The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Retelling
Page Length: 388 pages
Format: Hardcover (purchased)
The Wrath and the Dawn
by Renée Ahdieh left me breathless.
It took me several months to work up the courage to read this
highly-anticipated and highly-reviewed book, but I am so glad that I
finally dove in.
From the very beginning, Ahdieh weaves a tale to remember. Her writing is absolutely exquisite, flowing
from one chapter to the next like liquid gold.
She truly has a way with words, and I was captivated by every page. Ahdieh made sure that the reader was fully
immersed in the story and culture, constructing mouth-watering descriptions of
the meals and beautiful imagery to make the story shine.
What shined the most for me, however, were the
characters. In fact, with the exception
of three or four people, I loved each and every character in the book.
Shahrzad was a fantastic female protagonist, who was
sharp-tongued, stubborn, but also very honest.
Although I’ve found that characters with similar traits in other books
can be frustrating, I could not help but love her as a character, especially her sheer determination and
willpower. She fights her own battles,
with the worst ones seeming to be ones from within. Despite all her turmoil and struggles, she
manages to stay strong and make decisions.
Some of her antics I would consider crazy, but that just made her a
better, more intriguing protagonist. She acknowledged her
flaws, and was willing to look past others’ to see their full
potential. Shahrzad was a wonderful and fascinating
character, and I loved following her on her journey from the first page until
the very end.
Khalid was an enigma of his own. He could come across as cold at many points
during the story, but during others I couldn’t help but fall in love with him
as Shahrzad did. He had many demons, and although he had his secrets, he almost always had Shahrzad’s best
interest at heart. I think out of all
the characters, Khalid was my favorite (with Shahrzad coming in a close second,
or perhaps tied with him). I am often a sucker
for mysterious and gorgeous royals with secrets, so it was not much of a
surprise when I found myself loving Khalid.
He was hard to crack, but when he did, he was passionate and caring and
just… So adorable. Yes, the “monster” is
adorable. Once you break down his walls
and thaw his icy and tormented heart, he is really just a boy.
I will not go into detail in fear of spoilers, but let’s
just say I hated both Tariq and Shahrzad’s dad even more than the “bad guys”. And that’s saying something, considering the
fact that the bad guys were pretty... well… bad. It had nothing to do with the writing at all,
but something about them both just completely rubbed me the wrong way even from
the start, so I hated reading from their perspectives...
Shahrzad and Khalid both resisted their romance for so
long, but the whole time it just felt so right.
The romance grew slowly, and when it finally blossomed, it was stunning.
Although their relationship often seemed
like two steps forward and one step back, I just felt so much joy knowing that
they were moving somewhere. Shahrzad and
Khalid often contrasted like day and night, the sun and the moon, or even dawn
and dusk, yet they also seemed so similar--so broken--that together, they
just seemed whole. They loved each other
with such radiance that even a million suns could not outshine the beauty of
their love.
Overall, Ahdieh wove a masterpiece of a story: the characters were each unique and (mostly) loveable, with even the minor characters having a special depth to them, the world-building was stunning and informative without a single info-dump in sight, and everything about the novel was just brilliant. The ending left me reeling, and if anything could make me truly happy right now, it would be having the sequel in my hands. I cannot wait to read the rest of Shahrzad and Khalid's beautiful tale, and I could never thank Renée Ahdieh enough for making her wonderful retelling of A Thousand and One Nights a reality.
Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪
About The Wrath and the Dawn (via Goodreads):
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?
Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end.
