The Wrath and The Dawn: Review

“So you would have me throw Shazi to the wolves?”
“Shazi?” Jalal’s grin widened. “Honestly, I pity the wolves.” 

In The Wrath and the Dawn, a strong young woman named Shahrzad al-Khayzuran volunteers to exact vengeance. In a kingdom trapped in gruesome tradition, the king, Khalid, takes a wife every night only to kill them in the morning. After Shahrzad's best friend is taken, she sacrifices herself, and weaves stories to distract Khalid until morning. Her life becomes a game of irony and survival--how will she exact vengeance when she is falling for the man who killed her best friend and holds her life in his hands?

I had bought The Wrath and The Dawn a couple months ago while on vacation, but hadn't gotten to reading it until the first week of school, when I needed something to distract myself with. I'd picked up the book first because it had a woman of color on the cover, and second because the story, based on 1,001 Arabian Nights, was interesting and unique to the other things I saw on the shelves. 

Once I started reading, the novel did not disappoint. It hooked me from the start--women protecting women? What's not to love about that? Shahrzad's internal monologue is interesting and complex. You instantly empathize with her, and continue to do so throughout the novel. She is a fun and dynamic protagonist, and not just a strong badass that shuns femininity like a lot of characters I see. She's real, raw, and alluring. 

It makes sense, then, that she and Khalid's romance is an interesting one. I'm always a sucker for those "forbidden", difficult romances with lots of angst and spark. I spent practically the whole book praying they'd show their true feelings! They have so many problems and them struggling together is heartening and difficult at the same time. 

I loved almost everything about this book. I only had two real issues, but they weren't that big at all. 1) I had wished there were a couple more female characters involved. I loved all the characters there were, and the female characters were great--that's exactly why I wanted more! If Jalal or Shahrzad's grandfather's genders had been flipped, I would have loved it even more! 2) This was probably just me, but I loved all the scenes with Shahrzad, and found the scenes without her or Khalid slow or less interesting--I often skimmed them. Tariq was cool enough, but he was so genuinely good that I couldn't find his scenes as fun as the romance and action of Shahrzad and Khalid's scenes.

All in all though, this was a great book! The main character was dynamic, the love interest was interesting and mysterious, and their romance was intense to say the least! Not to mention the culturally diverse setting! 

I rate this book a must-read if you love romance, intrigue, and magic!

I am now currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Review will come upon completion!