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abracadabria 's review for:
The Wrath & the Dawn
by Renée Ahdieh
!! REVIEW OF WHOLE SERIES !!
when shahrzad al-khayzuran's best friend marries the caliph of khorasan and she's executed the very next day, like dozens of young girls before her, shahrzad is enraged. she vows to exact vengeance on the monster who sits on the throne of khorasan. agreeing to marry the caliph despite her family's dissuasion, shahrzad holds her fate in her hands, spinning tales of adventure and love to the caliph in the vain hope of living another day and taking his life.
but when she begins to fall in love with the monstrous caliph who's harbouring dangerous secrets of his own, everything spirals out of control. shahrzad must decide whether her love will triumph over her hatred and if she's ready to pay the price for her happiness...
the wrath and the dawn is a reimagining of popular middle eastern folklore, 1001 nights. gripping and utterly enchanting, the book and its sequel is one of the firsts of its kind. it's clearly visible what sands of arawiya drew from, for inspiration. with its near poetic prose and affable characters, it's charming and just a touch magical.
the fictional land of khorasan is based on persia and the influences are clear, shedding light on the myriad cultures and traditions of persia. i was very impressed with all the minuscule details, considering the author herself is not of that origin and it must've taken a lot of research and patience.
it's short and fast-paced, the writing crisp and full of metaphors. it's kind of cheesy and cliché but i ate it up, regardless. i didn't much care for the romance part, for it felt rushed and hasty, though it claimed to be an enemies-to-lovers slowburn. but no matter, the utter devotion of both the characters to each other made up for it.
what i definitely didn't like was that there was a lot of "sitting still, looking pretty" on shahrzad's part which was very uninspiring. i despise the damsel in distress trope, waiting around for a man to defend her honor. though shahrzad has many other affable characteristics, i was put off by this behaviour.
in any case, a good read but nothing unmissable.
rating — 7/10
when shahrzad al-khayzuran's best friend marries the caliph of khorasan and she's executed the very next day, like dozens of young girls before her, shahrzad is enraged. she vows to exact vengeance on the monster who sits on the throne of khorasan. agreeing to marry the caliph despite her family's dissuasion, shahrzad holds her fate in her hands, spinning tales of adventure and love to the caliph in the vain hope of living another day and taking his life.
but when she begins to fall in love with the monstrous caliph who's harbouring dangerous secrets of his own, everything spirals out of control. shahrzad must decide whether her love will triumph over her hatred and if she's ready to pay the price for her happiness...
the wrath and the dawn is a reimagining of popular middle eastern folklore, 1001 nights. gripping and utterly enchanting, the book and its sequel is one of the firsts of its kind. it's clearly visible what sands of arawiya drew from, for inspiration. with its near poetic prose and affable characters, it's charming and just a touch magical.
the fictional land of khorasan is based on persia and the influences are clear, shedding light on the myriad cultures and traditions of persia. i was very impressed with all the minuscule details, considering the author herself is not of that origin and it must've taken a lot of research and patience.
it's short and fast-paced, the writing crisp and full of metaphors. it's kind of cheesy and cliché but i ate it up, regardless. i didn't much care for the romance part, for it felt rushed and hasty, though it claimed to be an enemies-to-lovers slowburn. but no matter, the utter devotion of both the characters to each other made up for it.
what i definitely didn't like was that there was a lot of "sitting still, looking pretty" on shahrzad's part which was very uninspiring. i despise the damsel in distress trope, waiting around for a man to defend her honor. though shahrzad has many other affable characteristics, i was put off by this behaviour.
in any case, a good read but nothing unmissable.
rating — 7/10