by all the mystery and secrets, and how the same issues kept creeping up again and again. But overall, I did like how the story played out and I’m excited to see how the plot unfolds in the sequel.

My only other big complaint was the number of foreign references the book contained. There is a glossary at the back to make things more clear, but the glossary is sandwiched between the end of the book and an excerpt of the sequel. So I kept finding myself seeing little things that I didn’t want to see. But that has nothing to do with the story.

I did like the romance between the two main characters, Shahrzad and Khalid. It did seem a little bit insta-lovey, which didn’t feel very believable to me and annoyed me a little bit at the beginning. But I really liked how their relationship developed throughout the book. I thought the middle section of the book might have been a little bit too focused on the romance but I liked where their relationship was at by the end of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story and the reading experience. The chapters are relatively short, which makes it quite a quick read.