Review – The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn, Book 1) by Renée Ahdieh (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 416 pages
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 12, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-0399171611
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Wrath and the Dawn series
Source: Birthday Gift
Rating: 5/5 stars

“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.”

I got this book for my birthday last year and was excited to finally read it. It’s the first book in a duology and is a YA fantasy in a middle eastern setting. I ended being completely unable to put this book down and tore through it very quickly.

This was a very engaging fantasy set in a middle eastern-like world. The characters and story were both incredible and there was some interesting magic as well. I would have liked to dig into the magic more, but I imagine this will be addressed in the second book in the duology, “The Rose and the Dagger”.

This whole book is very loosely based on the folktale “1001 Arabian Nights”. The initial part of the story is very similar to “1001 Arabian Nights” but as the book continues the story gets much more complicated and involves curses, intrigue, and many other interesting themes.

I loved the characters; they are smart, confident, and determined. The writing flowed beautifully and was easy to read. This is some humor throughout to lighten things up. I also really enjoyed the exotic world and setting.

Overall I loved this book and immediately went to reserve the second book in this duology, “The Rose and the Dagger” from the library. I would highly recommend this to those who enjoy intrigue-based fantasy with some romance.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge