Review | The Wrath & The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
Title: The Wrath and The Dawn
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Genre/s: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Published October 2016 by Speak (First published: May 12th 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books)
Any one who knows me knows that I love fantasy, its my favourite genre. Since reading all of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo's books nothing has really compared until now. This book is phenomenal. The atmosphere that Renée Ahdieh was able to create with her writing is incredible. I felt like I was living and breathing in this beautiful world. The characters are really original and interesting and not at all predictable in any way. The plot was so fast moving that I had a little trouble keeping up and actually getting into it at the beginning but once I had read a couple of chapters I was so completely immersed in this world with these amazing characters that it blew my mind. Even though it is fantasy and the things that happen aren't real Renée really did well making you believe in it. Not many books have made me feel this way and when I did put the book down and then picked it up again after a few hours, I just fell straight back in to it like I had never put it down in the first place. While reading this book there is a mystery that you just can't help but try to solve before you actually find out and that really keeps to engrossed.
The book follows Shahrzad when she decides to volunteer to be the Caliph of Khorasan's new bride. But he is a murderous king that brings a new family heartache every single dawn. Each night he takes a new bride and come morning they have been killed. At sixteen Shahrzad's closest friend falls victim to Khalid and so she decides to volunteer while determined to stay alive but also looking for vengeance.
The complex plot is very well woven together and Shazi and Khalid's character development and relationship progresses slowly and in a realistic way that really draws you in and makes you care what happens to them. I also enjoyed the slow burning romance and I think that it was also fabulously done. The way we follow Shazi journey when she at first hates Khalid and how she is extremely angry and shocked by him to then find herself developing feelings toward him the more she gets to know him and uncovers the truth I think was beautiful. It's definitely romance done the right way and I think it is one of the best and most well written romances that I have read in a very long time.
“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.”
That is really one of my favourite scenes because the snark and tension is overwhelming and I just love it! Now there is also some banter here and there between other characters not just the main two and I love banter and angst honestly the more the better and it really was just the topping to an already amazing story. I loved how loads of effort went into fleshing out side characters as well instead of just focusing on the main protagonists it really added a lot to the story and overall added so much depth. Most of the banter we see is between Shazi and Jalal who is Khalid's cousin. The scene where he is target practising with Shazi is one of my favourite scenes of the whole book. Their slowly developing friendship is also one of the highlights and I am excited to see where that goes.
“Some things exist in our lives for but a brief moment. And we must let them go on to light another sky.”
The side characters in this book were very intriguing, mostly I find myself wanting to know more about Jalal, any scenes that we get in the next book are very welcome. To which I am extremely excited to see what happens next after that ending. I'm not going to go into detail because all you need to know is there are twists and turns and shocking things happen. Although I would say there isn't very much action throughout the book however the little we do get is shocking and heart-breaking and I was sitting on the edge of my seat all while reading those last few scenes. I have also read Renée Ahdieh's most recently released book 'Flame in The Mist' and I have to say even though I adored that book I think that I loved this even more, her signature writing in both of these books is so deep and as your reading it just flows along with the stories in a perfect way. Overall this book was wonderful and I highly recommend it for fans of the fantasy genre and also if you enjoy books with rich world building and characters that you will continuously root for.
5/5
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