BOOK REVIEW: The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

BOOK REVIEW: The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

Friday, March 9, 2018

Title: The Rose and the Dagger

Author: Renee Ahdieh

Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1

Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on April 26, 2016

Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling

Setting: Khorasan

Purchase: Fullybooked [PH] | NBS [PH] | Amazon | B&N

My Rating: 3.8 Roses

The darker the sky, the brighter the stars.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.

Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.

The saga that began with The Wrath and the Dawn takes its final turn as Shahrzad risks everything to find her way back to her one true love again.

After long days and lazy ass nights I finally came to the conclusion of the duology I've recently been reading. I think I've already said that I did not love the first books through my review of that one and I certainly don't love this one either! It was a wee bit better in some aspects compared to the first book but it is still lacking and frustrating. 

I admit that I willingly want to be captured by the book but it is hard when Shazi is frustrating and when the climax is at the top and fell instantly into a nosedive because it feels like the author was playing safe on that conclusion. So, nope, I wasn't captivated by the seemingly promising retelling of Arabian Nights. 

I also wasn't motivated to write the review because I did not like it. I do understand other people's fascination though. I just felt like it could have been more.

In this last installment of the book, it was so good to see old characters by the end and the twist here and there. Shazi was still frustrating and her decisions are still questionable. A lot of things could have been prevented if not for her decisions that seems always stupid. The story wouldn't exist, though, if she didn't make wrong decisions but it's just really frustrating the way the things played our because of her judgement. 😑 Khalid was better, which is great. We saw more of him even though he's not present so much on the first half. There were a lot of potential build ups that could have been epic but sadly, it was played safely, as I have said. 

I did not hate this. I still liked it but cannot love it as much as other fantasy retellings I've read. The book still doesn't deserve a 3 and 4 is too high so I'm picking somewhere in between.

BOOK REVIEW: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

BOOK REVIEW: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Title: The Wrath and the Dawn
Author: Renee Ahdieh

Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on May 12, 2015
Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling
Setting: Khorasan
Purchase: Fullybooked [PH] | NBS [PH] | Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 3.7 Roses

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?

I truly have no idea what the Arabian Nights was all about and I've been curious as to how that story goes. It just seemed so whimsical and holds magnificent stories and stuff. I really have no idea and I have been eyeing The Wrath and the Dawn for quite some time now and I was really curious as to why brides were killed each dawn of a new day. I have my theories and none of them were right, I did not see that coming. 

I'm deciding that I would read The Arabian Nights, by the way, because I'm curious about the mini stories in it!

So The Wrath and the Dawn is about the king of kings, the caliph of Khorasan (Khalid) who takes a new bride everyday just to kill them at dawn the next day. Shahrzad's (MY GOSH!! I CAN'T REMEMBER THE SPELLING!!! Let's just call her Shazi for the rest of the discussion) best friend, Shiva was taken as a bride and Shazi took it upon herself to exact a revenge upon the murderer of her best friend. Shazi volunteered to be a bride (I VOLUNTEER! well, by now, that famous line belongs to Katniss, but you know, Shazi volunteered. Just without the eyes of too many people in replacement for her baby sizzums) but to all of Khorasan's amazement and even amusement, this new bride survived to see the next dawn and the next and the next.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about loving this book. In the beginning, I was really excited and conflicted because I don't understand the caliph's motives and apart from that, I had a hard time grasping for the meaning of some words but I overcame that at the last page of the book, almost literally. Next, there was really no peak moment where you expect to be gripping the edge of your seat waiting for what was to come next. It was kind of linear and has no thrill, especially the moment when the truth became clear. The reason for that is because of the buildup. I think I was too expectant of the reason behind the killing that I was not shocked by the truth. It fell flat and I was really disappointed. Like, was that it?

Next, the portrayal of a strong feminine felt a little too forced and unnatural. I feel like the book wanted to shove into our faces that Shazi is cunning and strong and everything a woman should be. We all knew that that was her character but I think it was sprinkled with a little too much that it didn't feel natural at all.

Khalid's character is a bit bland. All the sprinkled seasoning was showered to Shazi that the character of the king fell behind. The book gave him a role of not doing anything but the book also wanted to shove into our faces how dangerous this man was. It was all talk about the characters' characters and not much action to back up for these adjectives that were crowned in these characters' heads. This is the reason why I was so conflicted if I want to love this book or not. It is a beautiful tale. It is woven beautifully but not intricately.

Khalid's letter to Shazi. My favorite part.

So why did I give almost four roses? I love the writing and the tinge of poetry in Renee's words and there are a lot of good parts. I also loved the little romance in there. There's tension everywhere and I was so giddy the moment that Khalid's wall fell apart. I loved every bit of that part!!! I loved Khalid's letter and the rose and their obvious happiness. It was a great experience to be transported into a world that I only watched in movies and have not been able to read about firsthand. I really loved these kind of setting.  So regal and whimsical and magnificent. Arabian culture (am I right? I actually lack the knowledge as to where Khorassan really is)  is really interesting and rich (both literally and figuratively) and I wanna read more books set in Persia or Arabia or wherever because I truly enjoyed Prince of Persia and I enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn. 

It took me a long time to finish the book but I obviously loved a good part of this book to give it almost four. I'm actually debating whether I would give it a 3 or 4. I cannot give it 4 and 3 is too low for it, so 3.7 is just the perfect rating.

The book ended with Shazi and Khalid separated and the bits of magic here and there were not established properly so you really need to pick up the second book to actually be clarified of the blurry things from this one. I'm reading it right now and I do hope I would enjoy it! BYE!