The Wrath and the Dawn - Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath and the Dawn – Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath and the Dawn Is book one in Renee Ahdieh’s duology, and is a YA retelling of the story of 1001 Nights. Now I have heard of this story, but have never read it or known about it in great detail, so only knew the bare minimum, so cannot give an opinion on how true to the story it is. However, I did thoroughly enjoy it. I went into reading this with pretty low expectations, I hadn’t heard much about the story, and purchased it on a whim. But I am so glad I did! I read this book in under a day, and at first I had no idea it was a duology, but simply a standalone, but until that ending! That cliff hanger of an ending! I couldn’t believe it had left me like that.

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.

Now I am not sure if i am the only one who felt this way right from the start, but I never at one point disliked Khalid. Right from the start I was drawn into the mystery behind his character, and as weird as it sounds I was more annoyed at Shazi for being so opposed to her feelings as the story went on. This entire book was incredibly enticing and magical in a way, the world all be it not greatly built, still enabled you to picture places and scenes that took place. Great detail went into the character descriptions as opposed to the location they were set in. But that was easily pushed aside by the greatness of the story.

Renee’s writing was incredibly easy to read and devour, we had many changes in perspective, from Shazi herself, Tariq (Shazis childhood friend) Jahander, Shazi’s father, as well as from Khalids perspective too, this allowed you to see the world from varying perspectives from various positions. The struggles faced by each and the challenges that were met. It also allowed us to see what the situation was between Shazi and Khalid and just how those outside the castle walls, perceived it and the fear they felt waiting for Shazi’s execution.

Shazi’s character was brilliant; she was strong, brave and incredibly sharp and witty. She could really hold her own and I loved that Khalid could see that and never felt like he had to step in and defend his queen. Despite the situation that Shazi was in, she managed to remain cool and do her best to stay on track with her plan to avenge her best friend Shavi. Even if her heart got in the way of that, her guilt for doing so always remained. Shazi ends up loving Khalid, but she was not one of those typical YA characters who accepts their partner is a monster, and justifies it for them, she is honest with herself and him, that she feels it is awful what he did, even when she finds out the reasoning behind it. She loves him but still holds him accountable for the many deaths of daughters all throughout Rey and even more so her best friend. Which I thought was incredibly unique within the YA genre.

Overall this story was brilliant, it flowed well, was full of action and suspense and it kept me entertained throughout, I honestly couldn’t put this book down and that is a testament to Renee’s writing and story development. As I said earlier the ending left me in shock, as I had no idea this was a duology, I was left dumbstruck by where it left us, and knowing now I will have to wait for the final book to be released to discover just what has happened, and what will become of Shazi and Khalid. The characters were brilliant and as was the story, to be going into this with the low expectations I did, and to come out thoroughly enjoying it and needing more, has made me love it just that little bit more. It takes a lot for a book to change my perception of it, and Renee certainly did that.

So if you like 1001 nights, like a fantasy, YA story with romance, action and a hint of magic, then I would recommend this for you, as it is a great read.

I have given this 4 out of 5 stars