The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1)

4.4 out of 5 stars!
An amazing debut novel by author Renee Ahdieh. Filled with mesmerizing characters and a unique look at a different culture. An unpredictable and stunning plot with suspense and secrets at every turn is what made me enjoy this book. With intricate details from the beautiful clothing to the delicious food, this book will make readers feel like they are truly there and eager to read the sequel!

Renee Ahdieh’s debut novel was experienced through a haze of excitement, joy, shock, horror and astonishment. It was one of those highly anticipated books that had everyone talking about it, months before its release date, and I can safely say, it lived up to the hype.

What drew me most to this duology was its inspiration: based upon the epic 1,001 Arabian Nights, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran volunteers to marry the murderous Caliph of Khorasan, Khalid, who marries a different woman each day, only to kill her the following dawn.

I love re-tellings and with a premise such as this, how could I resist? I love tales of romance where the intended are so doomed it seems like there is no chance in hell they could ever be together, but the author somehow makes it work. What’s even better with this series is that Khalid and Shahrzad’s growing romance is realistic.

Shazi was a great character: she volunteers to marry Khalid after her best friend was one of his victims, but only for the sole purpose of killing him. She manages to extend her life by telling the Caliph a story each night, but refusing to tell him the ending until the following night. Slowly, she begins to gain his trust, and, eventually his love, until he promises her he will not add her to his list of murdered wives.

Khalid was a tortured character who was struggling to live with the weight of his actions on his shoulders. His pain was genuine and his love for Shazi was boundless. I love the fact that he refuses to say ‘I love you;’ rather, he would show his love through actions, not words.

The slow romance was the real winner of this book. It took a long time for Shazi to lower her defences and not want to strangle him every time she saw him. Definitely a slow burn here. What was difficult to wrap my head around was her continual remarks about how much she hated him, and then minutes later she’s almost swooning in her arms.

I think I might have appreciated their romance a little more if she had started to develop feelings for him after he revealed his big secret; however, that was close to the ending of the novel, so it’s understandable, from a writing perspective, why Ahdieh did not do that.

The secondary characters were wonderful as well. Despina was fantastic with her attitude and Jalal made me laugh constantly. I liked Tariq at the beginning and even felt sorry for him when Shazi continually dismissed him, even though she did, at one point, love him. This is something I do not like in YA fiction. When the female protagonist falls for another guy, her first love is left floundering in the wind and she ignores him so quickly, when not too long ago, they were head over heels in love. But …. Tariq did start to remind me a little of Tamlin in A Court of Mist and Fury, so I don’t mind that he got no loving anymore.

I will mention two quick nit-picks – the magic of this world was a little confusing and not well explained. I honestly had no idea this was a fantasy world – I mean, real, ancient countries such as Assyria exist at the same time, so I just assumed this was our world. It wasn’t until Khalid’s mother’s tutor arrived did I realise magic existed. And all of a sudden, Shazi had magic too. The book definitely would have benefitted if that had been further explored.

The second nit-pick is that the book doesn’t really explain the circumstances before the main plot begins, as in Khalid’s dead wives. At least, not until later in the book. I feel like the book was establishing its plot based on the reader’s knowledge of 1,001 Arabian Nights, when it should have been explained in the first few chapters. Too me, the descriptions of Khalid’s crimes were very subtle, scarcely there. We know that Shazi’s friend died by his order, but it is not fully explained until later.

Aside from that, the book was wonderful. Ahdieh has a wonderful way with words. Her descriptions are so vivid I was able to recall everything in front of my eyes as I read it. Her writing style is fluid, alive, and almost poetic. This book captivated me and I devoured it in one sitting.

When Shahrzad’s dearest friend becomes a victim to the the murderous ways of the boy-king Khalid, she vows revenge. Each night he marries, only for the new bride to end up with a silk noose around her neck. Shahrzad promises that she will last more than one night and get revenge for all the girls who have perished because of him. She enchants Khalid with a story, night after night, and she keeps surviving. The longer she lives, the more she realizes Khalid is nothing like she assumed, but falling for him seems like a huge betrayal of her promise to her friend.

This was a book I was really excited to read but also really nervous because I have s a lot of hype about it, which can be dangerous in a book. Before even opening the book to the first page, I already had so many questions. The main question was: could I actually get lost in the romance that seemed like it would play a huge part in the book?

I liked Shahrzad. She was very cunning and brave and she could be very sassy, which I loved, but she was also naive. She excelled in storytelling and in challenging Khalid, both qualities that were important in keeping her alive. She wasn’t one to just not do something she wanted even if it was frowned upon for the queen to do so. She was a very determined young woman and I loved her fire and her passion.

I also liked that, while Shahrzad was the main POV, there were a bunch of other characters’ POVs through the book so the reader could see what was going on with characters not attached to the palace. It worked well in setting up for future battles and showed some very interesting characters.

The romance, I wasn’t completely sold on, but I liked that I wasn’t completely sold on it. Whatever reasoning Khalid had, he was still a murderer and Shahrzad’s intentions had been to avenge her friend’s death, to stop the murders. It was impossible to forget that and, even when they were falling in love, they were both still guarded with secrets. I did get sold on the friendships. They were great. From the newness of Shahrzad and her handmaiden Despina, to older friendships like Khalid and his cousin Jalal, or Tariq and Rahim who knew Shahrzad before she became queen. I would probably read a book where those six did nothing but bicker and banter with each other because it was that entertaining.

The plot was a bit slow in this first book. There was a lot to set up and reveal so it wasn’t a quick read. It was one of those books where it felt like every small detail could be important later on so I wanted to take time and not miss anything. The action really started picking up in the last quarter where it got very hard to read slowly because I just wanted to know what was going to happen.

A great debut that has me very excited for the next book.