The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh Spoiler-Free Review
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.
I've been slayed and I don't think I can ever recover. I never initially planned to write a review for this book- I simply wanted to read it for enjoyment. However, as I had read the last written word in this wonderfully-frustrating novel only about an hour ago, I feel the need to vent, and I will do so by writing this blog.
A great number of events take place throughout The Wrath and The Dawn, and not one of these events is dull. The novel is told through a handful of points of views, and they are all easy to follow. The main one is obviously Shahrzad, who is the leading female protagonist. She is vengeful and bitter over her best friend's death when we first meet her, however, we learn that she is also strong-witted, resourceful, and extremely intelligent. She devises a manner in which she could escape the morbid pattern of death at dawn, and she resourcefully does this by enchanting Khalid- the Caliph (ruler) and killer of the girls- with stories each night. He falls enamored by her witty attitude, and through that Shahrzad begins to see a new side of him. She becomes aware that there is much more to him than just a ruthless king who marries a new woman each night, only to kill her at the following dawn. She breaks through his icy exterior and glimpses at his inner-self, only to be met by a hollowed, grieving, young boy with a dark past. She begins to understand him and finds her affection for him growing daily. Shahrzad is torn between two loyalties- one to her dead friend, and one to her heart. She must decide between killing Khalid in order to avenge her departed friend, or choose to live by his side as her heart so clearly wants her to do.
As a reader, I was one hundred percent rooting for Shahrzad and Khalid to end up together. I think that I have a slight weakness for all the 'bad guy turns good for the girl' scenarios. I found myself looking forward to any contact between these two, and never was I disappointed with any encounter between them. This leads me to my next point, which is.... Tariq. He is a good guy and his intentions are pure but, honestly, he needs to go. He is simply a guy who loves Shahrzad and would do anything for her, but my Shahrzad/Khalid shipping heart found him quite a nuisance. I sincerely hope that in the next book he finds someone else, or simply vanishes. I'm fine with either.
Other characters included Shahrzad's father, Jahander, who I was not too fond of. Rahim, who is Tariq and Shahrzad's friend, as well as Jalal- the captain of the guard- are two characters whom I actually grew to like and appreciate. I cannot say the same for is Khalid's sort of uncle, Salim, whom I would gladly like to pretend that his existence is nonexistent in the book. He is one of those characters who instantly dims the mood of a reader once his name is mentioned on the page. Nevertheless, I am slightly excited to see how he will cause me misery in the sequel. Finally, I enjoyed Shahrzad's handmaiden, Despina, as she brought a lighter element to an otherwise heavy storyline.
In conclusion, The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh is definitely an amazingly well paced book, deserving of every minute spent reading it. I would recommend it to anybody looking for reading material of some sorts, as I refuse to suffer through the emotions this book elicits from me alone. Definitely a five out of five-star book.