Review: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Posted April 25, 2016 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 18 Comments

I won this book from another blog a year or so ago, and at the time, I forgot to put a little note in the book to remind me when I blogged about it. Oh well.  I have to say that I just adored this book!  I can’t believe I waited this long to read it, but in a way that’s kind of good. Because the 2nd book is coming out soon, and now I can read it and not have to remember from a year ago what happened.  If you haven’t read this yet, let me tell you that you need to pick it up as soon as you can, it was as wonderful as everyone has said!

The main character is Shahrzad.  She lives in a land inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, where the new king, called a Caliph, is the stuff of nightmares. Every night he marries a woman, and then she is hung with a silk cord around her neck the very next morning.  Shahrzad has volunteered to be his next wife/queen, after her best friend, Shiva, had been one of those wives that was killed in that very way.  Shahrzad has vowed to get revenge.  And the only way she can see to do that is to try to last more than one night.  And her plan is to take it one night at a time.  She lasts the first night by telling a story that when the dawn comes, and it is time for her to be hung, she hasn’t finished the story.  And the boy-king, Khalid, stays her execution so that he can hear the rest of the story the following night.  And then, something happens each night, and even during the day that he keeps her around, and tells all of the staff that no harm should come to her.  Until one night, when he doesn’t come to her room at all. And in the morning, the soldiers come for her and begin to go through with the hanging.  Fortunately Khalid gets there in time to save her, and it is now that he promises to kill anyone who ever touches her again. 

Within the palace Shahrzad faces other dangers, you see there are reasons why the girls must be killed or sacrificed each morning. And there are people not happy that she has ended this trend.  While Shahrzad knows in her heart that she should hate him, and find a way to kill him for what he did to her friend Shiva, as well as all the other girls, she soon finds there is something about him that is not quite the monster she believed him to be before.  She will befriend her personal maid, as well as her bodyguard.  And all the same, her father is trying to go to whatever length he can to not fail his daughter, trying to find the magic or power that he can use to save her.  She also has a boyfriend/betrothed childhood friend, Tariq, who will go in to try to get her back.  But the longer Shahrzad is with Khalid, the more she feels for him, and the more she knows she must stay.  She learns there are things about her that she never knew, things that may be able to help Khalid in what is plaguing his lands. 

In the end there will be a major event that will cause Shahrzad to make a decision on whether to go with Tariq, or to stay with Khalid.  And what happens, well I won’t tell  you, just know that it is a tear-jerking ending, and I am so needing to read the next book and know what will happen next! 

I do love a good fairy tale, or other story retelling, and this one does not disappoint!  This is not just a book with a beautiful cover, it is a book with a beautiful story inside of it. 

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18 responses to “Review: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

  1. I love the cover on this one and have been intrigued by the premise. I'm glad you found that the story inside matched the outside! I'm really looking forward to reading this one!

  2. Great review! I was concerned about this one due to all the book hype, but you're right it doesn't disappoint! πŸ˜€ I can't wait for The Rose and the Dagger.

    • It definitely did not disappoint! I was so glad it didn't. And now that I own the hard cover of this one, I will not feel bad about buying the sequel in hardcover right away. πŸ™‚

  3. Great review Lisa! I've been wanting too read this book for a long time now after reading your review I really want to check it out soonish. Probably I check both books out from the library this summer so I can binge read them together. Thank you for your awesome post Lisa!

    • You sound just like me. I kept it on the shelf with my ARCs to make sure I would get to it quickly, but it kept getting other books put on top of it. Hope you get the chance to read it soon!

  4. Great review. I didn't realize that this was a retelling of A Thousand and One Nights! Which, now that I think about it, I probably should've known. This makes me want to read it even more now. I love fairytale retellings.

  5. Nouran

    I love this book, it’s premise was really unique and A Thousand and One Nights was always one of my favorites so I adored the retelling.. Amazing review

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