Take My Breath Away

Take My Breath Away

• Jun 3, 2015

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

Release Date: May 12, 2015
Publisher: Penguin | Putnam BFYR
Pages: 416 pages
Source & Format: Bought; Hardcover
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Summary (from Goodreads)

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.

Thoughts on The Wrath and the Dawn

Somehow, I went from not hearing much about The Wrath and the Dawn to suddenly seeing it everywhere. I loved the cover and found the summary intriguing, but I wasn't sold on reading it anytime soon. It went on my "Consideration" shelf on Goodreads, and I figured I would stay there until I spotted it at the library one day. And then... the reviews starting rolling in. The hype got my attention, so I decided to pre-order it and read it the day it arrived!

On one hand, I'm thankful for the hype because I might not have picked up this book anytime soon without it. And while it wasn't an immediate favorite for me, I really enjoyed reading it. The pacing isn't always consistent - it's a little slow to start, drags a bit in the middle, and then races at the end - but I still read it in one sitting. Once I started it, I just wanted to know how it would end! The Wrath and the Dawn is a retelling of A Thousand and One Nights. I'd heard of it before, but I'm not familiar enough with the original story to speak to this book as a retelling. I actually looked up the source material when I finished to see how the story compared.

Overall, I quite enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn. It wasn't a perfect read for me, but I'm glad I read it and look forward to the sequel. The setting was so refreshing - I haven't read much from this part of the world. I would have loved to explore the world a bit more, but I loved the parts of it I got to see. I felt Ahdieh's writing truly shone in the world-building. From the food to the buildings, the setting was my favorite part.

Shazi was an interesting heroine, though I would have loved to get to know her better. I could never really get a good read on her. She seemed so fierce and smart, but then she'd have these moments that made me roll my eyes. So many missed opportunities to get her revenge! And for a plot where she survives by the strength of her stories, I didn't find anything compelling about the way she told them. If I was the caliph, she'd probably have lost her life with the sunrise. Why does Khalid keep sparing her life? What makes her so different?

Much has been made of the romance, and there are definitely some swoonworthy moments and emotional conversations in this book! However, I felt the relationship between Khalid and Shazi needed more development. Khalid falls for Shazi very quickly, but I didn't feel like I really understood why he was so drawn to her. Everything seems a bit too instant, so it never earned an emotional payoff for me. I wasn't disconnected, but I wouldn't say I was completely invested either. It was promising but not quite there.

But here's my biggest question - if you care about your friend so much that you're willing to die trying to avenge their death, why does a handsome boy with a secret to disrupt all your plans? If I'm going to die for a cause, it's going to take a lot more than Khalid's misunderstood loner boy vibes to change my mind. I wanted to feel the tension, the moral quandary, the true weight of all that she's sacrificing in choosing to love this person.

However, the last 25% was the strongest part of the book, so I have high hopes for The Rose and the Dagger. I'm thrilled that this book is getting so much attention, and I'd likely recommend reading it.  It's a creative and romantic adventure, and I look forward to finding out where it will go next. It's not a favorite for me at this point, but there's a chance that the sequel could take my love to a whole new world.

So Quotable
“My soul sees its equal in you.”